Amazing... simply amazing the tricks I was shown today~ Finally there is hope for my pictures of red things...
just a ray of hope...
I still have to figure out how to implement some of the wonder picture tricks I learned today. I am so on it!! Marlo was a great teacher and my classmates were a lot of fun as well. I am still in disbelief that I actually went so far out of my "safe bubble" lol. I live in suburbia and it is comfortable for me. I would be most at ease with directions that end in "turn left at the really big stump" Of course the directions would have to first come with a great reason for me to go there in the first place. So driving all by my shy self into the middle of a majorly huge city like Seattle lol... I want great pictures what can I say? I got lost after I got into Seattle but I realized it fairly quickly and didn't waste much time calling for help. Marlo, my fabulous teacher got me there in one piece and after class I followed another southbound student to I-5.
All in all it was a terrific day and I hope I can do my teacher justice :)

Taking a good picture of items you are selling online is soooo important. I still don't quite have it down. Even though I love trying :) Sometimes my backgrounds turn colors other than what they are. A lovely shade of yellow ivory is my least favorite~ blech... So this Sunday I am taking a class in Seattle and hopefully it will make all the difference in the world. I am excited to be included as the class size is very small. I can't wait to see what I can learn!
On making wine stoppers I wish I was more prolific but they take a lot out of me when I make them. After I complete one my left hand will sometimes shake like I have the tremors!!! Not good for making the small detailed beads that I prefer. I have decided that I need to get an armrest of some sort so that I have good support while I am waving that big blob of glass in the flame.
And then there is always the desire for more glass. I have discovered glass that I had previously ignored because I didn't want to have yet another type of glass *rolls eyes* Well it turns out that I really love this glass a LOT. It isn't listed on my suppliers website... I hope they still have some. I am going to have a busy weekend I can tell :)

I promised myself I wouldn't watch because I don't want to cry today. Somehow I find myself in spite of myself watching Oprah with her terminal guests today and among them is Kris Carr http://www.crazysexycancer.com/
What an incredible outlook she has.
Wow we could all learn a lot from her.
I was having such a crappy day and it looks so much better now.

Well I told you I would come back and let you know what happened with the storm. My son now has a rather large hole in his roof and is in the process of moving to a different apartment. Part of a tree snapped off and dropped through his roof right over the babies room!!! Thankfully none of them were home when it happened so nobody was injured. He is lucky to have so many family members close by to help him move. Matt went over and helped on saturday and T.J.' s dad is helping them finish up today. What surprises me about the whole thing is there is a gaping hole in the roof, the rain has been pouring in and the apartment owner/manager hasn't even tarped the hole???!!!
The temperature really dropped after the winds moved through and we had thunder and lightning friday night. Cold temps and thunder always seem wrong to me. Anyway I have a lot of things to get caught up on so this is just a quick update so you guys know we didn't blow off the edge of the earth :)

Catching up... Does that ever really happen? I have a lot to do on my days "off" this week. Bottlestoppers and beads. A windstorm is coming in from the Pacific even as I type this. I am hoping the power stays on!!! Wish me luck with that the trees are still heavy with unfallen leaves~ I will let you all know what happens:)
Have a great day!

A view of the gloriously warm Atlantic ocean from our condo. Sue and I were raised around the Pacific Ocean which is icy cold in comparison. The first time I dipped my toes into the Atlantic I couldn't believe how warm it was. Look what I found in the parking garage! At first I thought it was dead but then the little guy moved and boy did I jump back hehehe... :)
A sea of Silk Road Collars! http://www.silkroadcollars.com/ I was over at The Sand Palace shoved back in a room in dark corner under the stairs!!! Needless to say the set up came down Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. Greyhounds "cockroach" when they are relaxed. This girl does it on command to get her pretty pink tummy rubbed :)
Ahh home at last~ The sunrise from my first morning back was absolutely stunning!! I am glad I am an early riser and I was up to see it. Even where we live, surrounded by other homes, early morning is an amazing peaceful time. I love to go outside and take a few deep breaths of the crisp cool morning air. Yay Home!!!!

