A Catch-Up Post

The time just gets away from me! I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted.

So, let's catch up.....

I will be part of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party again! She is an amazing woman, and even more so to put this whole thing together. Over three hundred people are swapping beads and making a jewelry piece with their partner's beads. The last go-around was so much fun, and it's astonishing the creativity that people possess! Stay tuned, because I'll be posting more as time goes on.

I had a dismal sales day at the market this past weekend, which was funny because the market was busy and the weather was fabulous! Oh well. The good part is that I had a great time, chatting with other vendors and talking to folks attending the market. Every day can't be a zillion dollar day.

My enamels order from Fundametals came in and it was like Christmas! Jeanette is a wonderful person to do business with, and I highly recommend her shop for enamel, mixed-media, and metalwork supplies and tools. I got transparent and opaque enamels, and some Klyr-Fire. I had to wait til yesterday (Sunday) to play with everything, but it was SO worth it! I remembered most things from Melissa Manley's Hard Candy class at ArtBliss last year, and I made some nice enameled discs for pendants and earrings.

Apparently, yesterday was a Muse day, because somehow I made five new bracelets, one after the other. Awesome. I love it when that happens! Effortless creativity, using materials that have been sitting there all along, but finally decided to show me how they come together!

Some copper was etched, and this is the unfinished result....starting work on Halloween stuff, too.

Oh, and my shop has been updated with some more pieces. I'm trying to get my stock up before holiday shopping, so look to my Facebook page for updates!

I think that's it for the catch-up....for now, anyway!

Have a great week, everyone, and I hope to have more to show you in a few days!

These earrings:

And these earrings:

went up in the Etsy shop the other day...if you want to wear them for Thanksgiving, order 'em quick! I'll even ship for free (for those earrings) if you order them now!

Just sayin'.

**Convo me when you make your purchase and I will refund the shipping fees!**

AAARGH!

Please tell me it hasn't been over a week since I posted last! *sigh*

I've been caught up in the whirlwind of getting ready for Arts Around the Lake on Sunday, and prepping to go up to northern VA for ArtBliss. I knew it would be a challenge to jam both events into the same weekend, but it is necessary. One of my goals this year was to take more metals and jewelry classes (Melissa Manley! OMG! I am taking her class!), and also to get into better and bigger shows. Funny how both goals seemed to converge on the last weekend of September this year!

To be honest, I have made a few new things, but I haven't photographed them. Really, I feel like I don;t have time to fiddle with pictures, and if the items don't sell this weekend, I'll take the photos and put stuff up on Etsy. I know I promised to add this necklace to my Etsy shop a while back, and it hasn't made it there yet, mostly because I needed it for inventory for the show. The one thing I did do, however, was set up my display in the yard as a test run for working out the arrangement of things. I also wanted to use it to see how much inventory I needed to cover my available space, and see if there were any 'holes' that needed filling. Here's a quick-and-dirty look at the booth overall:
It's a 10x10 shade, with two of the collapsible banquet tables. I only have the two tables, and I usually set them up this way, putting myself either behind, or off to the side. I don't own the side walls for this tent, and I wish I did, because now I can't find them in white (it's a Quest brand shade from Dick's Sporting Goods), so I use white bedsheets instead. The biggest problem with that is the fact that they blow all over and billow like sails. I have to weight them with clamps. I also don't have enough to cover more than one side. It'll have to do for now, though.

One thing I am really thrilled about is my new earring card racks. I found a couple of tall slatted shelves at a yard sale a while back, and my husband cut them in half widthwise for me, and hinged them together so they stand up. My large earring cards fit perfectly on them! I made some sandbags to weight the bottom in case of wind. You can sort of see the top of the stands in back of the table. When I took the picture, I hadn't figured out how I was going to make them work, so there's no picture of them yet.

Don't worry, I promise pictures of my totally put together and dressed-up display after Sunday's show.

I'd promised myself I wasn't going to get stressed out about this show, about prepping for it or about being in it, OR about it being the same weekend as ArtBliss. I want to do both, I CAN do both, and it will all work out fine. Yesterday, however, I found myself descending into the depths of craziness, and it colored my whole day, leaving me exhausted by the end of it.

