CeltCraft Designs

Experimenting with Molded Glass Frit

2011-11-21T21:19:00.003-07:00

A year ago I met Linda Steider, a glass artist who has come up with her own medium to use when molding glass frit. She graciously gave me a couple of samples to try.

I decided to use it a month later to create leaves for a fountain I was building. It worked very well, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with it. At the next show where the fountain was displayed, a couple of guild members suggested I do a demonstration on this medium, so I agreed. That demo happened this last Sunday and this is to document the things I discovered while playing with the medium.

Linda uses glass powder when making her molded pieces. When I had done my leaves, I used fine frit and free formed the leaves. One leaf I let dry on a barrette mold for the curve, and I also fired it on that mold to keep the curve. For the demonstration I decided to use powder in the molds and free form a piece as well. Linda's blog lists her instructions for general use of her medium and more detailed instructions for using candy molds to shape the medium:

www.steiderstudios.wordpress.com/tutorials-glass-paste-aka-glass-clay/
www.steiderstudios.wordpress.com/tutorials-glass-paste-in-candy-molds/

It suggests starting with a 50/50 mix of medium to frit, but when I talked to Linda she uses a higher ratio of frit. During the demo I used a 2:1 ratio of frit to medium. When it comes to getting the pieces out of the molds, Linda advises freezing the medium for about an hour. Then either letting the pieces slowly dry on their own or putting them in a dehydrator to speed up the process a little bit. For some reason, once I unmolded the pieces, there was added moisture, the pieces did not hold their shape, and they started actually melting! I checked with Linda, and she had never had this problem. My freezer is fairly new, whether it is that or the difference in elevation, I'm not sure. I found it wasn't my mixture ratio, because I compared a piece I was able to unmold before freezing and one after freezing from the same batch of mixed frit. The one that dried naturally before freezing was fine, while the ones from the freezer started to melt. So, I got around this problem by using my hair dryer on them as soon as I unmolded them. This helped dry them quickly and helped them keep their shape. There were one or two that broke as I was moving them, so I tried to put them on a piece of glass glued together to see if they would be ok after firing. For my first batch, I used the following firing schedule:

375F to 1280F 20 min hold
Full to 900F 40 min hold
200F to 700F off

The results were ok, but I felt needed to be a little more shiny. Linda suggests holding them at the top temperature for more shine. The free form piece was not frozen, just allowed to dry naturally because I didn't used a mold.

The second group got slightly over fired. The second firing was as follows:

375F to 1300F hold 15 min
FULL to 900F hold 40 min
200F to 700F off

Some of the pieces lost their definition. Also, the piece I tried to glue together on a piece of glass didn't work quite so well. It came apart along the crack lines obviously. Not such a great piece, but maybe a good self portrait! :) And, I did like the shine, but the next pieces will not be fired to as high a temperature.

This is definitely a method you should try! To purchase Steider Medium go to Linda's website:

www.steiderstudios.com

Would you rather make your own from scratch? Then go to Barry Kaiser's website, get a pass word and then read his tutorial on making your own glass clay:

www.kaiserglass.com

There is also a commercial glass clay available, but of course, this limits your colors to what they choose:

www.glassclay.com

If anyone is interested, I own my own glass forum on Yahoo:

Glass Fusion Group

Click on the link, tell me you read this blog or you're a member of GAGU and you'll be approved to join. Linda and Barry are both members and available to answer questions, and newbies and experienced glass fusers are welcome to join and ask questions or offer advice.

In summary, I'd recommend Linda's method to begin with. It's easy and fairly inexpensive but like any new glass technique needs a little tweaking with your own kiln and experience. I will try and add to this blog later this week with new pieces and let you know how I tweak my kiln schedule. Also, anyone who tries this method is welcome to add your comments and experience below. Thanks, Linda for allowing me to try this and share it with others!

The Trek to Delicate Arch

2011-07-24T23:02:00.001-06:00

My husband's niece and her family decided they were coming to visit Utah and thought it would be great for us to meet them in southern Utah and we could see some sites together. Moab is beautiful, there are at least three national parks within 35 miles. It's a great place to visit, so many things to do! But in July... it's HOT!!!

We mostly drove around Arches and Dead Horse Point the first day. Getting out of our wonderful air conditioned cars to look at the sites next to the road and take a few pictures. One of the wee ones was sick, so not everyone was along on that trip. But it was a nice drive, incredible scenery was everywhere you looked.

But if you go to Arches National Park, you want to see Delicate Arch. It's the symbol of Utah, in a way: There was the incredible picture of the torch at sunrise for the 2002 Winter Olympics; (Olympics) Delicate Arch is on one of Utah's license plates (license plate) . Well, Delicate Arch you just don't see from the road. So the next day we all set out to see this beautiful scene. It involves a 1.5 mile hike that starts out on a nice graveled trail that lures you in... "this isn't so bad", you think and you look ahead of you and wonder what all those people are doing on that rock face up ahead...

Well, that rock face is part of the, ahem, "trail". I say "trail" because there are actually times no discernible trail is visible. No, you're not left to wander finding your own way, little cairns mark the way to guide you when the terrain is too rocky to have a normal trail.

In other words, this is not a stroll.

14 of us, ranging in age from 52 (that would be me) to 10 months, started out on that trail. Our niece Jodie, and her kids turned back first. The altitude and heat combined were really affecting them; we're down to 10. Our daughter Nikki was carrying the 10 mo old in a carrier that had a metal frame. Every time the poor baby relaxed her legs, the hot metal would burn her little legs. Nikki saw the rock face up ahead and was pretty sure she wouldn't make it over that. She, my husband and her 5 yo son turned back then. Then there were 6. Near the top of that rock face, our daughter in law, who was spending most of her time carrying her 22 mo old son, decided he was done with the trip. She has made the trek before, so she said she'd go back and my son could go on and make it to the top. The almost 8 yo DJ decided to go back with her. This left my son J.T., 3 yo Emma and myself to hike to the finish. We passed a lady dressed in what I believe to be representative of the Hindu religion. Quite an older woman, she was quite excited at the site of the red hair of my granddaughter. She held out her hand, which Emma immediately "high fived". She then brought her hand to her mouth and kissed it, evidently happy to have touched some form of good luck.

Emma was the one who was sick the day before, and no amount of urging convinced her to go back. She wanted to stay with Nana. So on we went. We made it to within about 8 minutes of seeing this beautiful work of nature when little Emma hit her wall. She was done. I sent J.T. up ahead to see how much further it was and stayed in the shade with Emma. He went up, took some pictures and then came back, waited in the shade with Emma while I climbed the final leg. There was more shade after the rock face area, there had been very little up to that point. The "trail" led to what was becoming a ledge, I paused in a shady spot to take this picture.

Beautiful, but not what I had come all this way for. Climbed further, onto another ledge. A few people resting in the shade here. The ledge gets higher and higher and you finally see the end of the ledge...

You climb up, round that corner, and there it is. It's like you hear all the Native American tribes chanting in respect for it's beauty as you round that corner. It's an amazing sight. Yep, I've seen it on TV, seen tons of pictures, driven a car with one of those license plates. But nothing compares to struggling up that trail and being rewarded with that sight.

Now, we just had to make that trek back. We had very little water at that point. We thought we had planned, there were water bottles for everyone, a couple of small water jugs and at least one hydration pack. Nope. Not enough. We really watched Emma on the way down, making sure she would drink at regular intervals. We ran out of water about half way down. J.T. took Emma on his shoulders at that point and started going down as fast as he could, being dehydrated and carrying 25 pounds on his back. I walked slow, my legs were shaky and when I looked down at my hands at one point, they looked blue. Hehehe. There was a large rock with a few small rocks underneath it that provided some shade, just about the only place on the lower trail that did. After a short rest I took Emma by the hand while J.T. power walked up ahead to try and get water and bring it back to us. We ended up not being that far behind him, but the site of him coming back with a bottle of ice water was beautiful. VERY appreciative of the gift of water at that point. Emma was such a trouper!!!

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. We celebrate the journey of the pioneers on their trek to Utah for religious freedom. I have ancestors who made that trek, not in the original company, but in several of the ones that followed. Conversation turned to that trek more than once this weekend. Amazed that people walked day after day, covered from head to toe in several layers of fabric, some women giving birth, some children being buried on the way. People left everything they knew to go to some unknown place and start over. In the burning heat; the driving rain. Crossing rivers, desert and mountains to "make the desert blossom as a rose". I hope we make them proud, because I'm not sure I would have been strong enough to make it. I am very grateful, especially after this short hike, that they did what they did for me. Thanks.

