How's it working for you

I can say for sure that I haven't been doing much of anything the last couple months for some reason. I have been "planning" things. You know hunting, gathering, looking, thinking... Setting aside cause something wasn't quite "right" on it still??

Here's some pretty inspirational work for you to drool over though http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36498593

and for those that like their stuff "already" done

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36059846

It's funny how this started out pretty good then sort of went down hill on the regular posting huh?? Well I guess that there is always next year. LOL I do think though that it's time to have a BIG old Sale on GLASS. I mean there's just sooooo much of it and I think I might be running out of time....

Are you alone out there???

Ok there's so many people I saw and talked to and learned so many interesting things from this weekend, I just don't know where to start. It's like a huge fuzzy screened T.V. in my head. I hope that by tomorrow everything will be clearer so I can start focusing in on what needs to be done and what I want to do in correspondance with what I learned this weekend.

The biggest thing I learned this weekend?? No matter what you think, if you look a round a little bit there are people JUST LIKE YOU out there wondering if their the only ones that think the way you do, act the way you do or just plain are like memebers of a family you think you have lost along the way of life.

Tomorrow starts a brand new week with brand new goals. Make the up, list them out and see where you end up on Sunday next week. Maybe that's the best way to do it.

Don (my husband) thought he found a way to finally get a lot more house work out of me. I cleaned the kitchen up, cleaned the laundry room (our only door into the house right now) and the frontroom up a bit Friday. WHY cause we might have had company... Hmm Will it work??

Advertising anyone??

Tomorrow I get to go get some bricks and 4 inch pipe in order to create a storage area for my metal. WOO HOO that means it won't be all over the shop floor still too!! I might even be able to sneak in a can of paint to finish painting the walls. I am thinking as to if I could sneak in 2 can's of paint in order to start on the cabinet's when I get to it too (instead of putting it off till I can get paint sort of thing...)

I am really trying little by little to have things together and ready to open up the shop to classes Oct 1st. I figure by then the kids should all be in school, settled into a schedule so people will feel like they have the time to do it. I sure hope this isn't a pipe dream that never works out.

Once I am sure I can open doors October 1, it's all about making sure I have class outlines, class descriptions, supplies and all those things ready. Then it's update the webpage with current available classes and start figuring out where and how to advertise.

Last spring I have out 6 classes to be auctioned off or raffled off ( I think they were raffled before we in WA decided Raffles were gambling) and people were really excited and receptive.. How about NONE of them have followed through and used them. I had one of the ladies call and ask when she had to use it by, but haven't heard from her and that was like 6 months ago. Is that a common thing?? Why offer them up if no one follows through?? What are ways to do advertising that doesn't break your budget and are actually effective? I have watched my Mom do things that not one person has responded to so it's obviouse it was a waste of money.. I don't want to do the same. I guess it's off to the internet in a little bit to see if I do a search and find out any good tips..

How about you?? Are you maximizing your advertising dollars??

Don'tcha Wish Your Torch Was Hot Like Mine??

I saw my friend Holly post a new bead on Facebook.

Aren't the stringer contol on this amazing. I have 2 of her little bitty beads that people look at and the common comment is HOLY !!! how can she do that?? and it's on a Hot Head too. So she qualifies for the G-Force song quote "Dontcha wish your torch was hot like mine??"

You can check her out here

http://www.hollycooper.com/AvailableWork

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7282428

or even

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5268008

for further examples of her amazing work and if you like it don't put of getting it cause a lot of it's gone before you can click and pick....

People who drift for a reason

I have this lady I met several years ago.. We chatted a lot. She helped me get focus'd a bit at times etc..

You have people who drift into your life and make a major impact then because their job is done for whatever be the reason you suddenly realize you haven't spoken to them in ages. You still think about them a lot, just for one reason or another you haven't talked... But when you do talk to them again usually it's juts like the converstation picked back up after an hours drop rather than months..

I love to make friends I am always sad when I realize I have lost one. Recently though I have started to wonder if their really lost, or if its more like they had a brief brush with your life and created a new view, outlook or even perspective on their way to another point in their life.

I LOVE Teri's jewelry it always seems so cheerful and it suites her personality..

See more at http://www.terisallwasser.com/

I'm a picture saver how about you??

How many of you save pictures of stuff you like. You don't plan on recreating it, copying it or anything. You just feel good sometimes looking at it, or the color's grab you and say something special??

