Serena's Bead Blog

Quick snapshot

2011-08-04T08:03:00.001-05:00

Couldn’t resist getting a quick snapshot of these pandora beads before I shipped them out yesterday. There’s quite a few of the newer colors here.

More new colors

2011-07-21T23:12:00.001-05:00

I ran out of steam the other night when posting new colors. So here is a follow up of more new colors. New for me and my website at least.

Whisper

Buttered Popcorn

Very Cherry

Mimosa Yellow

Zucca Light

Pistachio

Pale Opal Yellow

New colors

2011-07-18T23:24:00.001-05:00

I just added a dozen or so new color to my site. I haven’t added all of them to the color gallery as of yet. Hopefully that will be done by the end of the week.

A Finished Piece

2011-07-10T20:49:00.001-05:00

I think its about time I started sharing some of the finished pieces I have created. The first one I am going to show off is one I made solely from my own lampwork beads and did all the wire work myself – even down to the clasp. The design is Kerry Bogart’s Split Personality from her book Totally Twisted. Kerry does hers with round beads and I opted for a flat squeeze shape with a pink tiger stripe design.

New Pandora Style Beads

2011-07-01T21:20:00.001-05:00

A whole slew of new beads with extra large holes. ;o

Transparent red with a fine silver wrap. Thus far, I only have a few of these available for sale, but they can be ordered in just about any color you desire. Just ask.

Pink Lady with rubino bubbles. I just love pink lady! A gorgeous no fuss pink. So unlike all the other transparent deep pinks out there. the base of this is pink lady, with the bubbles under a bit of rubino.

Olive Granite with Fine Silver. An olive base with silvered ivory and a few fine silver dots.

Periwinkle Cobalt Dots. Fairly self explanatory.

Triple Pink Dots. 3 different pinks – so special!!

Triple Pink Flowers. Before only available with a much smaller hole, now you can get one for your pandora style bracelet.

A new Triple Pink

2011-06-18T19:58:00.001-05:00

First there was the Triple Pink Flowers.

And now we have Triple Pink Dots.

And soon there will be pandora style beads to match.

Czar Green–new color on the block

2011-06-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

There is a new color in town. Technically its not really new, but its new to my website as a regular offering. It is the closest possible color to the old Aloe that is no longer available. I love this one and it looks like it might be difficult for me to purchase on a regular basis so enjoy it while you can.

Czar Green

Oh ya!

2011-05-27T21:51:00.001-05:00

Just in case you were wondering and waiting….the new and hopefully improved website is live. So excited. Can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks.

And, of course some Friday night eye candy never hurt! Some turquoise and coral flowers.

I am moving

2011-04-27T22:38:00.001-05:00

Not literally. Although at this point I would welcome the change of pace. I am moving my website to a new cart. I am at the data transfer stage and have been for over a week. I expect to be done with the majority of it in the next couple of days. But it will still be another week or so before everything goes live.

So what does this mean for you, you ask. Well, all past orders from my old cart will be lost. I hate that because I do often refer back to what someone ordered to help me figure out what they might want today. There is nothing I can do about it so I am just going to have to move on. Too many customers have had troubles with the webcart I have had all along. The same issues kept coming back up and I couldn’t fix it and couldn’t find someone to help me with it either. So if you have saved orders or past orders you want to keep track of you might want to print a copy now. I am not sure how long the old site will be accessible, so don’t delay.

I am also going to have to update this blog more often with newly added items to my cart. So I will slowly be training all you regulars to check here for updates. I can’t wait to test the new system with some orders, but I have yet to finish adding all the yummy goodies and eye candy. Soon though…I promise.

And of course this post would be just plain dull if I didn’t post a picture of a bead, don’t you think. Here’s one of my latest focals. The first one of this series that I believe I will actually sell.

This scares me!

2011-03-31T20:30:00.000-05:00

I have always had a healthy respect for the acid I use to etch beads, but after finding these beads I am now just plain fearful! I am seriously considering not buying any more ever again and just tumble etch my beads. I etch A LOT and just hate this acid, but its much quicker and easier than a 2 hour tumble.
So any experienced lampworker might have already noticed that these beads are still on a mandrel (duh) with the bead release is indeed intact AND that the beads are etched. Somebody who has never etched beads before may not even think this is anything worth making note of or something to be feared so let me explain. Etching beads is done after the beads are removed from the mandrel. The beads need to be submerged in the liquid acid for several minutes. (I have been meaning to do a quick tutorial on how I etch beads – have the pictures done already so I will follow up with this here soon.) So far as I am aware of there is no way to etch beads and end up with what you see in the photo above. Unless…..you leave them in a basket next to your etching solution for about 10 days. Yup, that’s how this happened.

I used to leave my etching solution bottles in a basket hanging above my kitchen sink. This is where everything gets etched and its just close and easy. But now I fear just what this stuff is doing to even the air I breathe. How in the world did this happen? The beads were placed in that basket about 2 weeks ago. All they did was sit right there next to the bottle of etch bath! So now if you don’t want to touch the acid and have a week to ten days to spare, just leave your beads close to the acid and the etching will happen while you eat, sleep, make more beads and who knows what else. But just remember, just because its safely stored away in a bottle doesn’t mean it isn’t doing its job. Ugh, the stuff is now being stored in the laundry room.

So, where do you store you acid?

600 Orphan Sets

2010-10-27T22:32:00.001-05:00

I just listed my 600th orphan set tonight on eBay. I can’t quite believe I have put together 600 different sets of orphaned beads. And these are most definitely created from odds and ends that get left behind for one reason or another. They are never inferior in themselves, just didn’t match the set that was being sold. I tend to be a bit particular about what I will sell and therefore finally found a good use for all those leftovers. I want well balanced spacers that match nicely in color too.

But I do have to admit that I have had help over the years putting these sets together. Thanks Mike!!!

Website Sale

2010-10-26T19:48:00.001-05:00

Currently, there are 5 different sizes of spacers that are about 20% off.

4x8 minis - 5x10 donuts - 6x12 donuts - Pandora style - wavy disks

What about Mojito?

2009-09-24T22:00:00.003-05:00

Mojito is a color all on its own. Here you see it up next to effetre light brown and transparent olive. It is light and delicate, but I do believe there is no other color quite like it.

http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=67

What is Maple

2009-09-23T23:21:00.003-05:00

What is Maple? It is one of the newer CIM colors that I am quite thrilled with. Originally, I was comparing it to effetre medium or dark amber, but while pulling out all my samples I was rather excited to discover that it is much closer to Czech Smoke Topaz. From top right going clockwise, we have dark amber, dark smoke topaz, maple, light smoke topaz, and medium amber. As you can see, it falls right in between the light and dark smoke although I do believe my latest batch of dark smoke is not quite as dark as these beads. Either way, I think this is a fabulous shade of brown and can't wait to get more than one rod to play with.
Read more about this color on the creation is messy website.

