I love how this one turned out!

$22.00

This is what you call a very happy accident! The base is a lovely bit of dichro, the top a very neato glass blown shard that was nearly flat. My last kiln run I had 2 levels.. one full fuse on the bottom closest to the elements. The top layer was for fire-polishing. I accidentally put this in the top load instead of the bottom, but because it's only 2 layers of glass, I got a partial fuse. The 2 layers of glass didn't completely melt together, and it left a channel between the 2 pieces...

Now some fusers actually grind channels in glass cabs, it can aid in wire wrapping.. it gives someplace for the wire to grab on. The wire-wrapping I do is on the outside surfaces, so I don't need a channel for a nice, secure wrap. But who am I to deny what a cab wants to be when it grows up?? It had a channel, so I channel wrapped it.

You can see the channel here...

To top it off, both sizes are very nice looking. Usually in a glass fused piece it's pretty definitive which side is "front" but I could make arguments for either side, so I wrapped it very simply, which allows someone to wear it either way. To spice it up just alittle bit, I used 21GA twisted sterling wire.

I love happy accidents!

Better days, traveling beads and oh my! one more kewl cab!

I love stuff like this!! Heather Powers, a formidable jewelry artist in her own right, and daughter of Beverly Herman (beloved old Internet friend who is also a jewelry artist of extraordinary talents!) is having a Sisterhood of the traveling beads:

http://humblebeads.blogspot.com/2010/03/sisterhood-of-traveling-beads-giveaway_15.html

This is where you amass a wonderful stash of beads, findings, and other jewelry making goodies and then ship it off to some stranger to pick out items, to replace with her own and then ship it off again. Eventually the box ends up back with the original sender, hopefully filled with treasures from across the country and all different than what it started out with.

What's fun is I remember doing these years and years ago, off old news-net groups. ( do they still have news-net? does anyone under 25 even know what I"m talking about? ) It's a great idea and I'm very pleased it's been revived. I hope I get to be picked for it!! If not maybe I will have to start one of my own!!

As you can see I'm in a much better mood. Part of this is Sunday made up for blah Saturday by being wonderful! Jerry and I took Little Bit to see Cirque De Soliel in Cedar Rapids as her spring break treat. The weather was fabulous.. low 50's, sunny, we ate at a nice little local Italian place, walked to the Stadium and the show was really fabulous. I saw some stuff I've never seen before, at least live. We had pretty good seats, and Jesscera got to see the clowns up close and personal.. and some of the Performers waved at here.. she broke into the biggest old grin! fun fun fun and worth every penny, even with ticketmaster's huge surcharges!!!

Drove home, and just hung out as a family. Very good day!
Since this blog is mostly about the jewelry I make, here is another recent wrapped cab. The depth on the Dichro on this one is hard to see in the pic, but this one turned out so very lovely! Wrapped in sterling 21GA square and 20GA half round, I took my time on the wraps and it shows. I'll be posting new shows on my website soon... stop by to see this and others in person if I'm in an area near you!

ever have one of those days??

yep, you know what I mean. You wake up from a nightmare. No hot water for your shower. The kids are starving and screaming for pancakes, you make 20 and they eat - each - half a pancake.

sign.

I could go on... but I won't.

So of course my plan was to make a pendent in PMC today. I should have known better, the way the day was going. I shan't go into details, but nothing turned out right, and I gave up later than I probably should have.

So, in the spirit that things will be better another day, here a glass donut I made a few weeks ago that turned out like it was suppose to! I used a frit mold, but left the middle empty and then prayed it wouldn't flow back and cover the blank spot. it worked! I love wrapping donuts, so many great possibilities in that, so learning how to make them in glass is a major goal of mine. I liked how this turned out so I'm sure I'll make more, but I've got a few other ideas on how to make glass donuts. Since today is not my day, I don't think I"ll try them today, but soon...

I hate hate hate being sick.....

which is what I've been the last several days. Some sort of mutant cold/chest thingie. I hate when it goes to my chest. I have Asthma and a life-long history of respiratory problems, so whenever a cold goes chestward, I get scared. But several days of extra rest and drugs and today I actually start to feel human again. Today I actually feel like going up to the studio and doing something besides coughing, wheezing and staring at the walls! I don't want to push it, so I set up a load in the kiln. This is a frit mold, ready to go. The purple stuff is kiln wash, which keeps the glass from sticking to the mold. When these are done, I'll take a picture so you can see what it looks like. So far the molds are just the first cycle in the kiln. I often end up with little sharp bits, which I break off or grind off, and then I do other run in the kiln to smooth these out. Sometimes the cab doesn't look quite right to me, and then I'll add something and run through the kiln again. This is why glass is sooo much fun.. the possibilities are endless! Most of the cabs I make end up in the kiln at least 2 times.. I think the most I've done is 4.

I'm doing some wire rings today, and maybe pins. Little Bit (aka the 13 year old daughter) gets home early today for spring break, so we have plans to be lazy and watch a movie together. Life is good, if not completely cough free yet!