My torch and tank setup decided that yesterday was THE day to go all nasty on me and cover my glass and beads with a layer of grey, sooty crap. Over everything I made. And on my 'make list' was a set of pink beads made with CiM's Gelly's Sty, a color I typically don't have trouble with at all. Here you can see (the horror!) the difference:

On the left are the original beads, made with Gelly's Sty a few months ago. On the right....the nastiness of yesterday. Same batch of glass, too. Yuck.

I've decided that I don't have time and energy to mess with it right now. I am going to disconnect the torch and hang the hose up for a couple of days and re-evaluate. I have beads to make into more work for the show, so that's not an issue, really. I had planned to make some sets to offer at ArtBliss, but I may have to bag that.

And if you've stayed with me all the way down to here in the post....wow! :)

At any rate, i ended up making a bunch of earrings yesterday and getting them put on cards and into my inventory box was a huge relief. I wish I could say the transition from Plan A (beadmaking session) to Plan B (making earrings) was a smooth and seamless one, without gnashing of teeth and railing against the injustice of it all, but at least I got something done. Right?

So. I am totally TOTALLY looking forward to seeing some of you at ArtBliss this Friday night! Safe travels, if you're traveling, and see you there!

Walking Along The Ocean

I love the beach. I spent half of my childhood living in Miami, so the beach and I, we're pretty well acquainted. I don't get to go nearly as often as I'd like to these days, but I do dream about walking along the shoreline, especially as the sun sets, and I adore listening to the waves crash on the sand. So relaxing. I've been working on some beach-themed pieces lately, combining my favorite turquoise blues and playing with different layers of blue glass. I love how, in the Carribean, the water takes on SO MANY different shades of blue. One of my favorite things about the waters around Miami is the clarity and depth of blue there is.

(And the fact that the water is so clear has completely spoiled me for swimming in water I cannot see to the bottom of. No lakes, rivers, or not-clear ocean water for me, nope!)

Anyway, so one of my most favorite creations of late is this one, called Along the Ocean:
In keeping with my goal to list something new every week in my Etsy shop, this piece is currently available at this link.

SWEEET!

Check it out! I am in a Treasury!! Go here to see my hollow vessel pendant on Etsy!

This Week's Listings! And other stuff...

I have listed a trio of new items in my Etsy shop. Some of you may recall the new beads I started making in the late spring, the 'Bloomz' series. I finally got some pieces made with those beads and got them listed in my shop. I hope to make up more sets with other Bloomz beads and get those in the shop soon, too. But go have a look at the pendant, earrings, and bracelet I have listed!

(Free shipping if you snag all three of the pieces!)

In other news, thanks for all the support and comments on my decision and plans the other day. It always means so much to me to know that I have supportive friends out there in cyberspace!

And, I am still learning how to really use Twitter, but I ahve been followed by Lindstrom USA, the maker of very fine jewelry tools. They loved my business name and tweeted about it, which is awesome in and of itself, but they also tweeted a link to my Electric Avenue bracelet, also in my shop at the moment. They thought it was cool! I LOVE the internet!

And a question for my fellow jewelry artists who operate a business.....I need business materials, like stickers and address labels and maybe even thank-you notes with a business logo on them. Does anyone have any favorite graphic designers they have done business with who could help me out?

Thanks, all. Have a great Monday, and as always, there will be more to come...

Important Mail

Yesterday, I made a few decision about the direction and scope of my little glass and jewelry business. I don't love a whole lot of chaos, and frankly, I like chaos better if it isn't impinging on my ability to be happy. Some chaos is good, a lot of chaos spread over many areas of my life is Not Good.

Creative chaos is....okay. Until I can't find my tools.

But I digress.....

I launched A Hot Piece of Glass three years ago with a booth at a brand-new farmer's and artisan's market in a really cosmopolitan neighborhood of Richmond. An Etsy shop came shortly thereafter, and this blog, and things just kept growing. Early on, I didn't have the confidence nor the line of work to apply to the intermediate and larger art shows around here, so I kept on with the markets. I switched to another new market last year, this one in a more affluent area of town, and I was a vendor this year as well. Both of the markets have grown, but my average sales have not. Additionally, I have discovered that I have the ability to do other things with my skills, namely teaching and writing. These take up good chunks of time.

