Beads Coming Soon!

I finally have pics of all the beads I made last week and over the weekend.

Loving the dark outline around this delicate pink against this gentle seafoam green.

Still one of my favorite glasses that mixes these two colors.

More delicate pink on a darker green.  But no cool outline where the colors meet.

I am loving this translucent yellow.  They are almost milky in person.

Raku on black.  Lots of greens that came out of this batch.

Sweet pinks.  Has been too long since I used this garden frit with anything.  It was one of the first frit blends I purchased years ago and remains one of my favorites.

Silvered ivory spirals on ivory.  Love the crackling and the occasional dot of silver raised to the surface.

Bright speckles on black.

Did you notice I was on a bit of a nugget kick?  The smashing was therapeutic for me :)  I love the peach tint in the clear glass between the white wisps spiraling through these beads.

I thought the seafoam green glass needed its own set with no distractions.

The yellows were more brown when they went into the kiln, so I was excited putting them in and a little disappointed pulling them out.  Still a cool combo, but not what I was expecting.  What do you think of these?

Ivory spacers that are all a little bottom heavy.

A bunch of headpins got made and there will be more made this week.  Hoping to have them all ready by Saturday to list at least five new sets.

I also made a bunch of new focals, but will save those pics for tomorrow.

That is all for now.  Back to your regularly scheduled programming!

Etsy Shop Update Tonight!

Here are the items coming to my shop tonight.  Not many, but then I have had very little time on the torch this past week.  I promise there will be so much more next Friday!

One set of copper headpins using scrumptious colors on top of ivory.  I still can NOT get enough of these!

This is the bead that  I made that was featured on the annual postcard for the Southern Flames (my local glass society).  I love all the veining on the ivory!

A cute little, green heart on a white base.

I love this transparent red and the little spirals remind me of snail fossils with their earthy shades.

And a set of swirly, blue nuggets.

These will all be getting added to the shop after 8pm EST tonight.

Hooray for the Weekend!

I have been burning the midnight oil almost every night since coming back from Minnesota over a week ago.  It is catching up with me, so I am looking forward to this weekend for a little extra sleep.  But also to spend time with my honeys, with friends and as our last weekend home alone without kids.  On the flip side, I am getting so much done around the house and have been stuffing my mailbox full to send things out almost every day this week!

These eggs are on their way to Heather of Humblebeads.  Keep an eye out on her blog and shop to see what she does with these!

These bebe eggs are on their way to Lorelei.  I always love what she does with my beads, so keep an eye on her blog and shop.  I hope they will inspire her and jump into new designs. :)

These pink eggs are getting checked out now.

Getting things listed in the shop the other night didn't happen, but everything is in the shop now.  Finally!

Sea Foam Green Nugget Earrings are listed HERE.

Purpliscious Nugget Earrings are listed HERE

More silver on red beads listed HERE

Raku on melon and mustard beads HERE

Candy nugget beads listed HERE

This worry stone is headed out to Cindy, my winner of a giveaway back in April.  I have felt horrible that it has taken me this long to get her worry stone made in the colors she requested.  The egg beads just took off and this (among other projects and commitments) got put on hold.  Some time last year, I had made a similar worry stone for my grandma that has blues emanating out from the core and surrounded by loads of clear.  I really, really like this kind of worry stone.  I think maybe even more so than so many of my opaque worry stones on ivory or black bases.  I want to make more.  Now that the eggs wait list is coming to an end, I may be able to start focusing on making more of these clear worry stones.  What do you think?

Tonight I will be driving out to see my honeys play in his last seniors tennis match of the season (I'm still confused how 45 year olds can be considered seniors, but whatever).  Tomorrow night we are having some friends over for a Mexican dinner.  Hoping to finish up the last of the yardwork we started last weekend.   Clean out the garage.  Maybe have a spur-of-the-moment garage sale.  Maybe not.

What's on your the list for your weekend?  Anything fun and exciting?  Are you staying cool?

Lovelies Going into the Shop

In the midst of working egg orders, I have pulled out my 3/32nd mandrels to make nuggets or some raku rounds.  It has helped break up a rigorous egg making schedule over the last three months, but have also allowed me to continue melting glass after I have used up all of my 1/16th mandrels for the eggs.

These will all be going in the beads shop later today/tonight.

I also made two new pairs of earrings after filling a custom order of earrings in another shade.  These will also be entering my jewelry shop later today.

