Holiday break

Good morning, friends!

I know my blogging has been sparse lately....it's the time of year! The kids are all busy with activities, and I have been spending a lot of time at the museum lately, getting ready for a practice tour I had as an assignment. The tour was completed successfully, and the kids have one more week of school before Christmas break, so I am busily trying to get done all the things that need doing while the kids aren't home. And my husband completed another semester at the University of Richmond, and I am very proud of him. My youngest turned four right after Thanksgiving, so there was a party:

And then my middle daughter turned six, and there was another party:

My oldest tested for, and received, her green belt in Tae Kwon Do this weekend, too.

The period between Halloween and New Year's Day is a ridiculously crazy, family-event and holiday-filled time that always simultaneously makes me feel so good about all that I can do for my family, but also sucks the creative juice right out of me. I wrote about it in a post on the Studio Mothers blog the other day.

The kiln is still awesome. I can't believe the beads I can make now! Discs, and huge hollows, and beads with parts that stick out....all kinds of stuff that needs immediate heat and careful cooling after working. Now I need to work on getting my new torch (a GTT Bobcat is what I'm after!), and then I'll be set.

So, I'm still here, but taking a bit of a break for the holidays. I promise to return as soon as I can with pictures of new beads and other fun stuff. Until then, I hope everyone enjoys a fabulous holiday season, and best wishes for a terrific 2012!

Last Time

I'd show you pictures of what I've made at the torch recently, but.....I can't. In my hurry to get the headpins annealed (it's a BIG fistful of headpins now -- I made even more!) so I could make something with them before the autumn was over, I shoved them all into the kiln, along with the cool ivory-black-olive dot beads and the teeny tiny hedgehog and fired them all up.

They're annealing as we speak.

My little Evenheat HotBox kiln is probably batch annealing in my garage for the very last time.

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WOOHOOO!!!!!!!

Why am I so excited about this?

Because on or before November 1st, The Glass Hive will be shipping me my new kiln!

I ordered a Wide Guy kiln way back in February of 2010. Yes, a year and a half ago. The Glass Hive has a fantastic layaway program, which I took advantage of, since putting together the entirety of the cash for the purchase was going to be difficult. With my last show, I finally was able to make the last payment, and now my kiln is being built!

No more babysitting the kiln. No more running out to the garage to check the temp and make minute adjustments with the infinite controller. No more being bound to the house while the kiln runs. No more waiting for a full bowl of beads to be made, and then trying to find a day when I don't have to go anywhere so I can run the annealing cycle.

No more making fabulous beads, and then not being able to use them right away.

Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! Of course, I have to figure out the logistics of where to put the kiln and my torch stuff so I can work and put beads directly into the kiln, but that's minor. :)

Soon....soon....I can hardly imagine what it will be like to fire up the kiln, fire up the torch, make my beads, put them directly into the kiln, and let the kiln complete it's cycle with no intervention from me, and then stop all by itself. Beads will be ready the next day, no more waiting.

Can you tell I'm thrilled!?

Still Hoppin'!

Wow! What an amazing Bead Soup party this time! So many beautiful works, so very many blogs to visit! I'm still working my way through all of the blogs on the list, and I have a feeling it's going to take a few more days at least. Wow, you guys are seriously talented!!

And thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who left such lovely comments on my work! Knowing how many blogs there are to visit, it really means a lot that you would stop and offer kind words about my necklace. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

To any of you who are newly subscribed to this blog -- welcome! Now that the kids have started back to school, and September's whirlwind is settling down, I hope to have more content posted here, as well as on my other blogs, The Medieval Glassworker, and The ScooterMom!

Enough housekeeping and business...how about some news and pictures?

So....here is what I've been up to lately....aside from cooking up the Bead Soup!

I helped a friend who needed a funny baby gift...and made a baby bottle into a ketchup bottle:

It was pretty simple, but I was impressed with myself when it came out actually sorta looking like the real thing!

It's not designed to be functional, just purely a joke between friends.

The school-year schedule is in full swing around here with activities just about every night for someone in this house -- tae kwon do, Girl Scouts, my husband has two night classes....it's crazy, but we're handling it. Oh, and my night of training at the museum. Now THAT is something I am really in love with. That's a whole separate post of it's own, though. More later.

Remember these vintage suitcases I bought last spring?

I thought they'd be great for a tabletop show display -- and they are -- but there is so much neutral in my display that nothing really stood out. So, I painted them!

