New eBay auctions are going up this week. See what I've posted today...
Check out my new Finished Necklaces page while you're here. These are one of a kind necklaces, I can't and don't guarantee that you'll see beads like these on my pages down the road.
New eBay auctions will be posted tomorrow, and let me say thanks to everyone who's bid or won my auctions, and to those who've visited this site because of it. I really appreciate the support and interest in my beads.
This weekend Austin has a big art festival downtown, and we just got back from walking around it. Lots of jewelry and art, but not a lot of people buying things. I think we were the only people who had something in their hands. We bought a really large rusty iron gecko to hang on our backyard fence, to go with our rusty iron bat. I think I was smart not to get a booth there, but I do hope the artists make some money this weekend. My shows are coming up in November and I fear that I won't have enough stock, or worse yet, no one will buy anything! eeegads...!
The button necklace (at left) was a big hit at our monthly lampworker meeting last night. Well not only with the lampworkers, its been getting comments from most everyone I see. If you're interested in something similar, let me know and I can put it together for you.
I've been busy behind the scenes, let me tell you! I've updated the Beads page w/ two new pages of Stone Beads and Florals. Check them out!
I've also added a shopping cart! If you use PayPal, you can now buy my beads from the site. If you don't use PayPal, you can still email me and tell me your needs. I can remake nearly all sets, but the Stone Beads are one of a kind, so the remake may not look exactly like the original.
I have 5 new eBay auctions going this week, one posted each day. Be sure and check those out too, and bid on some really fun halloween beads!
Upon a suggestion (thanks Elise), I've added the "Top 25" link at the top of this column. Please click on it and help my site be noticed by more people. I really do appreciate it.
I've gone button mad - been making even more the past few days. The "Bonnie's Buttons' has turned into "Donna's Button Necklace" and I really like it. Its very heavy but I'm still enjoying wearing it.
Clementine had to get involved in the picture taking - she used my pinkie finger to scratch her nose. So I waited until she was done..
And I got a shot of Darcy while she was lounging. This is the namesake for the Black and White beadset...
I taught myself how to make buttons over the weekend. they aren't that hard to do, its just a matter of finding the right amount of gather, how to squish it and shape it. my first buttons were pretty sad, but i got better as I went on. I practiced with copper metal for the shanks, but found that some of the buttons cracked, and others the soft copper just snapped right off. Some folks use brass, others TIG welding wire, but i had none on hand, so I made shanks out of the glass itself. None of the Bonnie Buttons (at left) have cracked using this method...The one thing I need to do now is make the shanks smaller so the button is more functional. as they are, i'm not sure how well they'd secure two pieces of fabric together - i didn't leave enough 'overhang' between the button and shank. But they sure look good!
first buttons - i know they are out of focus, but don't worry - you aren't missing anything...sad little buttons.
not anything real exciting in the kiln from yesterday, i completed an order and made a few new florals, and played around with some new glass. am still waiting on my pixie dust order that I placed over 10 days ago that supposedly was 'lost' by the company, but i think they really forgot about me. i called and emailed the order and still they forgot it. what more can a person do? this isn't the first time they've lost my order either. very disheartening.
if you are a local beadmaker who's in need of upgrading their torch, BlueMoon has recently received Minor, Bobcat and Lynx torches. Contact Jim if you are interested. I'll be teaching a 'get to know your oxy/propane torch' class soon - be on the lookout for that date in the coming weeks.
thanks to everyone who's bid on my beads - i appreciate the interest in them. I'll have more next week, i'm going to try and stagger the releases throughout the week instead of putting them all up at once. So check back thru the week (next) and see if something else comes up that you want.
If you like those flower beads and you're a beadmaker yourself, i'll be teaching the technique in Oct.
I have new beads that just came out of the kiln, and i need to go clean them. I'm really enjoying those 'Goldfinger' beads, so I'm keeping the pic up for awhile. Hope you don't mind...
Yesterday was 'eBay' day. It took me hours to get the pictures 'just so', and more time to create the pages, upload and edit the code so they would show up properly. Now that the majority of the setup is done, the next time I post it should be much quicker. Not many beads made yesterday, though. By the time I looked up, it was 4:00 and I didn't have a single bead in the kiln. I ended up making a few 'stone' beads (see Metallica pic for more info on what they look like).
Today's agenda is to meet with Jim at BlueMoon and setup some class dates. I'll post them when that's done. A friend is bringing over a choker that I need to resize and then its beadmaking all the way! I made a new chicken dish last night, so we have plenty of left overs. Oh yeah, I have some Goldfinger chokers to finish, so that I can get them into some local stores. Yee Haw, its the fall!
I'm on the ball today...my "Possible Classes" are posted. Please visit this page and let us know what you're interested in taking. Or, visit BlueMoon's site and email Jim Berry and tell him what classes you're interested in.. Nothing has been scheduled yet, we are waiting to see what the interest is...please let us know!
