Woooo!!!!!!!!!!

So as I type I have a kiln full of beads. It's nice to be back at the torch... and back in snowy Colorado.

"Wait a second? Didn't you just say you were moving?" Yeah, I did. We had a change of plans so I'm back in Colorado. You all don't mind, do you? I hope not, because you're stuck with me!

My studio is a mess, but I made beads today. In my mind that's all that matters right now.

I'm content.

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?)

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?

Wheeee!

I think I have a new favorite person......
The UPS MAN! *glee* He brought me my oxycon (oxygen concentrator) today!
The two remaining steps for making beads:
Get natural Gas set up.
Ventilation.


We bought some of the bits for ventilation yesterday, so that should be getting done soon *crosses fingers*

Studio- progress!

In my last post I told the story of a room that was destined to become something other than a hot tub room. With this post, I'm going to provide photos!

Here is a photo of the room before. Don't mind the ceramics and boxes. There is a window that leads into another room in the basement, the door (where the photo is taken from) leads into my sewing/craft studio.
Here is the room, most of the hot tub has been removed at this point. It was built badly, we found out. Definitely not something that we wanted to use again!
No more hot tub! (From left to right) My father, a family friend and my boyfriend. There was a lot of unseen water damage, until we tore the hot tub down. I don't know how many times I heard, "Wow, it's a good thing that we're taking this out!"
We covered the tile walls with waynescoating and started to prime. Talk about a lot of painting!
Walls are painted! I also painted the window, door trims and baseboard that teal color, which I love.

Here are the final walls. The other two aren't painted anything fancy. To the left of the book shelf is where my lampworking bench will be.
The photo of the desk is where I will be doing jewelry design and the like.

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? :)

Of Trips and Lampworking

Today I returned to the lovely state of Colorado from Minifee, California. It was beautiful out there, dry and about 115 degrees daily. Talk about hot!
Before I left, I got to meet Melissa of Inner Realm Creations and she taught me a thing or two about lampwork. I was a nervous wreck, I admit it. Something about breaking hot glass. Well I learned, and had nothing to be nervous about. She's an amazing artist and wonderful person. I hope to work with her again very soon.
Here are the first beads that I've ever made, they were not meant to be pretty color-wise. I was using some glass she had excess of.


So there they are. Going counter clockwise from the top left corner in order of creation. They're uneven, I call them "basket shape" and I'm hoping that I'll get better with practice.

I am SO addicted!

A Day In The Life

Rather the odd title for a blog entry, but I figure that it's fitting. I had a very late night last night and 9am came far too early for me. I was hoping to sleep in! I had my morning sit on our back deck and traveled down to the basement to sit amongst all of my shiny objects. I fill my studio with beads, baubles and anything that catches my attention. It's actually a wonderful thing and it keeps me inspired. At any given moment my table is littered with beads, half completed projects and bits to inspire. I have this stunning quartz crystal that sits to my left, near where I photograph my pieces. To my right is where I plan on hanging the brass door knocker that was my Grandfather's. It's a fox. I keep telling myself that I really should clean said area, I have so much stuff out that I have hardly any space to work! Ah- the mind of a artist. That's what I tell my friends. If it's put away, how can I possibly find it?
Last night I almost finished two more bracelets, with mahogany obsidian and smokey quartz. I tossed some Swarovski in too- Light Topaz to be exact. I've had approval comments on them so far. Yay! I'm not a big fan of brown, it doesn't look too good on my very fair complexion. So I need other opinions on my pieces that are brown, it's a nice ego boost on days that I'm feeling down!