Lucky

With all the worldwide events in Japan, Egypt, Afghanistan and numerous other places, having my XM radio receiver stolen out of my car night before last definitely falls into the category of "First-World Problem". It was still upsetting and left me angry and disappointed.

But then I made this, knowing that is it true. I am so very Lucky.

I thought about Ireland's "Forty Shades of Green" while I put it together, and used up a number of green and yellow and gold beads in my stash. I love a project like that.

The necklace is in the shop right now.

Today I will be making pizza for dinner, and Nigella Lawson's Guiness Cake for dessert (just 'cause). I'll pray for the people of the world who are going through rough times and disaster, and for friends who have lost loved ones at home and abroad, and I'll remember just how lucky I am, and thank God for my blessings.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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!

So Excited!!

It's ON, people!

On Thursday evening, a package showed up on my doorstep addressed to me. I almost never get exciting packages in the mail, unless I order something, so this was unexpected. The return address gave it away, though -- Northridge Publishing, the publisher of Bead Trends magazine!

In the box was my necklace, "Gaslights", and two copies of the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends!
On pages 86 and 87, you will find a far more beautiful photograph of my necklace than I could ever take, and the tutorial for making it.

Oh, THIS is the necklace, as photographed by me:

I talked about it last fall, in this post here, having worn it to a local art show and gotten lots of compliments and comments on it. (The post I am referencing is one in my 'personal' blog, mostly about my life and my friends and family)

This was the first necklace I have submitted to bead Trends, and the second piece I submitted to any magazine, following encouragement by my friends Cindy Wimmer and Kerry Bogert.

What's really awesome is that I will have five pieces of my work shown in five different magazine issues between now and probably January. It's an accomplishment for me, and I am hoping that next year I can at least do that many, or maybe more.

I'm certainly going to try!

Anyway, I really wants to say thanks for Cindy and Kerry for all of their support, always, and their encouragement, and for giving me the little push I needed to be confident and send my work out into the world on this level. Thank you, ladies, so very much!

This necklace should be in my Etsy shop later today, if anyone is interested. I'll post the link later on!

Have an inspired day!

Whew!

I had a very VERY busy holiday, and I think I am still recovering! We had a huge party with TONS of kids and friends and food, and it was great fun, but very, very draining. It was also ridiculously HOT here, and I am about done with the triple-digit temperatures. According to my dad, who lives in Miami, it isn't even that hot there! Something's wrong when it's cooler in the tropics....

Anyway, my little kids have started summer preschool, so that means I have four free mornings each week! Peace and quiet! All to myself! Well, not entirely....I still have to make sure I work my regular job sometimes, and I need to clean the catbox and the house and make supper and probably run some errands, but still...

I tend to lose a lot of my time being on the internet, which is a belssing and a curse...I waste too much time fooling around, but I also *need* to be online in order to read and comment on blogs, promote my work, participate in the art jewelry community, and catch up with far-off friends. I know that I don't, however, have to do that all. day. long. So, I exercised some discipline. Yesterday, after I dropped the kids off, I came right back to the house and pulled out ALL of my current working materials and supplies. I plugged in my mp3 player, pulled out my sketchbook, and got right down to work.

By the time I had to stop to clean up (this IS my kitchen table, and my kids are ALL about playing with Mommy's tools...), I had completed three necklaces, and gotten at least marginally organized for a few more. Plus, I even photographed some stuff! Woot!
This is where my stuff usually lives...in my kitchen....note the bowl of the stand mixer and my unfinished-but-sitting-on-a-candle-warmer cup of coffee.

I even sent off some work to a magazine last night....we'll see if it gets picked up or not....I hope so!

So, before I can show some new work, I have to do a few more things....like, make some...

I promise. I will post some new actual jewelry soon....very soon...this summer is turning out to be much busier than I had anticipated!

In the meantime, though, YOU should go do something creative yourself! And have fun!

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?

Hey, Hey, The Party's HERE!!

Okay, so I got an amazing collection of fantastic beads from my Bead Soup partners, Beth and Evie McCord, of EB Bead and Metal Works. At first, I didn’t know what the heck to do with the big enameled frog, but after a little while of sitting with the beads and playing with them, and looking at the gorgeous enameling job on that frog (not to mention the seriously good sawing!) the design came to me.

Ta-DAAAA!

The first of my three projects is this one….called ‘Reach’.

Rather than hang the frog from a necklace, I wired it to a piece of heavy-gauge copper wire that I bent into a branch-like shape. Then I made a length of braided and beaded cord and combined it with copper chain. I added the green beads as accents on one side and to, along with the green beaded cord, suggest leaves or rainforest trees. That’s what I had in mind, anyway.

They had sent me a silver toggle clasp, but I didn’t like it for this design, so I made my own. It’s a toggle of 18g copper wire with a copper washer I stamped. I added the copper tag to the bottom of the necklace, attached to the loop on the ‘tree branch’, and stamped it with the word ‘reach’. I thought it kinda looked like the frog was reaching for the next branch, and it seems a good sentiment to have on your person as you go about your day.

