WillowWalker Designs

My "Style" Very Art Noveau-ish!

2012-01-21T12:27:00.001-08:00

This amazing and lovely pendant is one of many stunning pieces produced by Rene Lalique. It is a Art Noveau piece of a winter wonderland with snow covered coniferous trees. (I have yet to find the actual name of this one.) I love this piece and it is one of my favorites of Lalique's work. If I could ever own one of his pieces this one would be it! This image is courtesy of a Sqidoo article.

Art Noveau originates partly from the Arts & Crafts style. The original idea of the Arts & Crafts movement was to bring quality, handcrafted, beautiful items to the general public at affordable prices. The use of natural, lower cost materials were embraced. Preferred metals were silver or copper. The use of semi-precious stones, horn, bone, glass and enamel work became popular.

Arabesque, floral or animal figures and the feminine form were typical of this period. Graceful, flowing sensual lines, new and different shapes, elegant floral motifs with beautiful colors characterize this era. Of course we can't mention this era w/out mentioning how enameling techniques were refined and especially plique' a jour which created some of the most beautiful jewelry. Plique a jour was an enameling technique where after the enamel was fired an acid bath was used to remove the metal backing allowing light to shine through the enamel. (Still reminds me of stained glass.)

I feel I have found where I "fit" You will definitely see the influence of the Art Noveau period along with a touch of Arts & Crafts and Art Deco in my work. Art Noveau definitely fits in with "my" new style and with where I want to go with it. The ethics of that period also fit with what I'm doing. I'm using glass, semi-precious stones and will be using a lot more copper, bronze and silver. (Gold is up to $60.00+ per ounce for my wire!) I have always been fascinated with sensuous, flowing, elegant lines that are so predominate in Art Noveau jewelry.

To better understand this post just Google "Art Noveau Jewelry, images" and I think you'll see what I mean!

Garnets Part 2-Use and Lore

2012-01-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Garnets are attributed with many powers and uses for healing, strength, protection.

-Garnet is believed to rid the body of negative energy and emotions.

-Garnet is believed to aid in curing depression

According to "The Crystal Bible" by Judy Hall. "Garnet is a powerfully energizing and regenerating stone. It cleanses and energizes the chakras. It revitalizes, purifies and balances energy bringing serenity or passion as appropriate"

-Garnet is believed to bring success in business matters.

-Garnet is believed to spark creativity and improve intuition.

Garnet as a symbol

-Garnet is know as the "stone of commitment" inspiring love and devotion.

-It is also supposed to symbolize happiness and deep enduring friendships. --In the past friends or lovers would exchange garnets as a gift to ensure they would meet again.

-Today garnet remains a symbol of faith, truth and light.

Garnet Lore

-In the past garnet was believed to protect it's wearer from enemies

-Supposedly Noah used a finely cut, glowing garnet or garnet lantern to illuminate the ark and guide it safely through the night.

-Crusaders set garnets into their armor, believing their power would lead them to safety.

-In the middle ages garnet was believed to draw out negativity, ward off harm and increase well being, chivalry, loyalty and honesty.

-to receive the gift of a garnet during the middle ages was considered great luck and bad luck to a thief!

-Garnet jewelry was buried with Norsemen to light their passage to Valhalla

Garnets Part 1-Colors and History

2012-01-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

I think I was about 14 when I first fell in love with garnets, or at least the gorgeous deep pink hues I saw set into rings at a local jewelry store. I was a bit surprised to learn they were garnets as I had only heard of garnets as being brown. (I was and still am a voracious reader not to mention growing up in a rich geological area for rockhounding)

Garnets are among one of the earliest gemstones put to work for personal ornamentation. In pre-dynastic Egypt they were drilled and used as beads. The Greeks documented their use in 300BC. They have remained in use ever since. It is believed their name may be derived from the seeds of the pomegranate as the red varieties are similar in color. ie; Latin "garanatus" meaning "seedlike" in reference to pomegranates.

As with many gems garnets come in almost every color except blue. They range in all shades of red from purplish-red, brownish-red, crimson, dark red, and orangy red. There are the luscious pinks and the rich oranges of the Mandarins to the stunning green of Tsavorites. Shades of yellow to lush warm browns of the Hessonite garnets. (see bottom picture) They are found in many countries all over the world. Some are more notable than others.

During the 5th century AD Germanic tribes settled throughout Europe. They used garnets to create amazing intricate detailed jewelry in cloisonne garnet inlay. As seen in this gorgeous, round fibula that belonged to Queen Aregund ca 515-573, wife of Clotaire I, 511-561, King of Franks. (see middle picture)

They were extremely fashionable in Victorian times as well. I love these Victorian rose-cut Bohemian garnet earrings using Bohemia garnets hence the name. (see top picture)

The first two pictures are from the Antique Jewelry University site, the third is my own of my own work

I plan another post about lore, mythology and use!

Where Do I Want To Be In Five Years?

2012-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is in some ways very easy but in others extremely difficult for me to answer. The misty eyed dream like vision is the easy part. Clarifying that is the challenge. Answering the little details.

When I take out all the reality factors and ask myself what and where I really want to be I have a cozy little vision. My jewelry to support me. A nice little home on a manageable plot of land out in the country. One close enough to town to visit with friends and shop, yet far enough out I can have space. It would back up onto BLM land or a ranch where I'd have permission to roam with my dogs. To just be able to explore and enjoy the beauty of nature. Ideally it would also sit on the border where the high desert turns into forest. Good water supply so I can have my flowers and veggies. A good studio to create my jewelry in. I would have my pieces in galleries across the country and a great customer base online. I would be able to live comfortably and travel when I desired and doing whatever shows I want to. A simple, laid back life.

So that's MY fairy tale.

A more realistic goal is to still be here doing what I love and having a decent income and a healthy savings account with out the paper route. (Or at least being able to have a couple of decent substitutes so I could get away.) Being able to do shows away from home.

A Couple More Revelations

2012-01-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

This post builds on yesterday's. Another thing I was trying to figure out why I seem to end up procrastinating and sitting around in limbo land, never getting anywhere.

I realized that I have a tendency to weigh myself down with too many little details. I like to think things to death. This fussing just bogs me down and leaves me paralyzed so I don't get anything done as I just turned a molehill into a mountain.

I also have a habit of saving the worst until last. This just gives more time to worry about it and makes it that much worse in my mind.

So I have decided to tackle the "Worst First". After that the rest is easy, right?

Schedule Revelation

2012-01-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

I was reading and working on some of the questions posed in the book I was talking about yesterday and stumbled over this block of negative thinking.

For a long time now I have looked at schedules (and more) as being rigid, inflexible, too structured, too restricting and too confining. I'm not sure when I started feeling like this or what even started it.

I thought/decided maybe I needed a different point of view and so I asked myself what happens if I "flip" that thought around? Then I had my revelation. I realized that having a good schedule could actually be very FREEING! Freedom from guilt, stress, shame, fear, worry, panic, doubt... A good schedule would bring security and control as well. I also realized if I don't take control over my life I will never have peace of mind or free time to do the things I want to do!

My new personal quotes to help me learn positive thinking!

-"A good schedule is the structure that allows me to take control of my time, days-ultimately my life!"

-"A schedule is the foundation upon which to build one's life."

So now I have a positive outlook on schedules and have done away with some stinkin' thinkin'.

I Have A Great Feeling About 2012

2012-01-01T10:39:00.001-08:00

I have this feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year and you know what? It will be because I have decided it will be. I plan to blatantly pursue a "lucky" outlook. ;)

A friend of mine recently posted her keyword for 2012. I loved the idea and have decided to borrow it and use it for my self. My keyword for 2012 is "BUILD".

I will build........

-on the jewelry making skills I already have by learning new techniques, methods and skills. These will help me build up my jewelry designs.

-my knowledge on gemstones by researching, studying them and writing a monthly blog posts about them.

-a schedule that includes all my many and varied responsibilities and works for me.

-an organization system for the paper chase that works for me. One that I will keep up. (Bill paying, budgeting, putting statements, receipts and invoices away properly)

-a goal chart that helps me plan and organize my goals for 2012.

Simply put I want to take what I learned in all the areas of my life this past year and build on it. Improve it. Evaluate what worked and what didn't.

2012 will be a wonderful year of learning, organizing, purging the excess and creating.

I am currently reading a wonderful and very comprehensive book on organizing titled "Organize for a Fresh Start: Embrace Your Next Chapter in Life" by Susan Fay West. I've never met a book on organizing that I was impressed with. This one is way different. This book actually makes sense to me!

It's not just about organizing one's home and belongings-the physical end of organizing. It's also about organizing my perspective, my time and my schedule. I love how the author sees them as an interconnected whole. It's about how to deal with changes and transitions that happen in our lives whether by choice or circumstance. Her words have really helped me to understand where I'm coming from, where I'm at, why I feel the way I do about my life lately. I've never read an organization book that counsels looking at where I've been, where I'm at and where I want to go. What has worked in the past, whats working now and whats not. Then proceeds to give me lots of wonderful questions to help me figure it all out. I like the fact it's more about the mental and emotional, or should I say about one's perspective?

I know for me the hardest things for me to accomplish will be the learning and applying of time management skills to create a working schedule along with developing the good habits to keep things working.

Now I just need to get me a nice large, multi-subject notebook to use with this book. Also will need to decide on a daily planner. I may just end up creating my own sheets for that.

Like I said I think this year is going to be great! A fresh start in a new chapter of my life

Reflections From 2011

2011-12-31T13:21:00.001-08:00

My father passed on the 6th of January. Leaving me in charge of well, everything. I was rudely thrust into the world of being a responsible, bill paying home and business owner. Not to mention Personal Representative for probate. Which I still am working on
It has been an extremely busy, hectic and sometimes stressful year learning how to juggle my time and money. I have my paper carrier job that is paying the bills and allows me the days to run the family business and my jewelry business. The downside is long days and sometimes what seems like never enough sleep!

I went from having all the time in the world to well, little or none. This job and lifestyle doesn't allow much time for friends and family outside of the shop. Thanks to all my good plurk friends and my real life BFF's and my aunty I'm managing.

In hindsight I've managed to keep my head above the proverbial waters and I haven't done too bad. I like to think 2011 was about learning what I can do. I've learned I CAN make it on my own and support myself and my son. This is something I never thought I could do. I've also learned what I can't do and what I can improve on.

I've also found myself terribly lonely at times. Running da shop by myself is hard and I am grateful that Mike (my ex) has been here to help. Honestly running a small business like this is a job for two people not one. There are times one needs to get OUT and then there are things like appointments (or illness) that are almost impossible to schedule on Mondays all the time.

The Winds Of Change Are Blowing, Part Two

2011-12-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

I have struggled with the words to describe my "new" jewelry style. So instead I put together this slideshow for your enjoyment. I had originally chosen a different theme, but I liked this one better. The winter scene and the quote make me think of clean slates and new beginnings. And in a sense new beginnings is what I am doing with my jewelry and my store. This is the kind of jewelry I will be making from now on and what I will be keeping in my Willow Walker Designs store on Artfire. After viewing this slideshow I have to admit I even impressed myself. I look at it and still can hardly believe such beautiful and amazing work came from my little ole' hands!

Create a free photo slideshow

After watching this slideshow you may be asking yourself why am I still calling this a "new" style? I started finding my style in late August of 2010. Unfortunately most of 2011 was spent dealing with life altering changes after the loss of my father. Probate, inheriting the family stained glass business and all sorts of little day to day tasks took up most of my time.

That and learning how to juggle all these demands on me and my time.

