Midnight

My etsy store is stocked with 23 items at the moment.

My personal favorite it "Midnight in the Garden of Eden" which is a big hole bead that fits Pandora style bracelets, which was just listed.

The reigning favorite at the moment is another Pandora style bracelet called "Chemistry".

Currently I have four custom orders, one for some pendants, one for some Pandora tiger beads, and two for bracelets.

Yesterday I stuck the molten end of a glass rod in my mouth- all because I have a bad habit of  holding stringers in my mouth while deciding my next move. That habit is done. A couple little blisters and some tingling are all the remaining effects today.

Approximately 20 new beads in the kiln right now. Hopefully exciting sales news to report in the coming days. Thanks for reading :)

Etsy? You betsy!

My etsy shop is currently stocked with 18 listings (it was 21, but three of them sold) with a few more to come tomorrow.

Also, my business page on facebook is finally live, so you should go check it out and give it a "like" if you're so inclined.

The Great Debate

Today I'm getting a new clear glass delivered. Clear is a testy subject. Some of it gets really scummy or bubbly or cloudy. Some of the stuff that stays clear has weird reactions with high-silver-content glass. Some of it is super stiff (meaning it takes a long time to melt). There are hundreds of "What's the best clear?" threads on the glass forums, and they always end up in a huge argument.

Also, I switched to working middle of mandrel and my encasing has GREATLY improved. Yeah!

The holidays are approaching- so it's time to make stuff to sell, I guess

Here are some beads I've made recently, primarily as practice for getting used to the new torch. Some are pretty wonky, but a few will get listen in my etsy shop in anticipation of the holidays. 

Some "pandora" style beads made from color-changing silver glass.

Another "pandora" bead, struck, reduced, shaped in a neutral flame.

                                                                                 

 This is some un-identified mystery glass I found when cleaning my glass shelves

 This was supposed to be a striped ribbon bead. Not so much, huh?

 This one is a reduced striking glass. I call it "Poseidon".

Reichenbach Multicolor Dark

Some spacer beads I plan to use in a bracelet I'm making as a gift.

So glass aside, the other news is that Son is finally back in school (yay!) and that my bridesmaid dress for Younger Sister's wedding was delivered today. It's a pretty cute dress that I can wear more than once, should I want to. 

That's it. Thanks for stopping by. Spread the word about my etsy shop to your friends, okay?! ;-)

Glassy Lady

I kinda got in my groove yesterday and I made 16 beads. One of them thermal cracked but the rest are okay. I can't find my photo cube at the moment, so I made do with a white background and my kitchen lighting to take some pictures just to show off. If I get better pictures, I'll post some later, and I might even clean out the bead holes then too ;)

El Diablo Rojo

The big scary torch (whom I've affectionately named "El Diablo Rojo") has been officially set up for a couple days. It's a big step from the little one I was using, so I'm having to re-learn heat control. It's been interesting. I am delighted to report that I *am* finally able to get my intense black to web (as it never would before) and that I happen to kick butt at getting Fire Lotus (a fancy, crazy expensive silver glass) to strike.

I'm in the process of listing some new things on Etsy, hoping it will push me to keep going. I'm thinking seriously about moving to Zibbett or HandmadeArtists because of the constant drama with Etsy. What have I made? Here's a Fire Lotus bead:

Son goes back to school this week, thank goodness. He's been driving me CRAZY all summer. He's been getting math tutoring for the last five weeks or so, and it seems to be helping quite a bit. I was supposed to call and have him evaluated for A.D.H.D. a few weeks ago, but never got around to it in the midst of my dad getting so sick, so I think I'll do so pretty soon.

Oldest Daughter counted to 19 the other day. :)

Youngest Daughter still isn't walking or talking and she's just passed the 15 month mark. I don't think there's anything wrong with her, she just doesn't want to do it. 

That's all I've got to update about for now. Wish me luck in my artistic endeavors. :)

Number crunchers

Yesterday, I was 28. Today, I am 29. I also think I'm going to stop counting now :-/


On an art-related note, I have a cookie sheet full of glass shards cooking in the oven. I'm drying some custom frit.

I have all the essential pieces to my Mega Minor torch on the way, so I could be melting glass big time before the end of the week. So excited.

I'm starting on a custom bead order for a tornado bead (which I made the frit for) and two Maori love knots for a friend of mine.

 It's nice that I have to do them, because sometimes HAVING to do something is the only reason I do right now. I'm not completely sure how I'm going to get my life and family and house back on track.