My "Earth Friendly" Kiln

I wanted to share my kiln with you and thought today would be a great time in honor of Earth Day. If kilns received energy ratings I'm sure mine would get an Energy Star! I figure my kiln is about as eco-friendly as an electric kiln is going get.

My kiln is a small model that retails around $750.00. It is electric, runs on a standard 110 wall outlet, and uses less electricity than a dish washer. Yes, you read that correctly, standard 110 wall outlet! It has a thirteen inch shelf and is eight inches deep.

It is a Skutt Hotstart with a digital controller. I just love it. We have ran it 2-3 cycles a day and still seen no noticeable increase on our electric bill.

A picture of the inside of my kiln with a finished batch of cabs.

Another one of my new pretties. Cobalt blue Baroque glass on silver dichroic with a 22K gold image of a dolphin fused onto the top.

Tried a new wire wrapping tutorial last night and managed to set a small cabochon in a prong setting. Before I could get any pictures of it my friend Lisa wore it home. I will try to get some next time she visits.

The Feather

Here is my newest pendant, "The Feather".
This lovely pendant has three layers of glass and has been fired three times. It has a 22K gold image of a feather fused onto the top and is wrapped in 12K gold filled wire with a large bail.

Just listed in my ArtFire Studio and on sale now.

Birthday sale! Everything in my Artfire Studio has been marked down 25% for this event!

What wonderful, warm, glorious weather we are having here in Central Oregon. I have been going non-stop taking advantage of it! Yesterday my ex and I went over to my aunt's and worked for her. My aunt and I dug up flowers at her old house while the guys stripped stuff out of the interior. This is all in preparation for the tear down of her old house. She is going to have a new one built.
We took the plants over to her new house and managed to get some planted while the guys worked on other chores she wanted done. Afterwards we all went out to eat before heading home.

Today I delivered the newspaper ads then proceeded to finish cleaning and raking the front yard. After dinner I steam cleaned the carpet in the stained glass shop. There just seems to be so much that needs doing now that the weather is nice enough to do so.

Just wanted to take a moment and let everyone know what I'm up to.

I managed to get three of my gold decal pendants wrapped, but have not had a chance to take pictures of them. Other activities have eaten up my evening photo time!

I took the kids and went roller skating Friday night. I'm having fun getting some good exercise that way.

Today we worked in the yard all day. I really enjoyed the nice, warm, sunny weather we had today. Managed to pick up a winter's worth of garbage out of my front yard, raked about half the borders and planted two peonies. It looks so much nicer now. I also managed to get sunburned!