I always need help.

2009-08-05T19:43:00.004-05:00

So what do you do with a bored 6 year old who isn't allowed to watch TV and is super excited for an impending road trip? You have them help you photograph new beads! All the pictures here were taken by Elijah today. Honestly, I expected them all to be blurry and be horribly off-centered. But as you can see that's not the case. He did a fantastic job capturing the denim blue matte, super sterling blue, commando green, adamantium and carnival disks and dots set!

Soylent

2009-07-30T23:42:00.004-05:00

Its not year 2022 yet, but here I present you with Soylent. Just, please don't try and eat this one. So, not much to say about this one that you can't really see, but I will still elaborate a bit. Very streaky and dark green. Yaaaa, a good dark opaque green is very useful. This is one I would love to compare with effetre grass green and vetrofond grass green. (Although not all my batches of the vetro grass green have been this dark.) At this point, I am going to assume that this one will fall in between those two opaque grass greens and that it also will not play nice as a base bead with lots of other colors on top. I expect it will drown out other colors, but is still worth tyring, don't you think? Maybe you'll get to see some pictures of these together with other greens later.

http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=64

Ta-da

2009-07-30T23:11:00.004-05:00

Ta-da! They are done. After a very slow start to my day that had nothing to do with Dance Revolution and more to do with boring sit-n-wait visits to the doctor (for Tia's eye allergies), I thought I wouldn't get it finished. After an enormous rainstorm, but before it was too dark I found a quiet moment to photograph the new beauties. If you wander over to my color gallery you can get a little sneak peak at all 11 new colors. Five of them are already released, but I didn't have them in the color chart yet. The 6 new colors are all fabulous and I think most are going to be nice additions to the soft glass palette. I am real curious how close some of these colors are to the already available choices and hope to snap some quick pictures to compare. But for now I am going to talk about most of them one at time a bit here so that you might now a bit more than just glance at a little picture. I think these will all be available next week, but I might be wrong about that.
The one shown above is Gunmetal. As you can see it developed a nice metallic finish and most resembles metallic black in the effetre line. The 2nd bead from the left was the first one I made and honestly it had the best appearance after a trip through the kiln. I tried hard to replicate that, but could not get it just so. The others did get shiny and strealy at the same time. Very interesting. BUT I was a tad nervous while fiddling with them in the heat because the rod was extremely shocky. It took more than half of the rod I have just to make these 4 beads! They also did not etch very well - they came out all blotchy, but then why would anyone want to remove that gorgeous metallic finish with acid anyhow. So, hopefully not all the glass is as shocky as the one rod I have and that its not as costly as metallic black. Can't wait to see what I did to that one bead to make it shine so nicely.

http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=70

Slacker?

2009-07-29T22:00:00.004-05:00

I didn't get to play with the new colors yet. So all you get for now is this photo of the new CIM colors in rod form. Kind of a slacker, I am. But, in my defense I got sidetracked by the Dance Revolution 2 for the Wii that came in the mail today. We had alot of fun and it made me lose all track of my day. Oh well, maybe I can still get it done tonight.

Unbeknownst Packages

2009-07-26T20:12:00.002-05:00

I love getting stuff in the mail, especially packages I wasn't even expecting. Friday I got a package in the mail that Elijah swore was filled with air. It was a larger priority mail box that was extremely light for its size. It came from Kathy over at Creation is Messy. She sent me a bunch of the newer colors - some that have been released already (like commando and phoenix and such) but also some that haven't been. Oh I am so tickled. I get to play with Split Pea, Maple, Mojito, Gunmetal, Soylent, and Oz. And they are all for the color gallery. So look for a few new colors coming up here real soon.

Lustre Fun

2009-07-23T10:18:00.011-05:00

WOW! I just love kiln surprises. The purple colors developed in the kiln on these. I am quite tickled with them. I love how one way they are brown, but from another angle they are a gorgeous purple lustre. Can't wait to play with this combo some more. :)

Super Shiny Golden Brown Lampwork Beads

Etsyhacks via greasemonkey

2009-06-13T19:36:00.003-05:00

Listing on etsy just got a whole lot easier. I love etsy, but hate listing stuff there. Or I used to. I just discovered the most helpful site to make listing there just so much quicker. Its called etsyhacks. I guess this fellow's wife sells on etsy and he is the official geek-in-residence. I am so tickled that he has chosen to share all these wonderful little treasures. So far, I have installed bulk image uploader, fast tagger, section counter, copy listing, subtotals and a few more. These are all ideas I have wished that were available and now, in a flass, they are. There are still more hacks that I am sure I will enjoy, but this is a super start.
It has inspired me to get back to selling on etsy - just 2 items for now, hopefully more before the day is done. I'd love to be in a spot to be only selling more ready made items and not quite so much made to order. Someday....

Wanna see pictures from my time at Bead and Button last weekend. Hope to get that done realy soon. :)

Road Trip

2009-06-04T08:36:00.002-05:00

Headed to Bead and Button for my very first time! Woohoo. Can't believe I've never been since in my home town. Lots of firsts for me this weekend. More to come.....

more than frustrating

2009-02-03T13:05:00.005-06:00

The pussy willow tree in the backyard that I am going to miss dearly. It was right outside my kitchen window and was absolutely gorgeous.

The family out for a walk. This is on a dirt road near our house. Hard to believe this is even a roadway.

The warm and cozy studio.

ICE!! -pretty but yet so destructive.

Woke up this morning to no power! Ugh, this is more than frustrating. I got to make about 6 beads yesterday. In between cleaning, sorting, emailing, printing invoices, and running errands I hardly even got started on filling orders. Now I wish I would have just skipped some of that and just gone into power bead making mode. Since I can't go back and change that, I am just going to send out a huge apologys for all the delays in getting your beads to you. The wind was blowing rather hard this morning and I assume something new fell on a pole somewhere. All the ice has melted out of the trees, but its still covering the ground. Plus there are lots of 'widow makers' hanging in the trees everywhere.

Oh well, don't know what to say about my order filling progress. Email me if you are concerned about your order. The above pictures are ones I took when we were still out of power last week.