I realized I was getting very stressed and unhappy. I started dreading spending the five-plus hours on a Saturday morning at the market, only to have low sales. Spread out over the hours of time, I was making barely enough to justify being there. And I have been teaching more, and writing more.

It was all too much. This year, I decided I was going to really put forth the concerted effort to apply to, and get accepted by, larger shows. Places where people understood my work, were at least generally willing to pay for it, and would want to be a part of what I do.

So, a week or so ago, I brought a small display of my work to a jury day for a local art show held in September on the campus of the University of Richmond. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail that I was invited to participate in the show! The great thing is that this show is a really good one, with great attendance and a well-established history.

So, I decided to stop doing the farmer's markets.

I worried I wasn't making the right decision and that I wouldn't be able to sell my work. But I need to spend time with my family, and I need my energies to go *efficiently* toward advancing my work.

So there it is. I feel better already.

Now I need to go make a LOT of new work for this show. I've been dreaming of the display I want to create, and I am going to make it happen, not just "make do". And I know I keep saying it, but I am going to make a goal to list something at least every week on Etsy, starting next week.

But first, I am watching DVR'd Doctor Who and sitting on the couch. It IS Friday night, after all.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

And on the Seventh Day....there was MORE SOUP!

The owl necklace, 'Wise In The Ways' is going to a lovely home in Ohio tomorrow! Thanks, Kate!

'Reach' is still available....the earrings come with it, too!


Day Seven, you guys! Check it out!

72. Cindy, Cindy Dolezal Designs

73. Valerie, Hot Art

74. Courtney, Beads by Breul

75. Johanna, Fire Phoenix Creations

76. Shea, gr8findings

77. Julie, Pryce Designs
78. Jeannie, Jeannie's Blog

79. Patricia, Verre Design

80. Christa, Adventures of One Beady Woman

81. Heather, My Muse

82. Susan, Night Beader at Large

83. Sonja, Drachenei

84. Jennifer, Glass Addictions by Jennifer

They're Up!

The frog necklace, 'Reach' is now up in the Etsy shop.

So is 'Wise In The Ways', the owl necklace.

**Purchase 'Reach', and you will also receive the matching earrings!**

On the Sixth Day of Bead Soup....

For those of you who are interested, my Bead Soup pieces will be listed in my Etsy shop on Friday!


And the hits just keep on coming! Here's today's fresh batch of soup....eat up!

60. Carol, Carol Bradley Designs

61. Wanda, A Frayed of Fibers

62. Diana, Vintage Blue Studio

63. Marieke, Marieke's Blog

64. KJ, Silver Parrot

65. Maire, Maire Dodd

66. Shannon, Miss Fickle Media

67. Dana, Dana's Jewelry Designs

68. Charlene, The Bead Dreamer

69. Elisabeth, Beads for Busy Gals

70. Cathryn, Chile Cats

71. Missy, Melissa Rappaport

And we're on Day 5 of Bead Soup!

**EDITED TO ADD.....The three Bead Soup pieces, 'Reach' and the matching earrings, and 'Wise In The Ways' will ALL be listed in my Etsy shop by the end of the week. See my shop link on the sidebar ----->


This stuff never goes stale! Check out the list of today's yummy and fresh soup designs, all served up virtually -- no calories, no guilt, and always ready to serve!

48. Nan, Spirit Rattles

49. Amy, Copper Diem

50. Malin, Beading by Malin de Koning

51. Anne, Gardanne Glass Lampwork

52. Alice, Alice's Beads and Baubles

53. Barbara, Second Surf

54. Amanda, Articulations

55. Heather, Humble Beads

56. Melissa, Melissa Meman, Art, Life, Love

57. Kate, Organic Odysseys

58. Patti, PJ Clark Designs

59. Stefanie, Stefanie's Sammelsurium

____________________________________________________________

I promised you guys some of my own new work, besides the Bead Soup pieces. Well, here I am to deliver....I picked up the new issue of Easy Wire (which, if you don't own it, you should go get it). In that issue, there are a number of pieces by one of my very favorite jewelry artists, Cindy Wimmer. She even had one of her pieces on the cover! I love that wire rose necklace so much that I went ahead and made one for myself!

