That's what the calendar says but I don't belieive it. Not this year!
It has been below zero in northern Wisconsin most of this month. February is supposed to be the warm up month, short and sweet, to make up for a horrid January. Not so this year.
There is nothing longer then a dark and cold month. Even if it only has 29 days. Today is the 16th and it just seems like it will never end.
Although the sun is shinning on my computer screen as I type, the wind is howling and shaking the windows. It's finally been above zero the last couple of days yet the wind plunges it right back down.
I feel like popping vitamin D like valium! I'm grumpy and depressed, and want nothing to do with anyone or anything. That is definately not my personality!
So my best friend, coffee, and I will cuddle up and watch a comedy. See if that helps. Hope everyone elses February is shorter then mine.
February 16, 2008
February 12, 2008
Hearts: not just for Valentine's Day!
I love hearts. Doesn't matter what kind: metal, glass, clay. They're fun, and always unique. Why should they be just for Valentine's day? I say hearts are for every day!To the left are dainty sterling silver heart shaped charm earrings, with genuine tourmaline dangles. Very sweet little earrings for any age.
Next I used thick copper wire, hammered for texture, and shaped into a heart. What a delight to wear. More copper embelishments on a black satin cord. This necklace will go with any outfit, casual or dressy. All hand shaped wireworking, by me!
Last, but not least, I have my glass lampwork hearts. Hand made by me, using a torch and soft glass rods. Hearts are so fun to create because you can shape them traditionally, or add a little twist and tail. How about a little swirl for added interest! The possibilities are endles.
January 27, 2008
Winter update: to bead, or not to bead....
Wow, it's finally warmed up to where it doesn't freeze the skin off your face when you go outside. Yikes!
The cold definately makes it hard for me to create beads. So I've had to stick to making jewelry, which is fun, but not as much fun as melting glass and creating minature works of art. Well, hopefully they're artful.
Melted glass gives off dangerous fumes, and I do not have ventalation, yet. We've bought supplies to make a fume hood. The fan is here. And we're ready to go. Hopefully I can get the hood made before my husband has to leave town.
I'll definately have to take before and after pictures. I'm not very good at thinking of that stuff until after I'm done. Then I say, doh, shoulda coulda woulda. But it's too late.
More updates soon. Stay warm!
The cold definately makes it hard for me to create beads. So I've had to stick to making jewelry, which is fun, but not as much fun as melting glass and creating minature works of art. Well, hopefully they're artful.
Melted glass gives off dangerous fumes, and I do not have ventalation, yet. We've bought supplies to make a fume hood. The fan is here. And we're ready to go. Hopefully I can get the hood made before my husband has to leave town.
I'll definately have to take before and after pictures. I'm not very good at thinking of that stuff until after I'm done. Then I say, doh, shoulda coulda woulda. But it's too late.
More updates soon. Stay warm!
September 16, 2007
Fall is here!
Well, at least it's finally cooled down enough for me to comfortably sit at my torch for hours. But some days it gets too cold! I'm never happy.
Well, our craft sales will be kicking in full steam now. We take August off because it's just too hot out. My last sale was pretty slow, but I was able to touch base with a customer from last year and she has a wonderful project she'd like me to do for her. A birthstone bracelet. The birthstones will be replaced by floral beads. Each bead will have the birthstone color of one of her grandchildren. She's waiting for the newest arrival to their family before we finalize the details. What fun!
I've been making some leaf beads, and focals in fall colors. The halloween beads sold great on the etsy site, www.glasstastictreasures.etsy.com. I still have some left. But above are some of the newer ones I did yesterday, and I'll have more online tomorrow night.
Happy fall everyone!
June 16, 2007
Let the sales begin!!
Well, Sunday June 17th marks the start of our craft sale season. I pack up every piece of jewelry making equipment I have and load it into the trunk of my Impala (piece of crap car) and venture off into craft sale land.
My sister and I started this about 3 years ago to earn money for the Amery Humane Society, Amery Wisconsin. Then we started adding our own products. Then, much to the animals chagrin, we ventured out on our own. Oh, and I actually did one season selling nothing of my own just to help her out. She better remember me in her will!!
My sister sells hand knit items. Baby sweaters, blankets, and cute little fruit hats for kids. But enough advertising her her.
I pack all my glass beads right next to my jewelry supplies and sell sell sell. I do very well at the sales. I make about $200.00 per sale. And that was just my first year. This is my second year selling my beads, and I'm hoping to do much better, now that I know what to expect.
It's fun to get out and meet new people. They're always amazed at what I've created with my hot glass. And quite frankly, so am I.
I just finished a 5 hour session at my torch. I've created a couple of flowers. A dog head, and dog bone. Two sea horses, a snail, a couple lobsters. And god only knows what else. I've forgotten, as the Alzheimer kicks in. Must need more coffee.
One of these days I'll have to figure out the You Tube website and post a video of my bead making skills. Quite the feat, I must say. It's amazing that I can actually make that dripping glob of molten silica turn into anything recognizable!