March means the year is march-ing on.....

The CoffeeHouse art show yesterday was fun just like the first on in February. I made 3 pendants while selling jewelry, talking with friends and fellow vendors. I really think this venue will grow with time as the word gets out! I just found out today though that the April one will be the 10th, and I'll be out of town that weekend... (Omaha Bead Show, WOOT!) and at the end of April my normal show schedule starts! Wow, the year is flying by, and there is soooo much I want to get done.

I want to play with glass, play with metals, play with PMC, and of course I need to start really thinking about my stock for summer shows. I'm working on getting my anklet stash up and running for the summer. I sell anklets by the bucket-load, and I always try to get a reasonable stock up and running before shows start so I don't run out. I always have my bread and butter standbys, but each year I like to do a few different styles just to keep things fresh and interesting. The photo above shows anklet designs, including 2 new ones for this year. I love the pearls & swirls.. I'm thinking a necklace version of that, maybe 2 strands would be absolutely yummy! I wonder what would look good as matching earrings.... hmm......

Glass Fused Pendants!

OK these might not be the best photos, but I was trying to capture the wonderful dichroic effect of these cabs! Top is a white opal cab with wonderful bumpy texture. This was completely unplanned but I love it. I take notes on most of my glass runs, so I"m hope full I can recreate this again in the future! Wrapped with sterling silver, naturally!

This pink guy is several smaller pieces of clear dichro on a opal pink background, done as a full fuse. I did a fancier more silver intensive wrap on this one, it just called for it. I love the layers on this one!



Last is this blue/green cab. Now this one takes alittle explanation. I've been recycling broken blown-glass pieces in several of my cabs. They start out as broken sharp bits, many with burnt parts and icky overcooked brownish spots. I grind or sand off the icky bits, and then use them as a base to add other colored glass and dichro effects to them. I love them because of the unexpected colors and patterns they come in, once you get rid of the ick. I also love the fact that this broken glass is getting recycled and not thrown away! My sister's pendant a few weeks ago started out life like this.

Now on some of the larger pieces, I melt them down alittle first for easier handling. This one was a large piece that just turned out so very kewl just from the little meltdown!! I fire-polished it to get rid of all the sharp bits and then wrapped it with matching color crystals. I just love how this looks!
More cabs will be coming soon!

New Pendants, come see them in Person on March 6th!

These pendants were made on my trip to visit my South Dakota friends, and will be at their very first show this Saturday March 6Th at the LivingRoom Coffee house in Valley Junction, Iowa. Stop by say hi, and maybe make this the last show for these guys! Pendant #1 is done with Sterling Silver and a vintage crystal, pendant #2 is one of my own handmade fused glass pendants wrapped in sterling, and pendant #3 is Sterling wire with crystals. I'll post more new stuff in the next few days and I'll have all of my newest creations at the show!

I had SUCH a good time last week......

As you can see from the taken over entries of my blog, last week I spend in the company of 2 very wonderful ladies who just happen to be my good friends who live in South Dakota! We laughed, we created, we ate (oh my stars, I'm gonna be dreamin' about Johny's Turkey diner and sour cream mashed potatoes' for months!) and laughed some more! I can't wait til we get together again, fortunately I only have to wait 2 months!

In the mean time, I'm gearing up for my next show, which is this Saturday at LivingRoom Coffee house, in Valley Junction from 11-4pm. I've got bunches of new jewelry pieces so be sure to drop by!

I'm going to be mean though... I'm keeping the earrings shown below. I fell in love them as soon as I finished them... don't worry though, as soon as I get more of these disk beads I'll probably make another pair. The disks are from one of my favorite lampwork artists, Jodie Marshall. (http://marshalljodie.blogspot.com/) The disks are left over from my challenge project. I love love love these earrings, and I'm wearing them as I type this!

More pics coming in the next few days, showing items that I am able to part with so stay tuned!

Friday, February 19, 2010. This reporter stood her ground and staked the exclusive spa that Kat had checked into with her friends for BeadCon. On this day, the ladies got a slightly later start and made an excursion to an unlikely location; Hobby Lobby. To the delight of Kat, the hobby and craft store carried more items she could use than she'd realized. So she, Cathie and Sue exited the store with more ideas and inspiration.

Still unable to gain any photographic evidence of the women's beady obssession, this reporter followed them to a local BBQ joint where they celebrated Sue's birthday with family and friends. It all seemed quite inocuous, but was obviously a smoke screen to throw off the gullible. After dinner, the ladies returned to the spa and got to work once more with the addition of margaritas as evidenced by the tiny little drink umbrellas theat were found in the trash the following day.
Saturday was deemed a day of lock down while Kat and her minions plotted their beady plans.