I also made myself some earrings to go with the necklace.....

There's a bracelet, but I have not finished it to my satisfaction as yet....still experimenting with design ideas using the wire rose pieces. Of course, working with Cindy's ideas sparked all kinds of new ideas for me, which is awesome! I love when that happens!

With my necklace, I'm not especially in love with the ribbons, although I loved the ones Cindy used on her necklace. I'm thinking of adding some strung seed beads, or maybe a larger piece of ribbon or something. I also used a copper chain as opposed to a silver one. I do like the contrast between metals, but I just didn't have any silver chain available when the need to make this necklace came over me. :)

Anyway, that's what I have been up to lately! How about you? What's up in your neck of the woods?

Dusk

I listed this beautiful Viking knit bracelet in my Etsy shop last night.

A quickie for the weekend

I'm learning honest-to-goodness metalsmithing!

Not surprisingly, it's HARD to hammer a piece of 16ga copper sheet into this shape. It's fun, though, and this bowl isn't quite finished yet. More hammering, some application of heat, and more hammering after that.

And....I made end-of-year gifts for the little kids' preschool teachers. Single-charm bracelets....silverplated chain with one of my Bloomz beads as the charm:

The teachers all loved them, which makes me happy. They do an incredible job for little pay, and we are grateful for their dedication to our little ones.

What else...what else.....oh! My garden is really growing now! Must be all the heat, humidity and rain we have been having. I must have a dozen or more tomatoes just waiting to get ripe. Aaah...I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the first tomato sandwich of the season!
I especially love looking out into my yard and seeing that happy pinwheel spinning in the breeze! The shot of color amidst all the lush greens of summer is particularly lovely.

I hope you all have a great weekend....next week will hopefully bring more jewelry and beads to show off, and --gasp!-- maybe I'll even update my Etsy shop with some new lovelies!

Stay tuned!

Creative Pep Talk

So, the world of art jewelry is not all beautiful beads, flowing wire designs, and gorgeous components. At least not MY art jewelry world. Sometimes I end up with weird stuff, or total junk, or wire marred, bent, broken and mangled beyond rescue. Sometimes I *think* I have a fantastic design no one else has ever seen, and then....then the internet ruins my Nirvana when I find the idea --that I have lovingly mused over, dreamed about, and sketched for three days-- was already done by someone else.

Today is this day.

I think I am in an artistic bad mood.

Nothing I am touching today is becoming something beautiful, and worse, I am beginning to think there are no real original ideas left in this world. well, I know that's not really true, because if it were, how would we as a human race continue to innovate as we do?

I think now is an opportune time for a re-reading of The Incomplete Manifesto. Of particular significance today are points 11, 17, 23, 26, and especially 35.

Much to think about....mindset to realign....maybe some mindless activity is in order this afternoon.


I'll close with a picture of the latest item to appear in my shop. This is 'Beachside', a Viking knit bracelet with my own lampwork beads. Available in the shop right now!

Earrings!

I love earrings. I hate making earring pair beads, because I have such a hard time sometimes getting two beads the same! However, once in a while, the glasswork gods shine down upon me and I actually manage two beads in the same size and same decoration. Then I get to make my earrings!
Dark Dots -- sterling silver earwires, lampwork beads by me!

Dangly Dots -- sterling silver wirework and earwires, red and white lampwork dot beads by me!


The Blues -- sterling silver wire, blue and green lampwork dot beads by me!

They should all be in my Etsy shop in a few minutes!

Ideas

Maybe this post will be somewhat of a tease. I have SO MANY cool ideas right now....but I can't share them just yet.

Bracelets, earrings, necklaces...ideas from ancient Greece and Rome and old Celtic symbolism...all very cool stuff. I promise I'll share, as soon as I get to a point where I can do that.