There Are No 99 Cent Coupons in Glasswork

2011-03-19T12:00:00.002-06:00

A week or so ago, an online friend of mine who is a torch worker re-posted a link to a very thoughtfully worded blog post he wrote about a year ago on the eternal struggle of American glass artists. It started with a woman asking a friend of his to list his beads for 99 cents on Ebay, as that is where she gets all of her jewelry making supplies. His blog is here: http://munkinarts.com/blog/2010/05/12/the-value-of-handmade . I highly suggest reading it!! (sorry I couldn't get the hot link to work...)

Tom starts out his post about educating the consumer with this statement:

"I most certainly see the value in educating the consumer about why a 2″x2″ glass pendant costs $25.00 and up, and more importantly why it should.

First off, go grab a pickle jar from the fridge. Have a good look at it, now envision it as a pendant.

Yeah, that’s not the way we do it either."

That statement says loads about the typical consumer who is so used to getting beads for 10 cents apiece. There are so many people out there who have no clue of the time, expense, and constant learning involved with most fine arts, and glass specifically. It's worse when you feel they just don't care because they don't see how it effects their life personally. I know I have about $4000 invested in different tools and equipment. I don't even want to know how much over that I've invested in glass. Then mention different canopies, display items and tables for shows and since I teach, tools for students to use in class. In two weeks, I'll be paying $100-200 for gas to drive to a glass expo, pay another $150 for my share of the hotel room, and almost another $300 to take a class, because I care about furthering my craft. (BTW, this comes out of MY pocket, my husband's salary barely keeps us afloat, and I have to help out with three of the household bills and pay my own car payment... I'm just sayin...)

So, you don't think I'll be mad when I travel 2000 mile round trip and pay $1100 for a 10x10 booth for a supposed "Artisan" show, and then find myself surrounded by Chinese imports??? You don't think I feel a sting when someone tries to "bargain" their way into buying a set of my beads? You don't think I roll my eyes when I see the Italian bracelets promoted at fine jewelry stores and know that they charge an inflated price for average looking beads just because they come from Italy? Sometimes I feel like I'm the invisible man... or Mr. Cellophane! Can't you see me, jumping up and down and waving my arms saying "I'm here!!!"?

Am I saying EVERYTHING you buy has to be made in the US? Not hardly. For example, I absolutely love Austrian crystal and find it a good compliment to the beads that I make when I actually turn it into jewelry. But DO consider the working conditions (see Tom's quote below) and consider your support of American artists and American owned small business. We need the money here now. There is a movement called the 3/50 Challenge. Their idea is to pick 3 American owned small businesses and spend $50 at those businesses a month. Kind of a cool idea. Do you know how thrilled I'd be to have someone pick ME for that challenge? Just ONE person?? (While we can't afford the $150 a month, hubby and I have been trying to pick smaller, family owned restaurants when we go out to eat instead of the big chains. We are trying to do our part.)

As artists, we certainly understand when someone can't afford to buy a piece. We lust after other artist's pieces ourselves. It's ok to take a business card in the hope that you can buy something later... in fact we're tickled when you do! (Put it someplace safe, ok? It's another cost we incur in the hopes of making a few dollars to buy more glass...) We love talking about what we do, and if we also teach what we do, oh, we'd LOVE to tell you about the classes!

If you are at a Farmer's Market, a craft fair or gallery stroll... please attend with a different frame of mind. Don't go "looking for a deal". Don't insult an artist by saying something like "Is this the best price you can give me?" Look for something that speaks to your heart, something that just jumps out at you, and if you can afford the asking price, pay it with a smile on your face and let that artist know how you feel about the piece. Then tell your friends.

Finally, I'd like to quote Tom's ending to his blog post:
"I assure you, there are extraordinarily few people getting rich off of their glass. Most who do it full time eek out a living and a little extra, but they do it because they love the craft. They love working for themselves. They’d like to be rich, but that’s not the driving force.

So when you pick up a pendant at Michaels or Wal-mart, ask yourself how it is that that piece of glass, made by someone’s hands in a factory, can be made by another human being, be shipped all the way across the world, and still only cost you $1.98. Imagine the quality of life you’re creating by supporting that low price.

And finally, if you see one of us out at a street festival peddling our wares, please be courteous and don’t pick up the piece, sniff and say “I can get these for $2.00″.

Remember that the person in front of you made that. Take the time to ask questions, the type of glass, how long it took, inspirations, reasons for color choices, favorite torch, anything. We’re people too, we love to talk about our work. Don’t forget that behind that small bit of beauty, that one of a kind sculpture in your hand, is a long process of discovery and learning, all culminating in what you’re holding in your hand.

It’s a little piece of the artist, value it appropriately."

Yeah. What He Said. Thanks, Tom for letting me share your blog, and thanks to everyone who has ever bought one of my pieces from me. It means so much more than just whatever you had to pay for it at that time. My art is a piece of me in a way that few people can understand. It's not the money that makes me elated when you take that piece home with you, but that you parted with your hard earned cash because something of mine spoke to you. Bless you.

Real Life (or what's known as possibly sharing too much).

2011-01-23T14:55:00.011-07:00

You're young. You dream. Life is all full of possibilities, anything can happen, you can become anyone. So one day you turn around and you are over 50, and you are wondering how did I end up here?

I've read a few autobiographies. I just finished Jeff Dunham's autobiography. Support for what most parents could look at as a very weird interest has helped him not only have a successful career, but to NEVER have another job besides ventriloquist. Wow. Advice. Support. Unconditional love. It can change your life.

Now, I certainly don't claim to be anywhere near a perfect parent. In fact, I feel like I'm at the age where some of my parenting "skills" are coming back to haunt me. My oldest, a son, just turned 32. My daughter is 29. My husband and I now have 5 grandchildren. Neither of my children have committed a serious crime, they are self supporting and seem to be doing a great job with their children, and they have pretty durned good spouses. I've apparently installed a few issues with them here and there, but over all, maybe we are ok at working it all out.

My home life as I was growing up? Hmmm. Well, it wasn't all bad. But as an adult, looking back, there was some very messed up stuff. My parents had to get married and the result was me. They didn't stay married long. My mom told me they got divorced because I would cry that I didn't want him to come home. The foundation for therapy session #1. (Ok, I'm just kidding, that hasn't been any therapy... yet.)

Growing up in a Mormon community, things are very centered around a traditional family. I really wanted a father. Mom brought home a man she met at work. Later on, family members told me they told her not to marry this guy, he was 11 years older than her, and he may have left his wife for her. I don't know this for sure, I only have his family's reaction to go by. Of course, my mother would never have admitted to this, and she later ranted that she wished someone would have told her not to marry him... so I honestly have no clue. Any way, I figured I would have a dad, and so I insisted on using his last name even though there was no formal adoption. What followed was two sisters and about 20 years of fighting. I lay in bed at night listening and knowing from a very young age how ridiculous it was. Their words made no sense, nothing was ever resolved. I remember one night she decided to leave in the car after an argument and he went after her and jumped on the hood of the car. One of my sisters came out of her bedroom screaming that he was going to kill her. I was so angry at their idiocy.

When I left home for college I knew there was no going back. I never wanted to be around that again. I met a man after I had been in college a year. While I really considered him a friend, a crisis one night made me realize how much I depended on him for support. Soon it was evident we would be getting married. He was listening in on the extension when I broke the news to my mother. Her "advice"... "Marry someone good looking, think of your kids!" She didn't like red hair and freckles.

I am so lucky to have never taken that "advice". I have been with this wonderful man for almost 32 years and my assessment of him thankfully was based on so much more than "looks" (He makes me laugh, and I find THAT sexy!) I feel like my kids turned out pretty good looking and what's very funny about that statement is that they take after my husband's side of the family. You could put our kids along side his sisters' kids and they look more like siblings than cousins. Their kids are turning out beautiful as well. My little red headed 2.5 yo granddaughter particularly turns heads. I love my kids, their spouses and my grandkids. All of them.

