I thought I would mention that my sweet sister-in-law & 3 adorable nieces have been reading my blog & saw my November post about FINDING BALANCE...and gave me a big gift bag for Christmas full of bath soaps & salts, yummy lotions & scents, a big candle, a big fluffy towel & many other "take some time for yourself" items. How super thoughtful is that?
Now to find the time to use them. :o)
THANK YOU girls!!! I love you all!
xoxoxo....
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
I'M HAVING AN AFFAIR...
...with Opal Yellow & Rubino.
Is this allowed??? :o)
I'm completely in love w/ these colors & they're basically all I work w/ these days... except for some black bases & dots of copper green. I try to do as much black base as I can since OY & Rubino are premium colors. I use ALOT of them both.
I look at the beautiful beads that are being posted in the LE Gallery & they're so colorful...lots of transparents & silver glasses... pretty & shiny. Mine are the complete opposite. First of all they're big, but secondly, they're solid & I think fairly masculine. People love them, which is awesome for me, LOL, but why haven't I gotten into the transparents?? There's nothing cooler than being able to look "inside" a glass piece... see the depth & the details of what's going on in there.
I think I'm just better at "surface" decoration than what's underneath.
I guess I need to think about those glass artists that are known more for their surface designs...Larry Brickman, Christina Logan, Larry Scott, Brad Pearson, Dustin Tabor & other artists like them. They're making it big w/ solid surface decoration, I shouldn't worry what other people are doing so much, should I?? :o) People say I have a distinctive style...I think this is a good thing. Right??? :o)
As far as SIZE goes... since my pieces seem to be fairly large, for the most part...when I was looking @ Larry Brickman's pieces @ the Gathering, I was just blown away at their size... they're HUGE & he gets a pretty penny for them, too. He told me [something like] "think about all of the glass artists out there making it big... are they making tiny insignificant pieces??? Nope, they're making big, memorable pieces." This is true, so I'm natually on the right track. :o)
Is this allowed??? :o)
I'm completely in love w/ these colors & they're basically all I work w/ these days... except for some black bases & dots of copper green. I try to do as much black base as I can since OY & Rubino are premium colors. I use ALOT of them both.
I look at the beautiful beads that are being posted in the LE Gallery & they're so colorful...lots of transparents & silver glasses... pretty & shiny. Mine are the complete opposite. First of all they're big, but secondly, they're solid & I think fairly masculine. People love them, which is awesome for me, LOL, but why haven't I gotten into the transparents?? There's nothing cooler than being able to look "inside" a glass piece... see the depth & the details of what's going on in there.
I think I'm just better at "surface" decoration than what's underneath.
I guess I need to think about those glass artists that are known more for their surface designs...Larry Brickman, Christina Logan, Larry Scott, Brad Pearson, Dustin Tabor & other artists like them. They're making it big w/ solid surface decoration, I shouldn't worry what other people are doing so much, should I?? :o) People say I have a distinctive style...I think this is a good thing. Right??? :o)
As far as SIZE goes... since my pieces seem to be fairly large, for the most part...when I was looking @ Larry Brickman's pieces @ the Gathering, I was just blown away at their size... they're HUGE & he gets a pretty penny for them, too. He told me [something like] "think about all of the glass artists out there making it big... are they making tiny insignificant pieces??? Nope, they're making big, memorable pieces." This is true, so I'm natually on the right track. :o)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I'm finally taking a break from the craziness to spend some nice time w/ my family for the holidays. No website, no selling, etc... just chillin' out w/ the kids & hubby. Nice.
We were supposed to go to Colorado for Christmas, that's where my family is & we haven't been there for Christmas day since 1993 or so. My kids have never had a Colorado Christmas, sad. :o( We had been planning on this since probably the spring, we didn't go home for the summer, which we would normally do, since we knew we were going for Christmas instead. The first week of December we had to choose between a new computer, new tires for my car & a new dryer or Christmas in Colorado. What a sucky choice, huh?