Ah, warm sweet home

2009-01-30T19:42:00.002-06:00

We have power! 70+ hours with no juice hanging about in less than 300 square feet with 3 inches or so of ice covering everything has been interesting. And even now that we have the entire house to enjoy, the four of us are sitting within arms reach of each other.

I have to say I really enjoyed the time spent with no electronics. I thought I would go stir crazy without my laptop, but I didn't even miss it. Although, I would be completely alright with never having to experience another ice cold toiled seat again. The house is all electric, but my studio has a vent less gas heater so that is where we have been bunking since Tuesday afternoon. Its just a hop, skip and a jump from the back door, but can seem quite far when you have to go potty at 6am. We stayed plenty warm, but space was tight by the time we spread out foam pads for sleeping.

I also pulled out all my beads and findings and stuff and created lots of earrings and a couple of necklaces. I will show everything off in a few days when I get myself back on track. I also hope to have some wild icy images too. Elijah even made some fancy necklaces that I proudly wore today.

Now to sift through an inbox full of unread messages I have been avoiding...... Not quite ready to get back to work.

Too much ice!

2009-01-29T10:35:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update from a friend's house. We are without power and have been since Tuesday afternoon. My website seems to be down for one reason or another. We got about 2 inches of ice and have lost a few trees. I have no idea how long this will last, but we are alright. I have heat in the studio, just no water. We have ventured out to take showers and get more supplies.

Disappearing act

2009-01-26T12:20:00.002-06:00

I might be pulling a involuntary disappearing act in the very near future. Besides suffering from the sniffles and feeling sick, we are supposed to be hit by a nice wintry storm. They are forecasting that we will be getting anywhere from 1" of sleet to 2" of ice. So, if I become nonresponsive, don't feel ignored. Just picture me sitting all snugly under a few layers of soft warm blankets with my own personal heater (Elijah) and a cup of tea.

New Special Production Colors

2009-01-22T21:15:00.003-06:00

I just finished listing some new special production sets from Bullseye on eBay. I hope to have many more bunches like these in the future. Bullseye produces some wonderful one time colors, but I have a hard time offering them on a made to order basis since they can vary so much from throughout a batch and even from rod to rod. By selling these gorgeous colors in a 'ready to go' format, we both win. I get to play with some of these to die for colors and you get to see them (and hopefully play with them too) more often. So don't be bashful if you like what you see. Let me know if you would like to see more like this and what colors.

Now to see if I can get you some links and pictures! And, it worked. Each picture should link you directly to the eBay listing.

Estancia Designs Deep Red Lampwork with Fine Silver Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver Earrings

2009-01-16T09:36:00.001-06:00

Estancia Designs Deep Red Lampwork with Fine Silver Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver Earrings
Originally uploaded by estanciadesigns

I have to say I was quite tickled to have stumbled onto these earrings this morning. I was hopping around Flickr this morning and found myself attracted to a couple pairs of earrings. Not much of a shocking thing for a self proclaimed earring addict. What was so delightful about these particular earrings was the fact that they were made with my beads. I just LOVE how these look. Estancia, you did a fabulous job of showing off these rather basic beads with fine silver. Yum, yum, yum. Thanks so much for the mention too.

What's coming......

2009-01-13T22:20:00.002-06:00

There is going to be a definite slow down in progress of all sorts around here starting tomorrow. DH, Mike, is having his shoulder fixed after a ....ah....um... skateboarding incident last August. Ladies, never forget to tell your guy not to take up skateboarding after 40. Believe me, nothing good will come from it. So, tomorrow, we get to leave out of here by 6:10 to get to Springfield in time for his surgery. He will be in a sling for 6 weeks. We'll see how long that actually lasts, but I can guarantee you, I will not be getting orders out as efficiently as expected. Hopefully, my chief bead cleaner and cook will recuperate quickly (and quietly, without complaints - might as well hope for the best, right?) and I don't go insane from trying to take care of it all myself.

order update and eye candy

2009-01-06T16:24:00.003-06:00

Everything paid for by 10AM on the 4th is in the kiln and should ship tomorrow. The picture is a glimpse of some beads coming up soon.

shipping update

2008-12-29T17:42:00.002-06:00

Just a quickie note to say that most orders are done, but since we had to venture to Springfield (2+ hours away) nothing shipped today. They should all ship tomorrow minus the one I have to finish. Email me if you are curious enough to see if yours is ready. Thanks!

new color alert - SEDONA

2008-11-28T09:54:00.002-06:00

OK, note to self: take better picture of sedona. This one really does not show how wonderful this new color is. Of course, its not brand spanking new. It has been around for several months I believe. But its new to me and my color gallery. I did a quick web search and could only find one other blogger's mention of this fun one. Here you will see that Dragonjools says talks about the manfacturer's number and that it is new. But this isn't so. The ever so expensive and highly sought for Streaky Pink also has this number (Which, btw, I need to take off that page and put on the odd lot page since it isn't a regular color. It is most definitely an odd lot and, in my opinion, was a catalyst in creating the craze for all future odd lot colors.) But for now, on my site, Sedona will be numbered 1257a to keep it unique.
So, back to talking about Sedona. I haven't played with this one too much and don't have anything worth sharing, but its a dusky pink, maybe even a browner version of evil purple - at least it shares some of the evil purple's detrifying torch issues.
Anyone have more comments about this one? I'd love to hear it!

Ahhhhh....earrings!

2008-10-10T08:38:00.002-05:00

I have a rather large and tender soft spot for earrings. Why? I don't know. Does it really matter? It won't change anything. When I shop for beads, that is what I focus on. Will it work for earrings? Are they too big/too heavy/too long? Why are they sold in an odd amount? What will I do with that extra bead? I know I am hopeless, but at the same time there must be others out there just like me. There must!
Another thing I don't know is why it took me so long to start designing earrings with my own beads. I have a rather large collection of earrings I have made over the years, but only recently began using my own lampwork beads. I need to do that more. So to stimulate my creativity, I am gong to start sharing my finished pieces with you. (I have actually made a few necklaces too!)
First up is a pair with pink and violet lampwork beads with a matte finish. I believe these are one of the longest ones I have, but I probably won't wear them with these long kidney earwires. I only used those for photographing them because they work so well with my brass candelabra. Yes, you read that right....I haven't even worn them yet. I don't even know if I own anything that matches....ugh. But I am so in love with these silver flower diamond shaped beads. Sure wish I could remember where I got them.
So, critique me. I would love to hear what you think. Would you wear them, what would you change, what can I do to make them better? Come on...I can take it!! I do wish I had a smaller gauge chain on hand, but they are still very stable.

