Merry Christmas

I hope you had a blessed Christmas filled with peace, hope, and joy!

Now that Christmas day has arrived it's safe to post pictures of a few pieces I made for gifts this year. I wish I would have had the time to make something for everyone on my list.

Featured on The Beading Gem's Journal

The Beading Gem's Journal has become a place where I regularly browse for design inspiration, and now one of my pieces is being featured there. Go check it out!

Christmas Vacation?

Just a quick post to let you know that I have nothing to post.

I hadn't planned to take the month of December off, but it seems that's what I've done. Between family birthdays, a new birth in the family (my niece), and Christmas festivities and preparations I haven't found the time to make new beads. Besides, it's been cold, and it's hard to get excited about freezing my butt off in the garage.

There will be more to come, though.

Bracelet for a Little Princess

Although I haven't officially opened up my shop for business I've been making a few sales. Here's a bracelet for a four year old little girl that goes out in the mail tomorrow.

I hope she loves it!

Thankful for Heat

The electrician has come and gone. I paid $250 to teach the electrician that a melting outlet can indeed smell "fishy". He had never encountered such a thing, but now he has something new for which he can look or sniff when troubleshooting. I think he should have paid me for the education, but I'm just happy the problem is fixed and didn't require tearing up any walls. In fact, I am truly thankful. Now we can be warm again.

Here's today's set of beads...

Happy Thanksgiving to you all tomorrow!

Show and Tell

Between the holiday crunch I'm feeling (already!) and life's little challenges (I have to call an electrician today because I'm pretty sure we have wires melting in our wall. Ack!) I've been getting a few beads and pieces of jewelry made. I've had a few commissions for pieces come in all at once, and that's exciting, but now I really need to get to work.

Here are a couple of sets I've made recently:



And a pair of earrings I made:


I'm working on a necklace to match.

I still need to experiment with photography techniques. I'm looking at a couple of setups on eBay for this. For example, photographing earrings laying down is probably not the best presentation. These earrings are so dainty and sparkly in person, but that just doesn't come across in the photo. Better lighting may help.

Off to work!

My Studio Is,...

Inadequate.

Today's "Blog It!" topic at Flaming Hot! is, "My Studio Is,..." and that's the first thing that popped into my head.

I make do with my little corner of the garage and still have fun, but there are a lot of improvements I'd like to make. I don't really have an adequate ventilation system. I work next to the garage door with the door open and a fan blowing on the other side of me. That gets cold this time of year!

This is what I want in a dream studio. I want a cute little shed in the backyard with a torching workstation on one end where I'll have a ventilation hood, my kiln, and all my glass and tools. On the other side I want a jewelry making workbench with lots of organized storage for all the different jewelry making components I collect.

I want a sound system so I can listen to my music. I want a little couch or comfy chair so friends can visit me and chat while I work. I want some running water and a sink, and oh, yeah, HEAT. Then I want to decorate it in a funky artistic way.

For now, though "inadequate" will just have to be, um, adequate, I guess.