Just for fun what would you call this style? Romantic, elegant, tribal? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The Winds Of Change Are Blowing, art One

2011-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Winds Of Change are officially here and blowing out the old as they blow in the new.

I have started moving items to my Glass Goddess shop on Artfire. I am moving out old stuff that I feel doesn't represent the style or quality of jewelry I desire to have in my Willow Walker Designs shop nor does it reflect what I am doing now. This mainly consists of pendants and some matching earrings. These are all older pieces and styles that I am tired of looking at and packing around to shows. I will be selling them as handmade supplies. The pendants and earrings will be listed separately. I will be leaving them at the current prices. I have dropped the prices on these items down to the cost of the materials and I have to have that back. I can kill my labor costs, but not the cost of the materials.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a quick moment and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends and fans! So

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

First Wire Woven Bead Cap!

2011-12-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

Finished this bead cap last night right before I went to sleep. Can I just say that I LOVE it? It is a very well written tutorial with excellent pictures. I had no trouble at all understanding and following the instructions. I already have a pair of earrings in mind where I'll use these lovely bead caps on a pair of yummy pearl drops! Now I just have to decide on the metal color for them. I'm thinking of doing them in 14K gold filled wire to go with a gorgeous pair of gold vermeil headpins.

New Tutorials To Learn New Skills With!

2011-12-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

I have several new tutorials I am excited to try out! One is Iza Malczyk's Wire Woven Bead Cap Tutorial. My fingers are literally itching to give this one a whirl. First I have to go to the bead store and get some wire to learn this with!

The other is Mary Tucker's Twining With Wire Lesson Tutorial. I've been wanting to apply basketry techniques to my wire wrapping skills for a while. This tutorial should give me a great foundation to get started. I took a basketry workshop 18 years ago and enjoyed myself. (Wowsa, it's really been that long ago?)

These tutorials are the first techniques I'm adding to my repertoire of wire wrapping skills! Also going to learn to solder silver wire into frames, practice headpin making....

Online/Jewelry Design Changes Two

2011-12-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

Probably the other biggest change is to how I view my work and myself. I've been calling myself an "artist" for a while and I'm not as comfortable with it as I once was. I think the term "craftsman" is more appropriate, both in my stained glass and my jewelry.

I have touted my jewelry as glass first and wire second. I have decided that my jewelry is about the wire first then the glass and the gems. "Wire, dichroic glass and gems"

I look forward to exploring and learning more wire wrapping, weaving, twining, braiding, coiling, etc; in 2012. The more I learn the more I can do. I forsee a lot more wirework in base metals like copper and bronze.

The picture above is a pair of earrings I made quite a while ago playing with gemstone clusters. This is another idea I look forward to playing more with!

"Harvest" Round Stained Glass Panel & Online Shop Plan One

2011-12-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Finished this lovely piece just over a week ago. I never really used to be into fall colors. Then one of my best friend's mentioned her favorite color is orange...Since then I have found myself drawn to a lot more orange. I chose the dark amber jewel in the center and built my colors around it. Unable to find a fifth color that I liked I hit upon the unlikely use of pink-and it worked perfectly!

You've heard me talk about some things I want to do with my on-line jewelry stores. One of the first, biggest and most important change I have planned is the removal of ALL the pieces that I feel do not suit the design style I have settled upon. These are different dichroic techniques and styles I have tried my hand at in my dichroic journey and have decided are not what I want to do. I will be removing the current post earrings, all etched design pieces and the simple wire wrapped bail pendants and all the other pieces that don't suit. These will be moved over to my Glass Goddess shop and sold as supplies until they are gone.

Red Earrings & Ideas For 2012

2011-12-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a pair of my new earring design done in reds and golds.

I have been working on ideas for next year. Where I plan to go with my jewelry, how to improve my blogging and such.

I need to get back on the regular blogging bandwagon and make it a habit again. I am thinking of doing four weekly features. I can research a different gem for one week, two different jewelry design challenges would fill another two weeks and I'm thinking a stained glass challenge for the fourth week. I can show the design sketches, creation along with the finished project.

I have definitely decided to concentrate on making the intricate wire wrapped jewelry designs that I so love doing. I want to challenge myself and setting myself weekly theme challenges would really help with that. I'm thinking one for every month of the year and still debating the other. I was thinking of a "name" challenge, but am not sure.

I miss writing a short sci-fi-fantasy story for my jewelry using my alter ego Willow and am thinking about doing that again. We'll see.

I need to sit back and evaluate how things went at the end of each month. Figure out what is working and what is not.

And I really need to get serious about doing some fancier, higher end shows with my jewelry. I think my stuff is to fancy for a lot of the shows I have been doing. I seem to end up at the window shopping ones anymore courtesy of this lovely economy.

New Earring Design

2011-12-07T13:33:00.001-08:00

I have a new earring design made! I made this pair in rich deep blues with blue crystal dangles! I also think these would look nice without dangles too.

I am debating whether or not to list these new designs now or after the holidays. If you are interested please don't hesitate to let me know!

New Necklace, Sneak Peek!

2011-12-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

Here is my newest piece, "Harvest Moon".

I've taken an older piece and reset it. It is wire wrapped in 14K gold filled wire with Hessonite Garnet briolettes. Suspended from a 14k gold filled chain connected with Hessonite links.

My Wired Roots, The Beginning

2011-11-24T10:38:00.001-08:00

I've often pondered my addiction to glass and wire and jewelry. Understanding the glass and the jewelry part is easy. I was raised in a "stained glass" household and I've always been a girly-girl when it comes to jewelry which my Grandma Lola encouraged. But as for the wire.....

I had a flash of insight the other day as I was working on some stained glass butterflies. As I was soldering on the finishing details-hooks and antennae and my mind wandered back to my childhood watching my father do the same.

I realized my father was probably the first one to interest and teach me with the things one can do with wire. Some of my earliest memories of "wireworking" was how my dad used wire to create fun faces on stained glass suncatchers. He taught me how to make "jump rings" ie wire loops for eyeballs and hooks. Bending wire to make fun smiles on our funny faced critters among other things. He made antennae for butterflies and other bugs. His glass glob, lead came and wire work bugs were cute and fun! He used wire in a wonderfully creative manner to give our stained glass suncatchers life and personality.

So now I don't think it's at all strange that I am so addicted to wire and what one can do with it!

Thank You Dad for these early wirework lessons.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:23:00.001-08:00

This year I am thankful for many things. My family, my friends, my companion animals. I am thankful for the roof over my head, warm food to fill my belly and a job to pay for all of it.

I am thankful that I have managed to overcome the many challenges and obstacles that I have faced this past year. May I continue to succeed and get better at all my "new" responsibilities.

I am thankful for the knowledge that makes me a master craftsman, er woman in stained glass. I had forgotten how much I love the colors of stained glass and am enjoying making pretties for the shop.

I am thankful for my clever fingers and my passion for jewelry making. It gives me an amazing sense of satisfaction to finish a piece of jewelry and find it exceeds my imagination.

HUGE CHRISTMAS SALE!!!

2011-11-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! I'm having a Huge Christmas Sale! I've slashed prices all over.

My post earrings are now $6 a pair, reduced from $10

All $25 dollar earrings are now only $15!

My wire woven bail pendants are now $25 each, reduced from $35 to $54!

My adjustable wire wrapped rings are now $25 reduced from $30-$35!

Necklaces have been reduced! $36 ones are now $25. $64-$69 are now only $35.

Clearance items are now $8-$10 reduced from $10-$15!

All my fancy, high end jewelry has been reduced by $20 or more!

Gift For The Holidays-Hunger

2011-10-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

I was talking with my aunt yesterday and learned something that I find very, very disturbing. My aunt volunteers for St. Vincent De Paul's. They put together food boxes for the hungry. They do this year round and do the holiday food boxes also. Anyone who has been hungry may know a bit about how these places work. You sign up/register and are eligible to receive ONE food box a month. What you get depends upon what is available.

These places are funded in part by our federal government and private donations. Since Obama has been president the federal funding to these places has been reduced significantly. First the funding was cut by thirty percent. Then it was cut another fifty percent. And they are replacing canned fruits and veggies with fresh. Noble idea but most fresh produce doesn't last a month! As for the private funding many donations have also been reduced or stopped. I know for a fact that my aunt regularly buys cases of foodstuffs to take in to be put into these food boxes.

The amount of foodstuffs that they are able to provide in these boxes has been drastically reduced. What once was enough to feed a family for over a full week is now only enough for a couple of days.

Normally St. Vincent De Paul's where she volunteers makes up between 350 to 400 holiday food boxes. These ones have the goodies to cook a holiday meal. A frozen turkey, cranberry jelly/sauce, canned pumpkin for pie and stuff like that. This year they will only be able to make up 35-40 holiday gift baskets. I find the fact that they will only be able to do 10% off what they normally do very sad, disturbing and extremely frightening.

I guess our government has come up with a way to end joblessness and homelessness-starve these people to death...and on that sarcastic note....

I ask that all of us who do have enough food remember and think of our nation's hungry. Please, please donate to your local food banks! I know I'm buying at least one holiday dinner deal per holiday to give away to someone in need. One of my local stores always has a holiday meal special with all the basics for a very reasonable price.

New! Two Holed Handmade Dichroic Glass Beads Beads

2011-10-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

I've added another category to my Artfire Supply shop, The Glass Goddess-Two Holed Dichroic Beads! So far I have only have single bead quantities listed. I will be adding some sets also. Two, three and four bead sets.

I made these several years ago. They started as a request. I had fun with it for a while, but they quickly became a very boring and tedious chore. They required a LOT of grinding and shaping. If I ever get that trim saw that's on my wish list or I am able to put a trim saw blade on my tile saw I think they might be easier to make.

So at this time they are a unique, one of kind, kiln worked bead.

Of course the Grand Opening sale is still going on. Remember to use the coupon code "25%OFFGRANDOPENING" to get the sale prices.

On another note Pearl of the "Beading Gem's Journal" is having another Modahaus Photography Studio give-away! Today is your last chance to win! It sure looks like a neat system.

GRAND OPENING SALE! 25% OFF!

2011-10-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm announcing a GRAND OPENING SALE in my supply shop, The Glass Goddess! Now from Oct, 21 thru Nov 4. 25% off your purchases! Just use the coupon code "25% OFF GRAND OPENING" when you check out!

High quuality fused dichroic glass cabochons, yummy gemstone briolettes and even some agate cabochons!

I will continue to add new items to the store.

So please enjoy my pretties, leave some comments and I really, really hope you'll like what you see!

About My Supply Store, The Glass Goddess, Part 2

2011-10-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

The reasoning behind my supply store,

The Glass Goddess is twofold, well OK threefold.

Reason Two-Stocking gemstone briolettes stems from my frustrations trying to find what I wanted. Seemed like whatever color, size, shape or stone I desired was only available in a full strand. I usually only needed a pair. I couldn't afford more than that nor did I need more...At that time my funds were rather meager. I think part of the problem is that I'm always looking for colors that will stand up against the dichroic glass I want to use them with.

So I have spent the past year and a half purchasing a few strands here and there. I have finally been able to get them broke down into pairs, a few singles and some four and six piece quantities. And now I am getting them photographed and listed!

I am pleased to be able to list gemstone briolettes in small quantities for those who need only a small quantity of stones and may not have the funds for larger quantities. I look forward to more varieties, shapes, sizes and colors!

Did I mention I love gemstones? I also seem to have an eye for the fanciest, highest quality strands! At a bead & Gem show or store I always head straight to the best of the best!

About My Supply Store, The Glass Goddess, Reason #1

2011-10-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

The reasoning behind my supply store, The Glass Goddess is twofold, well okay it's threefold.