SALE: Free etching

2008-10-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

Its a bit of a sale! On my website, I have just taken away the extra fee for etching your beads. Etched beads can really enhance a color, but because of the extra cost I think some folks shy away from playing with these too much. Now's your chance!
Did you know that etching is done with an acid and actually removes a small layer of glass?

2008-09-29T21:18:00.005-05:00

A few more new colors I missed. Oops!

Count von Count

Plum

Triton Lustre

Triton Wavy Disks

New Colors!

2008-09-25T23:03:00.008-05:00

I have been super busy working on adding new colors to both my website and eBay. Enjoy! The pictures will take you to my website, the name will take you to eBay. I would love to hear what your favorites are. For me, I am most looking forward to playing with pink champagne, chalcedony, and stone ground.

Pink Champagne
Desert Pink

Eggplant

A new web category

2008-09-23T10:20:00.003-05:00

I created a new category on my website called Website Exclusives. Everything listed here will only be seen on my website.
I sell my beads in several different places - eBay and Etsy are two more locations. Most of my business comes through eBay, which is great. That's where you can find anything ranging from single color spacers to bead sets and my fancy woven beads. Nearly all store inventory items (as opposed to auction listings) are made to order. More recently, I started selling on Etsy. My goal for that site it to listing mainly items that are ready to go. I do have a small category of some made to order items, but they are clearly marked. So far I am loving the idea of everything going out the door the same day it sells or darn near close to that. My hopes are to let that grow more and more.
My motives in offering certain items only on my website is to encourage more to use it for their lampwork bead needs. There are several benefits for you in shopping there. You don't have to order a set amount of different styles or colors. Most items are offered 'by the bead' with fairly decent discounts when ordering only 4-6 beads. You can also swap out colors to customize sizes, colors, finishes, or shapes to suit your needs. So check out Serena's Beadery (also home of the ever-growing Color Gallery) and let me know if you have any questions or requests!

Glass Bead Caps!

2008-09-19T09:35:00.004-05:00

I am so excited about this new bead style. Its a slight twist (or bend) from my wavy disks. Its a bead cap! Or at least that's one way to use it. I keep coming up with more and more fun ways to use these. I currently have some listed over on eBay.

Put them together like this for a light and airy bead hive look. Transparent colors really glow and show their true colors. I keep thinking some seed beads strung under a pale shade would be fun too.

Here are some with a few of my hand mixed spiral wavy disks.

Here they are with a 15 mm raku spree. Now to try them with a diamond shape!

And they nest together nicely too. I will have to try some different transparent colors to see how different colors will affect each other.

Computer issues

2008-09-07T18:59:00.002-05:00

Since Thursday everything seems to be breaking down computer wise. I have dealt with chargers that won't charge, software that won't run, and DSL that hasn't exactly been provided. Before I could even figure out how to deal with one thing not working right, the next issue was already in my lap begging for my attention. So, in other words, I am feeling highly disorganized right now and owe quite a few emails.
The charger issue for my laptop is fixed and I am nearly recovered and caught up on emails from being down from that, but I now find myself without my #1 auction management software program. It just up and quit working for me and it seems as though the whole program has been abandoned by the programmer. I spent most of yesterday researching alternatives. Since I first started selling my own lampwork beads over 5 years ago I have been using a program called Shooting Star. It was great and was the backbone to keeping me sane (aka organized). Right now I am feeling bit harried, irritated, and slightly confused as to which program to go with. I need to do more research and testing. Unfortunately, y'all get to be my guinea pigs as I try out a few different programs.
So, this morning I get up feeling a bit refreshed and ready to compare some minor details of a couple of different programs and I have no internet. It just finally came back about an hour ago. How frustrating to have all this stuff happen just about all at once. Hopefully its done and I can get a bit done tonight to prepare myself for a crazy week ahead! :)

So what would you do?

2008-08-27T09:13:00.002-05:00

First let me start by saying I hate shopping for anything but beads or glass. There I said it! Shew. I especially dislike shopping for big items like refrigerators and washing machines. There are just so many what-ifs and around here its hard to actually physically look at the product before you buy it. I have to depend on these little teeny tiny online pictures that aren't always accurate anyhow. Yes, there are the user reviews that you can't get when you walk into a brick and mortar store, but some of those negative ones can really scare you from buying anything at all. Basically, its all fine UNTIL something goes wrong. Right?
Remember that fridge I was anxiously waiting for? Its been here for nearly a month and I am not too terribly pleased. I am happy with my choice and I think in the long run it will be great, but its not working just so. It all started with the silly little flap on the ice dispenser. It doesn't close itself. I noticed from the beginning frost on the ice bucket inside the freezer and worried that something wasn't right. Then I figured that all those cubes on the kitchen floor were just from careless 5 year olds and their new found love of iced anything. Since that flap doesn't close itself, the ice in the bucket (which is in the door, btw) slowly melts creating moisture in the freezer (hence the frost). So now we get to test out a major store's customer service and repair shop.
So at nearly the exact same time that we are learning about the downsides of a rebellious ice flap, our washing machine quit working. Oh joy. And yes, we did decide yesterday which one to get. It just so happens to be the exact same brand as the refrigerator and I would be buying it from the exact same store. (For the curious, this is the fridge -- those reviews weren't there when I was fridge shopping and I am not having slow ice making issues -- and here is the washing machine.)
But the refrigerator saga continues. Its seems that now the fridge part is not keeping everything as cool as it should be. Its only around 60 degrees in there rather than the 37 like it should be. Its been 2 days since we first called the repair shop about the ice flap issue and we haven't heard a thing back from them. In my opinion it shouldn't take that long to set up an appointment to have this thing looked at. Granted the ice flap not closing isn't a major issue and can be put off, but what if it was something major like my milk is going bad because the fridge isn't working!!!!???? Why do I have to go over people's heads just to get something done?
So, with laundry quickly piling up and everyone running out of clean underwear do I just rush out and buy that washing machine so that I might get some laundry done or hold off until the fridge fiasco is taken care of just to see how it plays out?
Oh, such an exciting life I lead?