I do this all the time. I am sure that it's not legal in every sense of the word copy write, but I admit to doing it where as I am sure other's do not. I always save with the picture or try to at least who I downloaded the picture from so that I can refer back to them if I wanted to ask questions or something and at times I have..

Here's a prime example. I have always, always wanted one of JMC Art Glass's bracelets. I think she's stopped doing them though and what a pity and loss to the community... If I hadn't saved a photo some of my inspiration or what ever you want to call it would have been lost. I occasionally because I see the photo troll through eBay to see if she's put anything else back up.

I have been here http://www.glassartists.org/Gal3767_JMC_Glass_Art_Jewelry.asp

but I can't find anything showing she's done recent work. Which is sad. It's just goes to show that all that lovely art would be lost if I hadn't kept it. Do you think that's a good justification to keep such things?? LOL

I hope that mayhe this shows that there is another side of people keeping your photo's and NOT using them illegally to advertise their work, copy detail for detail your work to sell on their own, and all those other sleezy actions that can happen due to it. One of the reasons I love the ability to blog now is that if I find people's work I like and I show you all here??? Now I have a photo link to it and the weblink to contact them via again..

I am wondering though due to a converstaion I recently saw, how artists feel about their work being linked to or what ever in blogs. Do they all think any advertising is good advertisting and are they flattered to no end that something of theirs, so tickled someone else that they felt the need to share it with anyone who might look??

It's been a while now..

can't believe how time flies...

Did get some work in the shop clean up and out area done. WOO HOO!! Got great idea sneaking up on me about how to contend with my stained glass metal problem. Like where to put it and how. Watch for further updated photos..

Did discover that paint dries up after a year with a plastic bag on it for a lid so have to go to wall world for another batch of yellow paint.. Damn it. This time at least it's not a self mixed color so it will have a lid!! Just need a bit of purple too to finish off the cabinet's. That's looking like I might get one or two done this summer too. Gee's it would be awesome huh to finally be able to say. . CREATE CLEAN CONTAINED..

so speaking of a while..

Here's Misty Shwiyyat's rings just getting ready to be release again.

http://www.mistymade.com/playswithfirerings.html

had to do the BIG picture cause Misty's rings so deserve it.. Something about them just is soothing and yet stimulating at the same time!! She always seems to sell out before those that want one end up with one.. Guess that's about the best compliment around no??

Bead Show Tacoma

Last weekend?? went to this bead show put on by the bead factory. It was amazing the lampworked beads I got to touch and feel. Beautiful stones and all that fun stuff..

One of the more fun stops I had was...

http://www.santame.com/

There are some stunning peices in her booth... Not to mention she was wearing these totally HURKING big beautiful necklaces, being this tiny woman and they didn't deminish her at all. Amazingly her personality totally supports the jewerly she makes!! :) Love it and was totally entranced by her... LOL

Great things found by forgetting the Dog's food

I found on sale this fantastic little white wine called Ancient Mariner's Asian Pear wine.

SOOO yummy it's sweet and tart at the same time just like Asian pear's. Can you imagine that?? Makes me want to try some of their other wines now too..

http://westportwines.com/wines.html

How lucky for me that I forgot the dog food while camping. Hope good things come to you by accident this week. I am off to Texas and who know's how or when I'll get to post. I hope often, but I am not tooo big of a dreamer. LOL



I'll have a play day or two while I am down there if I am lucky, but I'll get to see Don's family and relax in that fantastic HOT HOT HOT weather. Please, please PLEASE don't let it be raining my lungs just couldn't handle it this time I don't think. LOL

Texas here we come ready or not

so was shopping at Ace the other day with my friend Jane. As she's checking out I see this BRIGHT yellow container and I think what in the world??? It's got a monkey on it with bright red BUTT CHEEKS!!

Being me I had to pick it up of course... Of course that led to having to buy some. Ever heard of Anti Monkey Butt powder?? Me neither. But it's pretty cool stuff and I see on line you can even get it in "girly girl" AMB powder too. LOL Well in case anyone cares, it's to help prevent chaffing while your sweating. I'll let you all know if it works. If you use it or have used it tell me whatcha think.!!

http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/index.php?src=directory&view=AMB_Products&category=Products

Tango Cat Gems

There's wire wrapping and then there's WIRE WRAPPING. :) I love this bracelet and am pretty happy to drool over most of what



http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24383671&show_panel=true



She's got posted on Etsy!! Beautiful huh??