Here is reason number one-

I've had a lot of people ask me if I sell my dichroic glass cabochons or tell me I that I should.

I have to admit that I have a hard time putting my dichroic cabochons up for sale. I find that when I'm making them I am already creating jewelry with them in my mind! Those that I have definite plans for I put aside for my use. The rest I'm putting up for sale in my supply shop. If I decide I want to use a listed cab I can always drop the listing and use it. Also I have enough cabs to keep me busy for quite a while at the rate I'm (not) using them.

All of my cabochons are made using compatible fusing glass in a digitally controlled kiln. Quite a bit of work goes into the making of these and they are fired a minimum of two times.

I prefer clean, precise shapes in my cabochons. I think growing up in rockhound country has influenced my ideas of what a cabochon should be. Smooth, clean, polished shapes, rounded on the edges.

My cabochons start with me fusing dichroic sheet glass with either a base glass or top it with a clear glass "cap". I call these fused glass pieces "slabs".

I take these slabs and draw the desired cabochon shapes onto the slab. I take my time pondering and agonizing over the best, most efficient use of the glass slab in front of me.

I rough cut the shapes out of the glass slab using a Taurus III ring saw. As these are rough I use a grinder to clean up the shapes. If I think the cabochon is to thick I will use a flat beveling grinder to thin these cabochons. I do this more for earring cabs that pendant cabs to reduce the weight. I also grind a bit of a bevel on the edges to help round them out nicely during the fire polishing cycle. Once I've finished shaping them I switch to a channeling bit on the grinder. It grinds channel or groove that can be used for wire wrapping the cab. After all of this I prep the cabs for another cycle in the kiln. I treat the ground edges with a devitrification solution to ensure a shiny, polished finish. When the solution is dry into the kiln they go for a final fire polishing. When they come out I check them for quality. If I'm not happy another round of grinding, flat grinding and channeling will ensue.

Gorgeous New Chalcedony Briolettes Listed!

2011-10-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

I just received these gorgeous new briolettes in the mail. The consistency of their color, shapes, faceting and translucency is amazing!

Hot Pink Chalcedony Faceted Pear Briolettes 10mm x 6mm

AND these rare colored orange beauties!

Fanta Orange Chalcedony Faceted Heart Briolettes 10mm x 8mm

Please check out all my other yummy offerings in my supply store, The Glass Goddess

More New Goodies

2011-10-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Here's some more new listings and this isn't all of them either!

Here's a link to see all the new finished jewelry in my Artfire store, Willow Walker Designs.

And for all the new dichroic fused glass cabochon listings in my supply store on Artfire, TheGlassGoddess.

I am trying to list several items a day in each store and I am also trying to blog more often. I look forward to blogging daily again.

New Goodies Are Listed!

2011-10-08T07:21:00.001-07:00

I have been busy getting goodies listed into my supply shop, The Glass Goddess on Artfire. It's starting to look good-like an actual store. I've listed a dozen of my dichroic glass cabochons and about a half dozen gemstone briolette bead pairs!

I have also been getting some more pendants listed in my WillowWalker Designs store on Artfire and have started stocking up my Etsy WWD store also.

I liked how I set up the jewelry categories on Etsy so well that I decided to switch them on my Artfire store. This should make your shopping experience easier and simpler. Everything is now listed by jewelry type, ie. "Bracelets", "Earrings", "Pendants" etc;

Stained Glass Lamp Panels

2011-10-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

A picture of the lamp I made six panels for this past week. Here it has two installed. I love how well the colors go together. He chose well!

Shades Of Blue For The Fingers

2011-09-27T11:09:00.001-07:00

Shades Of Blue For The Fingers

Curated By: WillowWalkerD...

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

Fall Clearance Sale 25% to 50%

2011-09-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

I did a bit of fall cleaning in my Artfire studio yesterday. I moved and eliminated several categories. The majority went into a new category, Fall Clearance 25%-50% OFF.

This little dichroic glass pendant with a 22K gold decal of a nautilus shell is only one of the items now in the new fall clearance category.

I moved all the Art Deco Collection, the Modern Bold Collection and the Images Collection into the Fall Clearance category. The fancier Etched pieces are now in a category called Dichroic Designs.

I'm trying to clean out my studio as I want the pieces in it to reflect my new, intricately wire wrapped style of jewelry. As I stated in an earlier post I'm only making the intricate wire wrapped pieces from now on.

"Five Little Windows, All In A Row..."

2011-09-23T13:24:00.001-07:00

Five little window, all in a row.....Just waiting to go home with the big one! These turned out so pretty. It's amazing how a bit of colored glass, some bevels and a classic background glass (like the glue chip used here) almost always seems to turn out so amazingly beautiful and classy!

These six panels (the one from my previous post) have been picked up by their proud new owners and will be heading to South Carolina next week. The owners are pleased and happy and already trying to figure out how to fill three windows that are high up in the home. The five small panels will be set into an existing five panel, tall narrow sidelight type window and the big one will be only a few feet away at the bottom of a stairway.

Stained Glass Commission Work

2011-09-21T07:04:00.001-07:00

This is my first stained glass commission piece in four years. This is the first window of a set of six. I have five small windows to do that will go with this one. They will have a smaller, different bevel cluster. They all have to be completed and ready to leave the shop by ten am this Friday morning.

I've really procrastinated getting back into the stained glass. I think the main reason has been fear. Fear of what will happen as the last two times I got back into it bad things happened. Needless to say I'm trying to convince myself that it is a silly, irrational, groundless fear and that this time everything is going to be good.

Raspberry Parfait Wire Wrapped Necklace Set

2011-09-20T08:33:00.001-07:00

Raspberry Parfait Wire Wrapped Necklace Set! I've finally listed this gorgeous set on Artfire. I also uploaded it on jewelrylessons.com where it received an astounding amount of compliments within the first 12 hours it was posted.

This is the kind of work you will be seeing from me in the future. I love setting my dichroic glass cabochons into intricate wire wrapped settings especially when I can add in some gemmies too! These are time consuming creations that I love making!

When I first started listing I would write short stories about the piece using my alter ego, jewelry designer whom I named "Willow" She's was a sci-fi fantasy gal living and traveling in the future who was also settling on a new world with others. With these fancier pieces I have been playing with bringing her back with new short stories. What do you think?

Midnight Moon Goddess!

2011-09-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

I've finally managed to get this piece listed. Midnight Moon Goddess, Wire Wrapped Purple Dichroic Glass Necklace. I really need to take more pictures of it while playing with different lighting. These pictures don't do any justice to the beauty of this dichroic glass cabochon. This cabochon is actually PURPLE! Not blue. Lots of lovely rich shades of purple from blue-violet to red-violet. Very rich and colorful. Why does it show blue? Because the the camera sees light wavelengths a bit differently than the human eye sees them. To the camera any blue-violet shade of purple is blue.

I am working hard at improving my attitude. This past week has been hard as I've changed my sleeping cycle. Since I started delivering newspapers I've been sleeping in split shifts. Three to five hours before I go to work and then two to four (or more) hours afterwards. I have managed to stay awake after the route for four days now. I am finally starting to get stuff done around here. I am (hopefully) done with my bad attitude. Life adjustments are hard. They take patience and time. Not just on my part but for all those who are around me and have to deal with me!

I have acquired home and auto insurance. I am still waiting to find out about the glass shop.

This Woman's Perspective, Part One

2011-09-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have this magnet on my refrigerator and it says "If I worked like a man, they'd call me a lazy b*tch" This is the way my life seems to go. For better or worse this is the way things still work even in today's world. Women are the laborers that keep everything going. We are the pack animals of the world.

As women we are expected to work from the time we crawl out of bed until the time we crawl back into it. We get up, make coffee, breakfast, school lunches and clean before going to work. We hold down jobs outside of the home like men do. But when we get done with the day job it's time to come home and work some more. Cooking dinner, doing the dishes, laundry, housework and yard work. This includes taking care of the kids, helping them with their homework and such. A woman's "duty" is to make her man's life as easy, lazy and comfy as possible. This has gone on for centuries.

Part of this goes back to our hunter-gatherer days when the man was out getting the meat and protecting the tribe. With the rise of Christianity our fate was sealed. I'm not blaming Christianity-just the women hater that rose to become a high ranking individual in the church with a lot of power and influence around the First Crusades. Courtesy of him women became second class citizens and more or less slaves to the men in their lives. He did a lot of damage to the way women were viewed and treated. Much of which we are still fighting against to this day.

For us women there are no excuses for not keeping our homes, yards, kids and life in order-no matter what. When we are sick we are expected to keep on going like normal. We don't get to lay in bed whining, expecting to be waited on. Oh, no we have get up and keep on going. And if we don't then out come the guilt gremlins. We are left feeling guilty from many sources, the men in our lives, other women and our own conscience. Not to mention we are held responsible for "keeping" our men in line. Sound familiar anyone?

Most of men I know get up, put in their day at their job and then they are DONE. They do not do housework, they will do a minimal amount of yard work such as fencing and sprinkler repair. They will watch their kids if the little woman is working, BUT generally they aren't real happy about it.

Now I know that not all women's lives are like this nor do all men have this attitude. I also know many couples are very happy and content with the traditional role. Unfortunately the majority of the men I know ARE like this. I come from a place where there is no respect for all my work, only criticism about what hasn't been done. And yes it's getting on my nerves.

Kitchen Update

2011-09-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely I am getting there on my kitchen. I can't believe how long it's taking me. This is a project that ten years ago I would had whipped out in a week. Of course I would of spent eight or more hours a day on it until it was done. These days I only get to work on it for two or three hours a day.

As you can see it is looking very good. TSP has become my new favorite cleaning solution. I used it to clean the decorative plates, cookie jars, dessert tin and much more. It cleans them quickly without stripping or damaging the surface. I even used it on decorative cooking spoons that have small oil paintings on the bowl safely!

The first picture shows the difference in between the cleaned and still dirty cupboard. I can't believe how filthy they were. I'm embarrassed to admit I never looked that closely at them so I never realized how bad they were. Needless to say I am changing my cleaning ways. I will be learning to wipe them thoroughly at least weekly, preferably daily.

The green paint looks very nice. All clean and fresh. Not to mention that nice crisp, white clean ceiling! Interesting tidbit about that shade of green. While cleaning out the bottom cupboards I noticed the color the walls were painted at one time. It is almost the same shade of green! LOL!

Another interesting fact: The bottom cupboards that were the originals when my folks bought the place are not as old as I thought. The doors are hollow core. I think they are pine. Somehow I don't believe they made hollow core cabinet doors back in the 1920's.

At this point I believe all the built-in's and cabinetry in this home were installed long after the home was built. They were built in the Arts & Crafts style to go with the home.

First of all the built-in's in the master bedroom are gorgeous and probably out of pine. BUT that bedroom was added onto the back of the original structure along with another bedroom and the laundry/utility room. The original bedroom would of been what is now my computer room.

Secondly the fact that the wood used in the kitchen cupboards matches that of the master bedroom built-in's and the built in bookcase under the stairwell that's been blocked off. And like I said hollow core cabinet doors...

Next I have to paint the inside of those cupboards. I'm leaving that back wall alone for now. After painting I'm going to put down shelf liner. I may do a test strip as this is the rubbery stuff not contact paper. This means everything must be set down or picked up-No dragging or sliding allowed.

After all this I still have one upper cabinet to clean, the other bottom cupboards and the freestanding cabinet. I'm hoping by reducing the stuff I have I can eliminate the freestanding cabinet. This will allow me to slide the fridge over a foot leaving me more room in the kitchen and a place to tuck the garbage can.

