I've Got Headpins!!

My latest headpins in my Etsy store.

If you would like a closer look at them, click

HERE

and you'll see all of my headpins.

I'm adding more.

I guess I didn't realize how low I was.  

See you tomorrow.

New Work

Here's some new work.

Some of it is listed in my Etsy Store,

I hope to list it all soon.

 

  Critters!

Polymer Clay

Birds!

Can You Tell Me What the h*&^&* -eck This is?

I don't know!

It was supposed to be a blown sea shell.

I haven't blown any sea shells in a long time.

Looks like I need a little bit more practice.

Sigh!

I Guess Nikki was Just Bored...

because,

my good friend, Nikki, of

NLC Beads on Etsy

opened another store called

Saving Throw Dice.

I just ordered some items from her new store.  

Let me show you what I ordered.

These are for ME!!

MINE MINE ALL MINE!!!

These are a gift!!!

I do like the purple ones better!!!!

These are fun and the prices are right!!!

Now let's take a quick look at 

NLC Beads

Oh, and Nikki is still busy making beads!

Never fear!

Whether you're Irish or not, 

You've gotta' like this shamrock sheep.

Click HERE to see the other side of Nikki!!!

It's a Screaming Alien!!!

Click HERE to see it!!!

Then there are the organics!

WOW!

Click HERE to see them.

So much to see and do in 

Nikki's stores.

Now, just go on over and have some fun!!!!

That's How it All Began. Well, I guess I should go back to the Beginning of the STory, shouldn't I?

Not with this piece, exactly.

I  made this yesterday.

Here's what it became:

A reusable cover for my Swiffer.

No more replacing the covers and throwing them away.

I'm sort of going green.

Anyway, I digress.

What does this Swiffer cover have to do with anything?

Since I was a young child, I had to be doing something all the time.

My grandmother taught me to crochet as a young child.

I played with that a bit.

I made a couple of doilies and moved on to other things,

painting, clay, really, whatever I could do with my hands.

Then, when I became a 9th grader,

I fell in love with the opposite of reading,

that's right,

writing, especially poetry.

I used to have volumes and volumes of poetry I wrote in my teenage angst

about love and the world around me.

Some of them were actually quite good and were published in a magazines and small collections of poetry.

My love for writing continued into womanhood,

and my love for crochet was awakened when I was a young bride on a very limited budget for crafts.

I crocheted everything I could!

I loved the craft so much.

As I began to age,

my love for crochet was overwhelmed by my love for quilting.

I was a quilter for 8 years. 

I have many beautiful quilts as a result of that era.

Then, after my husband died,

I stumbled upon lampworking.

It's been 7 years now, and I haven't looked back.

There is always something new to learn and write about.

(How's that for blatantly ending a sentence with a preposition?)

To be listed very soon.

Sadly, you can't make these with fibers!

However, there are times when I have to go back to my roots.

That's why I made this, too!

What is it?

It's another Swiffer cover or it's a dishcloth for washing dishes or it's a shower or bath cloth.

You take your pick!

I plan to use it on my Swiffer.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Easy Peasy Tutorial on how to make  on of these Swiffer covers/dish cloths/ bath and beauty cloths.

They are easy and you just have to have beginning crochet skills.

Easy Peasy Simple Lampwork Bead BoneTutorial for Glass Bead Makers

It's getting to be that time of year! The leaves are falling. Daylight is much shorter than it was a month ago. Autumn is here, and with the onset of autumn comes the harvest and the spooky time of the year. Last year, I posted this Easy Peasy Skull Tutorial. This year, I thought I'd show you how I make bones. Like with most beads, there are as many ways to make bones as there are beaders. Well, maybe not that many, but there are a lot of ways to make bones. This is how I make a very simple bone.

The bone is the photo is sort of a short, fat bone, but you can make your bones any length and have any girth that you would like. You can also decorate your bones any way you like. I am keeping this bone simple because of time and space. See the end of the tutorial for the tools you will need.














Step 1: Make a simple tube bead. I used orange sherbet so that the details of this bone would show up better. Use any color you like.










Step 2: Bulk up each end of the bead by adding a spacer either at the end of the tube, (just make sure the spacer fuses with the tube,) or on the ends of the tube. In the photo the right side had the spacer put on top of the glass and on the left side the spacer was put next to the glass.

















