One Hundred!!

Woohooo!!!!

I officially now have one hundred followers for this blog! It feels like a milestone, and I am so blessed and honored to have so many people reading what I write and commenting and being so supportive of my writing and my work.

SOOOOOO...

It's time for a giveaway!

(I've never done one before!)

Because it's almost, almost spring, I would love for one of you to have this bracelet, Beachside.

It's a Viking knit bracelet, with four of my own lampworked beads, finished with a sterling silver clasp. To get it, all you have to do is:

1. Become a Follower of this blog (if you aren't already), AND

2. Leave a comment and tell me where in the world you'd most like to be right now.

That's it!

I will draw the winning name on Friday, March 4 at noon!

Good luck!

Shawl All Done!

Just a quick post this morning to show the end result of all that knitting....

Ta-DA! Wildfire!

I've been trying to figure out what to knit next. Something small, probably -- fingerless mitts or a hat, socks, or something -- but I can't decide on a pattern.

Now I think I need to make a shawl pin....a copper pin would be beautiful with this shawl! And maybe a couple sets of stitch markers for my shop. Maybe I will try to do that today. Hmmm...

The ideas keep coming, but the time to do these things still escapes me. At least the weather is warming up -- that means more chance to get into the garage to saw and pound some metals!

My friend Ken reports that my work did very well at the auction Saturday night, and the group overall did raise nearly $7,000 for their trip! Yay!

Enjoy your Monday off, if you are off for the US's President's Day holiday!

Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was hard at work on a few pieces for a silent auction fundraiser for a friend of mine. Ken is a good friend from college, and he is a teacher in the theater department of the Rochester School of the Arts in my hometown of Rochester, NY. Ken is a fabulously talented artist and designer, and a gifted teacher. When we were in college, Ken was often responsible for beautiful lighting and scene design on stages I performed on, and I am thrilled to now have the chance to support his work with my art.

A little background on this worthy cause...

The theater department at SOTA was selected to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer, as part of the 2011 American High School Theater Festival. if you know anything about theater or about the Fringe Festival, you know this is a major honor. The school was chosen to be one of 75 schools to attend and perform at the festival, out of over 2,200 applicants.

If you've traveled overseas (or anywhere!), you know this is not an inexpensive undertaking. They have a goal to raise $125,000 to finance this trip for students and teachers, and represent their school and their district in Scotland. One of the fundraising efforts is a benefit concert this weekend in Rochester, and along with the concert, a silent auction. I created a necklace and earring set for the group to offer in their silent auction this Saturday.

'Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks'

These pieces are entirely copper, with my own lampworked glass beads. I think I showed you the etched leaves in an unfinished state a while back, but here they are, looking MUCH better now!

I'm so incredibly proud of this work, I could just burst! I think these are my favorite of all the pieces I have done recently, and although I never repeat work, I might just have to make a pair of earrings like this for myself. The oak leaves are really fantastic, and now I have a million designs all clamoring for attention in my head. Oh, and can I just say how much I adore using my Lortone tumbler on finished work?? How did I ever get along without it? Everything comes out SO shiny and beautiful, and work-hardened (a blessing if you make copper earwires with 20ga!)!

But I digress....

So, if you happen to be in the Rochester, NY area on Saturday, and you want to hear some live music and support a fantastic cause, then you should go to the Go Plaid or Go Mad benefit concert and check out the silent auction. It looks to be a great time, and if I were going to be anywhere near NY this weekend, I'd totally go!

And if you CAN'T go to the benefit concert, you can still help out by making a donation to support the group. Go here to make your donation.

Thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

(the kids and I were making cards with heart-shaped potato stamps)

Book Destash!

I've been cleaning out my extensive library of craft and sewing books, and I've come across a few I don't need. I'm building up my funds for classes and to pay off my kiln, so if there are any books you would like, please email me at ahotpieceofglass AT yahoo DOT com. First come, first served!

Here are the titles, all are in good or excellent shape, and I will be happy to ship for $5 in the US (let me know if you really have to have one of these books and are overseas, so I can figure out a good shipping rate).

$ 8.00, hardcover with dust jacket

by Wendy Rosen, $12

$10 (in new condition)

Beader's Bible, $12 (in new condition)

Advanced Beadwork, $8

If you've got any questions, please let me know!

January has been a month of hibernating and reorganizing and doing other things while it's too cold to work with metals and glass. February is starting out much the same, although I am working on a piece for a fundraiser. As soon as I am done with it, I'll tell you all about it!

Not much else is going on here; I feel unfocused on metal and jewelry stuff, and taking that lack of focus and directing it at other handcrafts that I enjoy -- like knitting and sewing.

Here's an in-process picture of the shawl I am working on. It's not meeting my need for instant gratification, and I should have chosen a smaller project to make my re-entry into knitting with, BUT I am determined to finish it. It's the Herb Garden Shawl, and it's on Ravelry.

Sorry for the unglamorous lumpy, undefined shot of it. I was outside in my jammies without a coat this morning, trying to get a picture of how it looked so I could post it here, and couldn't get a good shot! Ack! I need to practice photographing knitting!

Anyway, you can see the rows and rows of garter stitch. It's really pretty and it will be beautiful and warm when I am done. I am hoping I will be done before it gets too warm to really need it this year! Next on the knitting queue is a hat or socks or arm-warmers or something smaller. :)

I refuse to start another project, though, until I finish this one. I want to be able to say that I'm a knitter, and finishing a project is part of that! Right?

That's the update from me for now. I hope everyone is staying warm (if it's cold where you are) and enjoying the beginning of the year. More later...