My "Life"

2011-09-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

After my mom's death my dad & I kept the place going. This place & my dad became my refuge when my life fell apart-multiple times. (Mom died in 03", my marriage in 06" & my dd in 08", I also did 9 months of rehab in 06")

Then after my DD's death in the summer of 08" along came the economic crash in the early fall of 08" With this came a substantial loss of income since commission work became rare, the jobs few & far in between each other. (Dad had one builder that was a steady customer, ie "bread & butter" for the studio.) My dad had his social security to tide us over and them he got on as a paper carrier in 09"

The fall season is the busiest for the glass shop with all the people making Christmas gifts, etc. After the holidays & until the weather turns nice is the second best time of the year. Business always drops dramatically during the summer. Stained glass is an indoor hobby and come summertime everyone's busy outdoors.

At this point with the economy if the shop can pay for it's own supplies, then it's overhead I'm happy. Not surprised to have to carry some of the overhead in the summer.

I always expected & planned on running said family business. What I didn't expect was to have to do it on my own w/no partner to help me. I just never thought about it after I got divorced. (doh) RThe shop's business hours are Tuesday thru Friday, ten am to five pm and ten am to two pm on Saturdays.

My life consists of hauling my ass out of bed every morning at one am and going out to deliver 470 newspapers. I get home between five and six am where I usually go back to bed to make up the sleep I didn't get the night before. I get back up about nine am to open up the glass shop. I close it at five pm and then spend several hours unwinding before I can fall asleep just to crawl back out of bed at one am and do it all over again. Sunday and Monday are my weekends. I usually just want to sleep. And I try to run my errands on Mondays. So Sundays are really the only "free" time I have. And to top this all off there's lots of yardwork too. The good news is the house and shop are in one building.

I figure with the crappy economy and the second recession this will be my life for at least the next five years.

So here I am finally coming out of the overall mess of having my life ripped apart so many times in the past 6 years to realize I'm stuck here at the house/shop, unable to go out & do things with friends. Now that I'm ready to live and have a "life" I find I can't really have one. I'm stuck working, sleeping, working and sleeping. And I may still have to find another part-time job to make all the ends meet, including saving money, all the major car repairs I have looming, taxes and to be able to buy those jewelry supplies I want not to mention my teeth.

I'm starting to see my limitations and the drawbacks of trying to do this single handedly. So now I'm trying to find/see options to make this work. Things like what can I do to make my life easier? How can I manage my time & $$$ to be able to make this a fulfilling lifestyle and not one of boring, endless drudgery.

I'm looking at things like shortening the shop hours, being open by appointment outside of those hours. As this is the only retail stained glass business for two thirds of Oregon I'd like to be available to those who have come a ways to shop here. (Anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours)

I'm already working on plans/ways to reduce the yardwork-mainly to reduce my water usage & now my workload.

Another week or two and I will start meeting with a dear friend and hypnotherapist to help me with a lot of issues I have. Many of them are just re-learning and re-training myself to use the skills I ahve lost in the past ten years. Time management, multi-tasking and other life skills I need to be able to suceed and be the person I know I can be.

The first one is to re-train myself to shut down my brain so I can get on a regular sleep schedule. Before my route I was going to bed about the time I now need to get up to go to work. My brain is fighting me every step of the way on this. Between five and eight pm my brain keeps trying to "escape" by reading books and/or just screwing around wasting time, worrying or daydreaming. If I can go to sleep between six and seven pm I can get out of the morning nap schedule. This will give me a lot more time to get things done.

Home Bug Bombing Leads To Painting Of Kitchen

2011-08-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

BEFORE PICTURES Top is the left wall that the stove is against. The dirtiest, greasiest wall in the kitchen. Bottom picture is of the main wall. The right hand wall has a free standing cabinet used as a pantry and the side by side refrigerator.

After several large, ugly spider appearances within a day or two I decided it was high time to bug bomb the house. I had been needing to go visit my Aunty for a while. So I decided to bomb the house last Sunday. While the bombs were killing all them bad spiders I would take the dogs and go visit my Aunty.

Of course when you bug bomb your house you either pack up your dishes beforehand or wash them later. Because of my time frame I chose to wash later. I also figured as ALL the kitchen cabinets needed to be cleaned this would be a great opportunity! And of course while I'm cleaning cabinets and dishes I can sort, discard and re-organize everything to my little heart's content, right?

Then I thought that while I'm cleaning stuff I might as well clean the WHOLE kitchen. Parts haven't been cleaned in over eight years. Needless to say this was was way overdue and a long time coming.

And then....well since everything is already clean I might as well repaint and save myself some cleaning prep work later right???

So this week with the help of my niece I have scrubbed the two walls & cabinets shown above with TSP, spackled the holes and caulked the cracks and crevices. I have applied two coats of Killz paint/primer on the two wall shown above and the cabinet above the stove.

We also pulled the dishes out of two other upper cabinets and washed them. I discarded over a dozen mugs, an extra meat platter and a set of serving bowls. I kept the newer serving bowls and two older, vintage Pyrex(?) bowls. These items went to my sister-inlaw, so no I didn't just throw them away. Family will get first pick, leftovers will be donated to a thrift store. Unfortunately I will have to re-pull the dishes to remove the shelves for heavier cleaning. They have been wiped clean BUT they still don't look clean. :( So I will be scouring them a little bit later. Maybe while that ceiling is drying that I'm going to go paint here in a few minutes!

Later I plan to change the mis-matched golden oak & ??? cabinets to a mahogony/cherry color. This is a project for another payday. Ditto the hardware I plan to replace-all the cabinet knobs, drawer pulls and outside mounted hinges. I have mismatched cabinets, four different styles.... The lower ones on the front wall are original as far as I know. The uppers were made to my my mom's wishes and are "new" and modern. The one above the stove is a "make-do" from another house. Then there is one more set of lowers fronted with plywood & cut-out plywood doors. These are being painted like the "make-do" cabinet.

As I'm "re-decorating" I am trying to recreate the feeling of Arts & Crafts style in a manner pleasing to me and my limited budget.

New Jewelry Pieces & A Business Decision

2011-08-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

So I fianally had the time and energy to make some new pretties! And I've even managed to get some listed! These are the first pieces I've made ALL year.

The first is the elegant Wire Wrapped White Dichroic Glass Jewelry Set. Three of my handmade dichroic fused glass cabochons all wrapped up into 14k gold filled netted wire bezel settings accented with white crystal beads. I am really impressed with this design style!

The second are these lovely Wire Wrapped Tanzanite & Cobalt Blue Dichroic Glass Glass Dangle Earrings.
Yum!

I have also made up a bunch of rings and am working on getting them listed. Two down and more to go.

Business Decision-With everything going on in my busy life, running two businesses, one brick & mortar and a job delivering papers equals 11 hour work days during the week. My time and energy is rather limited now . Add in this horrible economy that appears as if it's only going to get worse.

I find I have been asking myself several things lately. What can I do to make my life easier and simpler? To reduce my workload and stress? One thing I thought/realized is "Why should I waste my precious time and energy making things I don't truly love and enjoy creating?" So with this in mind I have decided to create only that which I truly love and enjoy. And I love and enjoy the challenge of designing and making intricated wire wrapped dichroic glass jewelry so this is what I will be focusing on from now on!

Also I have noticed that those who ARE buying are not worried about price. They are buying what they really love. A friend of mine who works for a retail clothing outlet store agrees. She says people are buying that which looks expensive and that they are shying away from that which looks cheap.

Wire Wrapped Jewelry Collection

2011-07-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Wired for Style

Curated By: ABeadedAffair

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

I am honored to have my work included in this wonderful collection of amazing and talented wire wrappers!

New Earring Cabochons!

2011-07-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

Finally they are done!!! It took an extra week as they didn't come out well in the first time I put then in the kiln to fire polish.
This was quite the experience I'll tell you. I used a new, corse grinder bit to shape them and thinned them with a corse flat grinding pad. I finished them up with the boro solution. It was getting late so I thought I'd quick dry them in the kiln. I put them in, left the lid cracked open a couple of inches and after about thirty minutes I closed the lid and went to bed. All my these lovelies came out terrible. I am using the same brand of shelf paper, BUT it now has printing on the back. The combination of wet, heat and ink gave all the white cabochons a grey cast and the black. Also as the grinding surfaces were corse the tops and sides had that white, cloudy "grinding" tinge. Talk about a DUH moment. So I ended up re-grinding the fronts, backs and sided of the white bases cabochons and the tops and sided of the black based ones not to mention re-channeling all of them.

I was really pleased with how well these quick, impromtu pictures turned out. Not a lot of glare and the color turned out well. You can tell I have several different colors of white dichroic glass cabs!

Cabochon Making Update

2011-06-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I am getting a wee bit frustrated with the time it is taking me to get these cabochons done. First of all I have never made this many at once before. I am working on about 200 cabochons. I will have two, err three shelves to fire polish in the kiln. I will have one shelf of earring cabochons, small pendants and rings. The second will be the large pendant cabochons. Of course the large ring cabochons will be fired separately as I will drape them on a curved surface so they will fit the fingers nicely.

I don't think I have ever made more than 80 at a time before. Before I would get up early and work until late at night. In about three days I would have them all done. But now I only get to work on them for a few hours a day, four days a week. I will be working hard to get these finished this week. I need to make little cabochons for earrings and inexpensive rings too.

I have free up my time to finish getting the yard weeded. Also I have to clean, sort and organize the garage and the garden shed. Not to mention every room in the house. I also need to clean off the front porch, wash the siding on the house and power wash the glass shop porch so we can re-seal the wood. Not to mention finishing cleaning the shop.

What can I say-it is finally nice out and I want everything done yesterday! I thought I was behind last year at this time. It's worse this year between dad's death and the wet, rainy weather. all of a sudden I realize how much there is that needs to be done! Aaaaaaacccckkkkkkk!

2011 Show Booth Display

2011-06-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

This is my updated booth display for 2011. I've switched my jewelry tray inserts to white leatherette. I'm hoping it will help keep the glass a bit cooler in the hot summer sun. This first picture is the table to the right when one enters my booth.

These next three pictures are of the table on the left hand side of my booth. I've included two close-ups of the displays along with one that shows the whole table. I've added an acrylic stair-step riser to display the little necklace/earring easels (?), a nice pair of white leatherette ring displays and the pendant tree. I have the backboards on my earring display due to the winds that blow the sidewall of my canopy against the back of the display. It hits the earwires and knocks the earrings off the display.

Today's Progress Report...

2011-06-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

I've managed to have another busy day! I took a short nap after I finished my paper route. Once I was up I went outside and turned the sprinklers on my flower border. After I looked over there I discovered my favorite sprinkler head was broken. So I picked up the pieces and switched the water over to water the shop lawn. It's one of several low pressure sprinklers fed from a main line. It was an adjustable water flow, half circle head attached two inches above a stake. The water came into the top of the stake from a small hose connected to a drip plug.

As my aunty had given it to me to try 3-4 years ago I had nothing to replace it with-or should I say that I wanted to replace it with. So I headed to the plumbing supply store for a replacement with the parts in hand. As they didn't have any all put together I purchased the pieces necessary to make my own. I made these up while eating breakfast. Then I went out and replaced the broken sprinkler. I spent an hour weeding, accepted my supply shipment, had lunch and got ready to teach my class. During class I got the supplies unpacked, priced and put away. Afterwards I cut another five dozen cabochons and ground ten of them before quitting time. I also got my dishes washed.