I wasn't really physically abused during childhood, but there was a definite psychological abuse. My sisters and I still struggle with a lot of things. Thankfully, they made a measure of peace with their father before he died. Our mother must have brought out the worst in him. She did divorce him and married and divorced a third man. What's sad, is that she has absolutely no self confidence (for which she blames her Victorian age parents) and so she attacks everyone else because she expects that they are thinking the same way she does. My mother would get in horrible fights with her parents and while I know my grandparents didn't discuss certain topics, I never doubted their love for either her or me. Looking back I have to think my core values came more from my grandmother than my mother.

Forgive me if this post is dark. I'm really ok, thanks in large part to my husband and his mother. For sure I'm more normal than I have any right to be. There's a line in the movie "Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" where Sidda says "If I would have had a normal childhood I would have had nothing to write about". Well, I'm not a writer. But I have always needed to create. I think I escaped into the theatre early on because there I could be someone else. I could lose myself in music playing one of three or four instruments. I've learned to crochet, x-stitch, do bead work. For the past ten years it's really been all about the glass. I have a feeling it's because of how I grew up... to a certain extent I can control glass. But, maybe I'm just an hypersensitive boob who over thinks things. Either way, I'm happy to be where I am now. I'm still a work in progress, and I'm doing everything I can to make sure the progress is positive. If you've read this far... thanks. I hope the blessings you need in life are yours, and that you feel their effect every, single, day.

Hobbies Have Taken Over My Life

2010-11-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've always felt the need to create something. I learned to embroider a little from my grandmother. I learned very basic knitting and crochet from my church as a teenager. My mother saw a "new" thing at a hobby store one time and bought me stuff to do "quilling". ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilling ) I learned how to play guitar, saxophone and a little bit of banjo and piano while I was growing up as well. I sang a bit, too. I was a theatre major in college. Shortly after I was married I learned how to do counted cross stitch. Then came seed beading and a bit of jewelry making.

Then, on Halloween 1998, I think, a friend and I were scouting out jewelry/bead stores in Salt Lake. I was handed a "Lapidary Journal" magazine, October issue, and since it was the last day, I got the magazine for half price. At that time, Lapidary Journal October issue was called their "bead annual" and focused entirely on beads. This particular issue had an article about Kristin Frantzen-Orr in it and showed pictures of her beautiful beads. It didn't stop there, though, in the back of the magazine there were step by step instructions on how to actually create one of her floral beads. ( http://www.jewelryartistmagazine.com/feature/kristen-frantzen-orr.cfm ) Little did I know what was going to happen as a result of buying that magazine.

I was fascinated by that article, I had never heard of making beads in a torch although all through my life I had collected the wonderful lace work items those glass workers at the state fair and malls sold. This was a wonderful world of colored glass I didn't know was out there. I must have talked about it a bit because my husband bought me a beginning lamp working kit for Christmas that year. Then, by 2000 I had decided I had to open a bead store so people could buy my wonderful beads. (Ok, I didn't say I've ever had a close grip on reality, lol!) So, for seven years, my new "hobby" actually became my business.

I had a great time at that place. Met some fun people. Held classes and taught people how to bead (including two Native Americans). I can count on one hand the number of times I got angry or frustrated at any of my customers that whole seven years. During that time both my children married and I sewed and beaded two bridal gowns. But after seven years, I was still the only employee there, six days a week. I think my hubby felt like he would actually like me to participate in a few activities with him once in a while. So I closed the store in Dec. 2006. (Ok, it was a couple months short of a full seven years, sue me.) Then in 2008, I got hired by my local stained glass studio.

For the last two and a half years I have taught beginning and intermediate glass bead making, fusing glass jewelry, soldered glass jewelry and made some pretty fun stained glass panels. I've joined a glass guild, and started teaching classes at a second studio. I've had my first gallery sale. I've been interviewed for at least two on line articles. I flinch when I do an art or gift show and someone walks by my booth and says "Oh that must be such a fun hobby!" Um, nope, not a hobby. I'm not famous or a leader in my field, but I'm actually earning my living making glass and teaching others to do so.

I've passed into a surreal state of being where there is no such thing as a hobby. It's my life. If I have the chance, I might pull out an afghan I've been working on for years and crochet on it. Some day it may actually be finished. I haven't touched cross stitch for a long time, even though I really love doing it. My grandmother was a prolific knitter, and since she has passed away, I feel the pull to learn how to get past casting on and basic knit stitch as some sort of a homage to her. I resist the urge to buy quilling supplies when I see them at the store. I take care of the embroidery urge as I do bead embroidery. I still do the music thing at church... I'm the one that chooses the music selections every Sunday. But glass is part of almost every single day in some form.

I think I can be ok with saying I don't actually have a hobby right now.

We All Make Mistakes - Showing Respect

2010-11-09T14:28:00.006-07:00

I've really had copyright on my mind the last few days. It was prompted by a post I saw on FB. A woman by the name of Monica Gaudio was contacted by a friend who saw an article of hers in a small "on line" and "in print" magazine called Cooks Source. The friend was asking for hints on how to get published. Great, except Monica had never been contacted for permission by Cooks Source and was very surprised to find out it had been printed. To read her story in her words go here: http://illadore.livejournal.com/30674.html

Now, we all know this happens. Stuff gets copied all the time from the first school report copied directly out of the encyclopedia (ok, they didn't have computers while I was in school) to stuff going viral over the internet in minutes... like this one did. We learn as we grow what we are able to copy and what not to.

It would seem to me to be a no brainer when it comes to lifting an actual article from somewhere off the internet, you should obviously get permission. A writer and an artist has the right to have control over their work to a certain extent. And when your works stand the test of time, such as Shakespeare or Michaelangelo, even though out of copyright reach, would, if someone claimed as their own outrage the public no end.

Monica posted the above Live Journal post last Thursday about how her article ended up in a little known cooking magazine and that post has caused quite a firestorm. Why? Well, Judith Griggs, the editor of said magazine would have us believe it was because of an overworked mistake on the part of her staff. (I'm not convinced she really has a "staff", but that is my opinion only.) But no. When contacted about the article Judith wrote such a snarky response to the author that it was just not to be believed. (Monica includes it in her live journal post above.) In effect, Judith stated not only did she have the right to use that article, but that the author should be grateful and pay her for her editing efforts. Wow.

This touched off a rocket of indignation (even the Washington Post picked it up) that an honest to goodness editor with that much experience could actually believe any of the drivel she had sent to Monica in her email. People immediately started "liking" the magazine's FB page and commenting on what they thought of the whole fiasco. Of course, mob mentality took over. Some comments only showed the glee of pointing fingers at someone else. Some were very brutal and mocking. The more intelligent were actually researching past articles and posting links to where they came from, some even from the Food Network. People were split about 50/50 on whether to support the advertisers in her magazine or not. Myself, I hope the advertisers pull their money, not supporting a thief, and then I hope people support those small businesses like crazy.

Well, hopefully Judith has learned one lesson from this experience. Once your words are sent on the internet, even if you think it's a private email... those words are out there. They can't be brought back. I hope she's learned the following as well:

1) Just because something is on the internet does not make it public domain.
2) Old English is still acceptable on sites that deal with historical cooking. They don't need your editing.
3) While she claims she apologized to Monica, and sent the donation she requested, she maintains an air of superiority on her web site and does nothing to acknowledge the rest of the stealing. http://www.cookssource.com/
4) I hope she learns more about the internet. She refers to her FB page as being "hacked", not realizing that page is a public page, people can post what they want.
5) I hope she learns more about research, an important skill for an editor. Finding a phone number for FB shouldn't really be that difficult. Call the business office of the state where they are licensed to do business.

Now, we ALL makes mistakes. In reality, that IS how we learn. The point is to learn from the mistake, admit it, take action to correct it and move on. Don't try to deny it, make it look like you really knew what you were doing all along and are somehow superior to others. As artists let us respect others' work, it never hurts to even say, hey, this artist inspired me. Lifting each other up can only enhance our own art and take it to new levels. But artist or not, let's hope we all learn a lesson from this about how words are on the internet... quite possibly forever.

Samhain

2010-10-28T23:09:00.004-06:00

This weekend we celebrate Halloween here in the US. It's not my most favorite holiday in the year, but it can be fun. It's a bit of a mixture of memory and traditions for me.

As a kid I lived in a very rural area. You didn't walk to trick or treat. You went by car because the houses are so far apart. But, we knew everyone who's house we visited. (I'm still surprised by trick or treaters at my door that I don't know. I could be a crazy maniac for all you know!) But year after year, we also knew where the good treats were... homemade doughnuts at Helen's, homemade gingerbread men at Twila's. The homemade stuff was the best... I really miss that.