Ew ew and EWWWWWWWWWWW

Ok I did this kiln project. It was an experiement.. Well it wasn't really MINE, but a student who wanted to try something. We can't figure out why part of the glass melted at 1450 and yet there are CLEARLY peices still not melted in. How wack a doodle is that??? We even held that 1450 for like an hour I think it was.. I mean not even the little purple dohiggy's melted down..

Here you go cause I know your dying to see it..

Silver and the sliver of truth

hmmm.. I love how these silver art clay flowers turned out!! I haven't gotten them polished as well as I would like. They have some really deep crevices and I can't get the brush into them. What to do... what to do?? Hmm...

These were so easy to make. If I hadn't forgotten to make hanger dealio bobs for the back they'd be all set for some jewelry.

One tiger lilly, a carnation and a rose (upper back) now to figure out how to make some backing's for them or something hmm... There are 2 rose buds waiting for me to buff and polish up too.. I am really excited at the detail the molds I used were..

What molds did I use did you ask??? Hmm.. Lets see if anyone asks....

ok can't sleep so I'll show you some roses I have

their not blooming yet, these are last years beauties but I am ready to see and smell roses even if their behind on THEIR schedule!!

If you know their names you can tell me. I only know the Yellow one is a David Austin, The bi colored is a Rosa Mundi and that's all she wrote..

I LOVE old rose. I am putting them in as I can afford to get them. It's hard to find some of them though, I really miss the website uncommon roses.

Someone told me that there were other's that were as good. Will have to go look

Elephant in the room

I keep thinking of it that way. My sister found out she's got Thyroid Cancer that's moving around into other areas. It upsets me to no end. I mean she's got her life all together, it's so organized and doing the right thing... If anyone in the family got it why wasn't it me? 2 reason I should have gotten it. 1. I have already had just about everything else go wrong health wise and it wouldn't mess things up any more then they already are and 2. I at least have health insurance. Their in that lovely bracket where self employed they make too much to qualify for any assistance but too poor to make insurance payments and all, especially when they really don't have a lot of health issues.

So I have been collection odds and ends of some beads to make her a bracelet in Thyroid survival colors. It highlights the three thyroid cancer awareness colors: blue, pink/purple, and teal. Thyroid cancer survivor Cherie LC selected these colors more than five years ago as part of her volunteer contributions to ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association. She noted that blue represents the throat energy center, purple/pink represents spiritual influences in healing, and teal is a healing color.

I really am praying that they get it all and life goes back to being "normal" or at least close to it.

updated on Face Book

let's see if this works Supposedly when I post here now. I'll see it on my facebook too. Does it really work??

hmmm

What was I thinking??

I finally decided enough was enough. I am a horder. Everyone I know, knows I am a horder.
I bought several years ago 2 packs of Bullseye Streaky Freaky rods. It's ONLY available at the Gathering http://www.isgb.org/info/gathering.shtml in case your curiouse, any how..

I let myself be convinced that I didn't really need to hold on to it, I really wasn't ever goin to be good enough to use it.. Etc.

So I got my Mom to list it on eBay.. I really wish I could pull it off LOL but it's got a BID already what was I THINKING

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250436320849&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250436322720&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

did I tell you all how much I really hate to get rid of glass of any sort.. or books .... or jewelry or...

But I am thrilled. I got some clear 96 and am going off to make some dragon wings in the kiln I think

What about you??

Time keeps ticking

Here's my find for the day so far..

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24563905

hey if you follow a link and find something you buy...

Let me know... please??

Sorry nothing new today I just feel cruddy

and the Dr wasn't much help. It's allergies, but I am supposedly not allergic to anything... my symptoms aren't my normal allergy symptoms. Trust me it's allergies here we want you to take this and this, snort this and you can take one of these at night to numb the throat which we think is causing the cough.

Well it's quarter to midnight and here I am. Throat feels numb but I am still racked with cough.. and I again sent home a Project without pictures. I swear I am doing photo's tomorrow so that I can't make that mistake again!!

Gotta call the gal to come get it too


Bless you..

Hope none of the germs stick to you

what was I looking for originlly???

