Happy Easter ~ Happy Spring

Wishing all of you a glorious day!

Catching Up on Treasuries

Awhile ago I had a hard drive crash. During that fiasco, which I wouldn't wish on anybody, I lost some software. Fortunately, my data had been backed up! However, between the time of the crash and my migration to a different laptop I couldn't capture any of the Etsy treasuries that I created or that featured my work.

Well... we're back in action! Here are the treasuries that I did manage to accumulate once I had graphics software again.

mistflowerstudio included my "Embers" felted vessel in her treasury "Denim Sunset".



Thank you, Valerie! Be sure to visit her shop for wonderful mixed-media and mosaic art, such as this "Funky multicolored mixed media mosaic pendant with ribbon necklace".








eclectibles included my "Lush" felted vessel in this "A Vivid Imagination" treasury. Their shop is closed right now, but you can have them contact you when they reopen.

mmarielle also included my "Lush" felted vessel in her "verdigris, rust. metal or not" treasury.


Thank you, Marielle! Visit her shop for beautiful ceramic art, such as this gorgeous "verdigris ceramic sassanid vase" from her Artifacts Collection.









BlueLagoonBeads included my "Maya" felted vessel in her treasury "Here Comes The Sun".



Thanks, Angela! Please visit her shop for lovely hand dyed silk ribbons, handmade lampwork beads, and beautiful jewelry such as this "Washed Ashore" bracelet.







RiversEdgeGlass also included my "Maya" felted vessel in her treasury "Morning Star".



Thanks, Barb! Be sure to visit Barb's shop for great handmade lampwork buttons and beads, such as this yummy "Copper Blue Flower - 4 Hole Lampwork Button".










DoBeadDo included my work in two of her treasuries. First are my "Maya" felted vessel and "Dawn" bead-woven necklace in her treasury "The Colors of Passion".

Next is my "Sonoma Bronze" leaf bead in her treasury "Eye of the Tigerrrr".



Thank you, Carrie! Check out her shop for great fun jewelry, such as this bright and funky "Spiked Coral and Turquoise Bracelet".









Uniqueartglass included my lampwork bead "The Deep" in her treasury "Bubbles Sea".


Thank you, Havazelet! Visit her shop for whimsical fused glass art and jewelry, such as this painted dichroic fused glass "Sisters" ACEO.







TwilightShades included my lampwork bead "The Deep" and my "Maya" felted vessel in her treasury "Touchy Feely".


Thanks, Jerry! Be sure to visit Jerry's shop for aged brass and copper jewelry, such as her Steampunk necklace "Cherish Time" - something I'm learning to do more and more these days.






And that wraps up the treasuries this time around. I'll be sure and keep on top of them barring any more techno-meltdowns.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Old Friends - Redux

In the last week or so, I've been spending some of my torch time revisiting "old friends" - beads for which I was known in the past. My most well-known beads are from my "Bronze Age" series which began with the juried auction "Obsession: A Ten Year Affair With The Bead", held by the International Society of Glass Beadmakers back in 2002. My original Bronze Age bead was accepted by the jury and published in the auction catalog. I continued the Bronze Age series, and in 2004, 3 of these beads were published in Lark Book's "1000 Glass Beads" (see page 296). Prompted by my part-time biz partner Nanette Young-Greiner, I began making them again after a several-year hiatus. This one is currently in my Etsy shop.


But I couldn't stop there - I decided to bring back my "Seaside" beads last week when I made one as a gift for a special customer. These beads are rather labor intensive, but such a joy to create. Since I don't have immediate access to the ocean -- and I've been reading all about Pam's vacation there -- I figured the next best thing would be to bring the ocean to me. Here's "Seaside", and I've just added it to my shop.



In fiber news, the vessel that I worked on last night that was going to have a bug on it turned out not at all the way I had hoped. I learned a big lesson, and I'll have to come up with a very creative way to embellish it. Rather than a vessel, it looks much more like a chiminea for heaven's sake! That one will sit for awhile, I'm afraid. And I'll try a different approach to the "bug" vessel.

Here is my unembellished Rose Garden vessel. I'm much happier with this one, although the colors turned out a lot lighter than I had anticipated. Yep, I'm still learning about fiber...


And now I'm off for an afternoon break with mom and the fur kids. Hope your day has been happy and creative!

Roses In the Wet Lab

This morning I got out early to have some radiology and lab work done. When I left the hospital, it was raining like crazy and I was glad I had worn my REI waterproof hooded jacket. Not that I needed to have a gorgeous hairdo for any reason, but driving home in soggy clothes would not have been so nice... particularly since I was already cranky from not having been able to eat or drink anything since 9:30 last night.