I made 14 new egg beads last night.  There was one casualty before even getting in the kiln and another during the cleaning process.  Down with bead casualties!  Good news is two more names are off the wait list as of today.  Woot!

It Was a Productive Weekend!

Between Friday night and half of Saturday, I managed to make over 60 new beads.  When I ran out of my 1/16th mandrels for the eggs I started in on nuggets of different colors.  During breaks from the torch (once I fill it up, I give it an hour to soak the beads at 950 degree Fahrenheit before I move the mandrels around so they don't get kiss n dents as I make and add more beads to my kiln) I worked my way through the kids toy cabinets and game closet downstairs.  I threw away a trash bag filled with cheap fast food toys that the kids picked from the Treasure Box at school for good behavior and countless paper airplanes and Pokemon cards.

I know.  I'm a wretched mother because I wait for my kids to go on vacation and then I throw their toys away.  It's just shameful.  But I'm not letting it bother me.  One bit.  I pulled out tons more to try and sell at a garage sale next weekend.  What doesn't sell will go to Goodwill.  So many toys they have outgrown and others that they just don't play with, yet they manage to tell me they are bored some weekends.  We'll see if they have an easier time not being bored if they aren't overwhelmed by so many choices!  

Something else that is shameful is the state of my studio.  I don't know who has been working in it like it's a sweat shop over the last three months, but it is disgraceful (hence the very dark photos because I just can't bring myself to share this mess in full lighting).  There is popped glass and frit everywhere.  Shorts everywhere.  Shorts are the ends of the rods that end up on the table after I have melted most of it and then the heat from the torch starts warming up my fingers a tad too much because the rod is so short.  Which is leading me towards filming a little wedding ceremony.  You didn't know that glass got married, did you?  That's what lampworkers call melting rods together....they marry the short rods to create longer and more useable rods.

Friday night I watched my honeys play in a tennis match.  He's on a seniors team, which amuses me.  The youngest members are 45, which I don't think is very senior.  But whatever, I don't make the rules.  The men ranged in age from 45 to 60+.  They all like to tell each other how old they are and feel, but if you saw them running around on the tennis courts chasing these fast balls you would think twice about calling them old.  They all have more energy than me!  The sky was nasty even before a windy, thundering, lightning storm with very little rain blew through.  The players were thankful they didn't get rained out and I was thankful it passed quickly (weather.com said there were winds up to 60mph in that area!).  After it has blown over, we were rewarded with this lovely sight.

It was a most productive weekend.  I am very pleased with everything I accomplished between 60+ beads, sorting kids' toys and over 5 hours working in the yard pulling weeds, pruning bushes/trees and putting down new mulch.  Todd found another little box turtle in our backyard.  We must be the Turtle Haven!  There was also a dinner out with another couple and one just the two of us.  The house is strangely quiet and empty without our kids, but I am making good use of this time to get stuff done!

I hope you have a great Monday!  I will be on the torch more this week, catching up on more orders and housework.  I may even start to get pics of the girl child into frames so if anyone visits us, they will know we have a five and seven year old and not just a 2 year old boy by looking at our pictures.  :)

Counting Down the Days

Only four work days left and then I'll be on the road with my kids to the North.  I can't wait!  I LOVE roadtrips and I look forward to this vacation all year long when I see my in-laws, relax, roller blade, fish, bike, enjoy good cooking and ice cream in a neighboring town.  It is a week or more of downtime to de-stress, unwind and restore my soul and renew my motivation for many different aspects in my life.

The weekend was good.  Ran a ton of errands, got a new and functioning dremel bit, cleaned out eggs and then got them etched, photographed and listed.  Yesterday was a fun day with my Dad after he drove up and we took the kids to the big neighborhood pool with a twisty slide.  I'm sure we all slept good last night after two hours in the sun and water.

I am almost completely caught up on egg orders, which feels good to know that's all done before I leave.  If new names come in, then they will get worked when I return from the north country.  It has been a good two months of a solid wait list ranging from four to ten names.  I was stunned.  Wow.  You guys were so incredibly patient and awesome and appreciative and kind.  This was a fun run and I am thankful for all of your encouragement and kind words or feedback. 

Look closely below and you will see new colored speckles on the eggs.  I especially like the greenish speckles on that top, right ochre egg.  Must make more of these when I get back!

Here are more nuggets that just landed in my shop.  This is the same combination as on the ivory/brown/teal eggs you all seemed to like so much.  I may need to make one more set, but in a different shape before I get this combination out of my system.