Flower Season I

2011-06-08T17:43:00.001-07:00

It finally feels like spring here! I have been bitten by the flower bug. As a result I have been flower shopping.

Today I started planting some of them. First I started with this pot on the glass shop porch. I fell in love with the orangey-yellow Dalia you see in the center. I have surrounded it with dark purple and yellow flowers. I used Petunias, Sweet Alyssum, and a couple of new plants that I can't remember the name of. One of them looks like miniature petunias and are great for trailing out of pots. They are also hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit! I put the tags in so you can see what they'll look like once they are blooming. Once these plants get going, spread out and blooming I will have to take another picture.
In this flower border on the street corner of the shop I planted one and a half dozen double Petunias and one dozen Sweet Alyssum plants along with five Gerebera
Daisies. I am going to have a gorgeous crop of Irises this year too!

I still have seven Pansies and about ten Sweet Williams plants that my late daughter and I planted in June of 2008! Isn't that amazing? I treasure these plants and the wonderful, good memories they bring me.

I still have two large pots to fill with gravel (bottom) and dirt before I can plant them along with a hanging basket.

My goals for today were to work on my cabs, plant flowers, phone in the debit/credit slips, make a supply order for the shop and to do the dishes. I've done everything but the dishes!

Just Another Busy Day

2011-06-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

I didn't manage to stay awake after the paper route today. Despite being exhausted I still couldn't fall asleep until late last night around ten pm. I was back up from my nap at 9:15 am and out the door on my way to Lowe's by 9:25 am. I was flower shopping. I was home by 10:10 am. Ten minutes late to open the shop, but then I had to go re-deliver a paper. So it was 10:30 before I was able to open the shop. My goals today were to work on my cabochons until mid-afternoon then start planting flowers.

So I started grinding away on my cabochons. At 11:30 am I realized it was Tuesday and I had a class to teach at 12:00! So I put a breakfast sandwich in the microwave and watered all my new flowers. When my students arrived I was gobbling my sandwich and re-marking cabochons for grinding.

During class I cleaned a stainless steel draping mold and re-coated it with kiln wash. Once it was dry I put it in the kiln to drape a student's fusing class project. Right before the end of class I found out the ex was heading out for the rest of the afternoon and we had a repair that needed to be ready to leave tomorrow!!!

So once class was over, students gone and the studio picked up I wrestled my unusual window repair into the studio and up onto the counters. I say unusual because normally I do stained glass repair. This was an old historic wooden window with old architectural glass. I had to replace five panes in it. This required chiseling out all the old glazing and removing the broken glass. Then putting in the replacement glass, securing it with diamond points and re-glazing. I was lucky-about an hour into it my ex returned and helped me finish it. We finished at 5:10 pm. I closed the shop put some food in the microwave and here I am blogging before I head to bed!

Gripes Of A Paper Carrier

2011-06-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share some pictures from my yard. The first picture is of one of my peonies. It's the first plant of several to bloom. The second is of my trees. The largest tree is my apple tree. It is an original Rome Apple tree-not a hybrid. And my Prairie Fire Crab apple is gorgeous right now!

OK, now for the gripes. ;) I have two major gripes as a paper carrier. One is that people who would never dream of blocking a mailbox never even think twice about blocking the newspaper tube. Whether it is with their vehicle or garbage cans. Now a days delivering papers is usually a DRIVING route, not walking or biking. This means every time a tube is blocked we have to waste time stopping the car, putting it in park and getting out to put the paper in the tube...then getting back in the car...I deliver almost 500 papers a night and have four or less hours to do so. I will admit that I deliver more than most which means I have to stay on time to get it done on time. Also I am not a mail carrier and am NOT driving a vehicle where I sit on the "wrong" side of the car to drive...

The second which is even more upsetting is paper THIEVES. I know you think that a paper here or there isn't going to hurt the "big" guy, IE the paper publisher. After all they can just write it off. Guess again thief, you are WRONG!!!!! The only person who pays is the little guy who delivers the paper. We are expected to drive back and re-deliver that stolen paper if we don't want to have our pay docked. We still lose gas and time. If I don't re-deliver that paper I will be docked four to eight times what I get paid for ONE paper. Each time I have a paper show up missing and have to re-deliver I have to also lose a minimum ONE MEAL per dollar I am docked. I have nowhere else in my budget to absorb the loss of income except my grocery budget. This also helps to ensure that I don't screw up. My hungry stomach thanks you thief-after all I just love to go hungry......(NOT-I am being sarcastic)

Update

2011-06-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have been doing my best to get a little bit done in each area of my life every day. I've had a couple good days and a one day that was a complete loss. If I don't get enough sleep I can't get myself moving to get anything done.

As you may remember I am a paper carrier. This means my day starts at one am...I finish my routes between five and six am. At ten am it's time to open the glass shop for the day. I close the shop at five pm. I am trying to break twenty plus years of sleep habits to go to sleep by seven pm. Unfortunately for all my life this has been "my time" to relax, read and whatnot. To no longer have any real "free time" is very hard. I really need the time between the finish the paper routes and opening the shop to water the yard and work in/on the yard. I can only water from six am to ten am or four pm to ten pm on odd days. And as most know we are supposed to water in the mornings.

Once the heat kicks in things are going to definitely be tricky. My bedroom will be to hot to sleep in until about eight pm. I'm going to have summer hours in the glass shop which give me an afternoon time slot for napping. I have an air conditioner unit for my upstairs bedroom, but I feel it is too expensive to use. I need the money I'm saving on not heating the house to pay for the water for the yard.

My last "real" job was back in 2003 and as I haven't really "worked" since then it does seem to be a bit of karmic justice to now have to put in 12 to 16 hour days. That's what happens when one has spent that many years on "vacation" I guess. I've come to this conclusion about life. If one has the time to go do stuff (camping, fishing etc;) then one doesn't have any money to do so. To have the money to do stuff means you won't get the time to do it! One of life's little conundrums. :)

Saturdays are market (show) days. Sundays are the closest thing I have to a day off. The shop is also closed on Mondays, but that is the day for me to run errands, go to the bank and throw the weekly store ads.

Speaking of Saturday Market yesterday was my first day there and I had a great day. I was very happy with how well I'd done. Then I added up the debit/credit slips and found I'd about thirty percent more than I thought. This makes this the second best one day show in five years for me. I think my new set up really worked for me. I'd share some pictures with you all, but I didn't even think about the camera and pictures until we were back home unloading. So that's a goal for next week!

The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

2011-06-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute picture of my lapdogs and I. As you can tell our golden girl has absolutely no concept of her size! ;)

I have been asking myself some very powerful questions lately and for some reason the answers have been crystal clear.

I want to be successful. I have been asking myself what things do successful people do that I'm not doing... First I have to define my version of successful. I want to know I can pay my bills, taxes, insurance etc; without being broke and doing without things. I want to be financially secure. I want to be building that savings account because that savings account is also an EMERGENCY FUND. When I think of it this way it takes on a lot more importance. This is where money for car and home repairs, medical or financial emergencies comes from. Not to mention where money resides for when a great deal comes up AND of course the future. As I have spent a large part of my life living hand to mouth I DON'T want to go back there. This means planning a detailed budget and sticking to it.

Another part of successful is how I live my life-morals, ethics and values. When I live right it means things go right. For me this means implementing a schedule and learning to manage my time wisely. In doing so I will be able to learn to keep up a house, business, yard and my jewelry. This also includes taking care of me. Going to bed on time, eating healthy, getting back to exercising. I want to get back to being a nice lean machine. I'll feel better and have more energy and hurt less. Not to mention in another year or two I will have to manage things on my own as I won't have a son available. He'll be heading off to make his own way into the world.

The other part is based on my jewelry and the glass shop. My goal is to be able to live off of the income from my jewelry in the long haul. I also want to see the glass shop producing enough income to be able to pay it's own way with money to spare. To get there I need to learn more about running a business and to stay on top of all those pesky chores like bookkeeping and other business tasks. I also need to get back on track with all that on-line stuff to advertise my jewelry and the shop.

Some of these things I have done in the past and can learn to do again. Many of these things I have been meaning to do for quite a while and it's time to stop procrastinating and just do it. I never meant to put it off this long. If I don't do these things I will never get anywhere or amount to anything.

I truly believe in the concept of mind over matter. Our brain is an amazing thing. The experts say we use less than 50% of it. (if I remember correctly) I practiced this when I was in high school. I could set an internal alarm clock, stay warm etc; Part of this is visualization-visualizing and seeing oneself doing it. As part of this I am working on defining exactly what things like "successful" mean to me instead of leaving these as vague concepts. Then I can figure out the goals, steps and means to get where I want to go. I am also considering a life coach to help me with this-if I can afford it...

Last night as I was pondering these weighty subjects I remembered today was the first of June-the perfect time to start implementing changes in my life. As I lay there thinking these "heavy" thoughts I felt an energy in myself and just knew this is the right time and I CAN DO IT! Today I will live my life right!

So today I will phone in any credit/debit slip sales I have. I will add up sales slips in the glass shop. I will catch up on paperwork. I WILL write down everything I spend $$$ on! I will do some housekeeping in both the house and shop. I will work on my glass cabs. I'd work in the yard, but it's going to be too wet to weed and is supposed to rain. It's also chilly...

My life goal is to be able to have a home in the middle of nowhere, living off of income from my jewelry. I'd like to have an RV/5th wheel to travel the US and Canada meeting my plurkie friends! I would have an area for the glass end of my jewelry and be able to do shows as I go!

WIP-Cutting Dichroic Cabs

2011-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a slab of fused rainbow ripple dichroic glass. First I mark the shapes of the cabs (cabochons) that I wish to cut out.

Second I cover the metallic paint pen with this goop called "Mark Stay II" It's a heavy duty version and works much, much better than the original or rubbing the lines with a candle...First time I've used the new formula. It went on easily, didn't smear the lines and held up much better than the "old" options. The lines didn't wash, float or flake away-I didn't have to re-mark a single cab!

Before I started cutting using my Taurus III ring saw I decided to replace the blade which led to replacing the belt and a thorough cleaning of the water basin as I couldn't get the motor to sit properly back on/in it otherwise. In the picture is the saw, my safety glasses and the slab. The saw has a diamond coated cable for the blade. I can cut in any direction I wish on this-backwards, forwards or sideways.

The last picture shows the rough cut cabs ready for the next stage.

Dichro Fever

2011-05-05T12:47:00.001-07:00

I realized something the other night...I have come down with a bad case of dichro fever! It is characterized by lack of sleep, anticipation and an intense desire to see the dichroic glass in all its fused glory! Not to mention a manic spell of cutting cabs.

Here are some rough pictures of the fused dichroic glass slabs that I have fused up in the past two days! The first three pictures are of the ones I shared in my last post. The last two are the others I've fused up since. And I have another lovely chunk of rainbow ripple cooking as I type!

When I make dichroic glass cabs I start by fusing up "slabs" of dichroic glass. Next I will mark the slabs for cutting. Then I rough cut them out on my Taurus III ring saw, grind them into shape and channel them on the glass grinder. Then they'll go back into the kiln at least once more.

Time For Some More Dichroic Art Glass Cabochons

2011-05-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Time for more dichroic glass fusing so I can make more dichroic art glass cabochons! The first shelf (upper left pic) is in the kiln fusing as I type. The other two are ready for their turn. I'll take the first one out and put in another before I head out to deliver papers. (1:30am) So hopefully I will have pictures of the fused slabs tomorrow!

In other news I took three trips to the dump on Saturday, disposing of the worn out couch (load 1), The ex's old full size mattress set (load 2) and 4 wooden glass shipping crates with gosh knows what junk inside (load 3). Sunday I cleaned up the front yard and my son mowed it!