When I was 10 years old... Halloween was a bit different. I got a baby sister. She was born at 12:00...... noon. Hehehe. She's both loved and hated the birthday. Her house is always decorated for Halloween, and I mean decorated. She's an assistant to the president of a nationally known company, and they usually have their big sales meeting this time of year. She's in charge of planning all that, so her birthday has been brushed aside quite a bit. This year when my daughter threatened to keep her legs crossed and not give birth until Halloween, my sister was pretty strong in her advice to her niece... "no Halloween baby!" No one wants to party with you on Halloween, apparently. (No worries... the new baby girl entered the world on the 22nd)

Then, of course, there is the Celtic tradition of Samhain. The end of the harvest, the lighting of bon fires against the coming of the dark months. The mysticism of those who have passed before. Are they still there? Do they roam the earth this night?

Halloween will probably be a mix of all of the above. I'll call my sister and wish her happy birthday. I'm sure I'll see the grandkids in their costumes and hand out candy at my door. (And with Halloween on a Sunday this year, you have to be prepared for treats on TWO nights!) I'll probably pull out the last plants of the garden this weekend. If the night has enough of a chill, hubby will probably light a fire in the wood burning stove, stoking our own light against the dark of the coming months. We'll huddle down for the winter, looking forward to the fires of Beltane, when spring has come again.

Who Me? Taking Personal Responsibility

2010-09-30T18:09:00.004-06:00

I'm posting today as part of a group of bloggers tackling a specific subject. Sucking it up and actually taking responsibilities for your own actions, your own life. Wow, what a concept! This is something I feel pretty strongly about. I've read some of the other blog posts about this subject today and have found it very interesting the different paths people have taken to discuss this point. Taking responsibility for your own happiness, taking responsibility for the words that come out of your mouth. Admitting it when you do something wrong.

When did we feel that someone had to "pay" for an accident? Is that the result of lawyers trying to drum up business or of a greedy society as a whole? (Hmmm, blaming someone, again.) When did we decide that we could sue for something that happened to our ancestors because we belong to a specific race or culture? Should I sue the English government because I'm Scottish and my ancestors were Highlanders? Yeah, that's not a "hot button" topic, so of course that would just get laughed at. My particular religion was very mis-treated at the hands of the US government, our arms taken away and our homes burned, and no redress given, even when appeals were taken to the President. There's royalty in at least two lines of my heritage. Should I start some campaign or law suit to regain the land and houses my ancestors lost or to gain control over what I could have ruled? Now THAT could start an avalanche! Everyone probably has some story like these in their past, but maybe we only tend to give sympathy to those stories that mysterious "society" decides is politically acceptable.

I think it's probably wiser to take control and take responsibility for my own little corner of the world, and think about what I can do to make that better all on my own. Hopefully I started with my kids. Neither one is in jail, both have married wonderful people and have started raising beautiful families of their own. I'd like to think I taught them values and how to make amends for any wrong doing. I remember finding out my daughter had been taking mail out of a neighbor's box on her way home from school when she was still quite young. My husband took her to the neighbor's house and made her return the mail. The neighbor, thankfully, could see what we were trying to do, and brought out a picture of her son, and explained that he was far away, and she was worried because she hadn't received any letters from him. As far as I know, except for the occasional article of clothing or small kitchen item from me, that was the last thing my daughter took from anyone without asking.

Was I a perfect parent? Ha! Don't I wish! But I did the best I could, and still try to support them and even teach them, now that they are "on their own". All I could ask is that others would do the same. Somehow we are losing the sense of what family means. Parents can't be friends. Parents have to discipline, no matter how hard it is. There have to be clear rules and clear consequences for breaking those rules. Simple yes, but hard to do as well.

I also need to stand up and take responsibility for my art, and the sales of the items I make. It's part of the reason I signed up for this blog group. Yep, it's a lousy economy and artists are struggling. However, art and jewelry items are still being sold. So, I can't just sit back and whine that I haven't sold anything in two weeks. I have to take the responsibility to step up my game. Make items that make people WANT to buy. Blog more regularly. Reach out to more people. Make myself visible out there. I've got a plan as to what to do each day of the week, and by dang, I'm saying here in black and white that I'm stepping up to the plate and going to be active. You're gonna be sick of me!

As part of this accountability, I'm going to be letting you know just how well (or not!) I'm doing as part of this. I'm going to let you know of things I try that I read out there about how to increase your sales. What works. What flops. Hopefully I can share some meaningful insights along the way. Anyone wanna come along on the ride with me?

Olympics

2010-03-07T13:08:00.019-07:00

A few days ago another Winter Olympics came to an end. I was so lucky to be a part of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I want to try and describe what the experience was like.
They had apparently chosen all the volunteers when Don Mischer Productions came in and said, "But wait, we need approx 800 volunteers to put together the packets that we will use for Opening and Closing Ceremonies!" I got a letter saying I wouldn't get the cool volunteer uniform, the watch and other goodies that the regular volunteers got, but I would get a coat, did I still want to help out? Well, I thought that being a part of it would be better than nothing, so I said yes. We started out in a wharehouse on the north side of Salt Lake putting these packets together. They consisted of plastic raincoats, flashlights, a seat pad, and for the Opening Ceremonies at least, a very complicated series of boards to spell out "Light the Fire Within". They had never done anything this complicated before, and were wondering if it was going to work out. Well, some people thought that putting these things together was boring, and were sneaking out when they were going to the bathroom. There was a group of us in the back that were giving them all sorts of grief for leaving. We were laughing and having a very good time. The one guy from DMP managed to get all of our names that night... left me wondering what the heck for!

Well, it turned out that he picked roughly 110 of us volunteers for further duty. We were asked to be "athlete ushers" for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. They didn't want there to be a "log jam" out on the field while the athletes were seated so we were there to help. We were all to show up early in the morning of the Opening Ceremonies to help put the packets on each seat. Yep. Each. Seat. Although it went much faster than I thought it was, we actually had to clear snow out of the stadium first! The snowy picture is one I snapped after stepping into the stadium for the first time that day. Why I didn't take a picture in the other direction, I can't say, but there was a huge boom type camera that had crashed down all over the seats during the storm the night before. There were 3 or 4 huge balloons that were to be used in the program and one of them was broken, too. They changed that part and used them for the Closing Ceremonies.

I still get goosebumps seeing the athletes start the parade of nations. I had watched these on TV since I was old enough to understand what they were, and here I was, standing there watching them come in and I was a (small) part of it! I loved it! We were in and out of the stadium at different times for different duties. For any locals who are reading this, there is a street that runs on the south side of the stadium, that was closed during the Olympics. That is where I was standing when the torch was lit, and this pic was snapped then.

I've always loved the look of all the flashlights in the stadiums, they seem to do that for almost every Olympics. Being there with all those flashlights? Cooler than being in a fairy land! (Ok, I've never been IN a fairy land, but this was cool!) It truly is an awesome sight that TV or pictures just doesn't do justice to. And of course, you see in the pic that the audience has some help. They actually do a quick runthrough of all the cues with the audience before the show goes on the air, and we didn't know until then if all the cards spelling out the theme would work. They did, and again, how cool!

As I was leaving the stadium, a bunch of people had mobbed Dick Button and Dorothy Hamill so they could have their pic taken with them. They were two of the torch bearers into the stadium that night. I didn't have time to jump in, but I snapped the pic of them anyway!

It was a memorable night, and it seemed like all of us in the infamous "Green Coat Brigade" recorded the event and had to go home and watch it all over that night! (Most of us didn't get home until about 1:00 a.m. Yeah, we all watched anyway!)

Of course, we got to do it all over again for Closing Ceremonies. A beautiful day, and I made sure I got some fun pics. Up on the bleachers at the west side, I took this pic of the torch, with the Wasatch mountain range beind. It's my favorite shot I took of the games.

I had always enjoyed watching Scott Hamilton perform. He has a wonderful sense of humor. I snapped a picture of him interacting with the young boy who sort of had the "lead" skating role throughout the two ceremonies. He was having a lot of fun with that young man, so it's always nice to see that people are genuine and it's not just an act.

