July 22nd, 2008 A pinecone of thanks!
One of the sweetest people on earth, not to mention most beautiful… lovely pendant you have there, M-C! : )
The Birds Are Back!
I love making this series of 4 different birds, but I ran out of bird images and was no longer able to get them. I thought that was the last of the birds. But then… thanks to the internet… I tracked down the company that manufactures them, and was able to order some, all the way from Spain. I had a bit of a problem with the language barrier, but 2 months later… the birds have arrived. Yay!
Into The Mystic
Sometimes glass has a mind of its own. It does things in the kiln that amaze, and sometimes disappoint. This was a welcome surprise. I really like the marbled effect.
As part of a “NO Relist Campaign” in an effort to make a fresher, better Etsy, I have made a pledge to list only new and fresh items in my Etsy shop, trying my best not to relist unsold items. My personal goal is to list at least one new item every day. Afterall, who goes shopping to see the same old stuff over and over?
So who on Etsy is with me? Let’s do our part to keep Etsy fresh.
Silver Maple Leaf on Black
This is something I learned how to do at the Glass Craft and Bead Expo in Vegas in April. You take “art clay silver” which basically looks and feels just like modeling clay. You can make it into any shape or design that you want, dry it, clean it up, and then fuse it. This piece was actually made with “art clay silver, paste type”. You layer coat after coat of silver paste on a leaf, letting it dry thoroughly between each layer. When you have sufficient coats (10 or so) then you clean it up, dry it out, and then fuse it. When fully fused, the silver looks white. Take a good stiff wire brush and brush the heck out of it until all the white residue is gone and nothing remains except a beautiful piece of shiny silver. You can also put it in a tumbler with shot, to give it a real shiny shine.
This piece was made with a little maple leaf from our yard.
Inspire
A customer requested an “inspire” keychain this week, and I was more then happy to oblige. It has been a while since I’ve made any “word” cabochons. Far too long. I guess I simply forgot how fun they were to make. They can be worn as pendants or brooches, or made into magnets or keychains. This week I’ve gone crazy making them- can I make one for you?
A “National Geographic” Moment
It was like being in the midst of a National Geographic film. The birds were incredible to watch, and the photo does not come close to capturing the feeling of being there with all of those amazing birds.
The Birds - Clearwater Beach, FL
One of the most intriguing sights I’ve ever witnessed. This flock of birds was sitting on the beach, all facing the setting sun. At one point, they all flew off across the water, beaks open, scooping up any fish they could catch in flight. Then they all flew back to their little spot on the beach, and watched as the sunset finished setting. Once it had set, they all took off en masse again. Unfortunately they didn’t return, nor were they there the next evening.
A Little Birdie Told Me…
Amanda Soule of Soulemama.com blogged about one of these little pendants yesterday, and my Etsy shop just exploded with sales. I knew the influx of customers wasn’t just because people were getting their stimulus checks in the mail. Something truly unique and wonderful was happening. This morning I discovered Amanda Soule of Soulemama.com had blogged about her “ten favorite things”, listing this little bird as #2. I would like to thank Amanda for loving this little bird so much that she named it one of her ten favorite things. Amanda, you’re a sweetheart!
Stop by Amanda’s website and check out “The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections.” - written by Amanda Blake Soule. I wish I’d had access to this book when my two kids were young.
It’s good to be back home again…
I can’t believe we’ve been home from vacation for 2 full days already. Time flies when you’re having fun… or scratching.
We had a really fun time in Florida. It made me wish I was one of those uber-rich Snowbirds with 2 homes: The “Summer Home” on the lake in Colville, and a “Winter Home” on a beach in North Naples or the Florida Keys. (After a White Christmas on the lake, of course!) Actually probably any beach anywhere in Florida would do. But we aren’t rich and I can’t have two homes… so I’ll settle for living in Colville and visiting Florida every once in a while. There is so much to do down there. Snorkeling, swimming, beach-combing, wildlife watching (Egrets and alligators!) shopping, eating, sleeping… and then start all over again. Yup… I love Florida. We flew to Tampa, rented a car, stayed in Naples on the way to Key West. We lucked out and had a beautiful room with a lanai overlooking the pool and a nice-sized pond. Then we went to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and looked for egrets, but because of the lack of rain there, we didn’t find very many birds. We did find lots and lots of birds and alligators and fish and lizards and squirrels (somehow squirrels just don’t fit… but they were there) along the everglades, and down into the Florida Keys. We stayed in Key Largo, Key West, and then back to Key Largo and on up to Clearwater. The whole trip was wonderful- beautiful weather except for 2 really hot days. The last day we were there, we swam in a really pretty beach and managed to bring home a really nice (not nice at all!) case of “swimmers itch”. If you’re familiar with that, you’ll know how hellish it is. If not… do NOT swim in shallow waters anywhere birds are present, without first lathering up with suntan lotion, towelling off briskly upon exiting the water, shower and change out of your swimsuit as soon as possible. Less on learned the hard way, after the fact. Imagine hundreds of mosquito bites all over your arms legs, hands, feet, and hips… all at once. The itch was almost unbearable. But the good news is, as of today, they hardly itch anymore at all. Blessed relief!
Where was I going with this post? Oh right… It’s good to be back home again. And it is. Really good to be back home again. My home, my dogs, my flowers, my yard, my pond, my bed… last night was the first solid night’s sleep I had since we left 2 weeks ago. I couldn’t sleep well on vacation because the air conditioners were droning all night long (Yes, it was that warm!) And then I couldn’t sleep once we got home, because I was scratching day and night. But last night… aww… sweet slumber!
I have a batch of frit pendants annealing in the small kiln, and a batch of dragonfly pendants just heating up in the larger kiln. They’ll be out tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be posting some new listings in the next day or two. Stop by my shops on Etsy and DaWanda and see what’s new! : )
Rainy Days
“Rainy Days” - modeled by one of my wonderful customers, Rain.
I love seeing my pendants being worn. “Hey, I MADE that!!!” : )