Today my son and my ex moved his futon bed frame into his "new" room. Now my son and I just have to get stuff cleaned up and moved between the rooms. He has to clean, sort and move his stuff and I get to clean, sort and move the rest of "dad's" stuff.

I found a nice, clearance priced cover for the loveseat and put up a pair of new valances over the picture window in the living room (on sale of course). Trying to decide if I should get another pair for the little windows flanking the fireplace.

Almost There

2011-04-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

I've almost got everything done that I needed to do for probate. WOO-HOO!!! All I have left is to finish getting Dad's taxes done. Everything has been turned over to the tax man and I am now waiting on a 1098 from PennyMac. If they sent one it either arrived before dad died and he put it who knows where or it was lost in the mail. I'm actually thinking it may have been an oversight as they are unable to pull that info up in their pc systems and are working on it. Anyway it they should be done by the eleventh.

Today I also received my verification/clearance from the company that processes our credit/debit cards. So I was able to run the past six weeks worth of slips. And with that I was finally able to order some clear rainbow ripple 96 dichroic glass in two colors!!! I have also found some lovely new jewelry boxes that fit my new jewelry color scheme of black and white.

On other fronts I have given away my parent's bedroom set to family members who needed them. As I was cleaning I went through my mother's pictures and other memorabilia stash in her bureau. I found some fun/interesting items-like a love letter from my father to her. They were definitely fooling around before getting married, at least while they were engaged. LOL! My father was quite the romantic young man back then. (1962)

Upon the removal of the bed and bureau I was appalled at how much dust, dirt and crud I found underneath and behind these items. Of course nothing had been really cleaned since my mom died. (2003) As that was my parent's room and I have been taught to respect their privacy and stay out I never thought about going in and giving it a thorough cleaning. And dad never asked me to. He just had me strip, flip and re-make the bed.

After cleaning up that mess my son took his new futon mattress and moved into his new room. Now he has to clean up his old room so I can finish cleaning out his new room-moving some of it into his old room.

I acquired a loveseat yesterday to replace the poor old broken down couch and we got the old couch out and the loveseat in. It is much shabbier than I thought, BUT it is comfortable and still in much better shape than the couch. It was free and will tide me over until I find the "right" loveseat.

As the weather has been improving-well for the most part anyway I have been looking around the place with "fresh" eyes. We are going to be doing a bunch of trash removal out of the yard this weekend. I'm embarrassed at the mess in the yard. I'm not sure when or how it got this bad. I have to get rid of the old couch, the ex's old full size mattress set, old glass packing crates among other miscellaneous stuff.

Well it is time for me to go. I've got to go drop off the matching chest of drawers and one of the nightstands. Now if I could just remember what I did with the other nightstand.....

Minecraft!

2011-04-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

IOTD, Pink Ice Gemmies, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings.

I've had a nice weekend. My fusing class went fairly well I think. Had fun anyway!

Otherwise I had a fairly relaxing weekend. I still have to play plumber with my toilet. It evidently needs to be "snaked" and of course I can't find mine. Either going to ask the plumbers behind me if I can borrow one or I'll have to buy a new one.

I have to admit to something. I am addicted to the game "Minecraft". My boys got me hooked. I love it-except when my laptop overheats causing me to lose my file-grrrr. I like to think of it as that proverbial cardboard box-for adults! You know you give a child a large cardboard box and it becomes the vehicle for their imagination to take off. It could be a race car, rocket or firetruck! Minecraft, to me, is similar. Your imagination is the limit. One can dig, build and explore. I've always wanted to carve out a mountain and make a house, err castle!

Insurance Money Finally Here!

2011-04-15T06:05:00.001-07:00

IOTD, This lovely Pink & Green Dichroic Art Glass Heart Pendant. The bright pink and green remind me of spring!

I finally received the life insurance money. My agent called the company and demanded that they process it immediately AND deliver it using overnight! He hand delivered it to me yesterday evening. Now I can finish paying my father's debts-his Chase credit card! And I can go grocery shopping after all!

Accomplished quite a bit yesterday. Updated some of the supply figures for dad's taxes with the rest of the supply invoices I found since I added everything up and put it on a spreadsheet. Faxes the information my tax guy needed to file our extensions. Faxed W9 form to the credit/debit card processors. I'm trying to get the new account routing number set up so I can call in the past month's worth of debit/credit slips. Worked on getting the glass shop studio cleaned up for the beginning fused glass class I will be teaching tomorrow. We cleaned off two counters and most of a third. I couldn't believe how nice it looked when I went back over there later!

Inventory For Probate Completed!

2011-04-14T05:49:00.001-07:00

Today's IOTD is this lovely Adjustable White Opalescent Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Ring!

I am pleased to announce that I have completed the majority of the work needed for probate. The biggest part was the inventorying of the stained glass shop so I could figure out the value of the business. Of course their was the household value, but it was much simpler! To top it all off I got all the paperwork filed into three different accordion files. One for the Estate, one for Business and one for Personal. Hopefully the paper chase is now under control!

I have a meeting with the probate lawyer later this morning. As for my taxes...my tax man is NOT going to be happy with me. I was supposed to receive a copy of my pay invoice for my paper route for December 2010 this morning. Instead I received a copy of dad's.....argh! He can't file for an extension with out an estimate of how much I made.

Well I have to run and crawl back into bed for a short nap before my appointment. I wasn't going to, but I seem to be coming down with a cold so I'd better rest.

Probate & IOTD

2011-04-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

IOTD-"Tear Of The Goddess" Bronze Dichroic Art Glass Necklace. Soon I will be re-pricing my goodies to reflect the rising cost of the metals I use in them.

What can I say? I've been rudely thrust into the world of being a responsible adult and probate sucks. I have to have the majority of the information for probate gathered and ready at the same time as the taxes.

I have inventoried the stained glass shop to figure out what the business is worth. I've had the house and property appraised. I have a household inventory done with an estimate of it's value. Last year's property taxes are paid. The funeral service is paid. One of Dad's credit cards is paid off. Bank accounts are closed and an estate account opened. I am STILL waiting on the blankety-blank life insurance. It will be paying off dad's other credit card-the big one. I will be using this month's grocery budget to make a payment on it courtesy of the life insurance company. I was told that they would process the claim and send the money "today" about three weeks ago. Yesterday when I called to check I was told it hasn't been processed yet, but they will do it "tomorrow". Yeah, right, whatever. Going to take a loooong time to finish probate if I have to pay everything off out of MY pocket. Well I want to keep "my' home and the business. I need the vehicles to do my job of delivering papers. Besides I can't rent for what I'm paying for the mortgage!

Speaking of delivering papers-I took over my father's paper routes along with mine. I am know delivering 470 paper every morning. I get up at one am and get home between five thirty and six am. I am hoping that this will give me enough income to pay all my new bills.

I was so excited to get the paper delivery job. With the income I would be able to pay off an old debt, buy dichroic glass, wire and tools I'd wanted for several years. Not to mention getting my teeth fixed and replacing my poor old laptop. Most of that isn't going to happen anytime soon. That money goes to pay bills instead. I am grateful to have the income though.

My father died before he could show me how to read the pay invoices from my newspaper route. Actually I have my route figured out. It is reading his invoices that is giving me so much trouble. And of course the no one at the paper can show me how to read the dern things. I'm hoping to get a chance to run into my dad's friend so I can ask him for help.

So dad, err his estate, my ex and I are all filing tax extensions. The ex and I have to take extensions because my pay invoice from last December has gone AWOL and I am waiting to see if I will be allowed a copy. (we are NOT supposed to lose these, I'm not sure if I lost it or dad put it somewhere) The tax man will not have time to do file our taxes before the 18th

Loss

2011-01-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post.

I will be taking a thirty day break from blogging. I came home from my paper route yesterday to find that my dad had passed away in his sleep.

Right now my boss and I are hoping to convince the "big" boss that I can handle my paper routes as well as my father's. My son will have to help me do the route to make it work. I will need this money to pay the bills as my money will be paying the mortgage and the money necessary to buy gasoline for the route.

Thoughts for 2011

2011-01-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

First things first let me start this off by wishing everyone a wonderful, happy, healthy and profitable New Year!

I also wish to thank all my wonderful friends and fans for their support and advice this past year

Not sure if I shared this lovely necklace I made this past October. It was snatched up before I could list it by a wonderful friend who has also allowed me to name this particular pattern after her. The "Mzz Butterfly". This lovely piece has given me some ideas for a new line of necklaces. I am looking forward to creating a line of necklaces that will be themed around wings....butterfly, bugs, angels and fairies will all be explored for their lovely and fantastical shapes.

My goals for this year are mostly centered around housekeeping/organization in one way or another, to do a bit more and keep it up-nothing major, just to keep improving. In my home, the stained glass shop, the yard and when it comes to budgeting, paperwork and time management. I plan to continue to watch my portion sizes when it come to food and to keep losing weight. As for my jewelry I plan to continue making new, elegant and intricate designs and need to re-write my artist statement to reflect that. I have many ideas for more fused glass goodies to make that would fall under home decor.

I am settling into my new, "real" job. My worries and fears about driving up, down and around the hilliest section of town have been laid to rest. I have come to the conclusion that I am getting paid to go four wheeling in the snow, spot deer and other critters. :) I have found it to be peaceful and fun. Am adjusting to the new sleeping schedule and will tweak it more late this spring. For now bedtime is seven pm. Not always asleep right off the bat, but will continue to work on it.

I guess overall my goals are not set in stone or impossibly high to achive. Basically to just keep improving and re-building good habits and skills. I think it is a very real part of an artist's life to have trouble achieving and maintaining a balance in life as we tend to be easily distracted by our muses!

Cyber Monday Special!!!

2010-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

Newest Listings

Curated By: WillowWalkerD...

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

Cyber Monday Special, 25% off everything (excluding post earrings) in my Artfire Studio, Willow Walker Designs!!!

Here is a preview of what I have managed to list this week. Now that I am working nights it seems as if I never have enough time to do everything I should do every day, let alone get enough sleep!

Two New Ring Listings!

2010-11-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back to listing! I've started with the newest "batch" of rings I've made up.

The first one is my Adjustable Gold & Blue Ripple Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Ring in sterling silver. I've used a larger cabochon in this one and so as to make it lay on the finger better I have slumped it so that curved to fit your finger. ;)

The second in my Adjustable White Opalescent Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Ring in 14 gold filled wire. I really wish I could of caught how intense the colors in it are. Their is a whole rainbow of iridescent colors in it, purples, pinks, coppery red-orange, gold, blues greens and more. It truly is prettier in person.

Also I realized I haven't announced that I am offering free shipping on everything in my studio-Willow Walker Designs for the holidays!

The past week and half has been a rough one for me with my new "real job" delivering papers in the wee hours of the morning, fighting a cold and trying (not always successfully) to get enough sleep to function. I do believe that once I get over this cold and have adjusted to a new sleep schedule things will be much easier. I do feel as if a lot of stress has been removed from my shoulders and I have more respect for myself now that I am a "productive" member of society. This will also allow me to have a steady income to get my teeth fixed, not to mention money for more glass and gemmies! :)

Give-Away Winners!!!

2010-11-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

I have winners to announce for my give-away! Robyn of Jewelled Trellis has won the Red Sweetheart Pendant and Cecily of 28 Sides Designs has one the Blue Floral Pendant. Needless to say I need mailing addresses ladies! I can ship these as soon as Monday!