For now, though, enjoy some of these:
Egg earrings...


Farmer's Market charms....in the Etsy shop (as soon as I finish posting this!)


And Tea With Honey and Lemon...


It's raining like crazy here today, so no photography. I should probably get a few more necklaces and things done today, and work on those top-secret ideas of mine.
Heehee...enjoy your day!

Still working.....

The weather here in Virginia has been truly sublime the past few days. After a much harder, snowier, and colder winter than we have had in years, spring is welcome relief. I gathered all my metalworking tools, wire, beads and everything I thought I might need and went out on the deck in my bare feet to bask in the warm sunshine and do some creating.

I'd like to thank the glorious sunshine for these new creations:


In other news, the show I did yesterday wasn't so terrific. Boo! The saving grace was the beautiful weather, though, and some cool fellow vendors. I'm gearing up for the summer market season, which opens around here on May 1.

Until then, I will be listing at least one new item every other day or so in my Etsy shop. Go and check out the new things I am making! Everyone needs something new and colorful for spring!

Don't forget to become a fan of A Hot Piece of Glass on Facebook, too!

Gallery Show and New Work!

First, tonight is the opening of the show at ArtWorks. Besides the portion of the show my work will be in, they are also showing an exhibit of Korean and American artists, a photography exhibit that shows some really interesting urban photographs, a paitning show, the usual monthly all-media show, and other stuff. The Eggstravaganza show is on, too, and they will be announcing the winners tonight!

I have no idea what to wear. I was thinking of going with all black and white, but the really awesome necklace I am making that is all black and white is not done yet. Hmm.

If you are local, you should try to go see the show, either tonight or anytime before March 21.

***************
AND, in big new news.....I am getting into pounding metal.

Seriously. I have a friend who is a jeweler in Pennsylvania, and for a while now, he has been giving me lessons and helping me work on my skills. I blame him for the need for more tools.

Anyway, I got a wild idea to try some copper forming and stamping, and here are the latest results:


Hammered copper, stamped with the quote, "The lyfe so short, the craft so long to lerne." It's from Chaucer, and I thought it was fitting for my first metalworked piece.


This piece is a favorite, "Loops". Nice and substantial and really attractive to wear. This one should be in my Etsy shop by the end of the day.


And of course, this one. A mother's bracelet, stamped with the names of my three kids and with three lampworked heart beads as accents. My mom saw this and now wants one with blue beads and her grandchildren's names. No problem, Mom! I will likely be offering this as a custom order in my Etsy shop as well...base price to include up to three names and beads, with a maximum of five or six. Details to come.

I made three more bracelets, but they are not yet photographed and finished. I'll post those when I am done, hopefully by the end of the weekend.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Cheers!

New series!

I've been working diligently on a new series of pieces for my collection. Here are the first pieces in "Industrial Revolution"....a collection created using copper and mixed metals, glass beads, and found objects, with a steampunk/clockwork/turn-of-the-last-century feel.

"Fortune's Amulet"


and the matching bracelet..."Springs Wash"


Both will be available on Etsy as soon as I get them posted later today. More pieces are forthcoming, too, I just have to get the photos taken!

Hey, don't forget I have a page for A Hot Piece of Glass on Facebook, so if you are an addicted Facebooker like me, check out the page and become a fan!

Gearing up for the holiday season

I updated some pictures on the Flickr page for A Hot Piece of Glass. Go here to see the new images. Right now, a lot of the new ones are shots of just the beads for projects that will become jewelry soon.

I have also started to work on my schedule for Christmastime shows. It's not a huge schedule at the moment, but hopefully that will change. Right now I am planning on being at the St. Stephen's market this upcoming Saturday for my last weekend at that market. After that, I will be at Providence Middle School's Craft Show on November 21. More details on that one as I get them. I had applied for the Richmond Craft Mafia's Christmas show, but was turned down. :(

I am really hoping I will get my Etsy shop open again soon so if there are things you would like to see in there, let me know. If you see anything on my Flickr page that looks good and you want it, let me know. Some things there have been sold, but some can be remade.

There ya go....a quick FYI for now. Back in a while with some pix of finished pieces.