After I had a proper breakfast and a double dose of caffeine I decided to spend the day in the wet lab. I love hearing the rain on the roof out there, it almost reminds me of being in a tent during a downpour. Pam's Rose Garden bead and my coordinating long bead were calling to me, so I finished laying out the fibers for the Rose Garden vessel. It's gone through the pre-felt stage and I'll full it tonight while I'm watching who gets eliminated from the next round of ballroom dancing. Yes, I'm rather addicted to Dancing With the Stars. I took ballroom dance lessons many years ago, and I've always enjoyed watching most forms of dance. So tonight I shall vicariously dance through the rose garden. Here's a peek at the vessel before I pre-felted it, along with the inspirational beads. What do you think - am I in the ball park here?




So now I've got the fiber bug. And bug is right - I'm going to go out and start working on my next vessel, which will have a bug on it. I haven't decided yet if it will be a glass bug that I make or the shibuichi Cicada bead that I bought from Bob Burkett last June. I'll have to spend some time in the glass lab and see what I come up with. But that will be later this week, today is a wooly day for sure.

Have yourselves a wonderful creative afternoon!

From the Bench at Lavender Cottage

I've been making and selling lampwork glass beads for 9 years, and I still get all giddy when I see what other folks do with my beads. It is so much more satisfying to sell a piece of my hand made work to an appreciative buyer than it was to spend countless hours developing software that may or may not end up in the hands of clients depending on the "decision of the moment" of upper management. Ah, but I digress...

What a lovely surprise it was to see the wonderful work of my cyber-friend Cheryl Van Dyck of Lavender Cottage in which she incorporated some of my beads. This is my "Sun Worshippers" bead that Cheryl purchased from my Etsy shop.


Cheryl came up with a brilliant design that I find intriguing. I really admire folks who can do "asymmetrical" so successfully! Here's her glorious finished pendant, which she calls "Spring Celebration".


...and you can read her article HERE. Thank you Cheryl for really bringing these beads to life! I look forward to seeing more of your work inspired by glass beads.

Be sure to visit Cheryl's shops on Etsy and 1000 Markets, she's a wonderful metalsmith!

Semi-Final Report From the Milky Way

I say semi-final because this isn't a very good picture. The sun was almost overhead - a bad time for outdoor photos - but I just couldn't wait to take pictures of the Milky Way vessel. Studio pix will be taken soon and they will show up in the "final report". All that said, here's the finished piece in all of its glory. What do you think?


I've chosen the fiber for the next vessel on which I will use another bead by Pam Brisse, but I haven't come to a final decision on the style. I made a long bead that coordinates with Pam's bead in case I want to put a handle on the vessel. OK, OK - I can no longer keep this bead a secret - here are the beads for the upcoming vessel!


And now I'm off to make some fiber elements for this vessel. I should be doing paper work today but with all the fiber sitting on my table in the wet lab, how on earth can I push a pencil?

Have yourselves a wonderful creative day!

Another Day in Paradise

It's such a lovely sunny day that I had to take a quick stroll in the back 40, a.k.a. our yard. The osteospermum are loving it - and I think they're going to take over!


Niki loves it too. No matter where she is, as soon as someone opens the back door she flies out to join them. Our little explorer... the back fence is covered with ivy, no matter how hard we try to get rid of it. Niki loves getting between the ivy and the fence, no doubt discovering new smells and awful things to roll in. This morning she headed for her favorite corner where she can poke her face into a little hole in the fence and rub noses with the neighbor pup behind us.


I'd really like to extend my "wet lab" into the back 40, but setting up tables in the grass isn't ideal. Perhaps we can put down some hard scape out there this year. That would certainly help my mom - she's very unsteady on her feet and has a hard time traversing the bumpy grass. And I'd love to be able to sit in the fresh air while doing the bead work on my felted vessels. It would be a bit difficult to do that given our current back 40 situation...

Yes, there's definitely something missing. I had a bit of a shock last summer when mom brought her coffee and newspaper outside to spend the morning in the sun, and immediately came back in with her eyes like saucers and her jaw hanging down. The glass table top had exploded or imploded or... well, it was in a thousand pieces all over the grass. Come to find out, tempered glass tables do this on a regular basis. I had no idea! We still have the frame, but there's no way I'm going to put glass in there. Now that the weather is warming up a bit, it's time to do something about a table.

Until that time, I'll just have to continue doing my bead work in the evening in front of the TV. Last night while I watched Steve Wozniak do his best to get eliminated from the group of wannabe ballroom dancers, I put together the collar for the Milky Way vessel. But I'm not satisfied with it and I'm going to start over again. Here's what "release 1.0" looks like. And anyone who as ever developed software knows that you never put 1.0 into the hands of clients. So once I complete release 1.1, I'll attach it and Pam's bead to the vessel and give you the final update.