A couple coats of spray paint and they were much better. I'll have some good photos of my display after this weekend. I've changed it quite a bit, and I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out. One of the very best things about using working suitcases as display props? Storage! Those things are FULL of all the little props I use on my tables. It makes for fast and easy setup at shows, too, which is fabulous, since I am always alone at shows for setup.

Hmm...what else?

I've been so busy, but haven't had a chance to photograph anything really interesting...guess this means I need to be running off to get started on prep for my busy weekend. I'm not going to ArtBliss this year (boohoo!), instead I am helping out with a local SCA event, and then on Sunday is Arts Around The Lake at the University of Richmond. I doubt the arts will actually be around the lake this year, since it's supposed to be rainy, but I am hopeful. Come out to see me and a bunch of other fine artists and artisans, if you're local to Richmond, VA!

So Many Great Things!

I've got a bunch of really great things to talk about today, and maybe even some pictures, too!

First, I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this, but a few weeks ago I was notified that I was accepted into the docent training program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts! I wrote about it on my Facebook page, but I guess I didn't say anything here...I'm SO excited, though! Training will start the second week of September, and run through next year.

Second, I finally went ahead and ordered some postcards with jewelry-care information on the back. I used one of my very favorite photos of my enameled beads, some wire and glass, and the brass plaque I stamped 'creative'.

I got them done with VistaPrint, and they're not bad for the first go-around. I'm thinking of putting that image on my business cards, too. It captures most everything I do with my jewelry these days -- metalwork, wire, glass, enamels, stamping -- so I think it would be a little more 'iconic' for my business.

Does anybody use MOO cards as business cards?

I made beads this week, braving the heat to do so. I'm getting really frustrated with my torch setup these days, because I have so little time to make beads and I want to knock out a big bunch at each torch session. Unfortunately, with the HotHead, it takes a long time to melt the glass, which translates to extra time roasting over the flame and fewer beads made in an hour. Roasting me, as well as the glass, some of which doesn't take kindly to roasting and turns all kinds of funny colors, or just flat out burns. Sigh. Someday, someday I will be able to move on from my HotHead to something that will get me where I want to be, glasswise. I am starting to feel very limited, and that sucks.

All I need is money, though.

Quoth the Raven...."Got to get started on some Halloween ideas!"

Chickens and eggs for the market

Blue beads for a necklace idea I had.

Those grey transparent beads? Those are supposed to be crystal clear glass beads, but thanks to the HotHead, that's what I get. I look forward to the day when I get to work with clear glass again.

Other good news...I was invited to blog at 'Studio Mothers', which is a wonderful community of support and inspiration for creative moms....and not only moms! I've really enjoyed reading it, and now I am thrilled to be a part of it! Check out my intro blog post here.

I added dates to my schedule at the Manakin Market, so I will be there twice a month for August, September and October. The market ends the last Saturday in October. I will also be at the University of Richmond's Arts Around The Lake show on September 25 (oh please don't let it rain like last year!), and Whimsical Wares, in Richmond, which will be sometime in November.

I think that's the update for now. Lots of things going on around here, but it's also August, which means my kids are home all day (no camp/summer school/activities!). I'm trying not to get too stressed about having less time to myself, and instead trying to figure out how I can fit in little pieces of productive time to make jewelry and get stuff done. I'll get there, I'm sure.

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If any of you are local to Richmond, VA, and interested in having your own private A Hot Piece of Glass Trunk Show at your home, please get in touch! I'm starting to book dates for home sales, and I've put together some great hostess benefits that will get you some free and special-sale jewelry and accessories. Whether we want to believe it or not, Christmas shopping season will be upon us soon, and a Trunk Show is a great way to get some shopping done AND hang out with friends! Email me for details.

To Market, To Market...

After a yearlong hiatus, I've decided to go ahead and do another farmer's market here in the Richmond area. I applied to the new market in Manakin-Sabot, My Manakin Market, and was notified that there was a place for me, beginning this Saturday (tomorrow!!). So, I will be hauling my show stuff out today and tonight and getting things ready. I'm really glad I had just done that gallery show with my girlfriend Carolyn a few weeks ago, because most of my stuff is organized and intact.

I'm also going to try out my new iPad and the Square for accepting credit cards. We'll see how that goes. I have the 3G 32GB iPad and I will be activating my 3G data plan for the first time. It should be a learning experience.

I know that farmer's markets may not always be the best venue for artisan jewelry and accessories, but I'm going to try it. I need to sell some work, and I need to expand my customer base in the Richmond area, and markets can be a cost-effective way to make that happen. We'll see.

I'm hoping this is going to be a good thing.

End of the year....

I'm being totally swallowed up by the end of the school year stuff for my kids!!