Cramming 2 into 1

2008-08-26T09:24:00.002-05:00

Its been awhile since I could find the time to say anything here. Life has been a bit stressful with all the back-to-school preparations, end-of-summer last minute to-dos, and who knows what else. While I was emailing a wonderfully friendly customer of what my day today is going to entail, I decided to copy and past a portion of that note here for all to be enlightened. (Hi Mom!)
Today is turning into a whacky day. My washing machine has quit working in a way in which it was purposed. We have always just bought used machines and they will just last and last for quite a while, but this last one only lasted 6 months. Ugh. So we are considering a new one this time. There’s nothing more exciting than shopping for a new washing machine. Can you hear my sarcasm. In between a full day of bead making, I also get to clear the kitchen table (at dinner time, no doubt) for my laptop repair guy. I fortunately paid for the complete care form Dell when I bought my machine. This means that when the cat jumps into my lap and grabs one of the keys and breaks it, I can get this guy to come to my house and fix it for me. Sweet.
If I manage to get this all done today, I will be pleased.

Greener choices

2008-07-22T23:12:00.002-05:00

I stumbled upon a discussion on LE about making greener choices. You know - changing all you incandescents to fluorescents, checking your vehicles' tire pressure, or running the thermostat a couple of notches up or down - in order to save fossil fuels. I would have to consider myself somewhat conservative already by many standards, but am not too naive or cocky to admit I can always make greener choices for some of my everyday activities. So here's a list of things I have adjusted recently. Other things like recycling, choosing products with less packaging, or using both sides of a piece of paper before disposing of it are all things I have been doing for years so aren't included here. This is just new stuff.... :)
*Biobubble - I use bubble wrap just about every day to protect my little glass beads. I've been searching for more eco-friendly shipping options that won't break the piggy bank and make each and every package weigh more. Up until I found some recyclable bubble wrap I had not found anything that seemed to work. Ah, bubble wrap that won't be around forever and a decade! I am also testing out using poly mailers over bubble mailers, but am unsure of those still. They take up a lot less room and therefore I assume use alot less resources but I'd love to find more pros and cons about these 2 choices. So from now on if you bubble wrap from me is blue, its recyclable!
*New energy efficient refrigerator - This one didn't happen so much by choice, but it is still a welcome addition to my kitchen.....can't wait for delivery day!!!
*power strips for TVs - I still have one TV to go (its in a weird spot and I need a longer cord) , but now all TVs are on a power strip that can be turned off when the television is not in use.

There are several more things that I am working on, but I think I will leave those for another day. So, what changes have you made recently?

More new style disks

2008-07-11T09:35:00.003-05:00

Another round of my renewed lampwork wavy disks.

Jay's Pandora Tubes

2008-07-08T07:41:00.002-05:00

And how about some new pandora lampwork beads from Jacob.....

A new look

2008-07-06T08:32:00.002-05:00

Here is a new look to the same wavy disks that I have been making.

A good movie with my coffee

2008-06-14T10:44:00.004-05:00

I love watching a good movie first thing in the morning. I can thank my daughter for putting Juno on the Netflix list. This is one I probably wouldn't have picked out myself, but it has been thoroughly enjoyable. This movie is a sort of serious comedy where most characters hide their troubles behind off the wall jokes. It takes a rather sensitive and touchy subject of teenage pregnancy along with lots of fun music and runs with it.
So, now I have a certain feeling after watching this film that I can hopefully run with today. It will be an attempt to put my own personal dilemma into a different perspective and relearn how to do everyday stuff in a new way!
So, tell me..... Do you watch all the extras on a disc?

I think I will also try doing something totally new that for some stupid reason I have been putting off for quite awhile. I have all the supplies and tools and would love to be able to create something good --- silver lining some beads. Hopefully there will be some gorgeous pictures coming soon.

Chaos?

2008-06-12T09:46:00.002-05:00

So if one kid is at home sick with some major bronchial funk, one kid is with a friend at the city museum where a fire erupted, and one kid is in the air flying alone to Florida does this define chaos?

Quick trip

2008-06-10T11:56:00.002-05:00

I am leaving for today for a quick trip to St. Louis. Tia is flying to Florida to visit with Mike's family. This is her first time away from home and her first time ever flying. It will quite an adventure.
There are a few of you waiting on email responses and I might be able to get to it while I am away. Otherwise look for a word from me late Wednesday or Thursday. This also means that no more beads will ship until Friday. I won't be at the torch again until Thursday which means nothing ships til Friday. :(

Off to go pack...................

Shew...........

2008-05-19T22:26:00.003-05:00

I am back....at least in body. I need to desperately catch up on sleep and then emails and orders. I had way too much fun, but really didn't sleep much. So after I catch some zzzzs I should be able to think more clearly. :)

All better

2008-05-13T08:43:00.003-05:00

Everything seems to be fixed now.... at least internet wise. :) The lightening wiped out the box outside and my modem. The modem was under warranty so I'm happy. I also got my tower back yesterday which has been out of commission for over a week with a bad sector on the hard drive. I didn't lose any information, but it has definitely slowed me down . The good news about that is I have been torching like a mad woman and am in really good shape right now. Orders are shipping within a day or two of payment. I haven't been this caught up since I first started taking orders!
But......
I am going away this weekend. I will be attending the 3rd annual Missouri Bead Retreat. The main focus will be lampworking, but there are also workshops in macramé, PMC, chainmaille, viking knit, dying silk, watch making, silver lining, and I can't remember what else right now. It will be a jammed packed weekend hanging out with a bunch of bead freaky people. I will be leaving Friday and returning on Monday.
After I get back, I believe I am going to close down my eBay store to revamp it a bit. As you might now, postage fees have gone up again. While I have no desire to increase my shipping fees (in fact, I think I am overcharging at this point for ebay orders), I do need to make some adjustments. Glass prices keep rising also. I think I might just offer a flat shipping fee for orders of a certain value while increasing my bead prices just a bit. Personally, I hate being overcharged on shipping and I think everyone would appreciate getting a huge handful of beads shipping for only $3. Any feedback on this would be much appreciated.

Lightening Strikes Again

2008-05-11T18:10:00.002-05:00

Once again lightening has killed my modem. I do believe this is about the 8th or 9th modem I have lost, but this time it took out the phones and a satellite receiver also. (I am over at a friend's house catching up on emails.) I certainly hope that everything gets fixed tomorrow. I have already been without my main computer for over a week and now this. I really hate it but I am going to have to put a few things on hold until I get everything put back together. Hopefully, all those that are waiting on something from me will read this and understand.