I decided that I should actually be IN a couple of pics to prove I was there, so here are a couple of pics of me, one with an asst. director from DMP and of course, one with me in front ot the torch. I'm so glad that torch is still here, it's not up high on the bleachers anymore, it's down in the plaza that is just to the right of the torch in the pic with the mountain back ground. They've lit it once or twice since then, but since it's very expensive, it's pretty rare.

I was so impressed with the athletes I came in contact with. During the Closing Ceremonies there were a lot of US athletes sitting above one of the exit points. As the "Children of Light" exited the stage for the last time, those athletes yelled down at those kids telling them how awesome they were and telling them thank you! I felt right then that whatever money we put into these games is worth it.

This last picture is to make sure I tie in the glass/jewelry thing... I made these earrings of SLC's Olympic logo and wore them throughout the games. I was quite proud of myself, LOL! I just hope the politicians can keep out of the Olympics from here on out and it can truly become a beacon of Peace.

Teaching Glass Fusing and an Installation

2010-01-30T21:44:00.019-07:00

I teach how to fuse glass jewelry three or four times a year. Usually these classes are quite fun, and this class was no exception. It's fun to watch new students put pieces of glass together and have them be excited about it. They seemed to really enjoy it and were helping each other with design ideas. We've started fusing them in the big kiln at the studio. Unfortunately, this kiln hasn't been used that much and we're still "dialing it in" on smaller items. It seems it's hotter in the center, which seems backwards to me, because both my small kilns are cooler in the center. I'm sure it's because this kiln has elements in the lid, but it still takes getting used to. I draw a grid on the fiber paper and label it with each student's name so that they can keep their pieces together. I take a picture before the kiln fires and then I know who's pendants are whos. In this firing batch, I saw that one capping piece "jumped" during the firing, and I feel that a few pieces were a little over fired. We had problems with the mica not showing up in the pendants where it was used. Next firing I need to take the top temp down about 10-20 degrees.

Here are some before and after pictures:

I also finished the last panel of three panels we had been working on for a customer. One of my bosses does the design work, I built the whole top panel by myself (except for help cutting the continuous orange back ground, they make me nervous). The two door panels were more of a community effort with the other boss doing some strip cutting, and our part time employees helping with the grinding. Both bosses helped with the soldering, it just helped it go along quicker. All in all, I figure I built about 2/3 of each of the door panels. It was installed this last week and these are the pics. I really love how the light comes through these. They were very challenging but fun to make. I'm very proud of how they turned out.

Now, to get going on some projects that need to be finished on my own time so I can get something sold and pay off some bills!

Glass Art Guild of Utah

2009-11-15T15:03:00.028-07:00

This past July I joined the Glass Art Guild of Utah. They only meet every other month so I've just attended my third meeting. This month the guild had a show at Red Butte Gardens. I don't feel like I have anything I could enter yet, but I really wanted to go see what was exhibited so i can prepare myself for shows next year. All I can say is I am blown away by the talent exhibited by the members of this group. I'll have to really put on my creative thinking cap to keep up with, let alone compete with, the members of this group.

I took pictures today while I was there. It is by no means a complete account of what was there, just the things that caught my eye. I also can't find the new lithium batteries I bought for my camera (which is falling apart as well) so I ran out of battery before I took pics of everything I wanted to. So, if any guild members are reading this and got left out, I'm truly sorry. I thought everything I saw there was fun and creative, just didn't get to document it all! Following are pics and credits. Since a lot of people have trouble pricing their items I decided to include the listed prices as well. Awesome work, folks!

Happy Birthday Robbie!

2009-01-25T16:12:00.020-07:00

Yesterday, January 24, was one of those wonderful, fullfilling days. For the first part of the day, I introduced 7 new people to the art of lamp working. What an enthusiastic group of people! They were each so excited as they walked in the room, they could hardly wait to get their hands on those torches!

It was a great group. They all pulled stringers like they'd been doing it forever. Everyone had a kit or access to one by the time they left. We'll being seeing all of them again for supplies I'm sure! I was having battery issues with my camera but there is a picture of each of the students having fun playing with fire.

After class was over, and everything was all cleaned up, I went home, changed clothes and then myhusband and I went to Provo for the Northern Utah Scottish Association's annual Burns Supper. I love these events! The food is always representative of Scotland, whether it's Salmon, beef, cock-a-leekie soup or of course, the obligatory haggis. This event celebrates the birth of the poet Robert Burns, and since he wrote "Ode to a Haggis" you HAVE to eat haggis at this event! And, thankfully, the chef at BYU really knows how to cook a haggis and it tastes wonderful! The above picture of the gentleman with the knife is the reciting the "Ode" (he is an actual Scotsman, so he recites it every year). Before his recital he mentioned that those who have eaten a hot dog can cast no aspertions on the haggis!

The second picture of the event is actually the traditional "Toast to the Lassies" (Although you obviously can't tell what's going on, I just wanted a good pic of the crowd). Both the toast and it's equally traditional rebuttal were very humorous.
The next pic is of my husband sitting at our table. He's actually more interested in the goings on than it looks. The other gentleman with his back to the camera is another native Scot. Very nice speaking with him during the meal. The final picture is of people clasping hands and singing "Auld Lang Sang". The Burns Supper is a tradition going back to the early 19th century. Robbie died in 1796, and in 1809, a group of his friends met at his favorite pub and started what became an annual event by 1819. I am exactly two hundred years and one month younger than Mr. Burns. I am now starting to really appreciate the things he wrote and understand what made him someone who is remembered in January all over the world, even now, 250 years later. Good food, good fun, and I would encourage anyone to attend one near you, and yes, TRY THE HAGGIS!

2008 - What the Hey???

2008-08-19T02:41:00.008-06:00

I absolutely cannot believe what this year has wrought.

Jan = spending all my time madly making stuff for what turned out to be a horrible show.

Feb = horrible show, lose trailer tire in blizzard on the way down. Get swindled out of $1100 by show promoter.

Mar = given the boss from hell at a state job. This woman has tried to get my husband fired for years. She's going to be MY boss? Nuh uh!

Apr = good thing, sweet little baby granddaughter Emma. Bad thing. While I'm babysitting her brothers, one of them gives me a goose egg and a black eye!

May = good thing... quit state job and get hired at a stained glass shop. Just feel like a fish out of water because while I've got the experience in warm glass, my stained glass leaves a lot to be desired! Bad thing... loan for house falls through at literally the last minute and I end up living in daughter's basement.

June = busy. Get many projects started, none finished. Start selling at a farmer's market that I sold at last year, but starts out slow, and I can't get there early to set up because of work. Least stressful month so far, though.

July = hubby has surgery on his nose. They keep him extra time at the out patient surgery center because, apparently, he forgets to breathe when he's asleep. He sleeps sitting up, with an oxy concentrator for two weeks. I lose a couple of new candle holders I made to the wind at the farmer's market.

August = I switched doctor's and at a physical he found a lump in my right breast. Not worried, know I've got "dense" ones (packed, not dumb!) and mother has had lots of fibrous lumps. Sends me for a diagnostic mammo anyway, and that Dr. decides to freak out, chew me out for not getting in when I was supposed to. Schedules biopsy. Don't know whether to be worried or not! Biopsy... oh, can we say fun? They had to do TWO of em, and on the second one they couldn't get me to stop bleeding. Ended up with a breast that is 3/4 covered in huge black, red and blue bruise. Not malignant. Yeah. Better to be safe than sorry but... Holy Hannah!
Still living in daughter's basement.

Sooooo... really... can it please get just a bit better for the end of the year??? I really need to finish projects, get stuff sold. It's taken me two full days to catch up with over 2500 email and over 600 deviations here, and almost 200 messages here. For those who faved/watched me... sorry it's taken so long to respond! Hopefully, I will get caught up on projects next!

I did find some torch time, and I've posted pics along with a couple of things I've completed at work.

New Things

2008-06-02T14:12:00.006-06:00

I was fortunate enough to be hired by a local stained glass shop. I had taken a couple of bead making classes there, then I took a stained glass class. I had made a sum total of three stained glass pieces before I started there. They knew I had the experience with fusing, etc. and they are taking a leap of faith by teaching me the stained glass stuff. This piece is my first one completed since I started at the shop. The pattern is from a book "Celtic Knotwork" by Rachel Cecere. (Making sure to give proper credit!) The main glass of the knot is NOT tan... it's an antique white glass with a slight opalescence to it that I can't get to photograph any other way but tan! I've been playing with a stained glass design program, so the next one I do is going to be my design!