You would think going to Dewey would be a little vacation-like. It is but it is also very exhausting and I usually take about a week or so just readjusting to the time difference. I am a fairly quiet introverted kinda gal and Dewey just wipes me out!!! This year the heat and humidity were crazy but oh so nice compared to the wild nor 'easter we had last year. I will have some pix and stories for you all later this week when I start to feel human and get a little caught up at work. Bleh :P sometimes it almost isn't worth the vacation with all the trying to get caught up when I get back :)

Here we go again!!! Off to Dewey Beach to play with the Greyhounds~ The standing Greyhound is my newly designed image~
Of course One of them is my favorite :)
A sampling of some of the dichroic Greyhound beads I have made for Dewey. Sue has been turning them into beautiful wearable items. Creating the dichro images is something I really enjoy. This year I created a standing greyhound. Creating an image involves first drawing the picture. Then it is scanned into my computer and e-mailed to my wonderful dichro guy. He then does whatever it is he does (magic?) that puts the image onto glass so I can melt it onto my beads. Each piece is meticulously and carefully formed to the bead it is on. I have to be very attentive during this process or I end up with a distorted image.
*** Greyhounds Reach the Beach 2007 is the event Sue and I will be attending **
It is our 10th year at this event !!
Sue creates beautiful collars for greyhounds as Silk Road Collars http://www.silkroadcollars.com/
** Stop by and say hello:) We will be located at:
The Sand Palace, Room 108
1710 HWY One, Dewey Beach DE 19771
Sand Palace Hours - Friday through Sunday
Friday - 9am to 4pm
Saturday - 8am to 4pm
Sunday - 8am to 12pm
Also The Best Western Gold Leaf
1400 Hwy 1 Dewey Beach DE 19971
Best Western Hours - Wednsday through Sunday
Wednsday 10am to 5pm
Thursday 10am to 6pm
Friday 8am to 7pm
Saturday 8am to 7pm
Sunday 9am to 4pm
See you There!!!

A flame pendant~ These are kind of fun to make but I don't make them very often though :) Custom beads for one of my best customers~
Some more custom beads for a friend :)
Earrings to match a pendant that Sue and I made~
And now for my next trick! I will continue to be super busy as we leave for Delaware (Yay Dewey!) at the end of the month. My new dichroic images came this week so now I need to get busy and melt them onto some beads and stoppers. I'll show you if I have any free time.
Free time? What is that... lol

A few beads in a pile for lack of a picture of my big goofy Lab/Dane cross!! Right now he is playing scaredy dog~ all 90 pounds of him!! He is rumbling deep and low in his throat of course that culminates in a piercing girly bark that is quite shrill. He has developed a fear of the string trimmer. Yes the Weedeater!!! We are inside and the crew is out doing the lawn like they do every week. Claude has never been hurt by the trimmer or even outside while they are using it so I don't understand why he has developed this fear and the urgent need to "tell" me about it. Ah well maybe the thing is making some noise only he can hear? Maybe he thinks he hears a hive of bees coming, who knows? I love him anyway silly dog~
I was working away at glass this morning and actually almost finished with my pre-lunch goal when I realized my propane was running low. Aack!!! I have a lot to make now is not a good time to run out!!! But it is also a good excuse to get caught up on a few other things I have been putting off. So back to that I go :)

Great minds really do think alike! I was inspired by another ega member in a discussion. She was talking about using laminated cards for her pendants. So Sue and I got busy, she printed these out for me I punched tiny holes in them and strung our pendants on with hemp twine. Then while I was visiting flickr looking at pictures and preparing to post some of my own I came across another ega member who had done almost the exact same thing as me!!! She even used hemp like I did. Worried that she would think I had copied her I sent her an e-mail and we had ourselves a little chuckle over it. Really gives you food for thought on the whole issue of copying :)
Then there are these!!! I have been thinking about making some lampwork headpins for about month now. Thanks again to one of my wonderful etsy customers for the inspiration~

I just made a few to start and Sue and I used them all up on the pendants :)
Peacock inspired~
Vetrofond odd lot Lime Sweet! What a great color~
And I've saved my favorite for last :) It is difficult for me not to show my love for beads. If I love how something I made has turned out I will tell you. This is not a lack of humility on my part it is just my passion for glass coming through. I get very excited if something turns out fabulous. You will hear me say "Oh thats my favorite" a lot and it is never a lie. I love most all of them. I surely love some more than others. Yeah I am a glass freak. So? :)

School started last week so I will hopefully have more time to devote to making and listing!!
Kris

We arrived and the weather was stunning!! So is the beach and then there is that man :) More beauty to the North...
And the morning sun coming up over the hills seen from our room Saturday morning...
All set up and ready to go!!!!
Amazing number of etsy artists! What a talented group :)
Matt and I had a wonderful time in Lincoln City. The people were very welcoming and friendly.
The show went very well and the rain showers they predicted for Saturday... Never made it to the beach!!! We had beautiful sunny weather with just the slightest breeze.
River managed to organize one of the best shows I have ever been too and I can't wait to do it again :)

A new love for making focals has been awakened! Don't know if I can stop so I hope you like them as much as I do :) Some close ups of my most favorite ones...
mmm...
ahhh...
Just in case you are wondering and in a panic because you noticed most of the items in my etsy shop have vanished! I thought I would let you all know I have taken all of the jewelry items out of the etsy shop for a few days. They are way overdue for some fresh air so I am taking them to Lincoln City where they will have a day in the sun and feel the cool kiss of the ocean breeze...
Some of them will find new homes and never return...
The rest will be back later next week~
Seeya!