I've Been Seen

2008-04-30T08:48:00.003-05:00

I've been seen is what the email said. It was a nice little surprise in my inbox yesterday morning. And it came from a blog I find myself reading on a regular basis - the Art Bead Scene blog. Its a interactive blog of 5 bead artists. Their media includes not only glass, but polymer and earthen clay. I have a huge list of blogs that I think I am going to read regularly, but find myself truly keeping up with only a small handful. A couple more of my favorites are Kab's Creative Concepts and Timothy Adams Designs. I find both of them refreshing and inspiring. You never know what Kerry or Tim might be discussing for the day, but I hardly ever find myself skimming over their posts because I don't find it interesting enough.
I highly doubt I could ever turn this blog into something you might feel the same way about, but I would love to hear about what other blogs you find yourself reading on a regular basis.

Monday morning eye candy

2008-03-31T09:34:00.004-05:00

Just some bead porn to start off a dreary Monday morning. These are all some custom orders I worked on over the weekend.

A new batch of coral called apricot in disks and crystals.

An offshoot from my Triple Blues in purples and green - they shape is a bit wonky, but I am drawn to the colors!

The center bead is fit for a pandora bracelet with a matching earring pair.

Peacock lustre lentils with a newer color (for me anyhow) called Gold Ruby.

LEST is more

2008-03-27T08:15:00.002-05:00

Have you been shopping on etsy yet? If not, it is a wonderful place to find all things handmade. They have created amazingly fun ways to window shop - like searching by color, location, time machines, categories, or even the treasuries (the display on the front page is a treasury plucked from the hot list). Its rather easy to get lost in the sea of beautiful things. If you have already discovered this online marketplace, then you probably already found your own favorite ways to window shop. Now there's a new way.
Another fantastic feature of etsy is the Street Teams. Teams work together to promote their shops, share skills, and support each others creativity. One of the newer teams is LEST. It stands for Lampwork Etc Street Team. As a group of self-representing artists already hanging out together on a forum, it only made sense to put all that energy together in a new way. It is lots of fun working together with such a creative and energetic group of lampworkers. Now all you have to do is search etsy with the tag LEST to find all the items from this supportive group of beaders selling their own wares. You can read more from and about the individual artists from the LESTers blog too.
So go get a fresh cup of java and enjoy yourself!

Working with one hand tied behind my back

2008-03-17T10:11:00.002-05:00

That is how I feel without Mike here. Its just odd and really kind of boring. I don't feel incredibly motivated, but am finding a few advantages to him not being here. Like I get to snuggle with my favorite 5 year old even more. I also got the opportunity to ruin dinner last night. Yup, I did it. But in all fairness, it was doomed from the start. I found a bag of frozen shrimp that wasn't looking so fresh. I figured it was now or never. We, that being #1 and I, decided if it wasn't any good, we would just go out. I quickly fried it all up in a bit of butter, but it was just too chewy and dry. Here's my tip for the day: Don't eat freezer burnt shrimp! Oh well....I tried. Not sure what's on the menu for tonight as I have lots of orders I need to finish up and quite a few packages to get in the mail. Its going to be a long day away from the computer. I hope, at least, because if I sitting here that means I am not getting something done over there.

Later........

Its been how long?

2008-03-15T20:55:00.004-05:00

I just did something I haven't done since last November. At least that is my best guess. Its not like I keep a running record of how often I do it, but when when it only happens twice a year on average it gets to be a bit special. So what did I do? I cooked dinner! I might even get a chance to do it again real soon too. See, hubby usually takes care of all the cooking around here. I play with fire and he cooks and does the laundry. The only problem is he is gone for a short bit. He and #2 went to SC to visit with his oldest. Its an extra special trip for him because he only found him again last January after a long 19 years! (You can read more about that encounter by back tracking a bit in my blog here.) Its kind of crazy getting to know your own son who is full grown, but it sure is an opportunity you don't pass up on. Since the kids are off on spring break this week, the two of them decided it was high time for a road trip. It feels odd here without them, but we will survive. :) Now I just have to figure out what else to cook. Got any ideas?

Through thicket and thin wood

2008-03-14T09:53:00.004-05:00

My trusty old camera has been with me through thicket and thin wood. (I was just reading about the origins of the phrase 'think and thin' and thus had that on my mind while pondering this week's Flaming Hot topic. Did you know the phrase was used to describe the determined progress the animals took as they grazed through the 'thick' English countryside dating back to a time period in which the land consisted mostly of wooded pasture. It kind of paints a pleasant picture in your mind's eye, don't you think.) Anyhow, back to th topic of taking pictures. After reading Susan's thoughts, I can see I am not the only freaky bead person out there braving the elements to snap a picture. My set up is overly simple and can be seen at the very bottom of my studio page on my website. I did recently find a little table to rest everything on so it isn't sitting in my lap. I like the angle better too. I always seem to prefer the pictures that are taken down low rather than the ones from a bird's eye view. What do you think? I'd love to hear what angles you prefer and which ones are most beneficial.
Getting a good quality picture can be very taxing some days, but from now on I think I will picture myself headed down a narrow path surrounded by green foliage with a mission - the mission of colorful beads and beautiful pictures.

Ahhh....off to have a beadiful day!

Come on Spring!

2008-03-04T10:52:00.004-06:00

I am so done with winter. Yes, I feel that every winter should include snow, but this is the 3rd storm we have had thus far. The kids are home again and these days off will now have to be made up during spring break. These pictures were taken from my front threshold as the snow is completely covering my front porch. This is my normal picture taking spot so that will have to get put on hold for a bit. The first picture shows the road we live on. It has been plowed, but the few vehicles that are out and about are moving rather slow. The 2nd picture is my driveway. Good thing we have a bit of salt to through down because under that snow is a nice layer of ice. There was freezing rain falling most of the night with snow since early morning and its not supposed to stop until this afternoon.

At this point, I am guessing that there will be no mail going out today.

I'm back!

2008-03-03T08:43:00.014-06:00

Where did I go, you ask? No where in particular. I've just been super busy taking care of different responsibilities like, oh...my taxes! I was so extremely negligent about keeping up with everything last year. For pretty much the past month or so, during any free moment with stolen torch time too, I have been number crunching. It has put me in a serious funk and I am hoping this fog lifts now that I am done with all that. This year, I am vowing to keep up with my receipts and accounts and am already off to a pretty good start. Yesterday I worked on everything through the end of February. It feels pretty good! Its just not good for my mental health to put it all off until tax time. So would someone please remind/nag me to keep up with it!

How about some eye candy to get everyone's off of taxes and back on beads! This is a custom order series I am still working on. It stared out with the aqua/turquoise squeezes and has not grown to all these different colors with even more on the way. (I promise!)

