The Nautilus Beads

I had F.U.N. yesterday with my new hotter torch! When I brought my bouquet of beads in from the studio this morning (and that is what it looked like, a bunch of big beads on mandrels held up like a bouquet of flowers!), Luke said "Holy Moly, MOM, you made ALL those?". Yes, it's a record I think, 9 beads in about 5 or 6 hours of torching. I got to play and experiment AND make some things I think would sell as well - it was great.

So, my playtime included... trying to make Nautilus Fossils. My inspiration was this:



and this:



And this is what I came up with:

I Like This Girl

Do you watch American Idol? I know, I know, it's a guilty little pleasure, isn't it? I was a total snob about it in the early days, but then Luke wanted to watch it and so we do, and it's fun. We enjoy it. I call it 'good family bonding time' and then I feel less guilty about it.

So, check this out. This girl! Siobhan Magnus from Cape Cod! Not only does she have a great voice, but she is a lampworker too! And look at that torch - now I have torch envy. Ah... I haven't been able to find any photos of what kinds of glass things she makes... but when I do, I'll post a link. I wonder if she will still melt glass once she's a famous singer?

siobahn 24 @ Yahoo! Video

Studio Improvements AKA New Toys

For several months now I've been struggling with the snail pace I'd settled into making my big focals. Most of my beads take about an hour to create. There is at least a rod and a half glass in each one and I would spend a boring half hour melting melting melting just to get the base on the mandrel before I could get to the fun part - the decorating. Then when it was all decorated, another long period of time heating it back up so I could squish it. And then more time to get the chill marks out and shape it up right. It had come down to only 30% designing fun, %70 boring melting in, waiting. I'm not good at waiting. So, I decided it was time - time to either make smaller beads, or get a new bigger torch. You know what I chose, right?

I did my research, asked around... and eventually picked out a fabulous new torch (the GTT Scorpion) and ordered it and a new oxygen concentrator to go along with it. The concentrator came first and I was so excited to try it out with my current torch (a trusty old Nortel Minor Burner). Well, let me just tell you, the EX-15 oxycon has a LOT of air! It's more than I really need, and my plan of hooking it up with my old oxycon was overkill. Eventually I got it figured out and now my flame is Super Hot, Beautiful, and Perfect... and really, it's all I need. For now. So I canceled my Scorpion order and I'm fine with that. It's like I have a new torch - I can melt a rod of glass in 5 minutes now. Exciting!!!

More good news is in the form of a tool that I finally found - I've been looking for this thing for a year, but didn't know what it was called. I got to play with it at Frantz during a workshop with Corina. Turns out Arrow Springs had it and it's called an Osibin Former - this thing is GREAT for shaping up a bead before squishing it in the lentil masher. The Medium one is good for making lentils the size of the TP Masher.



Here are a sampling of the beads I made with my new setup and Osibin Former. More coming soon - I can't wait!

One World, One Heart Winners

First of all, I have to say, I think *I'm* the winner here. I got comment after comment (about 269 of them, actually) telling me how wonderful my beads are, how nice my blog is, how generous a giveaway... how great is that?! So many nice people with big hearts and kind words, making my day, again and again, every day for almost a month. Thank you everyone for all of it - I loved it, every last message from each of you! I wish I had been able to get to everyone else's blog to return the favor, but there was just not enough time. But I have a plan - I'm going to continue working my way through OWOH list and do some random commenting all year long - who says OWOH has to end on February 15th? My magic carpet still has some air in it, I've got travel plans!

OK, now on to the winners of my beads. The first winner gets first choice, the second will get to pick from the remaining two, and the third will get the one that is left. Ready?

The first winner is:





And the bead Melanie chose is PEACE:



The second winner is:





Her wish is "Health":



Which leaves "Love" for this winner!







Thanks again to everyone who played, I wish you all some peace, love and heath. xoxo, Pam aka The Blue Between.

Beads Beads Beads!

Still working the pink! Happy to see it come out of the kiln the way it went in. You don't know how many years I've been trying for that little miracle to happen! And playing with stringer designs, and thinking about what the next cool reaction might be... I have an idea for silvered ivory stringer that I'm heading out to the studio to play with next. Have also decided to break down and order a new torch and bigger oxygen concentrator so that I can have a hotter flame and maybe be able to make more than one bead an hour. Wouldn't that be nice? It's either that or I need to start working smaller, because I have more ideas in my head than I can get made in one day. But I love the BIG beads, don't you?

Some of these have sold already, but a couple of them are still on Etsy. Thanks for looking!

The OWOH Prize Beads are Up!

I finally got my OWOH beads made and posted. Stop by this thread to leave a comment to enter your name to win one of them!

Those Mystery Beads

The Magic Genie has been working her butt off to bring you those three "wish" beads for OWOH. Here is one, it's the "health" bead - the other side has a healing hand (sort of) and this side is my tribal sunshine design. I think the sun is healing, don't you? Anyway... keep your eyes open, I'll post the beads soon!

What's New

First, about the post below - Tanya's heart bead - she reached her goal and will have her surgery this weekend! And none too soon from the sounds of it, wishing her well and a speedy recovery. So glad for her!

Second, I'm still working on the OWOH beads, I didn't like the first round so much... but next week will be better. I don't know about other bead makers, but every time I get pulled away from the torch for any length of time, it takes me a day or two to get back up to speed. Such a waste of time and glass, but there you have it.