It worked out okay, as sad as it was to not be home, I was so super crazy busy up til the day we were supposed to leave, no downtime whatsoever, so I can't imagine having to add the stress of packing & getting ready to go on top of all of that. Not fun. PLUS, major snow & ice storms between here & there, the drive would've sucked. :o) We'll head out there for Spring Break because the summer has already gotten busy w/ trips & such & Colorado isn't on that list.
Hope you had a nice & relaxing Christmas... or whatever you might celebrate... & a fabulous, but safe, New Year!
We were supposed to go to Colorado for Christmas, that's where my family is & we haven't been there for Christmas day since 1993 or so. My kids have never had a Colorado Christmas, sad. :o( We had been planning on this since probably the spring, we didn't go home for the summer, which we would normally do, since we knew we were going for Christmas instead. The first week of December we had to choose between a new computer, new tires for my car & a new dryer or Christmas in Colorado. What a sucky choice, huh?
It worked out okay, as sad as it was to not be home, I was so super crazy busy up til the day we were supposed to leave, no downtime whatsoever, so I can't imagine having to add the stress of packing & getting ready to go on top of all of that. Not fun. PLUS, major snow & ice storms between here & there, the drive would've sucked. :o) We'll head out there for Spring Break because the summer has already gotten busy w/ trips & such & Colorado isn't on that list.
Hope you had a nice & relaxing Christmas... or whatever you might celebrate... & a fabulous, but safe, New Year!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
WHEW! WIPE-OUT......
OMG...what a week!! I'm exhausted after just having my website up & having items in my Etsy shop for just a few days. What a whirlwind!! It's been exciting... I've already sold 7 items on Etsy & there's a bid (& 10 watchers) on my kaleidoscope on eBay, plus several watchers on my heart bead, too... auctions ends Sunday night. Can't wait to see how it all unfolds!!
I've sold out of just about everything I brought down to the boutique in Minneapolis... they asked if I can make up some more ornaments, pens, bottle openers, etc... yikes!! I counted & have already taken in 46 ornaments & they still want more!! LOL! Don't know how much I can do between now & next Wednesday when I'm down there volunteering again. It's almost Christmas & they think they're going to be getting a ton of last minute (male) shoppers toward the end of the week next week, so I'm going to try to get some items made up & delivered to them on Wednesday when I volunteer again. Fun, fun, fun!! :o) There's only one kaleidoscope left, too! Yippee!!! LOL! I'll try to do some more of those, too. Holy Crap!
I definitely need to learn how to balance everything, though. This is a great learning experience & is just showing me how much I need to prepare for earlier & in greater quantity next year!
I've sold out of just about everything I brought down to the boutique in Minneapolis... they asked if I can make up some more ornaments, pens, bottle openers, etc... yikes!! I counted & have already taken in 46 ornaments & they still want more!! LOL! Don't know how much I can do between now & next Wednesday when I'm down there volunteering again. It's almost Christmas & they think they're going to be getting a ton of last minute (male) shoppers toward the end of the week next week, so I'm going to try to get some items made up & delivered to them on Wednesday when I volunteer again. Fun, fun, fun!! :o) There's only one kaleidoscope left, too! Yippee!!! LOL! I'll try to do some more of those, too. Holy Crap!
I definitely need to learn how to balance everything, though. This is a great learning experience & is just showing me how much I need to prepare for earlier & in greater quantity next year!
Friday, December 14, 2007
OVERWHELMING...
I'm just thrilled w/ the response I've gotten from my pieces & from my website... it's actually very overwhelming. Now to keep it up in the new year!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I'M PRETTY EXCITED...
about these awesome Kaleidoscopes!!
When I was online shopping a few months ago for some nice display boxes for my bead pens, I came across some great items @ some woodworkers' stores... keychains, pen lights, things like that. Woodworkers will turn beautiful pieces of wood on their lathes & put them on these components so you have these really sharp accessories. I'm sure that this is where the idea of the "bead pen" came from... woodworkers have been making wooden pens for years. Well...I saw these great kaleidoscopes & realized that the body was just a big tube & thought, "hey, it's just a big hole bead! I can do that!!", so I did! I don't think I've ever seen them in lampworked glass before, so I'm excited about what I hope is an original idea!