Step 3: Add 3-4 dots on the glass at end of each tube. These will be the bulky part of the bone, and they will be your guides for the next step. You can space them evenly or not. That's up to you.


















Step 4: Melt a small amount of glass at the end of your glass rod. Using the dots as a guide, from the middle, swipe the glass to the top of the dot.
Repeat this step on each side of the bone with each dot. Remember to go from the middle to the top of your bone.














This is what your bone looks like when you have completed Step 4.



















Step 5: Now, let gravity work for you. Tilt your mandrel to about a 45 degree angle and let the glass flow a little bit on each tip.



















Step 6: Tilt the bone to the other side and let the glass flow just a little to define the shape of the bone.



Remember, Step 5 and Step 6 shouldn't take too long. Don't let the bone become a gushy mess! All you want to do is to melt the glass that is on top of the dots and let it flow to the ends.











Step 7: Admire your creation for about 10 seconds then stick that baby in the kiln. Let it soak according to your schedule.

















Tools:

a coated mandrel
glass rod in your color choice
a marver
a torch ( I have a mini cc which I run with 2 oxycons.)
kiln
patience
passion
love of glass and beads

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful. Have fun!
You can find me on Facebook. I hope you post photos of your creations on my "like" page.
If you like my page, you can also add your name to list for the chance to win a teapot pendant. Just look for the teapot pendant and sign up.

I'm Making Vessels Again

It's been awhile since I made vessels, but I wanted a fire vessel to wear around here. Here's a photo of it! What do you think?

If the truth be told, I wanted a vessel to wear at the Bead and Button Show which is coming up very soon. Then I realized, as I shaped and blew this vessel into form I had forgotten how much I enjoyed making vessels. So, I dipped my mandrels so that they would be ready for tomorrow's torch session.
I'm making vessels again!












Here's a vessel I have listed in my Etsy store right now. This organic style vessel is so very pretty!






















I call this vessel Broken Shell Vessel. It's a vessel that does not hold anything. The front of the vessel is open so that it looks like a shell.






I'll be showing more vessels as I make them. I'm also looking for a bag of vessels that I had, but now, I've lost! I probably put them away. I'll probably find them in a year of so. I guess that I had better get to work and make more vessels to replace them. Photos to follow later.

Murrini and More

I've started to carry a new product in my Etsy store. For my non bead making friends, murrini is used for decoration on a bead.

Murrini can be made with many different designs. This ------------->
is a very simple cane. I used a silver glass called Elektra and intense black for the stripes. This murrini should blossom beautifully into flowers.












This murrini is made with intense black for stripes and Blue Chalcedony made by Gaffer.






















This murrini is made with chalcedony glass and intense black. Like Elektra and Blue Chalcedony, Chalcedony is a silver enriched glass.


















This murrini is called Crazy Quilt. It's a mixture of different murrinis that I made. Some are more complex than others, but they were fun to make!
















Anyway, if you are interested, check out my Etsy Store! I have a lot for you to see!

If I could Love you More

It's not always easy to love
or to find love,
It's not always easy to give love
or to take love,
It's not always easy to see love
or to let someone see you love,
but
If you could love more,
You would find love,
You would give love,
You would see love
In all that you do
In all that touches your life,
Love,
Pure Love,
Only Love,
Peace, Love and Joy!

How many Ways can you Make a Disc?

I love to make discs when I torch! Recently, I challenged myself to see if I could come up with new ways to make discs. Here are the results of some of my experiments. These aren't necessarily my best work, they are just experiments in discs.

For example:
Here----------------------------->
you have my traditional discs next to a flower disc. I need to work on those a bit.








Scroll down a bit and here's what you see:
--------------------------------->
Ruffles.

I like both efforts.

There are two slightly different techniques, but the results are fun!



















This------------------------------>
disc has a more primitive look to it, which goes to show you that you can change the shape of the disc and still have a disc.

















You can also make

Freeform discs!

-------------------------------->










They don't have to be perfect, and even in the chaos, there is control.








Last, but not least, you can change the shape of a disc and add appendages. This disc clearly needs more work, but I think it has a lot of potential.








So, tell me, what types of discs do you like. What should I work on next?

Vessels

I have 3 beautiful vessels in my Etsy Store. This one is called Posh Purple Vessel! It's really a lovely piece of jewelry. It's even big enough to put a little bit of something you want to hold close to you whether it be a touch of fragrant oils or child's first tooth.











