New Eye Candy

Pics of the beads I made last night. I had fun playing with some of my Double Helix and TAG (Trautman Art Glass) colors! Striking (heating, cooling and then repeating a gazillion more times!) and reducing (eliminating the oxygen for a fuel rich flame) techniques were used to bring out colors much different from the color of the rods.


This is Terranova 2 (a DH color) which looks dirtier than our Chattahoochee River in rod form. Just a murky, muddy almost transparent brown. But melt it over clear to let the light shine through and then work it in the flame for awhile and voila! These awesome reds, blues & purples jumped out!!!



Next is Zeus (a TAG color) that is clear in rod form. I swirled it over Red Roof Tile and worked it for awhile to get these really deep blues & purples.



And these are my favorite....I want to make more, but in different shapes...nuggets, cubes, maybe some lentils. This is Aion 2 (another DH color) that is also clear in rod form. The rumor is you can get pearly whites out of this, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the blues and greens. The metallic/mirror-y finish that outlines this glass where it touches the black is another cool bonus.

This Was My Weekend!

I worked in the yard. Got the grass cut. Trimmed the top of the willow tree with Todd holding the ladder after giving it a major hair cut last week as high up as I could reach or climb. These pink flowers are some the kids picked out & I planted last weekend.


This is our bush outside the kitchen patio that has grown big enough to take over Texas. I'll trim it back after it loses all the blooms. They're so pretty, I couldn't stand the thought of cutting them all off right now.
My girl child contemplating the pros/cons of running through the sprinkler with big bumble bees in the backyard. In the end, the fear of the bees kept her rooted on my lap or by my side. I told her they didn't sting and they didn't have teeth to bite, they just lick (they're just big ole pollinators) which made her laugh. Maybe next weekend.

A glimpse of my new haircut through the sun speckles. I got close to 6 inches chopped off in the front. Chloe is still pensive about the bees.


Still looking out for the bees, but at least I caught her beautiful smile :)


And the temps got above 90. I LOVED it!

And a little time on the torch. Not as much as I'd like, but my time will come in another month and Todd will owe me big. Right now, he is playing tennis like a fiend. Seems like every team he's on is either in the playoffs or going to the State Championships. So he's playing tennis ALL THE TIME, which is great for him. And I'm enjoying more of the one-on-one time with the kids. They have helped me pick out a TON of flowers these last two weekends and helped get some of the plants in the ground.

Hoping to get some new beads listed in Etsy this week. We'll see. Depends on how hectic work is & what kind of free time I find in the evenings or if I take lunch hours.

Easter Weekend

Here are my two little loves, on the hunt for Easter eggs in the backyard. O was most helpful in pointing his sister toward eggs once he hit his gathering limit. I love that they are friends and work together. Sometimes.


And here begins my playtime at the torch from Saturday. I spent multiple 30 minute chunks in my studio melting glass between hanging out with the Grandparents and snuggling the kids before Todd and I went out on a date (woo hoo! a kids free evening). I logged maybe 3 hours total on the torch, but had a most enjoyable time playing with new color combinations and a new color....

Lake Geneva which is polka dotted on the ivory beads below. The transparent rod is a deep royal blue, but on white it becomes a light blue. On ivory, it is a deeper blue. It turns into a greenish hue when I reduce the flame to eliminate oxygen. The ivory always reacts excellently with glass that has silver in it. Here you can see the dark rings around the Geneva, which a thin white outline separating the dark rings from the interior color.


These beads have a white core underneath a layer of pinks that I "painted" on by dipping a hot rod of clear into the frit jar before melting it around the white. Then I heavily encased the beads in clear to magnify the pinks. They look like candy to me.
I like these purple beads. I used a purple frit with Gaffer clear, which produced a nice range of purples (the frit had a nice color combination, the Gaffer makes them stand out by being the marvelous clear that it is). But I also worked it a little too hot, so the purple devitrified in spots (you might be able to see the chalky white if you look closely) and a little boiling/pitting which mars the smooth surface.

And here is a pendant necklace I just made for a Twitter friend's weight loss challenge...Aweigh. Heather of Sentimental Journey has pulled in some really cool donations to give as award prizes each week to the participant who has lost the most weight. I had already been experimenting with larger beads to be used as either worry stones or birthing necklace beads (to focus on during labor), so it only took me a few tries before I decided on the combination that I thought would be great for this leather focal necklace. This bead comfortably fits in the palm of my hand and is smooth on the back side. I encased it in clear, but didn't melt it in completely on the front so the fingers would know without even looking which side is facing out. I used a sterling silver hook & eye clasp and a little SS tear drop to dangle beneath my bead. I'm sad to see this one leave so quickly....a winner has already been chosen for the week. I'll just have to make more of these big beads!

No climbing poles for me!

Here is my only shot at climbing phone poles...training in Dallas two weeks ago. While the union did not come to an agreement with my company on a new contract, they did agree to continue business as usual until they do come to an agreement. For me, this means I do NOT have to go to Oklahoma to work as a field technician (ie. climbing poles, descending into manholes or installing/repairing phone lines for the locals).

I have spent 300+ hours over the past several months taking 57 training courses. It has been stressful working 50+ hour work weeks for months on top of my normal job, as well as thinking of the possibility of leaving my family for an unknown amount of time to perform strike duty. My time on the torch considerably decreased as a result to spend my evenings in online training. My beloved torch and source of sanity renewal, oh how I have missed you! I am extremely thankful that the union agreed to not strike and that I may stay home. With my family. With free evenings to now return to my torch or my husband's side on the sofa when he's not playing tennis. I can get caught up on 24 and American Idol. I can again make commitments on Etsy and know I can fulfill them. On time.

It is the simple things that I am returning to and that I am now running toward with open arms. I have been doing heel clicks all day in thanks & happiness :)

And an added bonus? My Dad can finally stop singing Wichita Lineman to me everytime we talk!

Eagan, MN artist - Sherry Ehret of JitterJewels

Sherry is a fantastic jewelry designer and is living the dream! She has been working full-time, designing jewelry for years. What would be her formal living room in her home is actually her studio and showroom. When I visited Sherry last summer, I was in awe of her designs, workmanship and the sheer quantity of pieces displayed. It was like I had walked into an upscale boutique off Main Street because there was soooo much to look at and touch and look at some more :)


Sherry has a great eye for design and color combinations. Her work ranges from simply subtle to complex and elegant to bold and flashy. I'm sure you can find a piece for any occasion, whether you're dressing down for the beach or up for a formal ball. I LOVE how she can take so many different components and put them all together to make stunning jewelry that anyone can wear!


And you might have noticed some of my beads in her jewelry, which I think is so cool. I enjoy watching my beads 'grow up' and live new & different lives in ways I would never dream up. Like the etched green & yellow beads in the bracelet above. I loved these beads, but I could never figure out what to do with them. Sherry created this bracelet and now I can't imagine a more perfect design with these colors!


She even makes name and birthstone bracelets similar to the one above. Sherry made one that says GRANDMA for Sharon (my mom-in-law) that she wears ALL. THE. TIME. And I got Sherry to make a bracelet for one of my good friend's with her son's name and birthstones (which she LOVED!). Just send her an email if you want something specific, Sherry takes on custom work all the time :)

You can visit Sherry's Jitter Jewels shop on Etsy at JitterJewels.etsy.com