The whole necklace fits over your head, so you don’t really need the clasp, but I liked it as a design feature anyway.

The next piece is a pair of earrings to go with ‘Reach’. Nothing terribly fancy here; I wanted them to be simple, so you could wear the necklace and a pair of coordinating earrings without feeling like you were totally draping yourself in jewelry. Two lampwork beads, each hung from a short section of the same chain in the necklace, and finished with copper earwires I made myself.

For the last piece, I used the remaining set of beads and the silver toggle clasp that I couldn’t put into the first piece. This necklace is called ‘Wise In The Ways'.

I strung the beads on a length of silver 18g half-hard wire (hey, it was all I had on hand! Remind me to never buy half-hard wire again…). I made simple loops on each end, then hammered them slightly to flatten. I cut a long piece of hand-dyed silk ribbon in half (I bought it from JamnGlass), and looped it through the silver bar with the beads, then sewed it to the toggle clasp. Finally, I wired up one of my white owl beads and made him the centerpiece of the work. These earthy beads just reminded me so much of woodland areas, and the layered dot patterns on them reminded me of an owl’s feathers, so I think this is a fitting piece to use these beads in, overall.

This has been so much fun! I feel like I stretched beyond my usual style a little bit, and really got into trying to make a piece that was not only wearable, but different, and captured the essence of the beads and other goodies I was given. I know my partners TOTALLY rocked their design with my beads!

I think I might try to do another swap or soup party again.

This party goes on all week, so there’s still lots more to see! Here is today’s list of blogs to visit. I’ll post the day’s list every day of the Blog Hop!

27. Lisa, Alterity
28. Dale, Dales' Flights of Fancy
29. Melanie, Kookie Designs
30. Christine, A Hot Piece of Glass (MEEEE!)
31. Nancy, Beading From the Heart
32. Laurel, Rue's Daftique
33. Sandi, Do Be Do Bead Do
34. Nicki, Nicki's Reef
35. Virginie, ViviBijoux
36. Janeen, Wild Vanilla

A birthday

Ok, so I turned forty yesterday.....yep, I was born on the original Earth Day, back in 1970. It's a distinction I have always enjoyed, honestly. I've never had a birthday that I can remember that wasn't sunny and gorgeous, which is perfect for getting into the spirit of celebrating the planet AND a birthday. Yesterday was no different. :)

I think I had mentioned a while back about creating a necklace for myself that would be somewhat commemorative of my milestone birthday. As with most projects, I didn't get it done *exactly* on time, but it is finished now, and I love it.

Here is "The Road Less Traveled":

It's a difficult necklace to photograph, because it's long (about 21"). I wanted something that was busy and full of my favorite things....and I wanted to include beads that represented some of the best or most life-altering things that have happened in the last forty years. The overall necklace shape is a Y, or rosary shape, which for me, says much more about devotion and faith than anything else I came up with.

There is a closer look at the pendant portion:
The pendant itself is polymer clay. In making it, I thought of my favorite poem, Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled", from which I usually take a quote to sum up some of my approach to my life:

Two roads diverged in the wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.

The beads above the heart pendant represent, from left to right, my middle daughter Wren (she loves pink), my oldest daughter Kira (she loves the beach), my husband Travis (his 'colors' are black, white and green), and my son, Noah (he just loves).

I made the white dove bead at the top to signify the peace in family life -- having a family, knowing your family is complete, having everyone safe and together.

On one side of the necklace, I hung beads that represent achievement of one of my most important things...education:

Here, the blue and white bead is for my undergraduate degree (SUNY-Geneseo!) and the purple and white, for my high school (Go Southwest Eagles!).
It's not a great picture, but the purple and yellow bead is for my graduate degree (James Madison University).

On the other side of the necklace, are the beads representing other life choices, some that worked out and some that...didn't:
My favorites have to be the BIG hollow beads....there are four of them, one for each decade. In the rosary, there are larger beads interspersed at intervals with the smaller beads. these are called 'decade' beads, and while they don't necessarily represent actual decades in years, the larger beads serve that purpose here. In all my favorite colors, of course. :)

I used hammered copper rings and copper links as the metals in this piece, because the copper is warm and takes on a beautiful patina all by itself as the piece is worn. Circles for the cyclical nature of life, and randomly-wrapped copper links because of the messiness and unpredictability of life.

I didn't get the piece done in time to wear it yesterday, and that's okay. I'm planning to wear it some today and maybe this weekend. I'm just happy I finished it, and was able to put it together the way I want. Even if I don't wear it that much, I have it as a labor of love and to remind me of all the good things in my life.

Happy birthday to me. :)

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!

New Stuff Day!

I've been working on some new things....bought a ring mandrel from Jeanette at Fundametals, and have been trying it out!
The third one from the left is my absolute favorite in this bunch. I did learn a few things doing these, though....one is, half-hard wire is NO FUN to try to work this small with. It really just does not want to spiral and bend easily. I have no dead soft, hence the trials with the half-hard. :(
I also learned that I need three hands for getting a ring started on the mandrel! I hope that improves with practice.

