If You Love Boro...

...Then you have got to check out this new treasury on Etsy.


What is a treasury? Well, for those who aren't used to Etsy, treasuries are collections of items that are currently for sale on Etsy. These collections are created by the user community, buyers and sellers, and put on display for the rest of the users to enjoy. They're typically created around a theme, but do not have to be.

It is made up of beads and jewelry using Borosilicate glass and the items are amazing. This is a great chance to see all of the great colors and what can be done in this amazing glass.

I was contacted by its creator since I'm lucky enough to have been included in the collection as you may notice from this preview picture. See "The Boro Gang" set of my beads in the lower left corner?

To view the actual treasury, just click HERE. You can also visit My Etsy Shop and see all of the creations I've put into the shop as well.

Treasuries last for a limited time only, so please be sure to check it out before it disappears.

Have a great day.

Better Late Than Never!

I was supposed to put up this blog entry last night, but got distracted by Netflix. It's no excuse, I know, but I also went to the gym if that's any better.

At any rate, I do have a new choker for your viewing pleasure. This one is entitled "Flowering Tree Choker" and its focal has a large tree with rich green foliage and bright pink blossoms. (Original title, huh?)

The tree's background is an organic tabular bead in shades and green and blue and has been capped in black on both ends. The greens and blues and a mixture of transparent and opaque glasses for a really cool effect.

The entire bead has been etched to for a more antique-like look to the piece. The transparent glasses in the bead take on a frosted appearance due to the etching process.

I'll be posting this to my Etsy Shop later tonight, so please be sure to stop by a take a look and see more pictures and all of the details.

Have a great day!

A Great Blog Entry

No, I'm not bragging about my blog entry.

A friend of mine has a great article on her glass work and some of her inspirations and journey through the beadmaking landscape that I think is a great illustration of how each of us find ourselves in the glass and where our different inspirations take us.

Check out her article HERE.

It's late and I need to get some sleep. Big weekend coming up.

Have a great night!

We Didn't Start The Fire

But you can certainly wear it!

I've got a new choker coming to my Etsy Shop later today, and it features the "Standing Against The Fire" tree focal that I created before going up to Door County.

The focal of this wonderful piece of jewelry is a lone tree growing on a patch of sandy ground a fire rages in the background, thanks to the bright organic design of the base bead.

In spite of this adversity, the tree just keeps on growing.

The choker is a high-quality steel cable with a very secure magnetic clasp that is quite easy to close and re-open as necessary. The cable is coated in transparent nylon which makes it quite comfortable, and since the cable is small, the choker is very light to wear.

I'll be posting this piece into My Shop later this afternoon with many more pictures. Won't you come take a look?

Have a great day!

Hey, Look. I'm featured!

As you may know if you've been reading this blog for a bit, I am a member of the Creative Glass Artists of Etsy aka CGGE. CGGE is known as a Street Team on Etsy, which is a group of folks around a common theme. Our theme is glass art.

They have honored me with a profile in the Member Spotlight section of their web site which can be found HERE.

Come take a look and find out what makes me tick!

Also be sure to check out the rest of the CGGE site since there are a lot of neat features and information available--not to mentions tons of great pictures and links to fabulous shops.

A very big THANK YOU goes out to the folks in the CGGE who are both fun and caring individuals and I'm glad I found you guys!

Something New Coming Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll be adding a new item to my shop. It's simple and elegant and not like anything I've had there before.

This new item is the first wave of several new items that are part of a grand experiment and I hope you'll be part of it.

In the morning I'll be adding this lovely choker entitled "Pink And Fruity". The choker is a thin steel cable coated in nylon and wears very comfortably. Using a magnetic clasp, this necklace is easy to put on and keep on, but is not recommended for wear during strenuous physical activity.

The focal bead on this necklace is a new raised grape design in bright pink on an ivory background. The black capped ends add drama and really set off the colors in this item.

