New Molds

Ordered some new molds. Should be in tomorrow. Too busy tomorrow, so I'll pick them up on Wednesday. My kiln has cooled down . . . . saving the small stash of glass that I own for the new molds.
Can't  wait.

~ Julz

Cold January

Just walked down the drive and placed the latest NetFlix into the mail for return. It is a beautiful, blue sky, sunny day.

Santa needs to come in from the cold.

But - - - I'm glad I left my plant stake out for the winter.

It's a nice bright spot in a snowy landscape.

~ Julz

New Ring

Last week on boxer day I was lucky enough to participate in a contest for a free spinner ring from CarolynArtist's blog. I won the contest! I never win. I have been eyeing her spinner rings for a very long time; they are beautiful as well as all her other work - check out her Etsy shop.

The ring arrived today and I am even more smitten.

My fat fingers don't really show it off the way it should be.

:-)

I love the fact that it is interactive. My only fear is that the spinning will feed my ADD tendencies.

(I don't think it would be too distracting to spin it when sitting in a meeting. do you?)

Selling a new piece of glass to a friend tomorrow. Very exciting!

Gearing up for the "some day" . . .

A new biz card holder -

- it needs a bit of work, but it is a step in the right direction.

~ Julz

Morning glass -

This morning dawned w/ below zero temps and wind chills at double digits below zero. Yuck!

My kiln is staying warm.

I finished my small black, round box w/ the red frit. While the top of the box was fusing the red glass frit embellishment onto it - I put in a few small experiments into the kiln around the edges.

.

I really love how the box turned out.

. . . and the experiments also turned out nicely;-)

 . . .  thinking of putting bails on these and making them into cabs. I experimented with the blue dot one.

 

I like to wear my glass as way to keep it close to me as a reminder throughout the day.

Meanwhile the kiln is staying warm. I have a dish slumping as I post this:-) Today brings a trip to my mother's to spend some time with her in the new year.

Stay warm.

~ Julz

New Beginnings -

This week is a week of new beginnings.

I took new glass out of the kiln this morning w/ out a fail. Yea!

This is my black dish w/ a white stripe. Okay the pic is lacking, but this one is ready to slump. I also fused some cabs - I'm thinking of making some jewelry and did some experimenting with colored frit (small bits of glass).

Yesterday I took a 3" round, black box out of the kiln and now I'm trying to decide how to embellish it. Course red frit or purple glass beads?

I still have some work to do on this box. I have to fire polish the base and tack fuse the embellishment onto the lid. I'm excited -  think it will turn out very nicely.

I have some new ideas for cabs going into the kiln when I tack fuse the lid - hope they turn out. I will share pics.

Have a great last day of 2009!

~ Julz

Keep trying . . .

I need to keep trying. Warm glass humbled me this week.
I was attempting ( key word here = attempt)  a drop ring for the third time. I did my research this time (the first attempt didn't drop and the 2nd attempt dropped too far) and had my glass in the kiln - I was home and watched the drop. I flash vented the kiln. The piece was going to be perfect . . . I left it to anneal and cool over night. I was very surprised the next morning.

My camera didn't take a good pic because it was still cold from my morning walk, but you can see the glass puddled under the drop ring. Again -  -- I failed. I had the first part of the kiln's schedule correct, but had a random ramp up to 1700 degrees that ruined the piece - Oh well - more scrap glass :-(

I just hope I can salvage the drop ring and get the glass off of it.

Today I have a new round box in the kiln. It's just finishing. I did peek an hour ago and all looks fine. I checked the schedule 3x before letting it fire. I want no more huge mistakes.

Yesterday I took a field trip to a glass gallery in a nearby town (Menasha, WI). I had never visited this gallery - I love talking to other glass artists and Mary was enjoyable. She creates many lovely pieces and jewelry - some w/ recycled glass. Great ideas and a lovely gallery.

~ Julz

Adventurine Green Holidays

Adventurine Green - a new experience for me.

This pic doesn't do justice to the depth of the sparkle - very nice. I have another in the works -

Slumping this one w/ a black side tonight. We will see if I can give these away w/ some homemade chocolate or gift cards. :-)

~ Julz

Oh Christmas Tree

~ Julz