Tonight I'm teaching the final session of my 4-week bead making class. I'll work on taxes again before I leave - ugh! But first, a bit of lunch...

Have yourselves a lovely and creative day!

How Not To Get Taxes Done

Is anyone else like I am? When it comes to organizing all of my tax information, I'll look for just about any excuse to divert my attention. The fact that I haven't updated my blog in a while was today's perfect excuse, so here I am. But first, let me go put my CD player into sequential mode and get some tunes going.

Done! I've got an eclectic mix in there - "Hot Swing" by Mark O'Connor, "Time Out" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Organ Grinder Swing" by Jimmy Smith (with Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate), Vivaldi - Greatest Hits (with Pinchas Zukerman and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein), and "Leyenda" by Karin Schaupp. That'll keep me entertained for the rest of the day!

First of all, I've added 4 new beads to my Etsy shop this week. It's about time - seems like I've been spending all my time either teaching bead making classes or doing fiber work. Not that that's a bad thing - but with 2 bead shows coming up rather quickly, I really do need to spend more time on my torch.

Here are the beads I added this week.

Frozen Fossils

Clearing Storm

The Deep

Bronze Age

But of course, I can't leave the fiber alone. No sireeeee! I've been working on the "Milky Way" vessel and I thought I'd give you another update. I added some fiber embellishment and started the bead work. It's looking more and more like Pam's Milky Way bead. I just have to bead the rim, add Pam's bead, and it will be finished! Then I can get some really nice pictures for you to see. This is the first vessel I've created where I've let the focal bead dictate the design of the vessel. I'm already excited about the next one I'll do like this!




That will have to do for today - mom and the fur kids are really wanting to go to Starbucks. Ah yes, Starbucks... another excuse to avoid working on taxes. Tsk tsk tsk! If I disappear for awhile, you'll know that I'm buried in spreadsheets.

OK Niki & Peanut - I'm coming! These girls always know where to find me when they're ready to leave.


Have a wonderful and creative day!

Creating the Milky Way

Well, I couldn't wait any longer. Pam's "Milky Way" bead was calling to me, so I spent the day in the wet lab yesterday. While I was out there, I happened to look into the family room. I guess I wasn't the only person who was in a creative mood. Here's my 85-year-old mom Yvette, crocheting away with our senior citizen fur kid Peanut keeping her company.


Here's a sneak preview of the Milky Way vessel. The body is mostly finished - I just have to add a bit of fiber embellishment after it's dry. Then comes the bead work, with Pam's lovely focal taking center stage. I haven't figured out how I'm going to bead the vessel yet, but I have lots of ideas floating around in my brain. And then I'll create a vessel with the other bead that Pam sent me, which you haven't seen yet. Thanks for all the inspiration, Pam!


After laying out all the fibers and felting the vessel flat, I took a break before I started the sculptural fulling process. I guess Peanut decided she didn't need to supervise mom anymore, since mom was trucking right along.


Now I'm going to switch gears and head down to San Jose to teach my bead making class at BAGI. Have yourselves a wonderful evening!

Tote Bag Progress

Today my arms are done, finished, wiped out, "gumbied". Know why? I just finished fulling my tote bag! I completely lost track of how many times I rolled it, and I also spent a lot of time rubbing it against the ridged mat. But it finally got down to its finished size, and is now drying on the rack after a thorough rinsing and towel-drying. Yay! I haven't decided yet what I'll use for straps or how I'll complete the closure. But I already have the bead that I'll include in the closure - this bead inspired the entire bag.

Here's the front side of the bag - still damp... The colors are a bit washed out in these photos, lots brighter "up close and personal".


And the other side of the bag...


... and here's the bead that started it all. This is from my "Brushstrokes" series.



I'm going to take a break from the tote bag for a bit and conjure up a few more vessels. I really like the beads that I make, but I'm certainly not a bead snob. I just purchased a lovely bead from Pam Brisse of The Blue Between, and I've already picked out the fibers to use in the vessel that her bead will adorn. Here's Pam's "Milky Way" bead:


Lovely, isn't it?! And here are most of the fibers I've picked out for the vessel. I'll add a few surprises as I go along. I just can't help myself... :)



But first... it's time to take mom for a Starbucks break. She and I are badly in need of a capuccino before I carry on with my delectable fibers. Have yourselves a wonderful evening!

Two More Pieces

I completed two more vessels, and they're just about ready to go into my Etsy shop. It's such a nice feeling, seeing these projects finished - the vessels have been on my table glaring at me for way too long! Yes, if I give them personalities and "facial" expressions, maybe I can guilt myself into embellishing them before they give up on me and leave home. Sometimes it takes me quite awhile to figure out how I'm going to embellish them. I started working on another one last night that had me stymied for awhile. As I was looking at it, an image came into my mind and I finally had my answer. I don't want the bead work to overtake the vessel, so I try to come up with an approach in which the two will complement each other. Here is the result of my latest efforts, which will go into my Etsy shop very shortly.