This reporter only saw passing glances of the women as they came and went from the work room to the kitchen and back. Music was played, jewelry was made and plans for future BeadCons were obviously made. Using a long distance lens (since the guard dogs were still out and about), I was able to spot that Sue had made favors, sewn them on their matching bags and even come up with the next challenge.

When dinner time came, this reporter ceased the opportunity. The guard dogs were distracted by the catered meal, this time by Chef Johnnie. I made my way into the work shop clandestinely and took as many pictures as I deemed safe. A few pictures are fuzzy as the rabbit fur on my coat apears to have triggered one of the guard dogs and I was forced to run for my very life.

As with all good things, Bead Con ended with all three women exhausted, happy and delighted to have spent time with one another.

Bead Con

Once again, yours truly, Roving Reporter Sue has been assigned to dog the footsteps of the dynamic and eclectic artist known as Kat. It seems that the infamous and exclusive BeadCon has rolled around once again and this time, the location is an all-inclusive day and bead spa in the city of Sioux Falls. The very same city where her cohorts, Sue and Cathie reside. Coincidence? I think not.

The initial clandestine meeting of the trio occurred in Omaha,NE. Kat met with Sue and Cathie and immediately the whirlwind of shopping, eating and giggling began. Since our Kat has many interests, the girls with an unwitting Matthew (the bead wrangler) in tow, hit (in succession), a bakery, a jewelry store, a bead store, a glass store, a second bead store. All this was interspersed with joyously random acts of hugging. With evening closing in, they headed to Sioux Falls.

Using a wide array of highly sensitive electronic equipment, we were surprised to hear Kat's dulcet tones accompanied by Matt's deeper baritone signing at the top of their lungs to the odd They Might Be Giants CD "Flood" while Cathie and Sue just shook their heads in bemusement. The evening ended rather late with all three friends exhausted but excited to be together once more.

Thursday, the ladies rose late, lunched at a trendy little out of the way grill after the lunch crowd. Thus sparing the wait staff the influx of crazed fans. Two more local bead shops were inspected and deemed 'lovely' before the ladies headed back home. Several solid hours of work on techniques and colors heretofore untested were accomplished with great success. The usual haggling and coveting of one another's bead stash also occurred during the evening while this reporter dodged the fierce guard dogs set out among the grounds, namely two miniature dachshunds named King and Amber.

The evening's meal was catered by the renowned German chef, Kent Tegels, who made an elegantly simple meal of garlic lemon chicken to the delight of the trio of beaders. After jet setting about the globe, such comfort food was an unexpected pleasure.

After a late night with some dangerous hedge hopping, your reporter was unable to get a satisfactory photograph of the artist, but has high hopes of better luck on Friday.

SSSSSSSSSSSS! be very very quiet.....

Around 10am I'm leaving today for my South Dakota Trip to visit my good friends Sue & Cathie.. They are leaving around 930am. So If I've timed this right, there is no way they will see my post before I see them!

Why is this important?? Because each year we do a jewelry design challenge. Somebody buys kewl beads and materials and gifts them to the other 2... and then we each have to make something with the same items and we share that something the next get together. This year it was my turn to buy. I selected altra kewl face beads by Jodie Marshall (http://marshalljodie.blogspot.com/) and assorted spacers. The 2 pictures above show the same beads btw, each side is a different "mood".

I cannot wait to see what the ladies of SD come up with!!!! But here is what I came up with! I call him my mood worm ( Jerry calls it my Witchy-Worm) The hat is 20GA wrapped in 26 GA sterling silver. It's hard to see but I've got purple wire as "hair" tucked up under the hat. Between the lampwork spacers are vintage crystals naturally! I really like him, and he's a keeper!! Hopefully while at the Littleton Hotel and Beady Resort Spa I'll have computer privileges and I'll be able to get the Ladies wonderful pieces up ! Here are a couple of in progress shots.

Present for my Sister....

My sister at Christmas picked this cab out of my ever growing stock pile of fused glass and said "make me something!" I know she's gotten the package now, so I figure it's safe to post this! I made the glass cab using COE 96 white, dichro, dichro slide and a glass blower's shard. I wrapped with 21 GA square and 20 GA half-round, both in sterling. When I wrapped it, I tried to follow the curvy swirls of the glass. Her birthday is in May, but I didn't want to wait!! Love ya sis!!

Change of Plans....

Well the Panera Bread show has been moved from tomorrow night to next Tuesday, Feb 16th due to weather. Let's hope next week we don't get snow, again.. course as a friend pointed out we have had bad weather almost every week since early December.. ugh!!

So hopefully I will see you all NEXT Tuesday at Panera for bagels and jewelry!

Heart Earrings for a Customer with a big heart..... Panera Bread on Tues, and getting ready for my trip

I had fun at the LivingRoom Coffee house show on Saturday! I hope to do it in March also.... more to come on this!

While there a long time friend and customer saw my Valentine's day offerings and wanted earrings along the lines of one of the pendants. Here's what I came up with, hope she likes them, should find out Tuesday.

