Yes....I'm still here.....

Isn't it terrible of me to drop off the face of the earth for months at a time? I can't believe the last time I updated it was the beginning of July.

Once again I bring you numerous updates - one which is kinds HUGE.....at least...to me :)

Let's see.....

1.  I FREAKING GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL!  And not just any ol' grad school.  I'm going to DUKE!! And not for just any wishy-washy thing.....I'm going to be A NURSE ANESTHETIST!

So that's my big news :D :D :D

2. The Dude has finally made headway on the stairs (which have been in limbo for the last, oh, 6 years) and this weekend I hope to have the first 6 stairs - treads and risers - fully installed.  YAY!!

3. I got an iPhone 4.  Is that news anymore?  Maybe not but I have to say I love the thing. What can I say? I'm a gadget freak.  Yes. I have an iMac, iPhone, iPad, iPod....you name it.  If the device is named i-something or other I've probably got one.  Yeah. I know.  I'm spoiled.  You can blame The Dude.

4. I've been working on lots of simple beads lately. Mainly because I've developed a totally unhealthy fascination with the variety of silver glass available for lampworkers and since I'm just slightly OCD I've determined that I must catalogue all the color combinations that I use so that I may duplicate them in the future.  Here are a few pics from the first test batches:

Fun stuff, eh?

I've been working like a fiend trying to build up the coffers before the insanity (school!) starts in January so I haven't had much time to be the social butterfly but I did get to see my favourite gals this past week.  Here they are:

Life is so sweet.  I almost don't even mind that I'm working 5 in a row next week.  Almost......

Hen party tonight with another bunch of lovely gals.

Hope you're having a great day wherever you are!!

Scattered....

That's kind of how I feel.  That might be how I've been feeling for a while but consciously I'm really feeling that way today.  I had the best of intentions for this day off:

1.  Finish online tests for school
2.  Torch

Well, I managed to accomplish #1 (yay!) and am officially done with all the testing for my summer course.  Phew!  One final assignment - which hopefully I'll pass the first time around - and then I'm done until classes start back up at the end of August.  Now...you'd think that means I'll have plenty of time to "play" but not really.  Feeling guilty about not having worked much this year I've scheduled myself for lots and lots of work while I don't have any classes.  Maybe not such a good idea?

I sat down to torch.  When the 3rd bead exploded I figured it just wasn't meant to be and shut it down.  I wish I could be a more "on the fly" kind of beadmaker.  Just as much as I could never be a jazz musician because I totally lack the ability to improvise I also cannot come up with bead ideas on the fly.  It's a curse :)  I'm just not flexible enough to go with the flow.  I need some sort of plan....some idea of what I want to accomplish.  Give me Bach any day.

So, today I feel artistically stonewalled.  And maybe that's way I feel all antsy.  Like I'm not quite sure what to do next.....because I didn't get all the things on my list checked off.  Gawd....talk about OCD!!

OK...enough of that....here are some pics of recent stuff just for fun.

Hope you're having a good day wherever you are!  It's 90 degrees out today (more with the humidex I'm sure!) and I'm staying indoors.  Maybe I'll even try to get back on the torch :)

What to do when you're stuck at home

after getting your wisdom teeth removed and you look like a chipmunk and can't go 2 seconds without slobbering all over yourself.....

Get out the PMC and get to work!  Since I'd recently emptied my stash of mini silver spacers it was time to get cracking at making some more.

I didn't count but I'm pretty sure there are at least 100 spacers there.  Hand cut, hand decorated, and the most time consuming - hand polished.

I keep wondering if there's an easier way to do this but I guess not.  It's the polishing after the liver of sulfur treatment that takes the most time.  I'm seriously considering whether to adjust pricing on these things to reflect the total handmade-ness of these beads.

Anyhow, at least it kept me busy today.  I wasn't fit for anything but being at home.  Tomorrow? I have big plans for melting some glass :)

Check out this site....

I recently discovered Barbara Lewis' website/blog through a fellow lampworker.  Once I checked out her stuff I fell in love and am determined to get an enamelling class under my belt (like I really need more hobbies, right??)

In any case, Barbara recently upgraded/updated her blog and I'm telling you, you should check it out.  Her blog is Painting With Fire Artwear. 

I'm hoping that I'm one of the lucky ones who gets their name pulled for one of the awesome giveaways she's doing!!

It's beautiful outside today.  Finally some sun and warmer temps.  We're off for Thai food and then a day of R&R.  Life is indeed good!

Hope you're having a good one wherever you are :)

Promo time :)

Quick update.

Worked on some silver stuff today. Will be running a promo that starts as soon as I get pics of the newest stuff posted. Here's how it works:

I post pics of my newest creations.
You be the first to buy some.
I give you some very cool, very free, handmade by me, stuff.
(I may even give away some stuff even if you're not the first!)