I'm keeping this one for myself.

Another thing I am working on is my birthday necklace. I'm turning 40 next month, and I am planning to make myself a necklace that is symbolic of my life thus far. I've already started working on the beads for it, but here is a quick shot of my sketchbook with some of my ideas.

I'll show more pix as I get more of the necklace done, and tell you the whole story about it in a few weeks. My birthday is April 22, the very first Earth Day, and even though I am rather bewildered by the fact that I am turning 40 (HOW did I get to be 40!?!), I'm actually starting to be okay with it. I think.

Happy Spring!!

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!

Working....

This is part of my workspace. In our house with five people in it, space is always limited. My glassworking stuff is in the laundry room, next to the washer and dryer. My kiln for batch annealing is in the garage, next to my husband's workbench, on which my metalworking tools and equipment now live. The office (really part of our garage converted into a room) is home to not only our home office, but also my sewing machines and other textile fun and games. And in the corner of the kitchen, next to the fridge and near my laptop on its stand, is my jewelry-making stuff. I call this corner of the room my Command Center, because I do spend a fair amount of time here, either on the computer, cooking in the kitchen, or making jewelry.

I can't really complain, though. I am lucky to have the space that I do. We won't discuss the ginormous sewing and craft room I had a few years ago in this house...it's now my eldest daughter's bedroom, because her room was given over to Wren, and Wren gave up her room for Noah. All the bedrooms are taken now, so I have spread out all over the house. I think the only thing that is slightly difficult is that I can't put hot beads right into the kiln as I work them, because my husband, as supportive and wonderful as he is, put his foot down about my running even my teeny kiln inside the house. :)

Anyway, I keep saying we need a 5 bedroom house, or at least one with a basement, but I do not want to move. Nope. I love this house, even as I peruse the real estate ads on Sunday mornings (it's a habit I think I acquired from my dad, who's always looking). Someday, maybe, we'll have a big house in the country on ten acres of land, but for now, I still make pretty things all over the place. And I'm fine with that.

More Fire!

Yesterday I spent an extremely enjoyable day learning how to enamel on metal using a torch. Woo! More fire-intensive fun for me! I was lucky enough to get a spot in Barbara Lewis's Torch-Fired Enamel class, which was held yesterday in Reston, VA.

Aside from the fact that I dread driving around Northern VA these days, it was a terrific experience! I got to meet and chat with so many interesting and creative people, including Barbara herself. I also happily got to sit next to, Cindy Wimmer, of Sweet Bead Studio, one of my favorite jewelry designers and wireworkers. Lori Anderson was there, too, hooray! The one person I had SO hoped to meet, Kerry Bogert, wasn't able to make it due to family needs. I was sad, as I have been wanting to meet her ever since I discovered her work about a year and a half ago. I even had her new book with me, all ready for her to autograph! (I'm such a fangirl, I know) Good thing I'll be going to the ISGB conference in July; I'll get to meet her then, as I am from the same city she lives in, where the conference is being held -- Rochester, New York!

Anyway, the workshop....FANTASTIC! I learned so much, and I got to make quite a stash of enameled beads and charms. Here's a shot of the group of beads and things that I made:


Jeanette Blix (of Fundametals) and Cindy Wimmer were the organizers, and they really did a spectacular job. There was coffee and coffee cake, they arranged for a yummy lunch, the location was great, and there was plenty of room. It was really easy to relax and enjoy the class. I highly recommend any workshop these ladies put together. In fact, there is one listed on the Fundametals site right now that looks REALLY interesting, and has two open seats left. Check it out!

I did, of course, make myself something right away with some of the beads. I've been wanting a chunky, noisy charm bracelet for a while, and last week, I started putting one together. Some of the enameled beads I made were perfect for this bracelet:


I love it!

I can't wait to make more things using these really awesome beads....and make more beads!

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!

Which came first?

I like to make charitable donations to support organizations whose missions really make sense to me. Easter Seals Virginia is one of them. As a speech therapist, I know all about what great work they do in helping kids (and adults) with disabilities, running fantastic camps and other programs, and providing access to services that some people might have to do without. The local group runs an Easter event called Eggstravaganza, which consists of a black-tie party and silent auction. Easter Seals works with the gallery where I have taught, ArtWorks, to assemble egg-inspired art donations for the auction. I just finished a couple of pieces as a donation. There is a prize awarded for Best in Show, Best Expression of the Easter Seals Mission, and 1st through 4th places in each of Professional, Amateur and Student categories. Here is my donation to the cause:


"Which Came First?"
necklace, made with copper wire and glass beads

...and...


the companion bracelet. Again, made with copper wire and glass beads.

This is a new type of design for me, new components, new wireworking. I'm getting some pieces ready to put in Etsy that have a similar look. It's all about color and quirky unexpectedness. I think you'll like it!

Keep your fingers crossed for me....today is the egg art judging....Friday is the art show opening and winners announcement. I'll let you know how it goes.