If you feel the need to see more of these, the wander on over to my new silvered ivory stripes page for some detailed views. Enjoy...soon this will turn in to a real order page.

Later gators....gotta go look at washing machines before our next snow storm hits. Mine took a dive yesterday and tried to drown itself in my laundry room by filling it with water! Not good.

Brrrrrrrr

2008-02-12T17:37:00.000-06:00

Icy

2008-02-12T09:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday ended up being a no-mail day. We got quite a bit of ice and while the mail did run, I was not able to get the packages out to the box in time and could not get out to get to the post office. So, those packages are now in the mailbox and should go out today. We got even more ice overnight so we will see if today is repeat.
The ice is gorgeous though - maybe I'll post some pictures later.

Bead of a different color!

2008-02-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

I have been making this style bead for quite awhile in just ivory. Wow, look what a bit of black cherry can do!!! This one has a hole fit for a Pandora bracelet and was a request from a customer. I wonder why I never tried this with other colors and can't wait to see how it looks on copper green or even silver cinnamon.

Before and After

2008-02-02T22:28:00.000-06:00

The top picture is the before and the bottom picture is the after. The link in between is Vonna, JustVonna, to be exact. We met up in St. Louis for that big gathering of beaders I mentioned earlier and she came away with a few of my beads. :) Vonna did an absolutely amazing job with the little set of mismatched pairs. First she blogged about the bracelet and new she has put it up for sale in order to raise money to cover funeral expenses for her son, Jonathan. She is an amazing jewelry designer and I am honored to have her play with my beads!

New Beads

2008-01-26T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well, here they are. I guess I like blue! The top bead is my first ever attempt at using a lapidary grinder. I cannot wait to do more so I am currently doing some research on different grinders. This is a whole new adventure for me. :) Even Stacy got excited enough about this bead to blog it too!
I started this bead with a swirl mix of periwinkle, light cobalt and streaky sapphire and then did a spiral stripe with a light transparent blue. I cased the whole bead, rolled it in clear frit, etched it and then flat lapped it on 3 sides. I have since learned that we did not do the final step of polishing it for a true glossy finish, but that just gives me more incentive to get my hands on a grinder, right?

The bottom bead has a silver lining (obviously!). That one was lined, by DH, using the retro bead liner. It is an amazing tool that aids in lining beads with silver. Its a true time saver. I have never done anything like this before. Mike got to line this one, but I am also extremely excited to try more of these. I think the silver really enhances this bead. Beads can be lined manually (the slow way) so I have already bought some silver tubing and am working on getting some dapping pegs in order to try this the hard way. I just want to try doing this the 'old fashioned' way first.

I escaped!

2008-01-23T12:51:00.000-06:00

At the last minute, I decided to go hang out with a group of lampworkers in St. Louis this past weekend. It was a rather large gathering of 35+ beaders (with some hubbies) from as far away as Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, Springfield, and West Plains. (What you never heard of West Plains? ...its where I am btw.)

There were glass demos, silver tube bead lining demos, PMC talk, chainmaille lessons, lapidary grinding sessions, viking knit classes, bead exchanges and more. I am working on showing off a couple of my projects, but I am not quite happy with some of the pictures. And with it being soooo cold outside, I wimp out and my desire to take one more shot diminishes rather quickly. Maybe later today I will have it ready. In the mean time, here is a link to some pictures that were taken there.

More later........

Custom Order

2008-01-13T09:34:00.000-06:00

This bead is just amazing to me. If you look at my previous post you can see just where the idea came from. This bead, I believe is destined to be used in a kumihimo necklace. I have never made one myself, but am told that big hole beads like this are hard to come by. This one is 1.5 inches long and has 3/4 inch hole. It is quite the monster (for me at least), but it is really light. It also isn't from me. This fantastic creation was born from my oldest, Jay. I did assist him a couple of times to help keep things in control, but otherwise this is all him! I haven't yet contacted the customer so I don't know if it is sold yet, but I can't wait to see it in a finished piece. Here is another closeup picture for your enjoyment.

A House Of Beadmakers

2008-01-08T09:16:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of listing some beady items from the teen beadmakers in the house. The top photo of sprees is from Tia. Here is a link to them on eBay: TIA'S BEADS. You can also see some of her gem beads in earrings that I made over in my Etsy shop.

The 2nd photo is of a focal slider bead made my Jacob. He seems to enjoy working with the larger mandrels. He has 2 focals and some smaller tube beads on eBAy: JAY'S BEADS. I also listed a couple of finished silk necklace with his beads over on Etsy.

Last night there were some ferocious storms that blew through. All the major activity was far to the west of us, but I did end up staying up late to see where it was going to end up. We did get some rain finally around 4:30. (I had long fallen asleep by then though.) I did manage use my late night efficiently and snuck in an extra torch session late last night too. I finally tried some beads that have been floating around my head for awhile. I am really leaning more towards dropping so many 'made to order' items in my ebay store and just list individual items already made up. Right now, I can't wait to check out the kiln and see the new beads! Look for a showing here tomorrow, I hope.

Meet my bathroom.....

2008-01-06T16:47:00.001-06:00

We always knew we wanted a bigger bathroom, but adding on was just too difficult. As you can see this bathroom is quite petite. I stood in the (new) shower to get this picture.
So, you if you can't go out, go up.....right? How about a cathedral ceiling to make the bathroom feel a bit bigger? :)

No, actually its just a typical remodel in progress. See that white plastic square...its my new 'fart fan'. Yippee! I can't wait to use the new shower.

Thomas Family Adventure

2008-01-03T18:46:00.000-06:00

And an adventure it was. It lasted 14 days as we traveled through 10 states and covered 2778 miles. We saw 3 grandparents, 1 great aunt and 1 great uncle, 4 aunts, 2 uncles, 7 cousins, and one brand new big brother all in 3 different states. It was fantastic and I am soooo not ready to get back into the swing of things here at home.
In Florida we stuck our toes in sugar sand, swam in the Atlantic at Daytona Beach, fished in a inland cove, and ate piles of crab legs with Mike's new found family. The kids and I finally got to meet Mike's mom and brother. It was a fabulously relaxing visit.
In Virginia the kids, ranging from 3 to 15 years old, ran the roost. They played, they fought, the made up and then they played some more. We enjoyed platefuls of German deli meats and good German bread. Mmmm, I can still smell sourdough with schinken!
On our way home, we were met with a Most Wonderful Surprise. (Yes, these deserve caps!) We stopped in Asheville, our old stomping ground, to meet up with Mike's sister. After all the typical hugs and stuff, Mike realized there was a strange male face in the room. He asked this kid who he was and he just replied "It's me." Mike guessed a few different names, but finally his queitly sister said......."That's your oldest."
Now, just a hair over 2 months ago, Mike met his mom for the first time in 39 years. They were separated when he was 5. Now standing in front of him was his son that he had not seen in 19 years!!!! It's not like he hasn't tried, but its been long and rough. road This isn't quite the place to go through long involved stories, but now things were different. They were both right there in the same room and its still so hard to fully grasp. For so long he has been without these important people in his life, but within such a short period of time he is able to grow close to both his mom and his son . It is absolutely amazing.
So, if you are still with me, I will reward you with a couple of groovy reunion pictures.