This shop is "Designer Glass Works" in Layton, and they just finished a beautiful window and 12 stained glass crosses for a local Catholic church. They had the stained glass work done before I started there, but I got the job of gluing the two types of crosses together. I snapped this picture before they went out the door to be installed. I hope to go to that church and take pictures of what they look like installed.

I did manage to get some cabs fused over Memorial Day weekend, and they've all been sold already! Here's a pic though. I'm headed out to the garage to cut some more glass and see if I can't get another fusing done.

Ugh! Moving!

2008-04-30T11:03:00.002-06:00

We need to be out of our house today and I won't be able to get internet at the new place until May 13th. My website will be down until then. I should have intermittent access between now and then, but the server will be dark. :)

I know there are a couple of orders out there, please be patient until I get things back up and sorted. How the crap did we accumulate so much sh**? Yeesh! We've been moving for 5 straight days and I start a new job tomorrow. So unorganization will be the name of the game for a bit!

Thanks everyone, and I'll be in touch soon!

Art and Depression

2008-04-19T14:06:00.002-06:00

Things have just gotten to be too much over the last couple of days. There has been almost no good news this whole week.

My husband, bless his soul, has been so good. Trying to maintain a positive attitude. I, on the other hand, have been in full bitch mode.

I suffer from depression. This seems to be a common thing through artists, only instead of expressing ourselves through art, we sometimes seem to be paralyzed and can't do any art. Fear of our art being ridiculed falls into this category as well.

In an effort to do some self help stuff, pulling together people who deal with this issue I've just started a yahoo discussion group. If you are interested in joining go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artanddepression/

I hope to draw a group of people who are genuinely interested in helping to create a positive, nuturing and safe environment to help us all grow as artists and get past the road blocks. Within 2 1/2 hours of creation, this group had 20 members...

A Birth and a Bang

2008-04-09T12:50:00.012-06:00

So last Tuesday morning (April 1st!) I get a phone call from my daughter. She's been to the doctor and it looks like she'll be heading to the hospital sometime that day. She asks if I want to head over to her house to be with the boys and then they can just leave whenever she's ready. Sure. I get some things together to work on while I'm over there. I spend a good part of the day in her garage cutting glass keeping an eye on the boys while they play in the yard. Later, we're all in the house, she's taking a bath, her hubby is watching TV, the boys are playing upstairs in their bedroom or down with daddy and I. The four year old pics up a pair of daddy's binoculars and swirls them around over his head. Of course, they slip out of his hand and find landing above my left eyebrow. OUCH! This pic was taken the next morning, and the funny thing is it looked worse a few days later! My eyelid is still completely purple!

Mommy and Daddy leave around 7:30 or so to go to the hospital. By this time my grandson is mortified that he saw me cry; he knows he hurt me and he feels bad. Doesn't want a thing to do with me, plus he knows something's up, mommy and daddy leaving this time is different, even if he doesn't know why. He knows they are going to pick up baby Emma, but... he's 4! Other grandma shows up and helps calm him down. He likes her better right now. That's ok, cause she's a pretty cool lady.

The next morning I take the boys up to the hospital to meet their new sister. They both give her a kiss to welcome her into the family, but after that? DJ is in love with her, but excited to be with daddy, Doug just cares that "ok, there's mom... now how many buttons can I push in this hospital room???" Of course Nana (me) thinks she's beautiful and I get to dress her for her hospital pics. A fun but very exhausting two days! (You can see in this picture that Daddy's in the hospital bed trying to convince everyone he was the one who gave birth...)

Daughter and baby are home and all are doing fine. Life slowly getting back to a normal schedule with them. Me? HA! We're moving... I have 4 projects that HAVE to be done before we move. Add to that the stress of doing the whole house loan thing, trying to fight off a cold, and finding out there may be some fraud involved with the Tucson show... (possibly more on that later!) Hasn't this April fool's prank gone on long enough??? Have a good April!

Tooootally Tuuuuubular

2008-03-12T18:10:00.011-06:00

Every year I'm invited by the local gem and mineral club to demonstrate lampworking. So I lug my torch and small kiln down there and sit for three days playing in my torch. I really don't sell a whole lot of stuff at this show so why do I do it? Because I get to sit there for three days playing in my torch! It's the best practice time I get all year! All the local elementary schools come on Friday, and with all those kids around it is total chaos!!! But then Saturday and Sunday the adults stroll around and I actually get a few people interested in the fact that I'm playing with fire.

This show is held in the old Union Station building, which is a pretty cool place. You've got to remember that I'm in the area where the golden spike was laid to join the east with the west. There are some beautiful paintings depicting the construction on the walls. Railroad is big here. I didn't get any pictures of it, but the rail car they used during the torch run of the 2002 Winter Olympics is housed here too. Soon it will be a bustling railway station again as it becomes a stop for our new light rail system that should start operating in the next month or two.

So this year, before the show, I ordered in some borosilicate tubing and actually played with blowing stuff from the tubing. I am totally hooked! I really had a blast playing with this and I need to search the 'net for some fun ideas and instructions. I'm still trying to get the hang of the implosion thing for marbles and pendants but I'm no where near there yet. So here is a few of the beauties I made this last weekend, as well as pics of the show, and my torch setup there.

The Road to Hell is Paved With Snow

2008-02-13T13:47:00.026-07:00

I admit it. I leap before I look most times. I actually do look, but then I get distracted by all the sparkly water and before I know it, I've jumped right in. You'd think that after almost a half century, I'd learn. Nope.

If you've read the prior posts, you know I got invited to a show in Tucson. The day we left was a portent; the worst travel day for the entire state of Utah this winter. Since I had bought my hubby tickets for "Blue Man Group" for Christmas, and that was the night before we left, there really wasn't much chance of leaving early.

There was a lot of snow on the roads. Himself is a good driver and is smart about things. My daughter and her two moppits (fondly referred to as "El Destructo" and "The Red Headed Tornado") tagged along for the trip, since we borrowed her SUV and trailer. We really had no problems, other than slow going, until we reached a pass about 30 miles or so out of Kanab. Then we lost a wheel off the trailer. (Remember Ron White's routine of "Sick on Lugnut Day"? The wheel came _____ OFF!) Now. Small miracles did occur here. There was no cell phone reception there, but there WAS a sheriff's deputy following behind us who radioed for a tow truck for the trailer. Not good enough, however. Tow truck couldn't make it up the canyon and had to call a tractor to come pull HIM out. Then a snow plow showed up just as we had decided we were going to have to abandon the trailer for the night and managed to plow out a section off the road for us to park it.
So, we boogey on down the road and check into a hotel, sneaking the 13 year old miniature dachshund into the room. As you can see, the two year old managed to keep himself entertained with the luggage rack in the room. As we finally headed back up the canyon the next afternoon to get the fixed wheel put back on the trailer, my daughter stood next to the snow bank. Loooooots of snow. (Which was almost all gone on our return a week later!)So we finally get on our way, basically 24 hours behind schedule. Not a huge problem, this day is set up day, so I still have some time.
I'm trying to be professional, and let the show promoter know that I'm experience delays, but I have no local contact number for her. I have her California number and I have an email. I leave messages with both, but I don't get a response until about 11:00 that night. We're still driving at this time, but it's ok to come in early the next morning and set up. Fine. It's 3:00 a.m. before we find our camp site and get to bed.

I get there the next morning, she walks in right behind me, and shows me to my booth space. Um, problem. This is not the booth I paid for. "I was across from a door to the outside" I say. She points to a decorative door in the wall and says "Well, maybe it was that one, and walks away." I don't have time to fight it right now, and I want to look at a map before I make a big deal.

Things decline from there. I sold $5 or $10 the first day. It becomes apparent that there is a bit of a "turf war" going on between the promoter and the venue. Each is blaming the other for the change, and each are leaving "he said, she said" kind of papers with us each day, and each are pushing all the vendors to sign with one or another before the show ends. Well, Ms. Promoter doesn't even have a venue for next year, and she's nowhere to be found through the show because she's out looking for a venue and trying to get a contract signed. In the meantime, we've had to fend for ourselves finding passes, where do we park, what about internet access... the questions go on, and I'm getting answers from other vendors. It begins to dawn on me that I never got a contract from her, just a one page document that said I was showing up and paying for booth number X. Also, the only people showing up to this show are bead store owner types who are buying strands of gemstone beads for their shops. This was promoted as an artisan show, and I'm surrounded by imports. It's day number 5 of a six day show before I see the promoter again and after speaking with her outside, she lifts a hand and says "I just can't talk to you anymore", and walks away. Wow.

