Time for a little Co-op-eration

About a week ago, I took some of my glass pieces into my favorite yarn shop, Chix With Stix in Forest Park to see if the bead shop up the street might be interested in my work.  During the conversation, Kelly mentioned that the gallery next door was an artist co-op.  My ears picked right up.

I'd been to an artist co-op in P-Town in 2005 and would have joined that one, but didn't live in the area.  Finding one in my area was exciting and I went next door to see what they had and if they would be interested in my work.

At the American Artworks Gallery, I met Lisa (one of the owners) and Gabe (another glass artist).  The really liked my work and were excited about having my heart pendants in the shop for Valentines day.

Valentines!  I hadn't even given that a thought and I had quite a bit of hearts since I'd found another box of them in my basement.  Yikes, I have a lot of glass art sitting around!

The race was on to get retail labels designed and printed (got a new printer at Christmas, fortunately) hearts inventoried, priced, labeled and back to the shop by Wednesday.  It was a busy couple of days, but I got 20 hearts completed and packed for retail sale. YEAH!

Wednesday evening after work I officially joined the co-op and turned over my hearts. Lisa is very enthusiastic about my work and I'm thrilled to be showing in such a cool and eclectic place.

Yesterday, I stopped in to see the hearts on display.  It was wonderful.  They're shining there in the window as well as in a lovely display case.

I'm anxious to see what the response from their clients are.   If you're in Forest Park, IL sometime, be sure to stop in and say hello and check out the gallery and support some local artisans!

Shop Loading Continues

I've been very busy getting my shop loaded with lots of new items over this weekend in addition to making several new pieces.

Working in Boro is a lot of fun and I hope you are enjoying my adventure with me.

This weekend I made some new disk pendants--some with a large front hole--that I will be adding over the next few days.

Drop pendants and a couple hearts were also made, but I'm not sure if one of them will go up. I was using a new color, cranberry, but it didn't quite turn out as expected. The color looks too much like rust and cherry. Reds are giving me some trouble, but I will get them worked out soon, I hope.

If they won't come out, then I can always use some "Red Elvis"--yes, that's actually the name of the color. I know it will come out red for me since I used it in class and is a very reliable color.

The pictures in this posting are new items that I posted to my shop today. Be sure to stop by Etsy and see what all I've added over the weekend.

Hope you're having a great week so far.

Where have I been?

"I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me!"

It's been quite a while between posting, but I thought it was time revive my blog and get back to you great folks.

Creatively, I've been in a bit of a funk for several months--since last summer actually-- and wasn't sure how to break out of it.

After much thought, soul searching and just generally taking a break from most things glass, I have been able to recapture my desire and creativity.

Over the past few months, I've been preparing to switch from using the soft-glass that I learned on to the harder Borosilicate. There are a number of reasons for this.

1. I love the wide range of reactive colors available to me in this glass.
2. I needed a new challenge creatively to prevent me from just making the same thing over and over again.
3. Boro gives me much more freedom over the types of items that I can make--not just jewelry but sculpture, marbles, paperweights etc. (If I have enough heat, that is).
4. It was just time for a change.

So, now that the switch has been made, I hope you enjoy the pictures of my latest creations in the new medium.

Also, be sure to check out my Facebook Page for Burning Scentsations!

Several new items have been added my Esty Shop over the past few days, so please check out the all-Boro items now!

Have a great night!