I found this and lost quite a few minutes in drooldomvill. This is a totally awesome blog I found with some really unusual jewerly on it. Alligator skin cuffs, micro mosaic's and well as the run of the mill (not) gold and silver and they say you can submit your peices with discriptions to them for review

http://justjewelry.blogspot.com/search/label/Jewelry

Bead Star contest

check out what's been done.. Vote on your fav's. :)

if you wanna chat about anything.. I know I saw one or two unusual ones....

http://beadingdaily.com/beadstar/

Excuses, Reasons and other delays...

Everyone's got Excuses or Reasons or just plain old fibber maghee's about why they haven't accomplished something. Some are better than others. Some practice more than others. Do you make excuses? Have reasons? or better yet fib to yourself and others??

Me?? I am excuses and then there's a few reasons. Then I just change subjects..

I haven't gotten much done in the last week. Allergies/cold went to my chest and if I don't have a headache from coughing I feel like the dogs ran all over me.. Which gave me the excuse of being able to explore some online garage sales, tutorial sites which was all under the thought that I was looking around to make plans, research and investigate. During my play I found this awesome site that take children's story books and turns them into notebooks. What a fantastic gift for yourself to help you wind down yet keep your ideas and thoughts in order!!

http://www.onegirlstrash.net/exclusives.html

no I don't get a cut if you go buy them, but hey wouldn't object to one being bought for me. I kind of want the old mother goose with the checkerboard edge or maybe one of the pictures of there. I remember there being totally awesome pictures in that book. LOL

Doing a bit of garage saleing this week I also bought some beautiful beads called Bamboo Agate from a gal I know. This is truely stunning and so unusual I wish I could find more of these but in my search I have found that I got amazingly lucky cause most of what I found isn't as nice as this. It's the most amazing feeling stuff. I don't know what there is about it but I just wanted to keep rubbing it over and over in my hands.

The one that got away?? Fossilized Coral. Once more I looked and look and haven't found any as nice as what she had.

I am going to share photo's so you too can drool and sigh with envy and go on "Treasure Hunts" of your own!! If I ever get something made. . WOO HOO I'll post it here to.

OCR another thought process

Oh reading looking for answers to my kiln question I found this question in their http://www.glasscolor.com/community/conference_call_1.aspx page

Now I want to know if anyones done it.. Sound pretty exciting though

Question:
Could you tell us about the photosensitive Gold Ruby (G-221)?
Answer: Well, we're actually particularly proud of introducing the photosensitive Gold Ruby. And we're kind of surprised that nobody has grabbed the ball and run with it. We are kind of expecting that somebody eventually will do that. It's one of the first really new things that's come along in glassblowing in the last 400 years. And, amazingly enough, it's been invented by Americans, and we've really done nothing much but take the knowledge that's been produced in America and make it available to the studio glass scene. The key to the whole thing is having the correct lamp. Unless you have the correct lamp with the right wave length of light, then you're not going to have any success with it. Other than that, it's a fairly simple process. It's actually no different to a gold ruby, except that you blow it - when you blow it, it goes completely clear. When you get it, it's a clear rod. And it requires irradiation by UV light of the correct wave length. And then it requires a heat up to annealing temperature again for the image to become apparent. The color rod needs to be completely covered from UV light until it is ready to be used. You can use anything that blocks UV light. Keep it in the tube at all times. Where you're blocking the light, the glass will remain clear. Or it may, if the clear is overlaid on an opal background or some other color background, that color will remain the same. But where it's exposed to UV light and then heated, that becomes a gold ruby. And you can get extremely fine detail. You think of it like a film. It's literally film stock, but it happens to be a glass rod. You treat it just like any other rod, except you've got to keep it in the dark. But, you know, it's not so sensitive as film that you can't take it out of its wrapping and chop a bit off and blow it and put it in the color box. But the next day it needs to be kept in the dark until you're ready to put your design on it. And wherever you stop the UV, then nothing will happen. And wherever the UV is allowed to get through, then you've then created a lightened image there, which you will only see when you develop those. And developing it doesn't involve a whole bunch of chemicals like film. It just simply consists of getting it hot, as in 900 Fahrenheit roughly. It has to be heated evenly as well. If it's not exposed evenly, and if it's not heated evenly, then the tella development will not be even either. What we recommend is that people start off modestly. One of the most spectacular ways to see it work is doing like Italian cup work, where you've got a garriage. And you blow your cup on day one. Take it out of the annealler the next morning. Decorate it in whatever fashion you like. Expose it to UV light. Then stick it in the garriage. And you'll start to see it just go off in the garriage when you're ready to stick your cup on your stem. And when you go to the glory hole, it's just boomph! the image just happens almost instantly. It's really spectacular. That's kind of the coolest way to figure out how to get it to work, rather than making big pieces, and opening and shutting kiln doors waiting to see if it goes off. It's just such a quick, instantaneous, fabulous way of seeing how it works. But there's a whole work sheet on this, as you know. Where people can read all of the detail that they need to get it to work. You can find that on the website. Essentailly , when OCR receives the rods it is completely covered and taped. You don't have to be that paranoid about it . You can take it out of the wrapper. Don't do it under bright sunlight. But the sort of light that is in an average room is not going to hurt it for just a few seconds. If you break it off, the same amount as you'd break off if you were using a gold ruby, stick it in your hot box or your toaster, whatever, and just treat it like any other rod. It's just that if you leave it lying around, after a few days, you've spoiled it. And what that means is that it's lost its photosensitivity. It's just become an ordinary gold ruby. So it's not like you've done your money totally. It doesn't look like a gold ruby. It's still clear. But the moment you heat it up, it'll turn into a ruby.