Speaking of Tuesday, I'll be at Panera Bread at 4150 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines between 6-8pm demonstrating my artwork.

After Tuesday, I'm going to be scrambling to get ready for my trip to South Dakota! I can't wait!!! Sure, I spend most of my free time making jewelry when I visit Sue and Cathie -- just like home -- but I get to visit Sue and Cathie while I'm doing it!!!

Sooo... I 've got to decide what the pack for the trip and what projects to take with me. I wish I could import my intire 600 + square foot studio including the millions of beads, metals, tools, wire (and now a Kiln, glass tools and a growing assortment of glass!) with me, but that seems extreme for a 4 day trip. Besides, the hubby, with some justification, complains over more than a few bags worth. He is the kind soul that has to drag it down 2 flights of stairs and carry it to the car.

So I usually just take project boxes with me, and the smallest amount of "standard stuff" I can get away with. Now for most shows, I've streamed lined my "standards" into 1 medium sized rolling suitcase, 1 hard plastic case about 20 x 20 x 5 inches, and my handy pink and black tool bag. These 3 items allow me to adjust jewelry on the spot at shows, and a very limited range of redo's. For example, say someone wants a crystal ring in red, and the ring in stock is aqua... my red bag has a small stash of crystals just for such a request. Or if a bracelet is 2 small, I can either restring it larger with spacer beads or add chain.. the simple stuff. If someone wants one of my bead woven items or metalwork, then I take an order and mail it to them after the show. There is no way I can bring a torch with me, or lug 600 + types of seed beads!

When I visit the girls however, the standard, is, well -- higher. First of all, I bring ALL of my sterling and gold-filled wire with me. We always end up experimenting with wire when we all get together, so I just have to be prepared for anything wire. That also means more tools with me.... For example I do shows with 2 basic hammers. but I own 12 and counting. So I usually bring most of my hammers with me for a visit... as well as sheet metal, because you never know. I usually bring a greater assortment of other tools with me for the same reason.

And they usually have special requests... and I don't want to run out of stuff to make ( HA!) so I always bring more projects with me that I could possibly do.

And there is always a piece or 2 of jewelry I've made that I want to show them. And Presents of course.. we always give each other presents on general principle, plus to catch up on holidays and birthdays since the last time we got together. This time I have Christmas, just because and Sue's birthday. (which I still need to get wrapped)

I could go on and on... and if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not! I'm sooo excited to be going and for 4 days this time, I could burst! I cannot wait!!!!!

Busy = Happy! at least this time around.........

The next couple of weeks are so full of good, fun stuff, I'm getting excited just thinking about it! First this Saturday is the LivingRoom Coffee House art show from 10-4pm on main street Valley Junction, IA. (official address: 117 5th St, Valley Junction, IA) I know some of the other artists that will be showing there, so not only is it a good way to connect to my customers, but I get to hang with some of my favorite artsy friends!



Then Tuesday from 6-8 I'll be the featured artist at Panera Breads "Artist on the Rise" program! (4150 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, IA) I'll be selling and demonstrating jewelry techniques and eating bagels.



And in 2 weeks I have my Annual trip to visit my good friends from South Dakota: Sue and Cathie! It's going to be alittle different this year, instead of holding up in a hotel for the weekend, I'm going to visit them in South Dakota! I'll be staying at Cathie's house ( hence forth refereed to as the Littleton Hotel and Beady Spa, or LHBS for short) Jerry is driving me down to Omaha, and the ladies will kidnap me from there. We plan to stay the day in Omaha for fun, food and of course bead shopping, and then I'm going home with them for 4 days! WOOT!

Our annual Challenge piece is due then and of course I'm not done... ack!! I'm not panicking too much however, because the weekend before my trip Jerry and the Little Bit will be off in Iowa City gaming. I have the whole house to myself.. heck, I could exile the fur babies to the garage if I need too! I'm about 1/3 done ( I hope!) on the project, and having a weekend to myself I will be able to get in some extra glass fusing and pack supplies for the trip. I'll miss the DH and the kid, but it's nice to get time alone once in a while.

I cannot wait for my trip!!

General musings of a fat person.........

OK, I know I"m overweight... I have been since 6 years old. It's not going to change overnight. It took me 41 years to get into the hole; hopefully it won't take 41 years to get out. But if it does, it does.

I don't even really care about the weight. I don't think I"ll ever be skinny. I just want to feel better. I want to loose enough weight so my knees don't hurt as much and my ankles don't swell. I want to loose enough weight so that I fit better in booths at restaurants. I want to loose enough weight so I can at least *try* to keep up with the kid. I want to loose enough weight that maybe my asthma will ease up alittle. I want to loose weight because I'm scared if I don't I will stop moving.. period. You name it, it's probably a reason to loose weight.

I'll never be skinny, but I'm heavier right now than I've ever been, even when I was pregnant. I just want to feel BETTER.