So please stop by my Etsy Shop tomorrow and take a look at all of the pictures.

I want to know what you think of the new design, so please post your comments here too!

Have a great night!

Back From Vacation

OK, now that the website drama is over, I can tell you about my wonderful trip up to Door County.

We had a wonderful time and dogs really loved getting out and seeing new things. However, I do think they tired of getting in the car and going to the different towns on the peninsula and walking around so much.

My dogs are pretty lazy and not used to so much exercise since I'm usually busy with work, the gym, chores, etc. The slept well at night, that's for sure.

Now for the big news! I'M IN A GALLERY!

I took a bunch of jewelry and loose beads up to Door County to show a few of the shop owners and see if I couldn't get into one of the shops. Unfortunately, several of the shop owners were out of town during the time I was up there since Mondays and Tuesday are usually the shop owner's weekends.

After a few false leads and dashed hopes, fate took over.

My perseverance paid off when I visited The Dragonfly Gallery & Gardens in Sister Bay. The shop owner, Susie, saw my stuff and went wild. She really loved and took most of what I had brought into the shop.

She was really fun and sweet and has a great energy. I found out that the shop is fairly new and she's working to establish herself yet. She had a number of folks stopping by while I was there since she's got a great location and the shop is fabulous.

I cannot wait to see how her customers react to the items. I'm hoping they will really love them.

If you're up in Door County this summer, please check it out! You won't be disappointed.

Have a great night and weekend!

P.S. Tomorrow is the first day of my class with Ken Herman so wish me luck.

Web Site Update - Success

Finally, after waiting nearly a week my web site has published properly!

Apple's new MobileMe service which replaced the original .Mac service wasn't allowing the site to publish which was a huge drag since I was going on vacation. However, now the site has been completely updated and is ready for viewing.

While some of the pictures and features were published earlier, the software would not confirm the publishing which made me think some pictures and entries were missing. However, it published tonight!

Yeah!

Have a great one!

Web Site Update - Or Not

Just a quick note before heading out on vacation.

I tried to post up a new web update with all the new pictures and designs I've been creating over the last few weeks, but, alas, I cannot get my application to .Mac to publish. I believe it is a glitch with Apple's new MobileMe service which is replacing .Mac.

Please excuse my web site if it is looking funky at the moment.

When I get back, I'll try the update again and if that doesn't work, then I will get to the bottom of the issue.

Thanks for your patience and have a great week!

This Design Is Cursed

I love this bead. It's the second one I've made with a similar design since the first one met a dark fate.

I picked up the bubble bag it was in when I took it to work, and I failed to realize that I was holding it upside-down. The bead fell out of the bag and hit my desk. Instant grapevine pruning.

While I would rather have me break a bead than a customer, I was still rather upset about it. So I canceled the gym that night (any excuse, right?) and got back onto the torch. I made this bead and two organic focals.

Last night, after etching and cleaning the bead up, I took some pictures, and that's when I noticed it. It's amazing what the camera sees and what our eyes see through the camera that we didn't notice before. The bead was cracked, in several places!

YIKES.

Atop the bead, the vine was cracked, by the hole there was another crack and again across the blue grapes. So I will not have this bead design to show while in Door County. The fates are working against me.

That is why I have to tell you, that this design is cursed.

Will I try to lift the curse? Absolutely, but not until I get back from my trip to Door County.

While I'm up in Door County, I wont be able to post any new blog entries, but I will be back late next week and will hopefully have lots of fun stories to relate to you.

Have a great weekend and a better week!

You Won't Want To Fight These Summer Blues!

How many grape and vineyard names can I come up with?

I don't know, but we'll just have to see. This latest vineyard bead is called "Summer Blues" and features a new grape color--pale blue.

I love how the colors of this bead came out against the ivory background and the bright blue bunches of grapes.

As you can see, I also carried over a few tendrils onto the back side of the bead for more detail.

The blue in these beads is almost electric and seems to shine on its own power. More grape colors are coming soon!