Anna, Zach, Tia, Mike, Jacob, Chris, and Elijah

Zach and Mike

True to the script!

2007-12-18T09:08:00.001-06:00

It never fails. There are always a few things that happen right before we leave town - something needs to be repaired, the price of gas goes up, and I suddenly have no desire to pack. Yesterday was scene 1 and 2, scene 3 started today. Tomorrow afternoon we are hoping to skip town for nearly two weeks to visit DH's newly found family in Florida and then mine in Virginia.

It all started with a puddle around the toilet early yesterday. Its a really old toilet that was already on the list of things to be replaced. We were just hoping to do it when we remodeled the whole room. We know the plumbing is a mess, but the only access to it is a rather small hole in the floor. (Its a hole we added to the decor to retrieve the neighbor's puppies when we first moved in. Don't ask!) Anyhow, rather than it being a somewhat simple job of taking out the old and putting in the new, something had to break. Now we had a toilet with a cracked tank and a leaky pipe under the house. What fun. And of course, as of yet, no one thought to put a shut off to this toilet, so the whole house was without water. Oh joy. So, the leak has been fixed and new shut off valve installed and as I type the old toilet is being removed. Stay tuned since that script hasn't been written in stone yet and the new toilet is still in the hallway.

Scene 2 involved the price of gas. It has been slowly dropping around here for a few months, but yesterday I noticed it jumped 9 cents. Not a really big deal as we have all been experiencing these exorbitant prices and lately they have been on the low side, but still --- we will be driving over 2500 miles between now and the new year. Why not continue to drop? Cuz gas prices always go up before a trip.

Scene 3 is my desire to pack. I am always ready to leave a week too early. For nearly 2 weeks this time! But as of this morning I don't want to do anything. I have to start packing today. I have to finish up miscellaneous bead orders, clean LOTS of beads, blah, blah, blah and all I want to do is snuggle with my buddy, Elijah. I have managed to procrastinate a bit and be productive by posting this, but its has only delayed the inevitable by a 1/4 of an hour or so. So, I am off to finish off the last few loads of laundry, haul out the luggage, and gather all the goods that will be traveling with us.

The next update will probably be from somewhere south of here.....

and then there was joint pain

2007-12-13T08:41:00.000-06:00

So, did you know that the 3rd symptom of 5th disease (in adults) is joint pain? I did but I never expected it to hit like it did the other night. It started in the evening with my left arm feeling achy and by 10 or 11, I was 100% ready to just give in. I took 4 ibuprofen within 2 hours and the pain only got worse. It was a very rough night of thinking how hard it was going to be twirling a mandrel! By the morning (and after I broke into the stash of 'good stuff' from previous prescriptions) the pain had subsided to a manageable level, but I still chose to visit a doctor. He confirmed that I wasn't having a heart attack :) and that it was this funny named disease and gave me a couple of different arthritis type medications.
I am doing pretty good now, with just a low level of achyness. In less than a week, I will be heading out of town and I can't afford non-torch time now!

Slapped Cheek

2007-12-10T09:17:00.001-06:00

Well, strangeness abounds once again. Maybe its not too strange to you, but I haven't run across it much in my lifetime. Fifth disease or slap cheek as it is sometimes called, that is. It seems as though it has run across me this time. I know I got it from my dear #3, but where he got from it I haven't a clue. I had a fever all weekend and come Sunday morning I was covered in a lacy looking rash. The worst seems to be over and the rash isn't overly itchy. Oh well, life goes on.
Now that could be a different story for my desktop. I took my tower in late Friday for some minor upgrades and it isn't back yet. A job that should have taken a few hours is taking about 4 days. I just needed to move some everything to a bigger home - from 80 gigs to 250. For whatever reason, it is all moving at a snail's pace. All of my pictures and general website stuff is stored on there, so there's a few things I was working on that have been put on hold. At the current rate of transfer, it won't be finished until tomorrow! Hopefully, after this everything will have more elbow room and move much smoother.

Color Chart

2007-12-03T11:32:00.000-06:00

Just had to shout out that the vetrofond odd lots color chart has been updated. I am sure there are a couple of colors that are missing, but right now I am unaware of what those are. If you feel like helping me out in the department, just email me. But for now, this is all the colors I have (besides all those weird pinks!)

eBay Faves

2007-12-01T22:12:00.000-06:00

So are you like me with a huge list of eBay favorite sellers? Nearly everyday, I get a little email that tells me what new listings my favorites have put up for sale. Its quite aggravating because that list used to be huge. For whatever reason for the past month, there have only been 3 sellers included in this email! I am missing out on some wonderful beads and things, I just know it. If the stuff isn't put right in front of me, I tend to forget to go look. But today, I found a different way. Instead subscribing to the Favorite Seller Top Picks for each of my favorites, I did a 'save this search' for each of them. It goes something like this:
1) Go to any of my listings - like this one --> Black White Spirals
2) Click on the List link - this can be found under the Meet the Seller info off to the right.
3) Click 'save this search' - its right above the first listing to the right of the amount of listings found (today that reads 562 items found).
4) Name the search and click save. Just make sure the box is checked to receive the daily emails - unless you'd rather not....then you can find them all in your favorites!
Viola, your done. Now for a few days, it might show ALL of my listings as new. But after a bit, this will actually show you just the new listings. Its nice to get a quick email everyday. I have plenty of favorites I haven't bought from in a while, but I sure do like looking at beads! Now if etsy would only let me set something up to send something to my inbox on my faves, I'd be even happier.

Through rain, sleet, or snow

2007-11-28T13:56:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-21T09:14:00.000-06:00

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....

2007-11-16T13:02:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-14T09:02:00.001-06:00

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

2007-11-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-10T21:43:00.000-06:00

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.