Thanks for the support on the Tardis contest; I'll be back soon with something (hopefully) interesting to share.

OOh! before I forget.....I think most of you know that I applied to the training program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to become a volunteer tour guide. Applications were accepted until the end of April this year, and then museum staff chose from the applicants a number of people to come in for an in-person interview. I was selected to interview, and will be doing that this Tuesday morning!! I'm so excited!

I have no idea what to wear.

TARDIS

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a great big geek. I have a particular love for the BBC television show 'Doctor Who', which has been on the air for YEARS.

Central to the show, besides The Doctor, is a vehicle in which he travels, called the TARDIS, which stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. It's shaped like an old British police box, in which one could call for the police if help was needed on the street. In the show, the TARDIS shows up in many likely and unlikely locations as the Doctor travels across time and space.

This year, the BBC is holding a contest for fans to make their own TARDIS, and put it in an interesting place. My whole family loves this show, and I thought this would be a great project for myself and my eldest daughter and my husband to make. However, we promptly forgot about the contest until recently. The deadline is May 15, and in the form of a last-minute brainstorm, I single-handedly created our entry.

If you go to this link: Where's The Tardis?, you will find photographs and a description of my entry. Please click the 'Like' button if you are so inclined. I really, really want to win this contest!

(The winner gets a private screening of Doctor Who for 50 people, AND copies of ALL the Doctor Who episodes currently available on DVD.)

Thanks, guys!

Oh, and for those of you hardcore fans, I am currently working on Dalek beads, smaller versions fo the TARDIS for earrings, and a weeping angel. What else should I try to make?

Sorry....

Hey everyone....sorry for the distinct lack of fascinating and captivating content (riiiight!) and awesome photography (HA!). My laptop is out of commission for the time being, until I get a replacement power cord. So, I can't really upload pictures or do any real writing like I want to until I can access my OWN computer (I'm using my husband's).

HOPEFULLY, the new cord should come in today or maybe tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed...I have a bunch of stuff to show you!

Until then, enjoy your day....and Happy Earth Day! And peace to you on this Good Friday.

(and it's also my birthday)

XO,

Christine

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!

It's Here!

Today is December 1st, and the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry is now on the magazine racks everywhere!


I mentioned before that I was going to have an article and some work in this issue -- and I do -- but I am also accompanied by some fo the most fantastic artists I have ever seen! I mean, really, MY work in the company of people like Melissa Manley, and Barbara Lewis, and Denise Yezbak Moore and Cindy Wimmer and friends? Really? It's an honor, truly, and I am so incredibly happy to be among them.

(OMG, I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!)

Go pick up the magazine for yourself...it's chock-full of fantastic ideas and beautiful pieces of work.

Whimsical Wares!

Today (Friday 11/12) and tomorrow (Saturday 11/13), my work will be in a great new art and craft show that is being held here in Richmond, Virginia. I'd like to introduce you to Whimsical Wares!

This great show is being held at the Smoketree Community Center, which is located at 11100 Smoketree Drive in Richmond, VA 23236. The show is open from 11am to 7pm today, and on Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Lunch will be offered in the cafe, and there will be a huge variety of beautiful work to fill all your holiday shopping needs. We have original paintings, printmaking, mixed-media sculpture, ironwork and blacksmithing, woodworking, jewelry, cards, unbelievable pottery, and some of the best polymer clay millefiori work I have EVER seen! Amazing stuff, all of it made by a group of local artisans (including me!).

I took a few quick cell phone pictures this morning just before the show opened...sorry for the less-than-stellar quality...everything is SO much more amazing in person!

My display

The amazing polymer clay millefiori work done by Carolyn Schallmo

The stunning pottery of Steven Summerfield

The show!

Yes, this is my little Noah, helping out!

So, come on out this weekend and get your holiday shopping list taken care of, have some lunch and enjoy a unique shopping experience. Your loved ones will get a terrific handmade gift that is one of a kind, and YOU will be helping to support local artists and artisans.

Well, it's Tuesday

So, I've been working on my Art Every Day month pieces, and truth to tell, I haven't shown any here because I haven't finished any yet. I've been grabbing a few minutes here and there to work on some journal pages and some jewelry pieces, but nothing is completely done enough to show. I'm occasionally scatterbrained when I get several good ideas all at once!

