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.

Great Show, Bad News

First off, let me say, "Thank You" for all the well wishes for my show today that I have received. I really appreciate it and the show went very well. I had some new customers and repeat buyers alike purchase my work. That made me feel great.

Thank you to all of you wonderful folks!

Now the Not So Great

After waiting and waiting and waiting. Septemberfest's letter arrived today, and I didn't get into the show. I am on a waiting list, but that isn't something that can be counted on at this point.

Once I got home and checked my e-mail this evening, I got the notification from the second show. I didn't get accepted into that one either.

WOW, a double whammy. One show rejected me late while the other one did it early to create the perfect storm of OUCH.

Now its time to pick myself back up and keep moving forward which I am doing. It's just a little tough to be rejected by both shows nearly simultaneously. Now I'm focusing back onto my work, new designs and creations since I don't have a production schedule to keep any longer.

There are some shows in the late fall that I'll be looking into and more will be coming about those as they develop.

There is a glass sculpting class coming up in July that I'm looking forward to. It's being taught by Ken Herman whom I saw demonstrate his craft a few weeks back. Click HERE for the blog entry about his work.

That will be really cool.

Thanks for all of your support and interest.

Take Care!

Happy Anniversary, O'Reillys!

Saturday afternoon, I went out to the stained glass shop that I took my first lampwork glass class in and where I now teach intermediate and advanced classes for their anniversary celebration.

O'Reillys Stained Glass has been creating and serving glass artists for 9 years in Crystal Lake, Illinois. To commemorate the event, there was food, cake and huge crowd of folks to watch demonstrations by glass sculptor Ken Herman.

Ken works in Borosilicate glass and has an unusual torch set up with a specialized table he's built so that he can use several flames at various angles all at the same time. He even has a large flame that comes up from the bottom of the table for melting larger pieces of glass, like paperweights (as you can see in the photo).

This blue perfume bottle is really gorgeous, but I'm partial to blue anyway. However, the stopper with the large flower is really something and quite a work of art in its own right.

The red bottle below is very dainty and a wonderfully executed piece of glass art. The flower stamen stopper is also a very nice touch to this piece.

It was great fun getting to see him work and all of the lovely creations that he has made. He works on a much larger scale than I do, and he was quite an inspiration to watch.

He makes some really amazing glass flowers, perfume bottles and floral scenes that must be seen in person to really be appreciated. I've grabbed a few of his pictures from the web, but more can be found in the For Sale section of O'Reillys Stained Glass's web site.

He's just starting to put his work out into the public and is looking into art fairs and other venues for his work. Who knows, he might just be at an art fair near you in the near future.

Thank you so much, Suzy for the wonderful afternoon and great party. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to celebrating your 10th anniversary next year.

Have a great night!