Example http://www.glasscolor.com/products/default.aspx?cID=26&pID=141

Olympic Color Rods Iris Colors

I have a bunch of OCR iris frits. :) I of course have used them on "beads' and I understand how they work hot cold hot kiln. :)

BUT I really wanted to be able to use them for fusing. So today I called OCR and asked ???

I was told that they could be used in kiln work. You'd take it up to 13/1400 flash cool down to 11ish and then hit it with a flash of heat from the torch. NOW the question is, has anyone tried it, with what results?? Am I brave enough to try it??

Well first off I will tell you that I need to get a set of gloves so I don't burn the heck out of my hands. Second off. Um... Let see what happens after we get some gloves K??? LOL

Hope everyone's Mother's Day was as nice as mine. Lovely BBQ steak dinner and a sweet poem to Mom from my youngest Matthew. Who has a Mom that "wishes books were free and wonder's WHY he has to eat hot lunches every day."

Kiln Projects

Ok I had an adult education for fusing like 100 or less. I have been trying to get their projects cooked since last week. I have gotten 4 done out of 9. Unfortunately I pulled one out of the kiln too quick and of course it broken right across the middle. No way to hide it or fix it easily. Then after I missed the work top and dropped the bottom on the floor, no need to fix it any more. Really upsets me cause it was a great looking project and now we ( student and I) are going to have to redo it. I am taking MUCH more care with the rest and not trying to hurry through them now... I should know by now (43 years mind you) that every time I try to rush things I screw them up!! LOL

I have been playing with the temp to melt them at, trying to get it to the inbetween melt stage, you know where it's melted into the bottom glass, but still has some 3-D effect to it. One projects I did 2 times trying to get it and it was still so underdone I hyped the temp up way to far getting "impatient" of course and melted it in to one nice flat peice. Next one I hiked down a bit more.. etc.. I will see if I can remember to keep track of the schedule (yes yes I know every project is supposed to have it's own sheet telling us what we did and how so we can recreate them..) I think what I'll do is take a picture of each peice to put with the notes when I make them so that I have a visual idea of what that temp does..

So far by the way I am only using Bullseye. I have some Uroboros 96 and Spectrum 96 but haven't used them yet..

I am getting ready to start messing around with the theory that can be used on beads. I think its 55 or less of another COE. So I guess I'll start looking at trying to post these experiements got or bad right? LOL

Life, death and the pursuit of crazyness

Someone told me I needed to get a blog and so I did.. I guess. I am not sure what I will do with it though. My thought is that I play and dabble as a beginner on so many things that I would start to keep track of books bought for crafts, what I thought of them, new things I bought, new things I tried and maybe even some of the stuff I have finished.

Anyone that knows me knows that I go through times of doing nothing to times of doing everything and on top of that I try to be the "soccer" mom and registrar for one kid, the stick beating the oldest into graduating and the youngest to figure out that there's more to life than thinking you want to join the army at 5. So Let's see how this goes...