I'll post some pictures when the beads are done cookin' in the kiln. But my favorite is a little monster I've made thanks to the talented Sharon Peters. She's awesome at bead making, and I'd grovel at her feet if I knew where she lived.
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
Jamie
My sister and I started this about 3 years ago to earn money for the Amery Humane Society, Amery Wisconsin. Then we started adding our own products. Then, much to the animals chagrin, we ventured out on our own. Oh, and I actually did one season selling nothing of my own just to help her out. She better remember me in her will!!
My sister sells hand knit items. Baby sweaters, blankets, and cute little fruit hats for kids. But enough advertising her her.
I pack all my glass beads right next to my jewelry supplies and sell sell sell. I do very well at the sales. I make about $200.00 per sale. And that was just my first year. This is my second year selling my beads, and I'm hoping to do much better, now that I know what to expect.
It's fun to get out and meet new people. They're always amazed at what I've created with my hot glass. And quite frankly, so am I.
I just finished a 5 hour session at my torch. I've created a couple of flowers. A dog head, and dog bone. Two sea horses, a snail, a couple lobsters. And god only knows what else. I've forgotten, as the Alzheimer kicks in. Must need more coffee.
One of these days I'll have to figure out the You Tube website and post a video of my bead making skills. Quite the feat, I must say. It's amazing that I can actually make that dripping glob of molten silica turn into anything recognizable!
I'll post some pictures when the beads are done cookin' in the kiln. But my favorite is a little monster I've made thanks to the talented Sharon Peters. She's awesome at bead making, and I'd grovel at her feet if I knew where she lived.
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
Jamie
May 25, 2007
How to make HOT glass
Long story short:
I use MAPP gas and a hothead torch (for now). I use soft glass rods by an Italian company called Moretti. The rods of glass are about pencil thickness, and about 10-13" long. The glass is melted in the flame, and once soft and pliable, it is wrapped around a mandrel. The mandrel is coated in a chalky paste like substance that keeps the glass from permanently sticking to the mandrel. A mandrel is a very narrow steel rod, there are various sizes (even ring size, haven't tried those yet). As long as the glass is kept warm, you can manipulate it into any shape and form you talent is capable of. Then your bead creation is placed into a ~950 degree kiln for at least 20 minutes. Cooled slowly and you have your bead.
Short story long:
The torch head was in my first kit, and they are very affordable. $45 for the Hothead, vs $160.00 for the Minor burner. Hothead uses one tank, the gas. The minor burner uses propane and oxygen tanks. And you need two regulators, it's quite pricey. But, the draw back for the Hothead is that it's noisy, and you can only make about 1/3 the beads as it's slower. Propane/oxygen is faster.
Why don't I have a Minor burner if it's faster? Well, when you fund your own supplies, and have to have the cash prior to purchasing, you buy what's most important first. I bought my kit with a credit card. Bought most of my glass with a credit card. Now I have a huge credit card bill, and that's not what this hobby was intended for. Not only do I love it, but I want to make some money too. So, when it was time to buy the second most important thing, the kiln, I decided I'd pay cash.
A kiln? you ask. A kiln is a controlled "oven" where I can anneal the beads. Annealing is important to glass structure. Wikipedia ( I think I love this site) defines it as: Glass is heated until the temperature reaches a stress-relief point, that is, the "annealing temperature" at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for the crystal structure of the material to flow together. The piece is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is even throughout. The time necessary for this varies depending on the type of glass and thickness of the thickest section.Glass is heated until the temperature reaches a stress-relief point, that is, the "annealing temperature" at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for the crystal structure of the material to flow together. The piece is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is even throughout. The time necessary for this varies depending on the type of glass and thickness of the thickest section. For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_(glass.
Therefore, it was vastly important that I obtain a kiln as soon as possible, and after two year, I figures that time frame had long elapsed. After all, if I was selling glass as art, under my name, I certainly don't want someone dropping their bead and having it shatter.
So, I set out to earn the money myself. But to do that I needed to first-get rid of some of the bead stock I'd already built up. And second-find some way to do that. The Internet was the obvious choice: vast audience, open 24 hours a day. But a website would cost me over $20.00 a month, and for that, I might as well just charge the damn kiln.
Luckily, in one of my Saturday morning ventures surfing the net. I came across a great website, owned by a VERY talented bead artist. Lori, at http://www.loribeads.com/, and one day, while perusing (ha, through in another big word) her site, I saw this link: http://www.loribeads.etsy.com/. Well, now why would someone need TWO sites? I'll have to go check it out. By the way, you should check out Lori's site too, she's pretty darn funny.
And I found ETSY, a website to buy and sell all things handmade. Go check it out, http://www.etsy.com/. It's just like Ebay only better. It's way more affordable, and your items will stay in your shop for four months, vs the 7 days on ebay. The people on ETSY will pay what your products are worth, and the site is very user friendly. And they have cool stuff like my ETSY mini, that shows my products to the right of my page.
A couple of my popular beads are showing.
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