This afternoon was supposed to be a torch day, but time got away from me once again. I'm going to be teaching two new bead making classes soon, and I absolutely MUST make sample beads for these classes. That will be a fun project - perhaps tomorrow I'll get that one finished. After I run the rest of my errands today I just might spend a bit of time in the wet lab. That tote bag is still calling me...

Have yourselves a happy creative day!

Another Work in Progress

I have a love/hate relationship with large projects. The idea of creating something significant is so exciting to me! Why is it, then, that once I start a large project I end up getting sidetracked time after time? This happened with my second nuno scarf, and once again my table is being occupied by a tote bag that's taking up so much room that I can't do any smaller projects until the bag is done. I started this bag several weeks ago. Then I had to get ready for the Stitches West show. Then I was AT the Stitches West show. Then I got sick. I guess I need to kick my butt a few more times, go out to the wet lab, and JUST DO IT!

Here is the progress that I've made so far. I took this picture while I was laying out the 6th layer of roving.


I finshed that layer, put down 2 more layers, and turned it over to work on the other side. Once I wet the whole bag down and get it to almost pre-felt stage I'll be adding a few more elements. I'll also be adding a bead to the finished bag to use on the closure. Gosh, I had the bead picked out before I even started the bag - sure hope they work together once the bag is done!

Here's side two after 2 layers - just 6 more layers to go! Sigh...


I finished embellishing one of my felted vessels a couple of nights ago, and last night while I was watching "Dancing With the Stars" I completed about 3/4 of the embellishment on another one. I'll finish that one up today so that I can get photos - then they'll go out into my Etsy shop.

Tonight I'm teaching the first night of my 4-week series of Beadmaking 1 in San Jose. I'd better get to work on finishing that vessel NOW, or it will remain in an uncompleted state for another day.

Have yourselves a happy and creative day!

Finished Work - Finally!

Well, having spent most of this week being sick with a cold I never made it out to my wet lab OR my glass lab. But I finally added 4 new felted vessels to my Etsy shop! I had them at the Stitches West Show, so those of you who saw them up-close-and-personal have a better feeling for what they look like. Pictures don't give you all the little details that you notice when you hold these creations in your hands.

Here are my latest vessels available at Flames & Fiber. If you go to my shop, you'll see bigger and better pix.



Tomorrow I'll be teaching a torchworking survey class at BAGI. These survey classes give you a taste of what glass beadmaking is all about. If you happen to be in the San Jose area and want to learn about what us lampworkers do, come on by and take a class with me!

Have yourselves a happy, creative Saturday!

Post-show Ups 'N Downs

First, the "Ups" - a great big THANK YOU to all of you who came to visit us at the Stitches West 2009 Show. I had a wonderful time! It was great seeing old friends and meeting new folks. Thank you for your patronage, fun conversations, and great feedback. And I want to personally thank Carin Engen for getting me hooked on roving a year ago. At Stitches West 2008, Carin had a booth kitty-corner to ours and I couldn't stay out of it. I'm a color and texture fanatic, and her booth kept calling to me. I went home from that show loaded with wool roving, silk roving, and a pack of felting needles. Carin, you created a monster! But a very happy one at that.

I had so many inquiries about teaching felting workshops that I'm in the process of organizing materials, procedures, and other logistics so that we can get started. And it looks like I might (not definite yet, still in the very early talking stages) be teaching a felted vessel workshop up in Vancouver, BC later in the year.

Unfortunately, and despite the wonderful chair massage that I indulged in on the last day of the show, I caught a nasty cold. It hit me on Tuesday, so I've been trying to keep a low profile and get over it as quickly as I can. I'm teaching a bead making class in San Jose this Saturday and I don't want to pass out at the torch - yikes!

Speaking of bead making classes, I've been scheduled out to the end of the year! And there are 2 new classes for those of you who know the basics and want to expand your glass repertoire. I've added a couple of "Beadmaking: Working With Metals" classes. These are classes that explore adding metal to the hot glass while making the bead, not metal smithing classes. They're broken down into 1a and 1b - 1a for the folks who have completed Beadmaking 1 and 2, and 1b for the folks who have completed Beadmaking 2. It's a series of classes, so if you're interested you should take Metals 1a before you take Metals 1b. To see my class schedule, go to the BAGI website for the Torch Working classes - click HERE.

And now I'm off to feed my cold a cup of tea and work on my new classes. Let's see, instructions for the felted vessel or samples for the Working With Metals class? I'll let my cold dictate what I can accomplish today.

Have yourselves a happy, creative day!