Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Holiday Gift Sale

Come out and support your local artists by buying unique gifts for your friends, family or yourself. This year, we have a full house of artists that will be offering items ranging from glass dishes, blown glass, jewelry, monotypes, fiber art and more.
Some of the artists participating are:
Sharon Ryberg, Carrie Strope, Kaila Inman, Pattii Northsworthy, Ed Breed, Dayna Tauro, Fred Morse, Diane Marie Hammond, Kathryn Jackson, Chris Hartung, Julie Robertson, Gloria Bazan, Tamara Shortt, Christina Williamson, Michele Mitcavish, and we keep adding people everyday.

Want to win something totally cool?!?

I've entered a few drawings on Etsy.com in the past with great success! I won an Autumnal Equinox Drawing with theEclectic Jewelry Artisans's of Etsy, and just recently won the Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt hosted by the IN Crowd! There's always a great game/contest/drawing to be had!
So, why don't you have a go...
Here's a chance to win a little monster iPod cozy from FeltAtHome.
The EJA is having a Winter Wonderland Giveaway and three lucky winners will get a prize package worth $50!
Oh! And, of course, there's always "Your Chance to Win FREE Glass Prizes, drawn Monthly" with the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE). Simply sign up for the newsletter here.

Okay, well, that's enough for me tonight. Back to laundry and gift wrapping...
Good night!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Etsy on Wallstrip!




Robert Kalin, founder of Etsy.com, is interviewed by Lindsay of Wallstrip.com. Great interview!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Time to decorate...

Thanksgiving's over, so get out the Christmas Tree!

Well, I actually put the tree up a couple of weeks ago... I had to have a back drop for the snowflakes I've been making recently. Plus, it's easier to get in the holiday spirit and remember that it's almost December if you've got the tree there! It's easy to forget it's winter when the sun's shining and it's in the 70s!
It's still a bit naked, as this is it's first year, but I'm slowly working on that!



Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Silver Art Clay and Dichroic Pendants



This weekend, I was finally able to take the fabled Silver Art Clay Pendants Clay with Arlene Hildebrand Mornick. She is a wonderful instructor; very knowledgeable, extremely patient and helpful in every way!
I have had all of the pieces from my Dichroic Tile for months, just waiting to learn the fine art of silver clay.
We learned several methods of framing/holding the glass cabochon.
Art Clay Silver is made up of reclaimed silver particles (from items such as circuit boards and photographic negatives) , organic binders and water. After firing, or sintering (bonding metal particles), the leftover piece is 99.9% pure silver.
For our first piece, we used small chips of dichroic glass incorporated into silver clay pieces. We were able to fire these pieces and take them home at the end of the day. I wore the flower piece with a dichroic glass chip to work later that evening!
For the larger pieces of glass that we incorporated into the clay, a longer annealing schedule is required. So, we weren't able to pick these up until the next day.
After firing, the silver has a white coating on it that needs to be removed in order for the silver to really shine through. We used wire brushes to polish the silver before tumbling the pendants in a rock tumbler. The longer the pieces are tumbled, the more they shine.
I think I still want to use Liver of Sulfur on the pieces to add a little depth and make the texture of the silver more noticeable.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Family Affair

While my family was visiting, I was able to get them into the glass studio for a couple of projects. They weren't able to see their projects fully finished before they had to hit the road back to Nebraska (except, of course, for the plate that Uncle Jim is holding up), which means that I have their finished glass pieces. So, I told them that I had their Christmas shopping done already! I was only teasing, of course:)

Now for the Official Unveiling:
Dad's Fused Glass Plate

UJ's Fused Glass Plate
Dad's Kiln Cast Dog - without and then with lights behind it.
A little scary, huh?

UJ's Kiln Cast Sculptural Piece

Enjoy!

Monday, November 19, 2007

In the Beginning...

I've finally got hold of the photos to go along with my story, because we all know that a good story needs some accompanying photos...
As witnessed below, the classic Fall 2007 trip to California began similarly to the way it ended. Already, you've seen the poker night that ended it all. But now, the unveiling of the Laurel Street Boys' Club.

Smoking stogies and watching football in HD.
That's what life's all about, right?
I, of course, was at work. Seems to be a theme, huh?

Friday, November 9, 2007

Winding Down...

Working backwards...Dad and Uncle Jim were here most recently, and we accomplished quite a bit. It was definitely a jam packed vacation.
But now that life is getting closer to normal, I have a little time to blog about what's been happening in my personal life lately...
So without further ado, I give you "Winding Down"


Todd decided that Dad and UJ needed a little Guitar Hero.
I mean, come on, who doesn't?

Of course, as you can see, they had absolutely no fun whatsoever.
So, we decided to move on to Karaoke.

Again, no fun had here:)
Meanwhile, I had to rush off to work. Then, Todd, Dad, and UJ cracked open the first of our pale ale homebrew (Yummy-licious!), yanked out the muchies and totally rearranged the living room for Poker Night!
Let's see, so this round let's make Dr. Pepper wild, with Aces, Straights and Flushes, otherwise deuces, wait, I mean, fours, er, no... eights wild for everything else...
Okay, everyone got that?
Yeah, that's what I said!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Add-A-Bead Necklace

I love this new chain that I got from Fire Mountain Gems!
I've had this bead laying around for about a year, and I didn't know what to do with it...
Now it's my favorite understated necklace:)