Update "My Verra Crazy Life"

2010-11-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update: The past week has been crazy hectic. I started a "real" job to support myself and my jewelry. I am now a newspaper delivery girl. Also have been fighting a cold and on jury duty.

My worries over my lack of income seemed to come to a head last Wednesday when I started having very bad dreams resulting in very little sleep thru this past Sunday night. And they were obvious financial worries about being able to continue my jewelry business as I would like too. I was thinking I would have to give up the shows and teaching to get a "real" job in retail. BUT I lucked out and the powers that be handed me a paper route on Sunday. Talk about the plum falling in the lap! This allows me to continue doing what I love and support myself and it! Of course all the stress and lack of sleep has resulted in catching a cold, but at least I'll be done with it until next spring.

Last week I went and left my camera in my booth at the market...this week I missed the time to go in and pack some stuff up to photograph...Luckily I was able to get into today as they were there. Sheesh, some days I tell ya!

I will be drawing and posting the winners of my give-away tomorrow. I apologize for not getting it done today and thank you all for your patience.

2010-11-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am sorry to say that I left my camera at my booth this weekend. I can't get it until Friday. So I won't be able to share any of my new rings or pendants. :( Sorry everyone.

I have been working on my Glass Goddess Studio getting it ready for new listings and the moving of some of my work from my Willow Walker Designs studio.

Ten Days Left In The Giveaway!

2010-11-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

To enter to win one of these lovely pendants all you have to do is leave me a comment here on my blog. (appropriate, please or it will be deleted and your name will NOT be entered) I will write the names onto slips of paper and put them in a container. At the end of the time period I will randomly draw two names out of the pot. If you help promote this event I will add your name into the pot again! You have to leave me a link of where you promoted this studio at. (I have to be able to follow it!) The drawing for the giveaways will take place on November 10, 2010. The winning names will be posted here on my blog no later than November 11, 2010. (I do have jury duty November 2 thru November 15th. If for some odd reason I am tied up due to this I will draw & post the names as soon as I can!)

The Last Five Listings

2010-10-30T19:57:00.001-07:00

First I'd like to apoplogize for not having posted for the past FIVE days. I knew I was behind a couple, but didn't realize it was five. hand to head.. I've been catching up on my reading and evidently lost track of time worse than I'd thought. I'm sorry. The next two weeks will be very busy as I have jury duty and have a lot of stained glass to make besides fusing to do.

Here are my last five listings in my Artfire Studio, Willow Walker Designs in order from the oldest to the newest.
1-Chocolate & Amber Dichroic Art Glass Swirled Wire Wrapped Pendant
2-Mutara Nebula, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings
3-Adjustable Rainbow Colored Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Ring
4-Autumn Leaf Orange Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Pendant
5- Amethyst, Silver and Purple Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings

I hope you enjoy these!

Two New Swirled Pendant Listings

2010-10-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

My newest listings, Pink, Gold & Blue Dichroic Art Glass Swirled Wire Wrapped Pendant and Chocolate & Amber Dichroic Art Glass Swirled Wire Wrapped Pendant!

As the holidays are nearly upon us I am now offering free shipping for the holidays!

A bit of very good news. I finally seem to have my karma cleaned up and am back in the good graces of the powers that be. I re-arranged my booth (stall?) at the Bend Indoor Markets. People were actually stopping and looking again and my sales went back up to where they were before I moved over four feet, against the wall and 180 degrees. Also my fannypack that went MIA three weeks ago with my wallet and ID turned up. Evidently I hung it on the fireplace screen at my BFF's apartment. Black against black. We all looked at and walked past. LOL!

Winter Wonderland Collection

2010-10-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to have my Winter Leaves Earrings included in this fabulous winter collection!

Winter Wonderland

Curated By: Beaded_Creati...

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

Pink Beauty Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings

2010-10-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here is my newly listed Pink Beauty Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings. A pair of my handmade dichroic art glass cabochons wrapped in enameled copper wire with garnet beads and crystal briolettes. Another addition to the Elegance Collection!

Have you you signed up for my give away yet? Details are in my previous posts.

Autumn Sunflower Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Necklace

2010-10-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Another lovely new listing for the Elegance Collection, my new Autumn Sunflower Necklace!

I'd write more but my brain just deserted me....

Pink Ice Gemmies, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earings

2010-10-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

My newest listing in the Elegance Collection, Pink Ice Gemmies, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings.

To enter to win one of these lovely pendants ( please see earlier post for them) all you have to do is leave me a comment here on my blog. (appropriate, please or it will be deleted and your name will NOT be entered) I will write the names onto slips of paper and put them in a container. At the end of the time period I will randomly draw two names out of the pot. If you help promote this event I will add your name into the pot again! You have to leave me a link of where you promoted this studio at. (I have to be able to follow it!) The drawing for the giveaways will take place on November 10, 2010. The winning names will be posted here on my blog no later than November 11, 2010. (I do have jury duty November 2 thru November 15th. If for some odd reason I am tied up due to this I will draw & post the names as soon as I can!)

Bronze & Citrine, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings

2010-10-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

Just listed these pretties, Bronze & Citrine, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings. Another stunning addition to the Elegance Collection.

Another slow day at the market. We've had a much better turn out this weekend, but still not enough interested in jewelry. Some days are like that though. I think that as it get closer to the holidays that the business will improve.

I am still taking entries for the give-away!

Winter Leaves, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings

2010-10-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Listed the lovely Winter Leaves, dichroic art glass wire wrapped earrings this morning in my studio. Another pair for the Elegance Collection.

Another slow Saturday at the indoor market. We had more people come though, but they weren't buying. :( maybe tomorrow I hope!

Blue Dreams & Red Friday

2010-10-15T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here is the newest listing in the Elegance Collection. Blue Dreams, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Necklace. 14k gold filled wire and chain, dichroic art glass cabochon and crystal beads.

The following is a direct quote from an e-mail I received this morning.

"RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word Â of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, Â co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED.

The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is.....We need your support and your prayers.

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example."

Burgundy Gemmies Earrings & Moving Sale

2010-10-14T17:24:00.001-07:00

Here is the newest Elegance Collection listing, Burgundy Gemmies, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings. Just listed them in my Artfire Studio, Willow Walker Designs this morning!

I have decided to go ahead and move some of my categories over to my other Artfire studio, The Glass Goddess. I have a few details to work out before I move them over there. So until the end of the month they are on sale for 40% off the regular price. I will be moving my Modern Bold Earrings, Modern Bold Pendants and the Art Deco Collection.

Blue Roses, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings

2010-10-12T18:53:00.001-07:00

Here is today's lovely new listing for the Elegance Collection-Blue Roses, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings. A pair of of my handmade dichroic art glass cabochons in rich shades of blue and aqua. Wire wrapped into 14k gold filled frames and embellished with handmade gold wire roses. I've finished them off with matching handmade wire rose earwires.

I forgot to mention that the drawing for the giveaways will take place on November 10, 2010. The winning names will be posted here on my blog no later than November 11, 2010. (I do have jury duty November 2 thru November 15th. If for some odd reason I am tied up due to this I will draw & post the names as soon as I can!)

I'm only listing one new item per day due to the fact I watched to much Netflix and unintentionally used 75% of my monthly allowance in the first ten days of this month. (blush)

Introducing the New "Elegance Collection"!

2010-10-11T14:39:00.001-07:00

I'm finally intoducing my newest jewelry collection! The "Elegance Collection" I know I've been tempting you all for weeks with these pieces. I wanted to time this with the grand opening of the juried jewelry exhibit the first few pieces of this collection are part of in Sage Gallery, on the coast of Oregon in Bandon.

To celebrate I will be doing several things. One is I'm going to do a give away here on this blog! I will be giving away not one, but two pendants! The pendants shown above, my red Sweetheart pendant and the lovely white and gold floral on blue pendant! To enter to win one of these lovely pendants all you have to do is leave me a comment here on my blog. (appropriate, please or it will be deleted and your name will NOT be entered) I will write the names onto slips of paper and put them in a container. At the end of the time period I will randomly draw two names out of the pot. If you help promote this event I will add your name into the pot again! You have to leave me a link of where you promoted this studio at. (I have to be able to follow it!)

I have listed these stunning Black Cherry Delight, Dichroic Art Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings in my studio today. This is the first official listing of the new "Elegance Collection". I have put some items that were already in my studio into this category as they seem to fit the best.

Also I would love to hear opinions on an idea I am toying with. I am very tempted to hi-grade my studio and move a portion of my items to my other Artfire studio, The Glass Goddess. Leaving the fancier, higher end goodies in my Willow Walker Designs studio.

New Show Venue & I Won An IPad From Artfire!

2010-09-24T23:02:00.001-07:00

Three new pieces, "Burgandy Gemmies", "Pink Ice Gemmies" & "Blue Dreams" Dichroic art glass cabochons wrapped in sterling silver and 14k gold filled wire with gems and crystals.

I am pleased to announce that I will be showing at a brand new venue here in Bend this weekend-The Bend Indoor Markets! Opening this weekend Saturday, September 25th from ten to five and Sunday, September 26th from ten to four. For more information please be sure to check out the link above.

I'm so excited!!! I signed up my Artfire studios for the $5.95 a month deal. This past week they gave away five ipads to five lucky people who had signed up for this deal. I cannot believe my good fortune-I won one!!!!

I am one of those people who truly believe that when I am following the right path the universe bestows small rewards to help one know that they are following the right path. I have received several of these in the past three weeks. I truly believe that I have found my "style" and niche in the dichroic art glass jewelry world. May I continue to walk firmly upon this right path.

Introducing Plurkfish!

2010-09-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

I finished listing the earrings from the last batch of goodies I took pictures of.
They are now for sale in my Artfire studio, Willow Walker Designs. Now in the next night or two I will have to get some more photographed. I had a good day at the market, selling my "Apatite Gemmies Earrings" The first sold out of my new "Elegance Collection". Happy dance! My entries are safely in the mail and on their way to the Sage Gallery in Bandon, Oregon on the Pacific Northwest Coast. The coast is about a five hour drive from where I'm at in Central Oregon.

I want to introduce you a blog where you can follow the travels of a little critter named "Plurkfish"! You can follow along on his journey meeting new friends around the world on "the plurkfish travels!

Artfire Group Deal

2010-09-15T21:58:00.001-07:00

In celebration of Artfire leaving the Beta version behind they are offering a one time chance to sign up for a pro account for only $5.95 (US)!!! This is a limited time offer and if a minimum 20,000 people don't sign up it won't happen. So now is the time to open that studio you were thinking about or upgrade to pro! You will need a credit/debit card to sign up for this.

I have been selling on Artfire since December of 2009. I love it. Less games and less hassles than other places. Once I started playing the re-listing game to "be seen" I quickly discovered I could spend way more than that without ever getting a single sale. I have made a lot of wonderful friends courtesy of Artfire and Artfire has always treated me right and made me feel valued. Customer service is great quickly responding to problems with personal touch.

So now that I've gotten you all excited grab your card and follow this link! Artfire Group Deal sign-up!

New "Incidental" Art Deco Collection!

2010-09-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun designing these pieces. And a couple of pieces have given me a niggling feeling when I looked at them. You know how the piece/picture invokes a tickle in the brain? Enough to notice, but not strong enough to figure out the "why". I was looking at some books yesterday for design inspiration. One of them was Art Deco designs. Today when listing a pair of pink earrings it finally hit me. The clean, contemporary lines are classic Art Deco styling! So introducing my incidental Art Deco collection is this fun little slideshow! By the way all these pendants and most of these earrings are listed in my Artfire studio and on sale! The rest of the earrings will be listed shortly!

