November

November is the time that snow flies, the leaves have fallen. The time for hot cider and cocoa and curling up to watch movies with friends. It's also the time for NaNoWriMo, which I've decided to once again take part in. The goal? 50 thousand words in 30 days. That's roughly 1,667 words a day.

Yes, people tell me I'm crazy. No, I'm really not. I don't stress about it, don't freak out if I don't make my goal because really? It's just a goal, and if I write at all I've already succeeded.

Last night I tried an off mandrel leaf. I was so very worried that it was going to thermal crack on me. I'm not used to making off mandrel things, and so for some reason I was terrifyed it was going to crack. It didn't though! Yay! I plan on making a lot more of these. They're fun to play with.

Snow!

Well today in Colorado it's snowing. They say we're going to get anywhere from 4-18 inches depending on what news station you listen to. When I got up at 10am it was lightly snowing, in the past almost two hours the snow has intensified and I'm wondering if they're going to close the mall that I work at...
The good part to all of the snow? More time in the studio. Now, I can't say that I've melted glass or made jewelry in the past few weeks. My most recent task has been cleaning. I'm really trying to re-organize everything.
I did just get a new camera though. I finally got my Canon Rebel. The DSLR that I've been drooling over for years now. I'm hoping to start playing with it today, the set up is amazing and I'm so excited to finally have my camera!

New Glass Forum!

Last night I stumbled upon a wonderful discovery with much help from a fellow lampworker and overall amazing woman, Sarah Hornik.
This is a forum for any and all that love glass and lampwork. Whether it's the beads themselves, jewelry with lampworked beads or any other form you can think of.
Come on over and join us. We're a friendly group that has a ton of fun!!!

Changes

In the next month or so I'll be gearing up to move. Yep. Away from the green and the mountains of Colorado, I'll be moving to the beauty of New Mexico. Yes, the boy finally talked me into it.

What will I be bringing? Not my glass sadly. Not yet at least. Jewelry and papercrafting stuff will be going though. I'll still be able to do art journaling and make jewelry- I just need to figure out a camera for the move. I've been stealing my father's for quite some time, much to his annoyance.

I haven't done many things that are creative. Unless you count writing. My time has been full of work, writing and playing World of Warcraft. It's an addiction that I partake in gladly. *laughs*

Days and Days

The torching is coming along. I think I'm back in the hang of it. As for jewelry making, it can be hard to sit there and stare at so many things and know exactly what you're doing. I call this over exposure. Often times I have to hide things from my sight so I'm not overwhelmed. It isn't easy I have to admit.
In that same vein, I find so many things that I can no longer use. Jewelry supplies that just don't fit into my theme any longer. What do I do with those you ask? Why I add them to my etsy destash shop. I'll be adding more over the next few days, so if you're in the market for new beads and supplies keep your eyes peeled!

Not dead!

I'm sorry that I've neglected the blog for so long! Until today it had been two months since I'd made any beads at the torch. The cute boy to the left is the reason... sort of.
In the past two months I have had him visit from New Mexico, go to the Renaissance Festive out here in Colorado and then about a month later I traveled down to stay with him for two weeks! Needless to say, life has been pretty busy.
I'm back in Colorado though, and today I lit up my torch and made beads! There are about 14 in the kiln right now. I tried some new color sets as well as a raku focal that I'm really hoping comes out right.
There isn't too much on the jewelry front, I have a new design or two that I desperately need to put up on etsy or my site.

The Price of Silver

With things going the way they are in the United States, silver has been steadily increasing in price. When I first started making jewelry I remember that silver was only $14 an ounce- this month it hit $20.
The past two days have been a very welcome relief. Silver dropped $1.48 yesterday and $1.43 today. As of market close silver was sitting at 17.06 an ounce. Talk about a breath of fresh air!

Frit, beads and other things

There are days that I want to just sing everything instead of talk it. I think that today is one of those days. Since Sunday I have tried to do two batches of beads a day. It's really paying off. My kiln fits 11 beads each annealing cycle because I make them and put them directly into the kiln. I don't want to mess around with batch annealing.

