December 19, 2007
What an amazing year. Who would have thought that glass would have become more than just a fascinating hobby? Amazing will the be the word that describes this year...amazing at how much I've learned, amazing that people actually bought my stuff, amazing that I set up a website, amazing support from my husband, children and other family. There are still so many things yet to learn, and I am definitely looking forward to the new year.
I didn't do as many holiday beads as I wanted to, but I am finally feeling almost healthy enough to get back out on the torch so I may make more anyway...who cares? The holidays will come again next year and I would be a bit ahead of the game.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
November 26, 2007
There are so many things that I am still learning. Who knew that this is what I would be doing, and who knew that I would love it as much as I do?
We just did the second show and I am so glad that I had so much help from my daughters. It was scary for me, but having them there made it all so much easier. It did go well and I learned a lot, and am "almost" looking forward to doing another one. I made a couple of very special sales...
This one sold for 3 hugs
and this one sold for 3 kisses..
both to my granddaughter, Rhayne
My daughter also managed to make some sales while she was home for Thanksgiving. Of course, she ended up taking a piece of jewelry home for herself...her commission.
I caught a bug, and haven't been spending nearly as much time on the torch as I would like to, but it's hard to make beads when you are sneezing and coughing all over the place. I still have things that need to go up on the website, and that is my goal for tomorrow. There are some things that I would like to do to the website, but I may have to get some help to make it happen. Either that or find a book or some classes to learn how to speak the language.
November 2007
Here is a quick preview of some of the things that will be going with me to Minneapolis next weekend.
September 24, 2007
Exciting times for me! I went to a small town craft show with my beads, and people actually bought them. Putting my beads out there for the world to judge was a scary, scary thing for me to do, but I am happy to say, the fears were unfounded. It was also a learning experience for me, but I also had the chance to meet some other artists. Not glass artists, but artists all the same. Living in rural ND often times makes me feel isolated, so as I am beginning to put the glass out there and am meeting other people that understand the artistry in glass, I am feeling less alone. I have to say the leaves were the biggest seller, which was fine with me, because I truly do love making them and will be out in the studio today making more to replenish the stock. Heehee, I am even beginning to sound like a business person. How lucky to be able to do something I love, and be able to make a bit of money from it.
These are a couple of the pieces that sold.
August 22, 2007
It's hard to believe how quickly this month seems to be flying by. There's been a lot going on, but what I enjoy the most is sitting at the torch with the music cranked and just seeing what the glass is going to do for me. I just did my first big hole beads and they are a mess, but not nearly as scary as I thought they would be. Of course, I didn't start with the huge ones, but I will work my way up to them I think. I'd been doing so many beads on 1/16" mandrels that anything larger seems very strange. The "studio" is and will probably always be a work in progress, but I am happy with what I have. LIFE IS GOOD!!!
I also had a new "friend" come to my studio. She is a jewelry designer/artist and has made some amazing pieces of jewelry. I enjoyed the day immensely and she showed me how she wire wraps by doing a few of my melty beads. She's busy getting ready for her fall shows, but I am hoping that we will have a chance to get together again. Here's what she did....
But on with the show...here are some of the works of August
August 2, 2007
It had been a couple of weeks since I had been on the torch, and I could really tell that I was out of practice. Yet at the same time I also realize that it takes less time to find my rhthym again.
The work on the studio is still a work in progress and may be that for another year or so. Seems like the more I get into this world of glass, there are things that I want to do differently in my work space, so it will be fine tuning from here on out. What I thought would be more than enough room really isn't, so I keep stretching out my space. We added another work table that is 48"x30" at table height. The ventilation and fresh air intake will be undergoing improvements and organization will be a priority. But it is quite functional, and I am comfortable out there.
I've been taking care of some of the business part so that I will soon be ready to sell some things. It's important to me to get this done right the first time, so I can do what I like doing instead of worrying about the paperwork.
Here are some of the newest beads...
July 25, 2007
It's a happy day. I have the electricity all hooked up out in the studio. I can move the kiln out now, and since we got an air conditioner to put in (hopefully this weekend), I will be able to torch no matter what the thermometer does.
So since I have not been able to torch for awhile, I have had to find other things to do.
These were wrapped with just some craft wire. I have no idea how to do this, so considering how many times I had to start over, I think cheap old wire was the way to go.
Just some random beads and pink suede
Just some beads
July 16, 2007
Today I am just waiting....waiting for the electrician to come and finish hooking up electricity to the studio. He stopped by last week and said he'd be back early this week to finish things up for me. I am so excited. I've got this make-shift setup for now and it works, but it will be so nice to have it all come together. As hot as it's been, I may even get air conditioning in there. It's been getting too hot to torch more than a couple of hours a day, so I have been working on a few other things.
I've come to the conclusion that if I want to make good beads, I need to understand how they are used more. I think it will only help if I can understand how they should hang when used in a piece of jewelry, and about balance and size and shape. I've been online looking at jewelry, and really looking at the construction of the pieces. And I've been dabbling with some of my beads, just to see how they would look made into a necklace or bracelet.
Here's some of what is new....