Strangely enough, I like myself better at 41 than I probably ever have. Maybe that's why I"m looking at this again. ( Like most overweight folks, I've tried before-- again, again, again, and again. End result, I'm realllllly fat now) Not that I don't have issues, but I think I accept myself as a good person with some problems. Years past, I wouldn't have given myself the "good". The last couple of years some very bad things have happened, and it's given me a different perspective on life.

I know now that fat isn't the worst thing that can happen to a good person. I think perhaps I thought I was a bad person and being fat was a punishment. I was ashamed because everyone who saw me knew I had issues, because I was fat. It was both my sin and my punishment, all rolled into one. I wore a giant, scarlet "f" on my stomach for everyone to see.....

Everyone has problems. Fat people can't hide it, but look at a skinny person and I guarantee that 99% of them have something they feel bad about, guilty about, evil about, or just plain wrong.

So what if I'm fat? Don't like it, don't look. But I want to feel better. I deserve to feel healthier. Liking myself better means it's time to treat myself better.

For Christmas we got a Wii Fit for Jerry's ( that's the hubby) present. After some badgering on his part, and guilt on mine, I've been trying it this week. It's kind of fun, and we are sort of doing it as a family activity, which makes it nice. At this point, even if I do it for 5 minutes I'm ahead of the game.

I'm trying not to overwhelm myself this time. Diets/life style changes past, I jump in with both feet, with gusto and enough enthusiasm to choke a rattlesnake. I loose usually 20-30 lbs, feel much better.. and start to slack off. And the weight comes back, brings friends and we eat even more at the pity party.

So I'm just making little changes. The goal is to feel better, to walk easier, to encourage my "like myself" better impulses. I started with less caffeine. My sleep doctor recommended it, and I grumbled, but I just can't stay up til 2 in the morning and get to work the next day like I used to. Midnight Kat Productions is more like 9-11pm Productions anymore, at least if I have to get up early the next morning! Problem is even when I go to bed at a decent time, I can't always turn my head off and sleep. I didn't believe her when she said caffeine, especially in the evening, could be part of my problem.

I'm trying. I've started to drink only de-cafe Diet Coke after 8pm. End result? I think I'm sleeping better.. more importantly my overall pop consumption is down. I'm getting used to de-cafe, but I don't drink it like I drink regular pop. You know what else? I'm snacking way less at night. So that became my next goal... don't eat after 8pm. Most weekdays this isn't a problem. Weekends it's harder because I do stay up later.

But I'm refusing to beat myself up about it. If I have caffeine after 8pm, then I do. If I eat and it's 10 pm, then that means I ate after 10pm. It's not the end of the world and I will do better tomorrow, and if I don't for some reason, then I have the next day.

So now I'm trying to get back to exercising. About 3 years ago I was exercising almost every weekday for 30-45 minutes. I hurt my knee, so I couldn't exercise for awhile.. and then never got back to it. I feel like sometimes if I don't move more I"m going to grow roots. I don't want to be a breathing statue. So I'm trying to do at least 5 minutes a day of purposeful exercise. Walking, wii-ing, even just stretching. What ever, the important thing is making a commitment to do SOMETHING.. to make it a priority, at least for 5 minutes. Most days I either do 10-15 minutes, or nothing. Again, I'm trying not to feel bad when I miss. The point is I'm thinking about it, in a positive way, in a way that might create real change. I'm making it a conscious decision everyday.

When I get to where I'm doing it almost everyday, then I'll increase the time. If it takes 6 months, that's OK. I don't think it will, but if it does it does. No more wailing in guilt and negative feelings. I'm going to take life as it is.

I think I feel better already. Maybe just a tad less achy, maybe it's just the mental lift of moving in a forward direction.

I'm also feeling much more grateful than ever before for all the good things in my life. My daughter, my husband, my family and friends, and my art. I think without making art jewelry all these years... well, I'm just glad I found the creative outlet when I did.

Don't get me wrong, I still have bad days. Had one today.... BUT.....

Life is short. Enjoy it. Enjoy yourself. Love yourself. Life is to short to hate yourself for not being perfect. It's probably funner not being perfect anyway.

Sweetheart Collection in time for Valentine's Day!

I've been busy all weekend making heart jewelry. OK, I know, how stereotypical is hearts for Valentine's day? But I have 2 local shows before the 14Th, and I never have shows around Valentines day. Making hearts in wire is fun, so I have the perfect excuse to do something I love to do anyway! All the pieces are made using Sterling silver wire.

Top Picture shows a heart pendant using a wonderful rose vintage crystal in 20 GA and matching earrings in 21 GA.
Here's another shot of the heart earrings, I've made just a few pairs, some using more red w/ pink as the accent, and some the other way around. Another version of Sweethearts in Wire, another pendant using 20 GA but with a completely different flavor! Last


is Wire heart earrings with American made Art glass hearts floating on them. These are so much fun to wear, lots of movement!