This is my first "big" show, but I could not believe the unprofessionalism. I'm getting comments like "you're lucky she had this for you" and "she's very unorganized". I'm not lucky, I expect to get what I pay for, and that is more than just a space. I try to be professional and I expect the same in return! I lost a lot of money on this show.

The bright spot of the show was meeting people I had chatted with on line, and in making new friends, meeting new artists I hadn't heard of before. (Ok, with the exception of a well known bead artist who had to be the coldest woman I had ever met! Well, almost, anyway.) I decided that if the show was going to be a financial disaster, I was going to pick the brains of every vendor I could. How could I display my stuff better? Is my stuff just crap? I did learn a whole lot about what to look for in shows from now on. Bottom line, I didn't sign with either group. It was school of hard knocks time, but I did learn, and hopefully have made some contacts that could really turn out to be fun!

So, in thanking those who kept me from jumping off a ledge during this show (I'm actually surprised at myself; I was very calm the whole time!)I want to recommend these wonderful people:

If you are looking for some fantastic glass beads, Nikki Thornberg is your woman! She is totally awesome! http://www.thornburgbeadstudio.com/

If you want to try some chain maille, Spyder will help you out with her great DVDs and rings. Her booth partner from Blue Budha Boutique will too! (Forgive Spyder in the pic... she's just very excited about her Wubbies!{New pliers}) http://www.spiderchain.com/

Joan Tucker from Off Center makes beautiful ceramic pendants, especially porcelain baskets for your beady flowers, and she has a big heart. (Joan's on the right. I don't remember the other young lady's name, but she was sitting in for artist Marsha Neal who had just had a baby! How cool is that?) http://www.offcenterproductions.com/

Sarah Tippet is another great glass artist. She has way cool glass donuts and puzzle pieces. (Stole one of the latter for myself!)
http://sarahtippitglassart.blogspot.com/

And Holly Gage is one incredible metal clay artist. I work a bit in metal clay, and I still swear that one of her pendants was fabricated... http://www.hollygage.com/

Running a bead store isn't easy. It's even harder if it's on the road, AND you teach classes to boot! I was very envious of Kim St. Jean's students as I listened to her talk to them about cold connections. I wanna take a class from her. Extremely nice and supportive people! http://www.expressive-impressions.com/

I also met people from the great Beads of Clay group that I didn't think to take their picture, or just don't have room for here. What a great group of people! (I hope you're feeling better Lisa... you are awesome!)

So, in the end, I think, an invaluable experience. I might choke on a lot of water, but I guess I'll survive if I continue to just jump right in the pool. I might want to make sure it's not snowing first, though.

Tucson Bound!

2008-01-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have been so lax on updating my web presence. I was working madly on Christmas presents, then when it seemed like I could breathe easy, I got a phone call just a couple of days before Christmas inviting me to be a vendor at the "To Bead True Blue" show in Tucson... in February! Soooo, I've been holed up in my shop on my days off working like mad, crazy woman I am to get enough inventory put together. (I still can't believe I said yes with 4 weeks to get ready... argh!)

So, I used my saved up money for a big girl kiln to pay my booth fees and to buy a small kiln that would go to high enough temps to fire porcelain. My other small kiln has been firing glass every day and the new one has been working overtime firing porcelain.

So, here's a couple of sample pics of what I'm taking with me. I really hope to find some new customers and maybe take orders to help make up the gap in what I don't get finished in another six days! If you will be in Tucson, I'll be at the Manning House booth #SG175J from Feb 5 to the 10th!

Somewhere over the Rainbow

2007-08-25T21:17:00.000-06:00

I'm continuing my summer of shows and working for the state.

The main thing I'm doing at the state job is "fixing" criminal histories. When an offense "disposition" is submitted by an agency in the state, if for some reason it can't match up to a specific person, it goes into a "suspense" file. I go through the suspense file and try to match it with a specific person. All I can say is, looking at some of these criminal histories is quite frightening! I happened to notice one individual who has over 140 different arrests! Geeesh! I wonder if all of those polititians who are soft on crime have any idea what really goes on out there?? The computer I'm working on is in the office where an "Amber Alert" gets broadcast, and I've been hoping I'd get to see it in action. (Not that I would wish that on any child, however!) They did issue one yesterday, but it didn't happen the way it was supposed to. However the word did get out and the child was recovered today, thank heavens! Pretty cool thing to watch in action anyway!

At one of my shows this month, up in the mountains, there was an incredible rainbow. I couldn't get the whole rainbow in one shot, it was too close! It looked cool, anyway. This particular show is at the top of the resort part of a ski resort. The farmer's market I posted about last month is at the bottom parking lot of the same ski resort. For being so close together they couldn't be more different crowds! I'm getting much more tourist traffic at the farmer's market. The people coming for the free concerts at the top of the ski resort seem to come for that reason; they're free! So, even though there are tons of people there, hardly any are buying. I'm dropping out of the last two weeks of this one. The organization seems to be a bit "off" too. They've had two major bicycle competitions that have interfered with us setting up in time (the finish line for one was exactly where my booth was supposed to be!) So... interesting lesson. It's not just the location of the show, but what kind of crowd will it bring?

At the farmer's market, wind is a problem. The parking lot it's held in is on kind of a plateau, and we get hit hard. I have 200 lbs of weight on my tent and I still have problems! I have a wooden earring display (on a turntable) and it's not that light weight, but it got blown right off my table and broke into about 3 pieces! It had been scuffed and looked a little worse for wear anyway, so after I rebuilt it, I decided to try my hand at mosaic. This pic is how the top turned out. At least all that glass should add a little more weight!

I was looking through some of my prior posts and noticed I hadn't posted pictures of my glass beads. So here are a couple of pics. I think I've now posted at least one picture of every medium I work in. I wish a plentiful summer/fall season for all who stumble upon this strange page. :)

The Long Hot Summer

2007-07-26T15:11:00.000-06:00

I'm just trying to keep my head above water this summer, although that is a VERY non literal comment! Apparently the west has decided that this summer will be hot and dry! If I had power over the weather (huh!) I would make sure that some of that rain ya'll are getting Texas would just fling its way up here. There have been so many fires and temeratures over 100 degrees. I'm wilting just writing about it. And on top of that... I'm supposed to sit at a 1200 degree torch and/or light up a 1500-2000 degree kiln! Yep, let me get right on that!

I sold at the Payson Scottish Festival and thought it would be fun to include these pictures for those of you who have no clue what a "caber" toss is. This is where guys with more brawn than brain (just kidding!) try to flip a telephone pole end over end! The poles at this event were 16 feet long, 85 lbs and 19'3" long and 125 lbs. Yeah, it is as tough as it looks but it's one of my favorite sporting events at the games.

I've also been selling at a farmer's market in Park City, close to the area where they had part of the 2002 Winter Olympics. It's a beautiful area and I feel like I am able to find my target market there! Can you say tourists? I've included two pictures here, one was taken my first day at the market, the next was taken a couple of weeks later. There is so much smoke in the air in the second picture from all the fires in the state! Cough, cough!

That is NOT an overcast sky, folks! In between all these "fun" events, I'm trying to work part time at my husband's office for the state, it's temporary until the end of September, but I'm hoping to keep enough of the money for a bigger kiln! My poor table top baby is so tired now! So I hope everyone's summer is passing in a style they would like; mine's not too bad considering there is no vacation for me! Ah well!

The Northern Utah Scottish Festival

2007-06-11T13:06:00.000-06:00

This last weekend I took my new stuff to a show I've done for 8 years now. I love the Northern Utah Scottish Festival, and always manage to have a good time. "Wicked Tinkers" from California usually come to the festival, and besides incredible music they always make me laugh. These pics are after a hard days work for the "Tinkers" ; Aaron and Jay are still in a good mood, but what in the world did they do to make Warren mad? For some reason, Keith decided to go for a "joy ride"... wonder if they've caught up with him yet?? (If you want a link to the "Tinkers" see the "about us" page on my web site!)