These are pretty fantastic. Small, but they feel substantial. I love watching adults looking through the lens like a little kid. The first one I sold was to a sweet little lady in a wheelchair at this art sale in November. She just sat at my table & just looked through that thing for probably 5 minutes. It just made me smile... REALLY big!! :o) Sweet.
They've been fun to make. I had to purchase a bunch more big hole mandrels because I only had one that fit & it was driving me crazy, only being able to make one every few days!
I have one up on eBay & one up on Etsy... several more to list, but geez, who has the time??? Yikes!! :o)
When I was online shopping a few months ago for some nice display boxes for my bead pens, I came across some great items @ some woodworkers' stores... keychains, pen lights, things like that. Woodworkers will turn beautiful pieces of wood on their lathes & put them on these components so you have these really sharp accessories. I'm sure that this is where the idea of the "bead pen" came from... woodworkers have been making wooden pens for years. Well...I saw these great kaleidoscopes & realized that the body was just a big tube & thought, "hey, it's just a big hole bead! I can do that!!", so I did! I don't think I've ever seen them in lampworked glass before, so I'm excited about what I hope is an original idea!
These are pretty fantastic. Small, but they feel substantial. I love watching adults looking through the lens like a little kid. The first one I sold was to a sweet little lady in a wheelchair at this art sale in November. She just sat at my table & just looked through that thing for probably 5 minutes. It just made me smile... REALLY big!! :o) Sweet.
They've been fun to make. I had to purchase a bunch more big hole mandrels because I only had one that fit & it was driving me crazy, only being able to make one every few days!
I have one up on eBay & one up on Etsy... several more to list, but geez, who has the time??? Yikes!! :o)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
HOUSTON, WE HAVE LIFT-OFF!
WHEW!!
I've worked literally 20/7 for the past 3 weeks or so to get my site up, had some "image issues" that kept me from being able to launch it on the originally planned launch date (December 5th), but it's ready!! I'm trying to get available items up on Etsy & eBay right now, it's pretty time consuming & I'm pretty exhausted, but I'm getting there!
Funny thing is that I listed 3 items on Etsy, the last one I listed at 3:30 am yesterday just before I finally went to bed. When I got up 3 hours later (ugh) to get my son off to school, I checked my listings & that last item wasn't listed anymore. I'm like "what the heck?? Didn't I post it correctly" Took me a few minutes to realize that it had already SOLD! LOL! My first Etsy sale in less than 3 hours!!! LOL! Yes!!! :o) VERY exciting!!
Will spend more time blogging from here on out...it's just been nonstop photoshopping for the past several weeks. My poor family! (my poor hand/arm/shoulder! I couldn't do this [webdesign] for a living!)
Hope you enjoy my website & my blog!! I now need to go through my blog & see if THESE images need a bit of tweaking, too! (will explain later)
I've worked literally 20/7 for the past 3 weeks or so to get my site up, had some "image issues" that kept me from being able to launch it on the originally planned launch date (December 5th), but it's ready!! I'm trying to get available items up on Etsy & eBay right now, it's pretty time consuming & I'm pretty exhausted, but I'm getting there!
Funny thing is that I listed 3 items on Etsy, the last one I listed at 3:30 am yesterday just before I finally went to bed. When I got up 3 hours later (ugh) to get my son off to school, I checked my listings & that last item wasn't listed anymore. I'm like "what the heck?? Didn't I post it correctly" Took me a few minutes to realize that it had already SOLD! LOL! My first Etsy sale in less than 3 hours!!! LOL! Yes!!! :o) VERY exciting!!
Will spend more time blogging from here on out...it's just been nonstop photoshopping for the past several weeks. My poor family! (my poor hand/arm/shoulder! I couldn't do this [webdesign] for a living!)
Hope you enjoy my website & my blog!! I now need to go through my blog & see if THESE images need a bit of tweaking, too! (will explain later)
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