Meditation Pools

I love the aged and webbed look that comes from the fuming of ivory with a silver laden glass.  I have wanted to do something simple but with punch that incorporates this technique for quite a while.  One of the artists that posts on Lampwork Etc (Amy Kinsch I think) does this techinque wonderfully with some of her big holed beads.  Her dots are raised and there are many around the bead.  I decided to just do one simple large dot and melt it smooth, and I am really pleased with the results.
These beads can be found on Etsy.

Beads in my Etsy shop

Further to a previous post, I have just listed 4 of these new ocean and shell inspired beads in my Etsy shop.
Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Earrings - tweet, tweet!

About a month ago I met a lady who was wearing the cutest little polymer clay earrings.  She had purchased them at a quilt show in Oregon.  I kept thinking about these earrings, and I realized that polymer clay is the perfect medium for earrings - it comes in a miriad of colours, and most important of all, it is lightweight.  So for the last few days I have been making polymer clay birds, beads, discs, squares, etc, and putting them all together into earrings.  I am having a blast, and it is something I can do in short spurts, as I still can't sit for too long with my sore back.  It's also fun coordinating the display cards with the earrings.
I am hoping to get out into the glass studio this next week - maybe for a very short time tomorrow, and see how it goes.

Bye for now!

So Sorry!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged for ages.  I have been flat on my back in bed for over a week, and only just managed to get out of bed yesterday.  Why?? you ask .  I was sitting in my chair on Aug 16 and stretched and felt a painful tug in my lower back.  Hmmmmmmmmmm - better be careful I said to myself.  So I walked around for about half an hour, then sat down at my computer and leaned forward - BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My back was hit with so much pain I could hardly breathe.  So I have either torn something or a disc has ruptured.  Unfortunately, I can't get in to the doctor until I can get rid of the pain - hopefully in the next few days.  However, then it will be all over and he will look at me like I am crazy for going to him when I don't hurt anymore.  This is the 4th time since April, but this is the worst it has ever been.  I won't even get into telling you about the awful withdrawal I had from the pain meds - OK, I guess I just did - lol.  One mustn't loose ones sense of humor!

Obviously there are no new beads to show you, but I'll go through my archives and see if there is something in there to show.  Back in a few minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OK - here are a couple of my Arbutus Tree focals, and a Beach Wedding set of beads. (I think the Arbutus tree is called the Madrona tree in the US - it grows near the ocean.)  I hope I haven't shown you these before.

If I ever get back out to my studio I must make some more of the trees, and I love the Beach Wedding beads, so I will make more of those too.

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

New Vertebrae/Shell beads

I just received an email from my sister telling me (read scolding here) that it had been 10 days since my last post.  I must confess that I am finding it hard to come up with things to blog about.  Anyway, I quickly ran downstairs and took a picture of my latest Vertebrae/Shell beads - they're not even cleaned yet. 

This is a really fun technique where you start with a very small core of white (or any other opaque colour) and spiral wrap the white with a transparent glass, makng sure you leave gaps of white in between.  Then you melt the transparent down, encase, press and decorate.  As the transparent melts down, the white core squeezes through the gaps that you have left when you did the winding, making the vertebrae or shell like effect.
 
I hope you enjoyed your mini lampwork lesson!

Market Day

Today was market day and I decided to change the colour of the top drape for my booth.  A lot of people have been complaining that the white is too bright in the sun in the afternoon - now that we finally have sun here in the northwest. I had a lovely white on white brocade top drape, but if it is too bright it will put the customers off.  I really like this plum colour, and I used it for the first time today, and of course someone had to drip grease on it in two places - grrrrrr!!!!  I don't have time to wash it before tomorrows market, but I can turn it around front to back - sure hope the grease comes out.

The other pictures are of the other market stalls before all the customers arrive - and it looks like I caught someone in the process of just setting up.

The flowers are sold by the lady next to me - The Cookie Lady - she makes the most delicious cookies, and is my downfall.  She also brings fresh cut flowers in the summer, and I spied a lovely purple bouquet that would have looked great on my table, but by the time I had my wallet out someone had already bought it - drat!  I'll have to be quicker next week.

Have a good weekend everyone.