Yesterday I made chokers using focal beads that came out of the kiln this week. Don't have pics of the chokers, but the picture of the Goldfinger focals is posted at left.
yesterday was 'try this new technique at the torch" day with my friend Mick. she teaches beginner beadmaking at BlueMoon. Mick makes big beads. I should have taken pics of them when I took them out of the kiln this morning, but I always forget to do that...rats! and I've already taken them to her this morning, so they aren't here for you to see. She was working with purple, avocado and ivory and the beads were fabulous. We tried out the new copper green/reduction frit technique as well as a Smircich black lace effect. Mick's came out better because she was on my Lynx whereas I was on my old HH, but I still got plenty done and was productive. Pixie Dust beads come out great on a HH, and the reduction techniques work great when you use some tinfoil to block the holes in the HH. I was pretty pleased with my results all in all.
Today is 'back to business' day - making sets for upcoming shows. I think i need more flower beads, so that's what's on tap today...many many flowers.
I also need a bigger kiln, so if anyone out there has an old AF 18x13 they are willing to sell me, give me a holler. I'm sure i can sell my AF 9x9 to make room.
i'll be posting pics of my class offerings at BlueMoon on my website and you can 'vote' on which class you'd like to see offered. I imagine there will be one class a month, but we didn't set any rules yet, we're still in preproduction. Jim's oxy/propane torches haven't arrived yet either...but i'm sure they will eventually.
got a nice fat check from BlueMoon for some of my consignment items. its the only store that i have beads in right now, but i'm working on that too.
Have been experimenting with pixie dust and eye shadow. "whats that?" you say. well, pixie dust is mostly mica - which is what the sparkly eye shadows are. I have a set of about 9 or 10 colors that I've had for years and sure enough, they make great beads. I don't have very much of each color, the containers are pretty small so the beads are very small but i'm still finding it funny that it works.
I've been playing with pixie dust and reduction frit the past few days. the pixie dust is coming out very nicely, but the reduction frit is burning out in the kiln. i think i need to make those beads the last ones of the day and let them ramp down. i'll keep playing with them to see what i'm doing wrong.
I've been working on the class proposal list for BlueMoon - and have managed to come up with 8 different classes, including one on getting to know your oxy/propane torch. I'm sure not all of them will be offered right away, because i'm not prepared to teach that many classes right now, but at least I have a variety to offer...
I'm really dissapointed to see that Lance and Kristin Armstrong are finally divorcing. I was hoping they could work everything out. I don't know them personally, I'm just a local fan. bummer.
Still waiting to hear if I've been accepted into Austin's Bead Show. Houston called and said I'm 'in', so if you're in the Houston area, please come see me. That is the first show for me in November and I'm looking forward to meeting all my Houston customers...!
Exciting news...for everyone who has asked if I'll be teaching, the answer is YES. I'm working with BlueMoon Glassworks on an upcoming fall calendar. These classes will be Intermediate and above, so if you are new to beadmaking, take the Beginning class that Mick teaches at BlueMoon. She's a great teacher and you'll learn a lot! Then buy your beginners equipment and practice until you feel comfortable at the torch, and then sign up for some of my upcoming classes...Jim has Bobcat torches (and some minors and lynx's as well) on order and that's what I'll be teaching on. I hope to have an 'intro to your propane torch' class, followed by some intermediate techniques as well as a 'critters' class (frogs, caterpillars, ladybugs), an encased flowers class, and probably a 'metals' day where we play with silver, gold and palladium. And some other goodies that I've been thinking about, so you never know and keep your eyes glued here for further information...I'll post a schedule in my 'green' column over there <-----
speaking of teaching, i've submitted my proposal for a beginners class at Dougherty Arts Center, but they won't be ready until January of next year, assuming they agree to it at all. So if you're in a hurry, go to BlueMoon instead.
its a hot and lazy day in Austin...i'm firing up the kiln and will continue with the glass mixing project, and the silver leaf beads. on my agenda today is to make a necklace from some of the new beads that i've made the past couple of days and get some pics of my floral beads done so I can post them...lets hope i get around to it.
its college football opening weekend, and i haven't made myself a set of Longhorn beads like I told myself I would. chop chop, must get on that...
i've been helping with the color mixing saga (see Corina's site for more details) and let me tell you - Copper Green makes all the reds and yellows turn into a really ugly brown color. mud. ugly. ick. waste of glass. don't ever mix copper green w/ colors 406-424. yikes!!
but I did get some coolio colors to mix - nile green and the turquoise/skyblue sets. some really nice seafoam greens and light teals result. so today wasn't a total loss...and besides, i've not sat down and done major color mixing like this before, so its great practice. I found that lopping off an inch of each color and using my stainless steel chop sticks works great - it doesn't cause me to melt more of one color or another, and it keeps the amount of glass small and managable. just like silky soft shiny hair. i've asked for more colors (i've done 16 today) and asked them to keep Copper Green out of the equation!
made a road trip to Heritage Glass yesterday and picked up a few things, nothing earthshattering. the only real new thing was some clear Vetrofond that I want to play with. more Capri blue from Checkglass, more Sage Opaque that was much darker than my last batch, 10 yards of silver wire to play with on beads, and some back-up pointed tweezers that Larry Scott uses. Molly gave me some clear frit so i can play with one of the techniques in the Spotlight..On Silver edition, even thoug it calls for Bullseye, i'm gonna try it with Moretti (since I have no bullseye frit or french vanilla white to use it with). I have the Bullseye sampler, but not all the rods came in the shipment, and i've not really sat down and played with it at all...maybe i'll get around to it one day...