Anyway, so I make about 22 beads a day. I can seriously say that not all of them are good ideas. Some turn out amazing and others I have to blink at and wonder what I was thinking.
(Left) This was the first batch of beads that I did. The first two turned out really... wonky. I was getting used to the glass and melting it. These are beads 5-11. At this point I had only made 4 beads prior.

My second batch was much better, if I do say so myself. You can see them to the right. I'm still working on getting perfect shape, but for only having done some 40 beads at most I think that I'm getting there.

And Completion

For about four months now I've been working on my brand new lampworking/beading studio. As of 2pm yesterday it was completed and my Nortel Minor torch was fired up for the first time!
What started out as an old hot tub room (see photo on the right). Is now painted, spiffed up and with fire, ventilation and everything else I need!
I am in love with my new space. My kiln is rather small, but I can get 10 or so beads in per annealing cycle. It works for now. I've also fallen in love with my oxygen/natural gas duo for my torch. Talk about EASY! Since set up I've made 20 beads, I have a long way to go but I'm enjoying every step of the way.

Safety

Safety is a big thing for me. There are really a lot of small ways to be safe, whether you're making jewelry or lampworking.

For jewelry making, I always make sure that I "guard" my cuts, which means when I cut wire I try to cover the tail that I'm cutting off with my finger or hand (keeping it out of the nippers of course!) and I always wear my glasses. They're made for close work or reading, so they're a bit required for me. Another thing I try to do is pick up any fallen beads. Not so much for safety but comfort. It hurts like a bugger when you step on a bead that's sitting on a concrete floor. There's no give and so the bead kinda.... well it hurts a lot.
Now for lampworking it's a whole different animal, if you will. You have to have didymium glasses, no ifs whats or buts. If you work with borosilicate glass you need even stronger glasses than that. Not only are they there to protect your eyes from flying glass (you never know!) but also to protect your eyes from flame glare. After the glasses you have your rod rests and your tools- and always remembering that the bead is HOT.

Another Step

As some of you know, and some of you don't; I'm slowly setting up a lampworking studio.
Until today I had almost everything I needed.
Today, we got our natural gas hook up. Now, I know that I could use propane, but NG is so much easier and burns cleaner.
These are the first and only beads that I've ever made. I have sooo much glass to work with, and bought my Minor torch just before Christmas. Earlier in January I got my oxygen concentrator.

Our next and last step: Ventilation.
I want my ventilation to be proper, to make sure that any fumes that are created by melting glass are quickly and easily swept away. We have the hood that we want to use, so all that's left is the fan and hooking it up with ducting and all that. (Can you tell that I'm not the one that will be installing that either?)

Plug board? What's that?

Some of you may have noticed the set of randomly flashing little icons on the left of the page (it's a bit down the line, but it's there!). You might be asking, "Well what, exactly is that?". It's a plug board. A really nifty idea that allows people to advertise freely. Free plugs. Artists like those.
Go take a look and browse through a couple of the sites, you never know what treasures you'll find! I know that personally I love browsing through the sites to see other artists' work. Sometimes the plugs will link to blogs, and sometimes sites. So you never know where you'll be going!

So what next?

Often I'll create a piece or two, finish up everything and sit at my work bench wondering "What next?". For me it's not so much a problem of what to do, it's a problem of what to do next. I have so many creative things that I enjoy and so many that are rather time consuming.
I sit back and I relax, listen to the music on my computer and look around my studio. If I'm working on a jewelry piece I'll look through beads, findings and sometimes I'll even go for a walk. If it's sewing, or any other sort of crafting I stand up and walk around the studio a bit, humming or listening to music. It's a matter of what sparks my attention next.
For example; right now I have a pair of Faerie Wings in the works as well as a necklace and a number of bottle cap pendants. I make sure that each time I'm done with a step, if I have to wait for drying time etc that I move on to the next thing. Never taking the time to get too terribly distracted. For me, distraction is Public Enemy #1.

What do you do to stay on track or get inspiration for your next work?