This is another vessel in my Etsy Store.
I call this one Midnight Skies. It's a small item, but it's unique. With only 31 days to Christmas, you might want to order this beautiful little piece of wearable art soon. Think about it!















Last, but not least, is the Buried Coral Reef vessel. Although not shown, this comes with a chain so that you can wear this. I love to make vessels! I need to clear out my current stock so that I can make more. Not only that, these vessels would make wonderful, unique gifts for that special person on your list.

What do You buy when You Buy a Lampwork Bead

Let's talk about lampwork beads and their cost.
This is a set of spacer beads that I currently have listed in my Artfire store. I call them Outrageous Orange Spacers. I priced these spacers at $18.
There are 12 beads in this set. All of these beads are handmade.











Where does the cost come from. What are you buying when you buy this set of beads?

Cost:
1. My first class cost me $110 for two hours. I have since learned that there are better beginner classes for less money.

2. I have taken 2 other classes taught by professional bead makers at $200 and $400 each. I am scheduled to take two more classes in 3 weeks at $285 each.

3. My first torch was a Hot Head, which I loved, but I have since upgraded to a mini cc which had been used in a class. The Hot Head cost me $40 and the mini cost me $225.

















In order to run my mini cc, I need, not only propane, but a source for oxygen. When I bought my mini I also bought an oxygen concentrator. I have since added a second one because I mini does work better with 2 oxycons than with one.

I got a good deal on the oxycons. I paid around $280 for each one. That did include the shipping costs.














I also had to buy the hoses and the regulator for my propane and oxygen. That cost was an additional $70.

A small, but good addition, is my holding tank. I paid about $25 for that. I should actually upgrade to a bigger holding tank because of the extra oxycon, but I haven't done that yet.


















I also bought a used kiln. That cost me $450. I love my digital kiln, and it's clearly needed, but it's an additional cost.

















Whew! All right, what else do you need?


















Now, you need mandrels and bead release. I save money on mandrels by purchasing tig rods from the welding store. If I could make my own bead release, I would. I do buy the bead release in bulk, so that saves on expense. Without bead release, a person would never be able to take their beads off of the mandrels.


















Lastly, you need tools and glass. Glass can cost as little as $3.75 for a quarter pound to $22 for a quarter pound. Depending on which tools you need, they can range in price from $7 to $80 per tool. And don't forget the electricity you need for the oxycons, the light switch, the kiln, and the IPod. (I do need to listen to music when I work.) There are also books and tutorials that help a beadmaker develop new skills and techniques.

I'm afraid to add all of this up, and, please remember, I didn't buy all of these items all at once. I bought them over time. That helps with the cost. So, when you buy a lampwork bead or a glass sculpture, think of what you are buying. It's a lot more than the cost of the beads.

The Divas

As anyone will tell you, whether it be life or art, sometimes there is a turn in direction, an exploration resulting in growth. As I look back on my life, I am amazed by the twists and turns my life has taken to get me to this place in time, to the person I have become. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would live in the town where I live. I never envisioned that I could ever have been a special ed teacher. Nor did I ever suspect, that after retirement, I'd be making lampwork beads. These twists and turns, snakes and curves brought me to this point in my art and my life. Ever the random, random person, I stand at my torch daily and decide what I am to make. I usually take a list with me down to the studio to work. I try to stick to my list, but then there is the "what if" moment. What if I did this? Oh, you know what, this looks like this, and I change course like a river flowing through a valley. This is what happened on the day she first decided to be born. Varshelle was an accident. She started to be something else, then she became, "what if" I did this, and Varchelle was born. She certainly is not a lovely diva, but she is fun. She dyed her hair green, and she loves to party. If you want to read more about her, check my etsy store where Varchelle lives for the moment. Varchelle's birth, though intense, was not difficult. She chose to be, so she is, and she is a diva.

Today, another diva was born. Her name is Susanah. She seems a bit surprised, but I don't think she expected another diva to be in her home. She also resides in my etsy store. You can read her story there, too. Rumor has it, Susanah has a secret past. Hmmmm. I don't know what that means.

Perhaps, one of these days, another diva will join them. I don't know how that will work. I think Varchelle and Susanah will tolerate each other, but I'm not sure how long they will be able to get along. Time will tell. In the meantime, have a visit with each of these divas. Their lives have brought them to where they should be, but I do honestly believe, more divas will join them later.