Setting Goals and Chasing Dreams

Nothing new in a couple weeks. Son started school on the 15th and it's been busy almost every day since. I've made some beads in the time since then but they've all gone into the reject jar. I haven't been to the torch in more than a week.

I've set a goal to be a vendor at ComicCon in 2015. I've got some exciting plans for new product lines for that- both polymer clay and glass. Ideas for gothic-styled hair accessories and stuff, but I'm not sure that would be part of the ComicCon line or not. Lots of things to think about and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm planning far enough out that I'm not stressed out and I don't *have* to work on things if I don't want to.

So yeah. Maybe new stuff to show soon. Thanks for stopping by :)

New Market Setup

I've recently opened a store on Square Market. For those of you who don't know, Square is a company like PayPal, kinda. They have little card readers that can attach to a smart phone or tablet. Lots of jewelry and craft people use the square as their register at shows. There are no fees for the buyer and only a percentage fee for the seller. Anyway, they've never had an online sales venue until now. I got an invitation through email, so I set up a shop here.

For now, all my stuff that I'm posting on Etsy is getting cross-posted on Square Market. If it works out comparably or better than Etsy, it will be a permanent move. It will save me tons of money in fees which will bring down my costs overall, and bead costs for customers. Square has rewards programs you can opt a shop into, which I've chosen to do. I have First Time Visit, Return Customers, and Punch Card rewards active that Square will keep track of  for me.

I really hope it works out. I hate Etsy. I hate PayPal. This could be a wonderful thing.

Special Delivery

I cleaned and etched my dread beads from yesterday. My stringer work needs some inprovement, of course, but I really like this style. It's simple and understated but it's still elegant and plenty artistic.

My banner was delivered this morning. Pardon the rather dark cell phone picture, I was so excited the I unrolled it and laid it out on the carpet for a picture.

I didn't make anything yesterday because I spent the whole day doing laundry. Maybe today. Maybe not. We're expecting company for dinner tomorrow night and the house is a mess, so my time might all go toward preparing for that. 

The Fraternal Order of Twins

Wasn't super productive yesterday, but I did make these two beads. Both are made with Moretti glass and the only difference is that I used two different colors of purple for the base beads. I plan to etch around the silvered ivory shards and see how that looks, then maybe lightly etch the shards. It will be purely experimental. Hopefully they will turn out as well as I envision.

In other news, my new business cards and table banner have been shipped and should be delivered tomorrow morning. Today is laundry and house cleaning day so there may or may not be anything new to show tomorrow. 

Thanks for coming by!

Experimenting On New Ideas

I  made some of my usual stuff yesterday, but I also played around with a couple new ideas I've had rattling around in my head.

The first is a medium sized dreadlock bead with shards that I edged with stringer. Previously, my stringer work has been an absolute joke but I seem to be slowly but surely getting the hang of it.

The next is a tree over a sunset. I wanted to see how well I could make a sunset bead using glass rods instead of an enamel gradient. I think it has a lot of potential and would look way awesome if I can work some clouds into the spaces where the glass colors come together. I've got a whole set of enamel samples coming so I'm going to play with using gradients and things too. Also, I plan to use smaller stringer for trees in the future and accent it with dark browns and greys to break up the monotone of the black. All in all, I'm really pleased with the potential of the piece.

As always, you can click on the pictures to see a larger version. 

Thanks for stopping by!

What Have You Got To Show For That Banner?

Staples has a huge sale on copy and print services right now, so I went ahead and ordered new business cards with updated information on them... and a table banner. In theory, I'm going to be doing shows some day if I get enough time and product and I'll need a banner, so.... If I never use it, I'll only be out $10.


I've been working on little beads lately. A customer order and simple Pandoras so that I can get a feel for the glass again while I'm waiting on the rest of my new stuff to arrive. I'm actually excited to be creating again so hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

Flesh Eating Beetles

After much foot dragging, I got to the torch the other day and started making a myriad of canes I'll need to try to make a Jellyfish Seascape bead. I bought the tutorial more than two years ago and have never attempted it because I *really* don't like making canes and pulling stringer. I sold a bunch of my presses that I never used and got more than enough money to get all the new things I need for jellyfish beads and shipping, so I'm really excited to get started AND I have a little extra room! I'm so close to being ready to start now that it's brought about a revelation of sorts that's helped me figure out a direction I'd like to take my work.

I've decide I'm going to do a sea-themed line of products - beads, hairpieces, jewelry. I've always been rather fascinated by the ocean and all the things in it. Maybe it stems from being landlocked on the plains my entire life, or the fact that my dad was in the Navy, or all the myths and legends that are based on the sea... I dunno. So anyway, I've got plans for a sea-themed tattoo sleeve, and a line of related products only seems fitting.

I've also got a special affection for all things dark / gothic / macabre, and I'd really like to make some hairpieces and things with raven skulls as centerpieces. There are other uses for bones and things that I have planned also.

What do flesh eating beetles have to do with all of this? Well, they can clean out the shells and things I might find and have a use for. They don't eat much so I can throw spare hamburger in once in a while if I don't have a project for them to work on, and when the colony gets bigger than I need I can sell some.

I don't know what else will come after all of this, but I have a discernible direction for the first time in a LONG time and I really like having clear thoughts and ideas and motivation for once.

Away and Back

I'm back from a lovely (albeit very long and tiring) vacation to South Carolina and New York. The kids had a good time visiting with the grandparents and their uncles and aunt and cousin. It rained like fury almost every day, but it kept the temperatures down for the most part. The days it didn't rain were HOT. We fed some buzzard-y looking ducks one day, and from that day on they showed up at the lake house waiting for food. We saw a mother duck and a duckling one day also.

We spent four days in Rochester, New York for the annual ISGB gathering. I met face-to-face a lot of neat people I've been friends with on facebook and Lampwork, Etc for a few years. I went on a day trip to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, where we saw an exhibit of 35 centuries of glass beads, took a glass blowing class, watched some demonstrations. It was a neat trip and I've told Husband that if we ever take a trip alone through New England that we need to go back so that he can see it. 

My glass ornament from class was delivered this morning :-) I'm going to venture into small-scale glass blowing on my torch until I learn. Thinking about asking a local hot shop for an apprenticeship after Youngest Daughter starts school. Anyway, here's my ornament from CMoG.

I know I should have a lot more to talk about after having been gone for so long but the thought of rehashing everything is very overwhelming. So in summary: A good time was had by all, we're all glad to be home, new motivation, new ideas, new things coming up!

Thanks for stopping by :)