Third, two new beads that I do like, they will go on Etsy sooner or later. After getting all frustrated with the OWOH beads, I discovered that Michael Barley had finished his Baleen Bead tutorial... and that perked me up some. I love slicing into hot glass this way.

Have a Heart

I've been trying to sell this bead to raise money for Tanya, a woman in desperate need of heart surgery. Actually, I've sold the bead three times, and each time, the buyer asked me to relist it and resell it so that someone else can have a chance to help. (Aren't people amazing?!) The third buyer suggested that I send the bead to Tanya herself if there are no other takers... which I will gladly do, if no one else snatches it up. I just want to help Tanya out and for my bead to go somewhere it will be loved, you know? So no guilt if you want to be the buyer to keep it!!

Read her story, you will see how desperate it is. And how great a job the community of jewelry makers and bead makers has done to get her so close to her financial requirements. Tanya has about $1600 left to raise, and only a couple of days to do so, so I'm throwing this out there another time to see if anyone will bite. All of the money goes to her mayday fund, and I'm offering free shipping.

Her story is here: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6410706

The bead is here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39200170

And if you just want to help out directly, the link to do that is here:
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/7593

Thank you!

One World One Heart Magic Carpet Ride

This is the second year I am participating in OWOH - I love this event! This year the theme is "Magic Carpet Ride" and so I've decided I will give away three wishes. In the form of handmade glass beads of course, since that is what I do. But since I'm not really a magic genie, and I may not really be able to whip up a bead with any old wish on it, I'll tell you what the wishes are and the first winner will get first choice, the second will get to pick from the remaining two, and the third will get the one that is left, but I know it will be the perfect wish for them too!

Also, because I am not a magic genie, I did not get my beads ready in time. You don't want to know, other than the fact that my son has only been in school 9 days this month - that should tell you how behind I am on everything I've wanted to do this fresh new year.

But I will tell you this. One bead will be a PEACE bead, because who doesn't wish for peace? Another will be LOVE. And the third bead will be HEALTH. I will post pictures of them just as soon as humanly possible. Promise.

UPDATE: I have the beads! Let me show you!

First, I introduce to you "Love". I'm so happy with this one, I never get pink to stay pink, but this one did! It also has gold in it - real gold leaf. And the design has a sort of hidden abstract heart - do you see it?



And here is "Health", one side has sort of a healing hand, a reiki hand, and the other side has my tribal sunshine design, which I think is also healing in it's own way. It feels like a shaman bead to me. I hope it speaks to someone else too!





And finally, "Peace". It's a spring-time peace bead, in swirly greens, with a hint of blue, kind of tie-dye. Happy. For inner peace or world peace, whatever you seek.



There! Those are the prizes - I hope you like them.

Now, the details: All you have to do is leave a comment IN THIS THREAD. Really, that's it. Easy peasy. On February 15th, I'll drawn three names using some random number generator or something or other, and I'll contact the winners. So - leave contact information, a link to your blog or some way to reach you. Then go on to http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html and find more blogs to visit enter to win more great things - have fun... make some new friends... click to follow some new cool blogs... enjoy the magic carpet ride!

Craft Hope for Haiti

Craft Hope is doing something really wonderful: they are collecting donations from crafters and artisans and selling them on Etsy (like hotcakes, I might add) and all the proceeds are going to Doctors Without Borders to help with the Haiti rescue efforts. I'm really happy to be a part of it, the first bead I donated has already found a new home and another is waiting to be listed. Plus I snagged a really great handbag as well.

If you would like to shop the Craft Hope for Haiti store, you can find it here: http://crafthope.etsy.com, check it often for new things and if you see something you like, act fast because it might not be there long.

If you would like to donate something to the Craft Hope for Haiti store, instructions are here: http://crafthope.com/2010/01/craft-hope-for-haiti/.

Three New Treasures From the Kiln

New Beads and That Tree

First, the tree, it's almost done. It needs one more leaf for sure (I didn't see it until I took the photo - funny how that works!) and maybe or maybe not something else.



And then some new beads. The birds are from working with Kerri Fuhr's Raven Tutorial. I adore her beads... mine are no where close, but I like them anyway. And then some Peace beads, one is a heart, and then an ancient scrolly thing that is part fossil and part cave drawings... you'll see what I mean. All are up on Etsy today.

Painting Today...

So here I am, painting, when I have all these glass ideas floating around in my head... I don't know why I do this! I've been dreaming of melting glass since before Christmas, and then I get a chance and what do I do? Paint. It must be some sort of self-sabotage thing. Or maybe I just needed a tree to get grounded with. Whatever, I'm just going with it... the leaves aren't gelled down yet... and I think it's still missing something, but I don't know what. And now I'm going to go melt some glass and think about what this thing needs...

One World One Heart is coming soon!

Remember this from last year? It was so fun, so many people blogging and commenting and giving beautiful things away! It starts on January 25th... 22 days to get ready!

Looking Back at 2009

The best thing about MY 2009 was certainly glass:



But then, there was also the beach, the boy, the dogs, the mountains, some good stuff for sure:



Mostly, a good riddance to 2009 and a hearty welcome to 2010. It's going to be a better year, I can feel it, can't you? Here's to looking forward! Happy New Year!