I can't wait for these shows, both sound like so much fun! First is on Feb 6Th is a Craft/Art market at a local coffee shop: The Living Room Coffee House in Valley Junction. It runs 10-4pm. I know some of the fellow vendors there, so I think it will be a good time... good food (and Coffee, if you are into that! LOL) good friends and lots of kewl handmade items like oh, say, JEWELRY!, fiber items, and paintings. Probably lots more, so if you are in the Des Moines Area drop by for a fancy coffee and Iowa Art!!

My 2ND show is Feb 9Th at Panera Bread located at 4150 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines. They have this great program promoting local Iowa artists, called "Artists on the Rise" . Every Tues night 6-8pm they have a guest artist set up and demonstrate their craft. I'm delighted they have accepted me for this program!

Actually being an artist in Iowa seems more exciting the last 6 months than ever before.. there is so much going on if you keep your eyes and ears open. The Market Street Media Foundry shows ( which start up again in May!) the Art shows at the Art Store in West Des Moines, the Central Iowa Artist Coop Gallery in Merle Hay Mall... I'm just so grateful for all the opportunities I've had last year and this year is shaping up to be even better!!

Some random pictures of my glass shop....

My glass shop is actually my 2nd bench in my studio, where I normally cut, torch and pound metals. Right now it's messy with lovely glass stuff, and I've got a couple of other orders on the way. (wooo hoo! more lovely, sparkly, fun glass to melt!) Right now my desk is full of COE 96. The Second photo is showing a few cabs set up for firing. I can fire 10-12 at a time depending on size. Third photo is a bunch of glass cabs in various stages. Most of the cabs I make are fire at least 2 times, sometimes up to 4. Each firing I add design elements such as more dichro or clear for spark and depth. The final run is a fire-polish and annealing.
No don't think I'm ignoring my other jewelry making passions, such as wire work! I have a 2ND bench/desk in my studio, which I try very hard to keep clean enough to actually make things on it. Right now I've been concentrating on making pendants and working on my challenge piece for 2010... more on that soon!

200th post, wow! And pics of the gallery Demo

When I logged into my blog I saw that this is my 200th posting! Wow! Here's to another 200 + !
Anyway, someone emailed me and asked what I made at my demonstrations last weekend. Well, here is a group shot for you. Item one ( and I am posting a close up) is one of my fused glass pieces that I wire wrapped in 20 GA sterling wire. Next is a crystal wirewrapped , a wire heart frame with a dangle of blue cat's eye and sterling bead ( which BTW 3 very cute little girls helped me pic out what to dangle on the heart.. thanks gals! ) A nice herringbone bracelet made with Japanese glass seed beads. Last is a pair of earrings made with Titanium and fresh water pearls. I also made a ring but it sold! I had a great deal of fun doing the demo's and maybe the Coop will allow me to demo again in the future...

Photos from my demo's this weekend at the Gallery!

Monika has posted some photos from my weekend demo's. be sure to check them out... http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=138596&id=135304149086&ref=mf

Sat-Sun I'll be demonstrating at the Coop!

Great news! This weekend at Merle Hay Mall is the side walk sale. Not only can you get great bargains, but the Coop (Central IA Artist Gallery Cooperative ) will feature great art and weekend long demonstrations by me! Wooo hoo!! Hey, anytime I get to hammer in a public place is a good time! I plan to set up Sat approx noon to 6pm on Saturday, and noon to 5pm Sunday. I'll be bringing in extra jewelry to sell also, but I'm mostly there to show folks how I make some of my creations from start to finish. There is a chance that other artists will demonstrate or be there in person to sell also. If you are in the Des Moines Area, stop by and see great art on the walls, maybe meet a few artists in person (or at least me, Monika a wonderful painter, and Sanjin a great photographer)

for more info on the Coop, here is the facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/CentralIowaArtistsCoopGallery#/CentralIowaArtistsCoopGallery?ref=nf

pictures of my new baby!

OK, I don't mean a baby baby. I mean my Kiln. Isn't it beautiful?? It's a Caldera made by Paragon. It's a small kiln by industry standards, but it's perfect for me to fuse glass, anneal beads, and play with PMC.

The weekend before Christmas my wonderful husband and his dad put this new bench together specially for the kiln. Total bonus, I finally got my rolling mill mounted properly. It's now bolted to the table and ready to squash metal at my slightest whim!

Before and After firing bronze clay

1st pic is before firing, 2nd is after firing but before cleaning. You can't really tell from the pics, but the fired piece is about 15 % smaller. I"ll have to try this sometime with a dime or something so you can get a sense of scale.
My husband wants me to make him bronze game pieces for a game called Indonesia. Since jewelry really isn't his thing, I am please to make him something he wants. I have made him a few "manly" pieces of jewelry over the years, but I'm not sure he wanted them (LOL) I'll get pics up soon... firing will be challenging because the pieces are so very much thicker. I'm researching a fire schedule now for thicker pieces.