Not sure if I will get many posts set up in advance for next week while I'm gone, but I'll try.  I will definitely post pics from the roadtrip once I arrive in Minnesota and have a reliable internet/wireless connection again.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Hooray for the Weekend!

This week has flown by, but seemed to crawl slowly in the moment.  I had thought I would be back on the torch by now, but I haven't.  I haven't trusted myself to play with fire.  For the most part, I am much, much better.  The sore throat is gone.  The body aches are gone.  The fever is gone.  But Geez Louise, I get winded just walking around the house.  I don't need to be playing with fire when I'm getting worn out so easily.  And I still feel like my head is in a bit of a fog.  Go away, strep.  All the way!

The boy child came down with a bad sore throat yesterday morning.  He was friends with a 101 fever most of the day.  The fever returned today, although a little lower.  Along with the sore throat, but that disappeared around 10am.  School/summer camp called this afternoon about the girl child...she wasn't feeling well and spent the morning on her mat and not participating in any activities.  She told the teacher she kissed her brother this morning and then got sick.  Hmmm.  No fever and she said her throat felt fine.  Maybe she just needs more sleep?  Whatever is going on with my family needs to clear up fast.  We would really like to go swimming this weekend.  And bike riding.  So we shall see.  We may all end up staying inside and resting, reading books and watching a movie.

These nuggets are still in my shop.  I'm surprised no one has snatched them up yet.  Lorelei included them in her treasury and then posted about them on the Art Bead Scene this morning.  Thank you, Lorelei!  Click on the treasury and you can see many other talented lampworkers' beads!

Todd promised to give me torch time tomorrow after he gets home from his tennis match.  So back to the eggs for me.  And other orders, too.  Yay for custom orders!  You guys totally ROCK!!!!

I hope your household is healthier than mine!  Have an excellent weekend!!!

TGIF!

This has been a short work week and it has thankfully flown by for me.  It has been good.  I have knocked out more egg orders while continuing to make 6-12 egg beads every night to help move through my wait list more quickly.  I have 38 ready and out for viewing with pics/pricing.

It has also been the first week in three or four where I did not make different beads in between the eggs to break up the monotony.  I suppose I have just been having so much fun trying out new colors for the eggs and the speckles. :)  Last night I only worked on light blue eggs for the next in line and then I made these nuggets.  I think I need to make more and then etch them.

And I also made this bumpy rainbow egg that Owen requested.

Outside my studio/office windows are some gorgeous red day lilies.  I LOVE the red!  And I love how my macro lens allows me to see the particles of pollen on each stamen.

We have blueberries ripening each day.  Probably not any today, since my kids went crazy picking them last night while I was cooking dinner.

This weekend will be filled with birthday and tennis celebrations, as well as an attempt to drive up to North Georgia with Tabitha and our kids.  Crossing our fingers the forecast of rain goes away and we make it this time.  

What are you doing?  Taking any road trips?  Enjoying the pool?  Staying home and reading?  Canning/blanching/freezing the fruits of your garden?

Whatever you are doing, I hope that you find contentment and enjoyment in it!

Look! Look! Look at my Nuggets All Grown Up!

Keirsten has had these nuggets for awhile.  It took time before they spoke to her.  But she was patient and then they just leaped into this design.

I love this double cross.  And the carnelian and agate offset the aqua nuggets nicely, don't you think?

Oyster Nuggets!

Over the weekend when I was making egg beads, I also made these little nuggets.  I pulled out my Ekho glass from Double Helix.  It is one of the glass rods that looks like a very gross color, but it does such beautiful things in the flame.  While I was making these, I kept thinking of oysters and what the insides of their shells look like.  Now my memory could be fuzzy.... I'm pretty sure it's been a good fifteen years since I have eaten oysters.  I just love the purply luminescence these little nuggets have.  They are in my shop HERE.

Thank you all for so many wonderful comments/convos on the eggs.  I made ten new ones last night!  It was my first weeknight on the torch in MONTHS.  I had sooooooo much fun!  Hoping to get back on the torch tonight to make some more.

And.  Thank you for the kind comments on my hair.  :)  I am loving that it is short, although it hasn't totally sunk in that those six inches are gone.  We are having a little cold snap now and my neck is bare.  I constantly reach up to undo a ponytail that isn't there so I can cover up and warm my neck.  How goofy is that?!