Through rain, sleet, or snow

Well, actually I won't do in through rain, sleet or snow- take pictures, that is. I just got in from taking a bunch of pictures and it is really really windy. I am not sure which is worse, the wind or the cold. Ya, I could set up an indoor photo studio, but I have never been satisfied with my pictures taken indoors. Some lampworkers can pull it off and, I suppose, it could depend on the type of camera used, but I have never been able to create an indoor set up that compares with good old fashioned sunlight.
My set up is overly simple and can be seen at the bottom of my studio tour page. Its just a plastic cutting board and a piece of paper. Not sure you can get any more simplistic than that! At least, until the wind starts gusting. Then, it gets to a grand hassle. :) It was blowing so today hard it blew the beads away!
I absolutely love getting group shots of all the different colors though. Here's one from today. Mmmmm, all those luscious shades of pink and purple wavy disks.

Etching gone bad

I have some thoughts to share with you about different techniques for etching glass lampwork beads to get a matte finish. But I don't have everything just ready yet so I thought I would discuss these to bad beadies to the right. I was getting an auction ready to go yesterday and decided to etch a bunch of white heart pairs since they just look so cool that way. Well, for some reason this pair of what I believe is amber rose decided to pit instead of etch nicely. They looked just awful compared to the rest of the group. I know I have etched this color before without this happening so I don't have an explanation. So, while etching can be fun, at times it just goes wrong!
More on this coming soon.

My Studio is....

My studio is in desperate need of a paint job. When we first moved into this house over 2 years ago, the studio building got a complete overhaul. It was a garage that actually functioned as a storage for the previous owners. We gutted the inside, built a removable wall where the garage door had been, and drywalled the ceiling and walls. I managed to paint the floors, but by the time all that had been done, it was high time for me to get back to making beads. Now, I wish I would have at least painted the wall behind the glass. I know I will never find the time to move all that glass and paint. I suppose I could paint around it, but it still involves a lot of cleanup. Shew....it gets me tired just thinking about it. For more pictures, take a studio tour.

My studio is also a place of refuge for me. When life gets crazy, sitting in front of my torch can be the most soothing and relaxing place to be. Sometimes I think its because of the whirring sound of the ventilation fan and the vibrating hum of the oxygen concentrators that drown out all these noise the world can throw at me. Then add a little melting glass that will only flow so fast. I tend to get in a rhythm that can just melt away all tension, stress, and crud that comes my way. You have to think about what you are doing to be safe, but at the same time I can think what I want to think. My thoughts generally don't get interrupted by somebody else's current need. I find myself yearning to get to the torch everyday just to get absorbed in MY thoughts. Ahh, the joys of lampworking!

Coffee in bed

I am home again and hopefully everything can get back to normal. Since the beginning of the month, I have been taking care of home and business responsibilities all by my lonesome. Now, with hubby safely back at home, I might be able to ease up a bit on my schedule and get back to having my coffee brought to me in bed. Yup, ladies he brings me coffee in bed just about every morning. I am just not a morning person and in years past when I had to drive him to work, this was the only way he could get me to rise. The habit has stuck around long after it was necessary, but it is one I don't plan on dropping any time soon. Uh-uh, no way!
I am lusting over these earrings. Its actually the caps that I love so much. They are on the cover of the summer issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry. I finally subscribed so I don't have to hunt down each issue at the store and just now got the summer issue in the mail. So, I am a bit behind, but who cares - I love these earrings!! So is anybody going to make them for me? My wire wrapping skills are not quite ready for this one and I just don't see enough free time opening up for me to figure it out. Of course, the tutorial can also be bought from the creator Isa Malczky. Well, I guess if no one offers, I have this post to always remind me that I have a new wire wrapping goal to attain.

Family Reunion of the Uberkind

In the morning I am heading to St. Louis to pick up my DH (2nd from left) from the airport. He has spent the past 12 days in Florida visiting with his mom and brother. So what makes this an uberly special family reunion, you ask? They all had not seen each other for over 39 years!!!
I remember the first thing we ever did with our the first computer that was connected to the net was start searching for his lost mom and brother. We never did find her at that point, but did find some relatives on her dad's side. Unfortunately his grandpa had died already and no one had a clue as to his mom's whereabouts. We did search a little bit here and there over the years, but it just isn't easy finding a woman from that long ago.
Well, that all changed last month. DH's niece persisted long enough and along with the aid of a local library, they were found! So for the past 12 days, Mike and his sister, Michele (they did grow up together) have been on having the most special family reunion. I really can't wait to hear more stories and learn more about his 'new family.' It just isn't every day that you get to hug your mom that you haven't seen since you were 5.
So, I think I am all packed and ready to go bright and early in the morning. I should be back sometime on Tuesday. We are going to take advantage of some things the big city has to offer that West Plains does not. Nothing will ship tomorrow as its Veteran's Day anyhow (who was supposed to remind me of that anyhow?...I forgot!), but life around here should be getting back to normal sometime Wednesday, I suppose.

Ciao and happy trails to me!

Welcome, welcome, welcome

Do I need to blog? Probably not. Do I have the time? I hope so. I do have an extreme desire to clean up the home page of my website. It is just too hard to keep all the editing just so over there and it is just looking sloppy. I also feel the need to share with you more of what I do. If I do that on my current site, it won't be there forever. I hate to go through all the trouble of teaching you more about this or that to only have it disappear when I clean things up a bit. With this blog I hope to teach you more about lampworker's lingo, techniques, tools, and so forth and have it always there for a handy reference..
Another big reason for starting on this endeavor is to have a place to show off my custom orders, showcase more of your creations, and just plain boast about what is happening at Serena's Beadery. I am just about always working on custom orders and most of them are just a small hop over from something else I have created. If I have a place to share more of those with you, I might just inspire your creative juices.

So on with the show...and off to list some new auctions.