I've got a very busy couple of weeks. I have a home jewelry party next week, and Jan 16-17 I'll be demonstrating jewelry techniques at Merle Hay Mall in front of the Coop Gallery. One of the local bead stores has her annual "Bead Garage Sale" where you can bring things into the shop and sell.. I'm getting things priced for that. Honestly I enjoy the shopping at that more than the selling, you always find something interesting there. I have a Show in early February. More on that later!

Today I am home enjoying a vacation day, while my daughter is home from school on a snow day. It's been a very companionable day. We have both done things apart and together, bonding and getting things done. Days like these are rare and a treasure, and a great start to the year!

A famous Iowa Artist... and the show search for 2010 is on.

realized that all the really good ideas I’d ever
had, came to me while milking a cow.
So I went back to Iowa.

~ Grant Wood ~

I love this quote! I love being an artist, I love been an Iowan, so when I tripped over this quote while looking up shows for 2010, it made me smile and laugh.

If you don't know who Grant Wood is, here is a couple of websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Wood

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma98/haven/wood/intro.html

his most famous painting is "American Gothic" and it's probably one of the most parodied American pieces of art.

here's the original:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic

I think you could make a pretty good case that Grant Woods is one of the most famous American Artists. And he's from Iowa. Kewl.

Back to show research!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

I admit right now I"m bummin' alittle... due to the vile weather here in Des Moines, IA my sister and her daughter are not staying at my house Christmas Eve.. and then waking up together for Christmas morning with the kids.

It started years ago 5 or 6 years ago, and we all enjoy it. Both of us just have the one child, and while in most cases I'm very happy with my only beautiful daughter, having siblings on Christmas morning is magical. I am the youngest of 5, and I can remember Christmas mornings with my brothers and sister, trying not to wake up Mom and Dad while we sneaked peeks at what Santa left under the tree. (Santa never ever wraps presents at our house) At some point Mom and Dad allowed us to open up stockings before they were awake.. it very likely bought them an extra hour of sleep!

Gretchen ( my sis) and I thought it would be fun to have that experience for our one and onlys.. and every year it's proved to be more than twice the fun having 2 kids screaming in delight, trying to "accidentally" wake us up so they can see what Santa brought (we have a rule, usually broken, of no waking up parentals before 7am on Christmas), and the general mayhem that kids cause when ripping open presents and stockings. We usually have stocking stuffers for each other also... Last year Gretchen "helped" Santa by making me a beautiful mini sketch pad by hand. Gretchen often finds jewelry that she's admired from my collection in the heel of her sock! Santa has good taste, both in gifts and in helpers!!

But this year, Gretchen got a late start, the roads are trying to be nasty and there is the real possibility of a foot of snow by morning. She wisely, if sadly, decided to stop and stay with Mom and Dad tonight. I do not begrudge her the correct decision of this, but I will miss her terribly in the morning. I'm hoping the roads are clear enough tomorrow that Jerry, Jesscera and I will be able to join her at Mom and Dad's tomorrow for Christmas. My daughter, at 13, isn't quite as accepting. I think she's learning the lesson that while presents are nice, it's the Presence of the people you love that matter at Christmas.

Be safe everyone, be happy, and Merry Christmas!

My Dad is 80 today!

80 years ago, a Grandma I've never met had my Dad. Wow. 80 years. I'm so very appreciative that I've had 41 years with him.

Happy Birthday Dad!!! I love you, I'm proud of you, and you were the 1st best man in my life, and you are still in the top 2!!

My Kiln is on it's way!!!!!

I got an email with a ups tracking id today, and my kiln is on the way! wooo hoo! Course I need to finish arranging my studio so it fits, but I should be up and running by the end of this weekend.. so woohooo! Christmas is early in BarronMiller Land!
Above are some glass cabs in various stages of completion. Each cab I make generally runs through the kiln 2-3 times, trying to achieve the look I want. ( Sometimes they don't end up looking like I want, but it's fun to experiment, and cabs that I don't want to wrap make great magnets!) I currently use a small microwave kiln, which can do just 1 cab at a time. As you can imagine, it takes awhile to get even a small pile like this going doing just 1 or 2 cabs a night. With my big kiln I can do 2 (possibly 3 ! oh joy!) layers of cabs at a time... I should be able to fit 8-10 cabs per layer. And I'm planing on buying a few bowl/small plate molds and see how much fun it would be to play with glass fusing on a larger scale.