Going to Lincoln City with me ~ Lovely shades of a rainforest safari~ Pretty topaz lovelies~ A custom request that wasn't exactly what the customer had in mind :)
Custom orders~ I love them as long as I get to have a bit of creative leeway~ Like color options! Choose more than one and it becomes an inspirational experience for me :)
Be specific! If you are after a certain look say so! It is okay, my goal is to make something you will love. Of course if I love them as well it will be easier for me, but I think I love most all of them~ lol...
I have been doing some custom requests lately and the reality is sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. It is difficult translating a vision from an e-mail, even with pictures. I am learning to ask more questions and really get the specifics nailed down. But still I will make more than one bead set or pendant or whatever if I need to and it is allright, because like I said I happen to love them all and extra inventory is always great for me.
Have no fear! It is certainly okay to ask and never a bother for me.
Now seriously I must get down to the business of show preparation. Lincoln City is looming and I am starting to have a touch of anxiety! I may need to back off the coffee this week so I can stay calm and not get too excited. I'll burn myself out before Friday if my mind keeps racing like this hehehe... I am really looking forward to it. Matt and I will get a mini vacation and meet up with a bunch of other people from Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/index.php
It is going to be a fun time!

I have been working with turquoise this week trying to duplicate a reaction from another set of beads I made~ Here I paired it with elektra in an effort to get the creamy colors of ivory without the black reaction line~ I reduced to bring out the copper reds and then encased them in clear and shaped them into pillow beads.
Oh and here we are in my dungeon oh I mean studio :) Yes it is messy right now bleh... I usually keep it nice and tidy and never have this much glass out at once.
When I went to Frantz I bought glass that is to long to fit into the storage space. I am cutting it in half with the torch and putting them away as I have time and room. Who would ever think there isn't enough room? hehehe... :P
Time to kick it up a notch!!! I have two shows to prepare for, one is this coming weekend!!! I will be in Lincoln City in front of the Cultural center with a bunch of other people from Etsy! I am really excited to do this show and I hope all goes well~ Pray for great weather and small winds. Oh and of course that the event is hugely successful for everyone involved!!
More later~
Kris

What a gorgeous red! I was so excited to see this one when i pulled it from the kiln :) Metallic bronze! I cannot do this justice with a camera. Imagine my surprise and elation when my new muddy green glass turned into this fabulous color! I may never leave the studio again.
The last two inches of the Frosty Blue I won at Frantz last year. I have found a replacement made by CIM glass so I suppose it was okay to finish it off at last...
Ahh Silver Cinnamon~ With a name like that how could anyone resist? It sounds warm and rich and the color that I got out of it certainly follows that line of thinking. Yum!!!
A big handful of my Sunday Focal making craziness :)

What is a focal? Does size matter? I think it is a matter of perspective a 5' 3" woman would want a smaller focal than say a 6'2" man. In reality I believe a focal is any bead with enough "presence" to be used alone. A focal doesn't have to be huge it just has to be more.

I spent all of last Sunday (The day I usually take off :) making Focal beads. It was liberating and I had a blast. I usually make small beads in sets. Making a bunch of focals was new and I experimented A LOT :) I love the results, some of them a bit too much and they will be hard to part with I can tell, darn it... I am so infatuated with some of the colors I purchased at Frantz I have gone beyond being a glass nerd and entered the realm of glass freak. Yep full blown glass addiction. My daughter would probably ask for an intervention if she knew what that meant :)

Off to melt something...

my precious...

;)

And so it starts :) We arrived fairly early the bulk of the crowd seemed to arrive from 11:00 am on. Jed and Julie from Double Helix Glass http://www.doublehelixglassworks.com/ were doing a lot of business with the spectacular glass they create. I was so excited to find they were sharing sample rods of their new glass "Psyche" can't wait to play with that!!
Oh what a mess we all made at the weigh it and mark it table!
The coveted Vetrofond odd lots!! I cannot believe I even got a clear shot of this area as it was packed with people most of the time we were there.
Outside looking in, thats the crowd I am talking about :)

We had a fantastic time at the Bash. I met some new people and learned some fabulous new techniques I can't wait to try. The weather was amazingly perfect, not too hot, just nice and sunny. I got to hang out with my family and some wonderful friends Teresa and Gary and their son Alan. They came over from Spokane just for this event~ I almost wish it was a two day event one just doesn't seem like enough :)