That's it :)

I gotta get some economic stimulation going!

It's sunny out and we're having sushi for dinner. It's been a great weekend. Don't forget to check back later this evening for my next update. The website, this blog, and all my various online store areas will be updated.

I love winning!!

Well, not that I've actually won anything....yet. But I'm hoping that I do :) I entered this frit challenge contest that Lori Greenberg is holding and am hoping that I will be the lucky winner of Val's Frit Secrets book!

I've been using Val's frits...well...pretty much ever since I started lampworking. I'm more for letting the frit blends speak for themselves and love to use them mostly in crystal shaped beads where the colors really shine. Someday I'm going to take Val's class where I'll hopefully learn how to do more with frits than just put them on a bead and encase them :D

Here are some of my faves....the ones above were all made with Val's Glow frit on different bases, encased with different colors, with silver, without silver. Very neat!

These ones to the right I used Raku frit for the background which I thought gave these beads a lovely earthy feel.

Below is more yummy Raku-ness. Gosh is this particular glass every hard to work with though. Very tempermental.

I don't think I've used Raku for much in a long while. Maybe it's time to whip it out to see what it'll do for me now that I have a new torch setup. Maybe it'll play nice. It was like pulling teeth for a while. I'm really envious of anyone who can make Raku sing. Like Kim Neely...and a whole bunch of other beadmakers who are infinitely more Raku-blessed than I have ever been!

My faves though are the crystal beads with just the colors and a nice thick clear encasing to make them shine. Yup...those I love the most.....my ROX. All made with Val's frit blends except for the last set which I blended up myself as a special request for "Java Blue".

Hahahaha......

I had to blog about this although it was probably ALOT funnier at that very moment in time. Still...

So we went out today. Ran a bunch of errands. Wound up at the local Target and while Kev was checking out I wandered over to one of the sample stations where they were giving away freebies of Starbucks chocolate (who could resist, right?). As I get up to the station the woman standing behind it says to me "You have to have your parents' permission if you're under 14." I'm wondering if this woman is speaking to me and I look at her. I guess I must have had a really funny look on my face because she then says "You look really young......." I totally bust out laughing and informed the nice lady behind the counter "I'm thirty-three" to which her eyeballs totally widen and her jaw drops open. I wave Kev over and ask her to repeat what she said to me. She tells Kev "Sir, you look like you have a child bride." At this point I'm totally keeled over laughing and just can't stop. She offers us each a sample of the chocolate and I tell her she's totally made my day. Imagine me laughing all the way out of the Target. I'm sure I sounded like a crazy woman.

Good thing I got a ton of laughs earlier in the day because then we got home and we realized that none of our fans would work for the new ventilation setup in the studio and I'm now missing the one essential piece that will prevent me from torching tomorrow :( Aaaaarrrrrgh! Now I have to find a fan solution that will work. Why can't things ever be easy?

Here are some pics that I forgot to post earlier of some other beads that I made during Andrea's class.
The bottom left is supposed to be an Ammonite bead (it didn't turn out because I screwed up one of the essential steps!). Top is a Sea Garden bead and right is a Moth Wing.Close up of the Moth Wing bead. I was very happy with the way this one turned out.
Moth Wing from another perspective. Yup. Love this bead.

Just Pics....

Quick post with bead pics. More to come later.....

Don't forget today is the last day to enter the drawing for a bead/bead set. You need to add yourself as a follower of this blog (look over to the right side of the page) and then add a comment and I'll add you to the draw :)

More pics....

Today was intense....my head is spinning from all the information thrown at us. The most amazing thing to me is that I totally haven't made anything that resembles what I normally make and am, therefore, working outside of my comfort zone. Not just with colors but with techniques and the sheer sizes of the beads I'm making. My glass supply is going to be dwindling alot more quickly if I keep making beads this large!

These are some beads from yesterday's haul. It's hard to see but most of them are on larger mandrels in preparation for what we'll be doing tomorrow.

Tomorrow we work solely with silver. PMC. I'm totally stoked about this as I've been dying to learn how to use PMC for the longest time. We've got tons of beads to line with silver and a bunch that we'll add caps to. Goodness....there is going to be a frenzy to purchase all the new supplies I'll need when I get home ;)

In the meantime, here are some photos. The sun actually came out today so there were some good photo ops. I hope the sun's out tomorrow too!

This picture is taking straight from the backyard of Andrea's place. The views are absolutely breathtaking!
Looking over to the right of Andrea's place. There is access to the beach which I'm sure is fabulous when it isn't raining.

Another view from Andrea's backyard. Yeah...if it wasn't so gloomy and rainy all the time we would actually consider moving to the PNW :)