There seems to be no end in the number of colors that grapes come in--at least in my world!

I still have more beads to photograph before I can post them. Don't worry, I have already pictures of more beads that I've made recently.

I've really been bitten by the glass-bug this week, and I'm so glad that I'm getting so much done and created. In a few days, I'll be displaying my wares in Door County to a few shop owners and we'll see what happens then!

Have a great night!

Standing Against The Fire

That's the name of this new tree focal bead I created this weekend.

A lone tree grows on a patch of ground while a roiling fire rages in the distance, and the tree does what it can only do--stand there and live life to its fullest. No matter how much time it has, it will enjoy every minute of it.

I can only hope to be as brave and resolute as this tree in my life, and I think we can all use this focal as an object lesson for life from time to time.

The back of this bead shows the rich colors and swirling "flames" of the background, and I suppose the bead could be worn with either side facing forward, depending upon your mood.

This is one of the beads that will be going with me to Door County in our search for a gift shop outlet.

Have a great night and don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop if you have a chance!

Enjoying The Sunshine

Here's another one of my creations from this past weekend that I'm taking up to Door County.

I've entitled it "In The French Sunshine" because I'm envisioning these grapes are from France and loving their life in the wine country.

This focal has the classic purple grapes draped around the bead along with the twisting vines and leaves of the plant. As you can see, this bead is designed to hang horizontally instead of my usual vertical designs.

Grapes are so much fun and they come in such a wide range of colors.

The ivory background on this bead has been capped in black for additional drama against the crackle-like color variations of the ivory. There so much to see and feel on this bead.

Have a great night!

Please Don't Eat The Daisies

Creatively, this has been one of the best weekends in ages. I needed a weekend like this in the worst way, so I'm glad to have finally gotten it.

I had three successful torching sessions where I created a variety of items that I'm planning on taking up to Door County, a tourist resort in Wisconsin, with me next weekend. Hopefully, I can get my items into a shop up there.

Two of the items that I'm not taking to Door County with me are a pair of daisy focal beads that were commissioned for fan pulls by one of my returning customers.

While I've never done daisies before, I had an idea of how to do them. These beads are the results.

I will have more daisy and floral designs coming in the weeks ahead as I work to enhanc the pattern further and add my own spin to it.

My customer, however, loved the pictures I've sent her and that is always my goal--customer satisfaction.

More pictures of my new creations will be coming all week, so be sure to check back. Also take a peek at my Etsy Shop for wonderful items that are for sale!

Have a great day.

Happy 4th Of July

Good Morning, Everyone!

I'm usually not posting in the mornings since I have to get ready for work, but the only work I have to get ready for today is making some more fabulous beads!

I love holidays!

I was supposed to post the picture of my new leaf bead last night, but totally forgot about it since I was caught up with mowing the lawn, taking care of the dogs, the cat and watching a movie.

Better late than never, though. So without further ado, I present "Water Leaf".

This is another borosilicate leaf in great shades of blue and green, which reminded me of water and how the bead got its name.

This one is a bit smaller than my previous leaf, but has a more organic shape to it.

This would look lovely as a focal of larger necklace or just strung on a cord by itself.

I'm posting this bead to my Etsy Shop momentarily, so please come take a look!

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't Get Stung!

This summer, you'd better be on the lookout for Yellow Jackets! No, not the insects, but this fun little set of beads.

This is the set, for those of you that read this blog regularly, is the set of beads that just about drove me nuts. I was using my new tool on this set while you only see five little beads, I worked for quite a while just to get these.

That's why each bead in this set is $20.00. JUST KIDDING!

The beads are a black base with bright yellow patterns created by raking the hot glass around the bead. It's a cool effect and gives the beads some real punch!

If I can get the hang of the new tool, I'll be able to make more of these with lots of color variation and designs. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'll be posting this set to my Etsy Shop sometime tomorrow, so come check them out.

Sleep Well!