Music

So I've had a number of people ask me what I listen to while I'm working. The easiest answer would be, "Anything and everything." But I suppose that all of my readers out there want a bit more than that.
My tastes in music range from Country to Goth Rock and New Age. I often listen to mixes I've made via i-Tunes that correspond to my mood. Some of my favorites include: Voltaire (If you don't know who he is, you should look him up), Loreena McKennitt, and Anything Pirates of the Caribbean. Most of my music lacks words on some days, other days I sing along as I create. It's hard to say what my mood will be when I wake up, but it's always fin to figure out what to listen to.
I also found a site for music lovers. It's called Pandora Radio and best of all, it's free!

So there you have it. A bit about the music I love and listen to. What do you listen to when you create?

Bottle caps

So I have a love hate relationship with bottle caps. I love them because I create so many designs with the ones I have. I hate them because, well you have to get them somehow!
When I first started my bottle cap line I had to drink everything in bottles; soda, root beer, anything with caps. Then I got a boyfriend, and said boyfriend likes beer. I have to admit, my sugar intake screamed in horror. I was ecstatic. From then on out, he helped with the collection.
As time passed, my local customers and friends started collecting bottle caps. It seems that they'd rather give them to me to recycle than throw them out. Which is perfectly fine with me! It means that I can create without having to put myself in a sugar coma! :)

Ongoing

I ordered my oxycon and the payment cleared, now I watch the mail happily. It's so hard to wait! I look at all of the pretty glass that I get and think of all of the things I want to do. I've never been good at waiting... I think I might be getting better, but oh it's HARD!

New Years 2008!

Happy New Year Everyone!!! May all your wishes and dreams come true!

Demolition

I have a story for you all. Many, many years ago this house had a working hot tub in the basement. Yes, built into the basement. Now, looking back I see how insane that was to build such a thing indoors. All of the saltwater and humidity and yuck! But ten years ago it was just pure fun to me.
Today was the start of demolition in that room. No longer do we have a 'broken' hot tub. No longer do we have a room with no use. It has been cleared away and soon my studio will move in there. Tomorrow we put in the new walls and I get to prime them. I'm still trying to figure out what color I want. Teal keeps sticking in my mind, but I think I want something a bit quieter. Sage green perhaps? It's hard to say. There's always the idea of painting one wall one color and the other three another.
You see, this room will become not just a studio; but my hot glass studio. After the walls go up we'll be installing industrial strength "tile" on the floor, to withstand the heat. Next will be finding a desk for my jewelry portion of the business. Last but not least we get a plumber to pipe the natural gas in, and I get to help build my bench/ventilation. Only when all of the processes are complete, can I begin my trek into melting glass. It seems like so much, but really it is a process that should be complete very quickly. I believe our target date is in the first week of January. It would be sooner but we have Christmas coming up, and I for one am not willing to try and find a plumber to work so close to the Holidays. I feel that Christmas is a time for family, not needy lampworkers. :)

If I don't post again before Christmas, I wish you and yours a wonderful Holiday Season. May all of your wishes and dreams come true.

Snowflakes....

I swear that I have not forgotten about you all!
I haven't created anything new these past few weeks. I did however, do a show in Byers, Colorado that went very well.
Yesterday, I also received my new torch. A gorgeous Nortel Minor. It's not put together in this photo- but there it is!Monday starts demolition on my soon to be "studio". I'm very excited about it but rather busy and absent minded. Forgive me? :)

Back in the... saddle?

What I'm meaning to say is that I'm back in the swing of things. I officially have all of my current pieces photographed and re-sized (insert a giant YAY here!) and I'm working on the rest of the odds and ends today. The goal is to have the site fully updated for the 23rd. I can't wait!!!
On the creative front, I made a few pairs of earrings and a new cell phone charm the other day. Can I just tell you all, it felt so darn good! I missed all of that in my rut. I think that my muse took a trip to Venus or something. She just would not cooperate with me! Talk about stressful times!
I'm still destashing like crazy though. I have so many unloved beads that really need to find new homes! With the Holidays coming up I'm hoping that destashing and listing items in my site and etsy are going to be a really big help.

Speaking of Etsy, this Friday- the 23rd EtsyBEAD is having a Thanksgiving Sale! Over 50 shops are participating. Look here for a list of participants!