Here we are. September.

 The weather is turning cooler. The days are shortening at an alarming pace.

Damn.

I have worked on many different glass projects this summer.

This is a glass on glass mosaic that has been planted in my front garden.

I have finished another circle and started a new mosaic of a flower.

My goal is to replicate this picture of one of my flowers - 

My bees are doing well. I did a successful walk away split that created its own queen.

The new queen is in the middle of this picture. I was so excited. Since this happened in the middle of July the new hive has been doing really well.

I now have three hives.

I love seeing my bees pollinating flowers in my garden and in the fields on my walks. It was a great year for sunflowers in my garden and the bees loved them.

I walk daily with my Sam. 

He has been a great addition to our household and gets me outside at least twice everyday for good walks.

I routinely find feathers on our adventures.

As well as many other critters. On this day we found six baby snapping turtles that had just hatched.

SO COOL!

I am really going to miss the flowers of summer.

Other end of summer thoughts - 

Our garden did very well this summer and is now winding down. 

I continue to create beads and try to improve my lampworking skills. I've got over 100 beads ready to ship to Beads of Courage this month.

I learned how to make glass chain this summer.

I continue to enjoy keeping track of area wildlife via my trail camera. I check weekly and have found many interesting animals including deer, mink, skunk, squirrels, coyote, and this fox.

Keeping the kiln warm,

~ Julie

Early May 2020

The first week of May finds us Safe at Home.

I am trying to continue to make art each day. Many times this will consist of just a hand full of beads for Beads of Courage, but it gets my kiln warm and sometimes it spurs a new idea. I do love experimenting with animals and animal heads for the kids.

We have had some warm weather and are in the process of getting the garden prepped for seeds and starts. We will start planting as soon as it is warm enough, but we are expecting freezing temperatures over night for the next few days.

I love this time of the year with the tulips, daffodils, magnolia and dandelions blooming.

I have one bee hive that is very active. I lost my other hive in April, but I'm getting a new package of bees this week. The package will include a new queen and bees so I can continue to have at least two hives this summer.

Recently I sold a few pieces on Etsy.

I enjoy making these assembly pieces. There are a lot of flowers that make up one piece, but it is so enjoyable to put them together and have them become a larger assembled wall hanging.

It is difficult to ship these pieces. The flowers are somewhat fragile. 

I haven't heard yet, but I hope they made it to their destination and didn't break in shipping.

~Julie

April

The weather has been nice this week, so not much glass. I did finish a fused and stained glass garden piece last week. I used float glass and enamels to create the circles and then put them together with copper foil and solder. I think it turned out really nice.

 

I also played with murrini and created a small round of just murrini. I'm not sure if I will create a bowl with it or not. Right now it's hanging in my studio.

Other News -
Both bee hives are still alive this far, but one is very weak. I ordered another package of bees just in case I loose my weak hive. I still want at least two hives going into summer. We, my husband and I made new hives and I painted them last week in the warm sun.

We are still sheltering in place except for groceries. I got my sewing machine out and dusted off to make masks for myself and my husband so that we could be a bit safer in our travels outside the house.

We are fostering a dog from the local Humane Society. I may fail at this foster business. Sam, our foster dog, is very easy. He stays close to me on walks, doesn't get up on furniture, rarely barks and is somewhat calm.

He may have to stay with us.

Spring is here. The frogs are singing. Some flowers are blooming.

Stay healthy!

~ Julie

Work in Progress

Winter has hit with a vengeance here. Cold and snow.
My bees are now hive bound.
One day last week it was sunny and 40 degrees and a few ventured out of the hive -

 

I have had some glass failures recently and needed to complete something that I felt good about.

Sunflowers.

I always feel happy making sunflower suncatchers.

Prefuse.

After Fuse.

Sunflowers always make me happy.

I also worked on some enamels on float glass. I love the colors, but the edges are wonky and I'm not sure how to fix them in order to slump into a mold.

I have created a bunch of beads and created bracelets with them.

I have worked on these garden stakes and love the design.

I'm currently working on another green one.

Keeping the kilns warm.

~ Julie