I'm not quite sure how the new stuff was received. I did sell a few of my new Celtic knot glass pendants and a couple of the ceramic pots (pictured in a previous post), but I know for sure I need to get my sterling silver rings into production fast! I had a lot of people ask for them, and I could tell I needed them by the ending dollar total! I did sell enough of my own stuff to not feel like a total reject! Here are a couple of new things I've been working on: glass windchimes! I didn't sell any of these, but am getting some nice comments on them!

One of the nice parts of the festival are the opening and closing ceremonies they have. All the pipe bands that are there to perform or compete march together onto the field (known as the massed bands) and usually play "Scotland the Brave". Always gives me goosebumps to see them all together like that. My hubby looks pretty good in a kilt, and they took our picture in our booth to use for promotional pictures for next year's brochure. That could be interesting! This festival is two days worth of good music, good food, good family history info (by way of the clan booths and also the LDS Genealogical services), lots of hard work, good people and fun! It's usually my best show, and something I look forward to every year.

I'm working on a new sign for the business, a mosaic of cut glass and ceramic of the business name. I'll post a pic when I get it finished. I'm just hoping it comes out as good as it looks in my mind right now! :)

Show Season

2007-05-21T14:50:00.000-06:00

Summer is usually when I do most of my shows. I spent the last two weekends at a local Renaissance Faire, in it's second year of existance. I was pleasantly surprised last year when I did this show... I didn't expect much, but actually had an average show, sales wise.

This year, the sales numbers were lower, in all probability due to the vastly increased number of vendors! But I keep telling myself that I'm helping this team build up what in a few years could be an awesome event. They managed to secure a jousting team this year, which I think was the hit of the show. Captain Jack Sparrow (with his lady) and the Greenman happened by for a visit this year, too.

I like doing these types of shows more than the typical "jewelry" shows. The other vendors are usually so nice, and you can find yourself laughing quite a bit, even if the show happens to be slow, like this one was. I can handle not making as much money as I'd like if I'm having a really good time! There was a young man selling at his first event just across from me. He was selling armor and chain maille type things, and was making "boffers" (a "fake" sword) and teaching the kids who came by how to use them and fight with them. I took my 3 1/2 year old grandson DJ with me last Friday, and he finally got brave enough to fight with "William". When he was instructed to "stab" William in the stomach, William clutched the boffer and fell to the ground, at which point DJ ran giggling back to me.

Of course, I had to buy him a sword after that (to go with the Dragon hat I already bought him), and he's been talking about it for three days! Even though he fell asleep that night on the way home, he woke up enough to run downstairs and say, "Daddy, daddy! I dead William!" Grandkids are just so much more fun than kids!

People I Hang Around With on Weekends (Sometimes)

2007-04-13T13:26:00.001-06:00

When my store was open it didn't take long for someone from the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) to show up. The word Celt seems to attract a certain crowd of people. Never heard of them? Neither had I. Turns out they are a Medieval reinactment group, and they have a lot of fun.

A lady by the SCA name of Dubessa drug me to my first event to merchant, and since then, they just keep asking me to show up. I don't necessarily make a lot of money at these events, but I seem to laugh a lot, and I figure, that should help keep me young, right? I managed to snag this picture at an event last fall of some of the gentles playing "spear the beer". I'm not a photographer, but I have to say I am immensely pleased by that shot!

At an event last month, the shire of Arrow's Flight held an event that also included a "worst garb" contest. Not much was seen of this manner of garb until a youth who goes by the name "Rat" decided to put the competition into high gear.
You could then hear a few mutterings of "I'm not about to be shown up by a teenager!" and others went off to don their hideous garb (bad imitations of Braveheart and a Flower Child Scot among them). However, many ladies in the populace kept adding to our Rat Boy's garb in order for him to outshine the others. (The progression of such is noted in these pictures.) His mother was out being a Marshall for some rapier events, and pretended not to know what her youth was up to.

I have to say I really admired the daring of Rat Boy. He willingly posed for pictures that will certainly make their way to his mother, will be shown to any girl who shows up to an event with him (by EACH of those who were taking pictures) and of course, get posted to the world wide web. (I DID get his mother's permission!) It is the general silliness of these events that keep me coming back. (Have you ever seen a man turned into a human shrimp pinata with 30 or so kids running after him with "boffers? Hah! I thought not. Unfortuneatly, I didn't get a picture of that one!) These pictures were all just too good to keep to myself, so here they are for all to enjoy!

So, the next time you are driving by a park, and see people dressed sort of funny, hitting each other with sticks or rapiers, maybe with a picnic basket on the side, stop by and say hi. You never know what kind of silliness and mayhem you may be in for!

Why am I always late?

2007-04-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to finish making 40+ beads for a ceramic bead exchange. Well, the deadline was Saturday. I had all sorts of grandiose thoughts of making these fun little pots, and after I made 10, said, yeah, not this go around! So I took the easy way out and have been making a combination of butterfly/dragonfly beads. The first ones are just out of the kiln, and so if I manage to squeeze out two firings today and two tomorrow, I might actually be able to send these out on Wednesday, so I won't be too late! (I also got a wonderful surprise of a small order of two ceramic runes to be shipped to Australia! Cool!)

We are still doing small clean up things from the flood a couple of weeks ago. The bonus is, I woke up at 2 a.m. the following morning with the stomach flu! Man, the only thing that would have made that day worse, was to have woken up THAT day with the flu instead of the next day.

I had also planned to go to a Highland Games in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, but there is just no way I'm going to be ready. I really hate to skip that one, but I guess it's better to keep plugging away and just try to be ready for the Ren Faire I'm doing in May.

My daughter and her hubby are currently building a new house. I've told them I will make their house numbers out of ceramic for them to be bricked right in with their brick. They need it very soon, and with taxes also due? Well, you see where this theme is.

I've heard that people who are always late have a huge disregard for other people. Sorry, I can't buy that! The theory I DO like, is that people like me just have unrealistic time perspective and try to fit too much into too little time. Now that sounds more like me! I'm always working on a deadline. As soon as one passes, well, here's the other one! So, I'll keep plugging away and maybe I'll just get better at squeezing stuff into where I squeeze it! I do hope everyone had a happy Easter, Passover, or at least, just a great Sunday!

As Good a Day as Any

2007-03-28T17:59:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now, and today's events seemed to scream at me to publish them... perhaps to gain some sympathy and/or cheers?

First of all, I am an artist. I work in metal, glass, ceramic and metal clay mainly, but other media find their way into my wares from time to time. I do mostly jewelry, and my interest is mostly Celtic, but again, other things pop up, because I just had to do them!

A couple of weeks ago, I was demonstrating how to make glass beads at the local gem and mineral club's annual show. I think I've done this for the past 4 years, and the school kids love me, at least! I made a couple of contacts at the show, one being an antique/emporium store owner who was interested in carrying some of my goods. We've had to reschedule a couple of times, and I was supposed to show up today. I was trying to stay out of the house most of the day because the city turned off all the water in the neighborhood due to some major road construction in the area. I got up, read some email, and just as I was about to go start getting ready for the day, the water got turned back on, and broke the pressure valve on the toilet upstairs! Water was spraying everywhere! I tried to turn off the water valve to the toilet and it wouldn't budge. I tried calling my husband to find out where the main water turn off valve was. He is in a training class and has his phone turned off! So I call the landlord and he gets the handy man on the way, but with the construction, I know that isn't going to be quick. I go out to a shed to look for my wrench. (Yep, it's mine... I need it for my oxygen tank for my glass torch!) I open the door to the wash room to go outside, and it's like it's raining inside; water is leaking through the floor! Grab the wrench and back upstairs. I finally get the valve turned off, but I am soaking wet, from my hair to my pajama bottoms! Hubby calls, gets released from class early, starts to head home (40 min away). Handy guy comes and fixes toilet. Hubby gets home and then the carpet guy comes to clean, disinfect and dry the carpets. I take this opportunity and leave as fast as I can, LOL!

I make my meeting with the emporium owner. Of course, HE'S not there... he had to leave to take his son to the dentist. So I walk through a couple of other shops, treat myself to lunch, then go back to his store and try again. He finally shows. The good news is, he bought about 5 glass cabs out right to use in jewelry to be made there, and he is carrying about 45 other pieces in the store on consignment. He did give me the opportunity to just sell them to him, but this way will get me more money in the long run, so I decided to be patient. Ha! Maybe I'm learning that elusive skill after all!

So, I'm posting a couple of pictures here for a bit, and I'll showcase new stuff here first. Thanks for reading the first post, and I hope you visit often... Thanks!