My bronze pieces are now "bone" dry, and ready for filing/sanding. I'm hoping to get back to that project by Friday. I really want to get them ready to fire, since I'm getting the kiln sooner than I thought! Let me say this one last time, just in case you were wondering what my feelings are about all of this.... WOOOOO HOOOOO!

getting ready for my kiln........ playing with bronze clay

This top picture is what 100 grams of bronze PMC clay looks like. I'm actually surprised how much I could make with 100 grams! They are drying on tiles covered with wax paper, which isn't probably the best way to dry them, but I just had to play with some clay... I got my big box of clay, clay tools and stuff for the kiln.. but I don't have the kiln yet. It's coming direct from the manufacturer and I'll be lucky to get it by Christmas. (RATS!) Once I get it I really want to be able to plug it in and just go to town making stuff. So I spent time Sat setting up a couple loads of glass for the kiln for whenever I get it. And today (Sunday) I decided to treat myself to just playing with the bronze clay.
This teardrop is about 1 inch tall. See the kewl texture? The no. 1 reason I have been dying to play with PMC again is texture. This by the way, is from a mold I made from a vintage glass button from my collection. I used a teardrop shaped cutter I can't wait to see what this will look like fired! The main reason I want to play with Bronze clay in peculiar is the spectacular color range you achieve! I made 4 of them, in hopes of making earrings probably.
This is another vintage button mold, this one is bone, and I"m pretty sure it's really old. I got it at an estate sale back in the 90's and it was mixed in with a bunch of Victorian to 20's glass beads and buttons. I had 6 of them originally, but I'm down to 3.. I sold the rest on ebay years ago ( If I remember once of them sold for over $20.00!) I made about 15 molds of buttons and vintage pins in my stash... it's going to be fun using them all.

Once I get my kiln, I'll run a few of these at a time to get the right range on my kiln, then I'll be able to do batches.

Bronze clay has to be "cooked" in activated carbon in a stainless steel container, which can give the pieces fabulous patinas. I also bought PMC3, which is fine silver once it's fired and doesn't require the carbon treatment. I was saving the PMC3 I bought to play with once I get the kiln and get good running it, but after having so much fun with bronze, I"m thinking of breaking out a package and just firing it with my torch, which is an option if you don't have a kiln. I'm going to try to be good, but I like having that "back door" if I just can't stand the wait!!

here is a gallery of PMC and copper and bronze clay pieces, some of these are just to die for!

http://www.metalclay.com.au/gallery/index.html

Pretty in Pink

It's almost 2010, it's hard to believe, the year has gone so very fast! I'm mostly doing stuff to get ready for Christmas, like most people, and I've not really made much art jewelry in the past week. My file of pictures is getting low, so as soon as I get past Christmas I'll start gearing up making fun stuff. I hope to have my Kiln by then, so I can continue my experiments with glass fusing. I've also ordered some PMC (Precious Metal Clay) and tools to play with in the kiln.

So I'm going to concentrate the next few blogs in getting all the pictures I've got left uploaded to the web. This bracelet is "pretty in Pink" in 2 soft colors of Japanese Seed Beads. It's done in herringbone and brickstitch. I like making these bracelets, it's a fun way to play with colors and use up some of my huge huge stash of seed beads. I started my jewelry journey with seed beads, and I still love them, though I don't use them as much as I used to. So many wonderful materials to use! Wire, metal, crystals, glass, stones, found items... it's all good. It's been a good year art jewelry makin' wise, and I can't wait to have an even better 2010!

Central IA Artist Coop Gallery

I got a great call on Sunday.. It was Monika at the Coop - my nickname for the Central IA Arist Coop Gallery located by target in Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines, IA. My jewelry is selling well, and she wanted me to bring in more items. Yeah! I had a great time picking out pieces to take in, and I really tried to bring in items in the "present" price range, $20-40 dollars.
Here are four of items I brought in Monday for the Gallery. This Wreath pendant is made out of color-clad wire, with Swarovski crystals as "berry" accents. It's a great holiday pendant and it's only $16.00. Next is this great pendant in sterling silver, pearls and agate, for only $24. The Christmas tree at top is all sterling and swarovski crystals for $20.00 This periwinkle Mother of Pearl blue pendent with crystal accents is only $20.

These are just some of the affordable art pieces available at the Coop. Over 20 Iowa artists now have pieces in the Coop, and prices start at just $1.25. So if you are in the Des Moines area, stop by and check it out... this is the perfect time of year to buy someone, including yourself, a Christmas present that will be loved, be unique and support local artists. Paintings, pottery, dolls, mixed media, jewelry... it's all at the Coop!

I just ordered my Kiln!

It's a paragon Caldera, and I can't wait to get it.. unfortunately it looks like I will have to- The Shop I'm ordering from is out, so it's getting shipped directly from the manufacturer, and I'm to allow up to 4 weeks for delivery.. ugh!

Still I have plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime. I have a couple of commissions to work on, I'm working on class prep for next week, and I've been working on ID pendants, what I call "mommie tags". They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and metals... brass, copper or sterling silver. I've got a few pics but I've got a new stamps and some new ideas so expect to see more in the near future. If you are interested in ordering circle, fan, or square or triangle shapes, email me. for 1" inch or less charms the copper and brass run $20.00, and the sterling runs $25.00. This includes the texturing and stamping of names or inspirational words for you. Shipping anywhere in the USA is only $2.00. These make great gifts anytime, but especially Christmas!