Anyway, I realize that I actually HAVE completed a few things in the last few days....if you look at beads being 'complete' even if they are not made into jewelry. For some reason, I have been very interested in focusing very intently on the beads I am making over the last couple of days. By this I mean that I have been spending a lot of time in my head, rummaging around in there, and so the beads I have been making have been detailed, large, complicated to make on my torch, and have consisted mostly of very very small dots and thick layers of encasing. I love working with dot designs, as most of you may know, and encasing is one of those skills that I feel you really have to work on and practice. The base bead has to stay warm throughout, but develop a solid skin on the outside so that the encasing layer can be applied without smudging the base. I've also been playing with a variety of methods to get the encasing layer to go on evenly and cover the base bead as completely as possible.

And the dots....I am a huge admirer of Brad Pearson's work (and he even lives in Richmond! I need to take a class from him someday), so I have been trying to incorporate some of his detail and technique into my own beads. Of course, compared to his work, mine look like they were made while I was drunk, but, hey, practice makes perfect, right? (and kids, don't drink and torch. Bad idea.)

Anyway, that has been my focus for the last two beadmaking sessions. I've been trying out different color combinations, too. I think some of these are successful. Some, not so much.

I'm liking this current focus on focusing. I am feeling very insular right now and spending a lot of time thinking. My favorite way to deal with a 'mood' or an introspective period like this is to hole up with some loud music directly into my head and something to do with my hands. Somehow I think this helps me work out whatever it is that's in my head. My mood and state of mind definitely informs the work I make at any given time.

At this point, I am going to sing the praises of Pandora. I absolutely LOVE listening to my Train station (ha!), and now that my husband has bought and installed our new media server, I am thrilled to be able to listen to my music in the house like we have a real stereo system! (How dated do *I* sound??) Music is an essential component of life, especially mine.

Oh! For any of you who are local to Richmond, VA, my work will be available for sale at Whimsical Wares, a new art show and sale that will be held this weekend, November 12 and 13th. It will be at the Smoketree Clubhouse on Smoketree Drive in Richmond. Open from 11-7 on Friday and 10-3 on Saturday, there promises to be a lot of really great work for sale -- jewelry, painting, ceramics and other fantastic gifts. You should go check it out!

It Never Gets Old

I know that those of you who are subscribers to Interweave Press's magazine, Step By Step Wire Jewelry, will not be surprised by this, as you'll have already seen it, but *I* just got to see it, and I am beyond thrilled!

I am in the October/ November issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry!!!



This was the very first article that I submitted that was accepted for publication, and it was so exciting to see it finally in print! Of course, I spent all of last week running to the Barnes and Noble near my house to see if it had gotten to the stands yet, and when it did, I bought two copies! (One for me and one for my mom, of course!)

The next day, a package arrived from Interweave that was my bracelets and a complimentary copy of the mag. WOO! There was even my bio and picture (taken at the Barbara Lewis workshop in Northern VA back in March)!

So. Exciting.

Aside from MY article in the magazine, there are a bunch of other great projects in there from friends of mine (and people I don't know yet!). Definitely check out Kerry Bogert's 'Sugar Plum Petticoats' -- I'm going to try those round links in a piece later in the week, I think. Also, Cindy Wimmer's 'Spirit Dancer' necklace is amazing! And Dia Daniels' 'Fetish Pendant' is fantastic....another idea I had been toying with, and it's so cool to see someone else's interpretation. If you don't already have this magazine, I suggest you go get it.

I'll be asking Santa for a subscription this Christmas, that's for sure. :)

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!

On Their Way!

Two more packages are going out to publishers today! This makes a total of FOUR publications for me this year. And what's surprising (to me anyway) is that at the beginning of January you know how many I had as a goal?

NONE.

I didn't even think it was possible.

So, get out there and "do the thing you think you cannot do", because I am here to tell you, you CAN.


You'll just have to stay tuned now to find out all the details...

LAST CALL!!!

Today is the final day for the Bead Soup Blog Party. What a party it has been! So much to see and so many new people to virtually meet! It's bee really great, and thank you SO much to Lori Anderson, of Pretty Things, for all her work putting this together! I had a great time, and now I want to do even more collaborative work like this in the future!

So here are the last of the party people....go visit!

85. Melissa, One-Eared Pig Beads

86. Rebecca, 2SistersBeadwork

87. Karyn, Releases by Rufydoof

88. Denise, Bling on the Blog

89. Doris, Glaszwerg

90. Megan, Churchy & Her Sailor

91. Jo, Daisychain Designs

92. Jen, VanBeads Jewelry and Design

93. Kristie, Artisan Clay

94. Jess, Vintaj

95. Suzann, Beadphoria

96. Sharon, Sharon's Jewelry Garden

97. Michelle, bMichelle

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