Winning A Place In the Juried Exhibition!

2010-09-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

Remember these three beauties? They were my entries for a juried art exibit in a gallery that will be held later this fall. Those that made the show would receive notification by e-mail on September tenth. Well Friday came and went along with Saturday. Disappointment since no e-mail from the gallery means I didn't make it into the show. I was already resigned to the fact I hadn't made it when I checked my e-mail this afternoon and guess what I found? My acceptance e-mail!!!! All three of my entries have been accepted. I will be shipping these off to the gallery this week. I am so excited! After the pieces arrive they will be further juried to see how the pieces compare to their pictures. There will be awards for the winners of this exhibit. At this point, for me just making it in is a large reward! To think my pieces will be exhibited for a month in a gallery.

New Etched Earrings!

2010-09-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

I listed these beauties in my Artfire studio today- Golden Autumn Leaves and Rainbow Butterflies. Also listed a couple of new pendants.

I am working on another pair of fancy earrings. They have "mutated" a bit from my original idea, BUT they look even better!!!

Signed up and picked a space for the new Bend Indoor Market starting just down the road from me. I hope this will turn out to be a good venue for me. My son is a bit disappointed as he was hoping I'd take his birthday off. It shouldn't affect his birthday too much-I'll let him take the weekend off from helping me.

Catching Up

2010-09-08T20:35:00.001-07:00

I am finally starting to catch up on my listings. Today I finished listing all of the two tone Modern Bold earrings after finishing the pendants. So now I can start listing the etched earrings, like these frolicing Blue Dolphin Dichroic Glass Earrings.

Don't forget that these are on sale in my studio, Willow Walker Designs! If you purchase matching earrings and pendant use the coupon code "SETS" during checkout to receive an additional five dollars off! Take advantage and start your holiday shopping early!

New "Elegance" Collection

2010-09-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new style, I'm calling "Elegance" These are fancy and challenging. I really, really enjoy making these intricate pieces. I love these pieces-this is what I want to do with my dichroic glass cabochons. I have many more designs sketched out and am excited about getting to sit down and make them. Three of these have been submitted for a juried exhibition in a gallery. "Golden Rainbows", "Fire & Ice" and "Flight". I have another week before I know if I made it or not. I sure hope so! So here is a slideshow with all these new pretties for your viewing pleasure!

p.s. This weekend is a two day show at the Central Oregon Saturday Market. I will be there for both days!

Make your own slideshow design

Out With Old!

2010-08-31T07:33:00.001-07:00

I managed to get these two pendants listed yesterday, Red Drop Dichroic Glass Wire Wrapped Pendant and White Dichroic Glass Wire Wrapped Pendant-"White Dragonscale". They have bee n listed ten dollars off the regular price for my Fall Clearance Sale.

Today I am listing all those pendants in the picture from my last post. Help me do some fall cleaning by taking these off my hands! I need the space in my booth and my studio for the new designs I am working on.

I have come to the realization that I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to come up with lower price point items to sell-and they just aren't doing well. Whether they are to much like pieces others have done or what I just don't know. I do know that when I try to make things to sell based on current styles, trends or to "fit" some kind of category-when I design something for other reasons than what I like I end up stuck with the pieces. So I have decided to be true to myself and make what I like and not worry about the current styles, colors and whatnot. When I allow myself the freedom to create what I like I get so much more enjoyment in the creation process and I save myself a lot of time, energy and stress!

Fall Clearance Sale!!

2010-08-29T21:57:00.001-07:00

above-Modern Bold Collection, Two-Tone Pendants & Earrings

It's that season again-Fall and that means a Fall Clearance Salein my Artfire studio, WillowWalker Designs!!! Fall is already here-about a month early for my area. The temps of cooled, there is a chill in the night air, the leaves are changing color and school starts after Labor Day. For me it is time for a little fall cleaning. Out with the old so I may bring in new. The prices have already been reduced and the sales banners put out. Take advantage of these great prices from now throughout the month of September. This is a great chance to start your holiday shopping!

I will be busy adding many pieces that are new to my studio, but not since late spring/early summer. I've been so busy this summer I never did get a chance to list all the Modern Bold Collection. All the two-tone solid colored pendants and all the matching earrings need to be photographed and listed. That is my goal for this week. Besides all those there are many new classic wire woven bail pendants, classic earrings and etched earrings that also need to be photographed and listed. I will be very busy the next week or two trying to get the listings caught up. This also means I should start blogging regularly again too.

Other news I just mailed off my first submission for a juried exhibition for a gallery on the coast. Needless to say I have fingers and toes crossed that I make it in. I have long know that I would like to see my pieces for sale in galleries. So say a prayer for me pretty please!

Quickie Blog!

2010-08-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't abandoned my blog. Just am really busy making new pieces, going to shows and working in the yard. Spent the weekend in Washington visiting my Aunt in Aberdeen and then taking the boy to a family reunion in Onalaska to see his great grandfather who just turned 94. We were going to camp there, but as it started pouring we ended up staying at a motel in Chehalis instead. Got back late Sunday afternoon to find out that we are replacing the splintery, weathered wooded handrails on the handicapped ramp & deck/porch of the glass shop. Somebody finally got a splinter so it has to be done right away. It's only been like that for over the last seven years. (It also has metal railings.)

I didn't even get a chance today to download the pictures I took. :(

New Goodies, WIP's & A Great Idea!

2010-07-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the new cabochons I've been making and these are also WIP's because now the cabs are done and it is time to wrap them! The first four pictures are of cabs that I created using scrap pieces of dichroic glass, frit (crushed glass) and some cool little molds called "Pods". These are actually cast! This is a fun way to use up scrap dichroic glass.

The last picture is of a bunch of small cabochons for earrings. I've etched designs into each small piece of dichroic glass before fusing. This is where my "great idea" comes in. I have been applying the etching cream to each individual piece and it is a real pain trying to get the cream on the edges of the pieces especially while wearing gloves and holding it! My fingers (and the gloves) keep getting in the way. I thought that if the contact paper stays on the glass well enough to etch, then why not take a piece, pull the backing off and stick all the little pieces of glass to it. Let the contact paper hold the pieces while I hold the paper? It worked like a charm. What was taking forty five minutes or longer I accomplished in about ten minutes! And just about the time the pieces were getting washed off the contact paper was the time I needed to pull them off to get the etching cream off the sides of the piece.

Another note-I am sorry to say that it appears that the "Beads of Courage" program will not be getting any money from Pepsi this time. It has to be voted into the top ten to receive money and it has only made it to thirteen. :( Only one day left for voting.

Two Years & Beads of Courage

2010-07-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

Today is the second anniversary of the death of my daughter, Krystal. She was nine years old. She died exactly seven months after the diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a bone marrow failure disease. Due to the failure of her bone marrow her body no longer had any resistance to disease, bacteria and fungi and was no longer was making blood cells or platelets. She no longer had an immune system to protect her. She contracted a fungus. Just an everyday fungus that breaks down vegetation. Harmless to the rest of us who have an immune system-generally fatal to those without. She fought hard, but was no match for it.
The pain has eased and I find myself recovering from the loss. Both my little dog, Brutus and I are happier, more energetic and productive. I will always miss her and the "what could of been's".

I want to share an awesome program that I have just recently learned about that Krystal would of adored and loved. It is called "Beads of Courage". Critically ill children earn beads for everything they endure-blood draws, transfusions, chemo sessions, hair loss, procedures and more. Right now this program is in the running for a 25K grant from Pepsi. This grant will help launch the program in ten more hospitals, provide training for the program and of course-beads. Please vote for the Beads of Courage program and help to spread this wonderful program. Just click on any of the name of the program to go directly to the voting site or just use the widget I've installed in the upper right hand corner of my blog. Please take a moment, watch the videos and vote!

Using a rough estimate I figure my daughter was in treatment for 30 weeks. She had to have blood drawn and tested an average of three times a week. I estimate that she had an average of three transfusions a week. Under the Beads of Courage program that would of earned her a minimum of 90 beads for draws and another 90 for transfusions. She had a bone marrow test, PIC line inserted, two drains for a bout with Typhlitis, countless x-rays, three PICU visits, at least five emergency hospitalizations, imaging scans, major surgery to remove 2/3 thirds of a lung, a drug regime to try and "re-boot" her bone marrow, 90 days of daily injections and another month of them every day to as part of the regime to keep her healthy. Thirty days of having to drink a daily dose of a very nasty tasting medicine to flush excess iron out of her body from all the transfusions. Dialysis when her kidneys quit and a ventilator to help her infected lungs. I had to remove her from school since she had no immune system. This also pretty much left her house bound as she could only go out in public when absolutely necessary due to germs, etc; Can you imagine the string of beads she would of had? We didn't even make it to chemo and a bone marrow transplant.

I am not sharing this to get your sympathy or pity but to make you aware of what our children endure to live and survive critical illnesses. Beads of Courage gives these children and us a visible, tangible record of what they have been through. This also helps us to remember how important it is to finance research to find cures for these awful, life-altering, killing diseases. I ask, no I beg of you to please vote for the Beads of Courage.

Roses, Flower Pots & Borders

2010-07-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

All I've done to today is weeding and planting flowers. The first pictures I thought I'd share are of our gorgeous roses. They are heirloom roses which means that they are hardier and have better scent than hybrids, also they aren't grafted. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that "You can't grow roses here, the climate is too harsh." Hybridized, grafted roses don't do well here, but heirlooms sure do!

I planted the pot on the porch this year much to my dad's delight and cleaned out this border and planted two dozen annuals to brighten it up and add some color. The Sweet Williams I put in several years ago are finally starting to die off and so it needed some color. The pictures just don't show the new plants well. Although Brutus, aka "Da Boss" shows up well!

Azteca II, Red Dichroic Glass Wire Wrapped Necklace

2010-07-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

On Friday I headed to the bead store to look for some beads that would compliment this pendant. I have been looking at it a lot lately thinking to myself-"This really needs to be strung into a necklace to truly complete it." I used a few carnelian beads and this gorgeous strand of large orange jasper rondelles. I am very pleased with the final effect. The large beads set the pendant off very nicely I think. What do you think? and of course I've already re-listed it in my Artfire studio. :)

Saturday was another market day and I had another good day. Although it was hot, 95F we managed to stay cool in the shade of our canopy thanks to a nice breeze that lasted all day.

After delivering the Sunday papers and having breakfast with Dad I came home and crawled back into bed-where I slept until ten thirty! I must of needed more sleep than usual. It left me with lots of energy and so I accomplished quite a bit today. Of course finding out we may are expecting company certainly helped me get the housework caught up. I cleaned, vacumed and dusted the living room/dining room. Also cleaned the bathroom, did the dishes and found the kitchen counter. After dinner I went flower shopping and then got a good start on planting them.

Two New Pendants Listed!

2010-07-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

I can certainly tell it is summertime. I'm so busy that my blogging is hit or miss. This time of the year I am showing a minimum of two days a week or more. Then you add in the addition of all the yard work-those weeds just came outta nowhere this year I'm tellin' ya! I've also been busy making more goodies to sell. I have close to 50 pairs of earrings that I have yet to take pictures of let alone list in addition at least three dozen pendants. For now I will just keep pecking away at it. Sooner or later I will get caught up!

Today I listed this lovely Turquoise Drop Dichroic Glass Pendant and the Pink & Green Dichroic Glass Heart Pendant. I still really like this wire woven style of bail on these. I think it is very classic. What do you think?

I learned something new just the other day-how to post pictures with links on here! So if they are listed I will have the pictures linked to the listing from now on!

Also I would like to mention what to me is a very worthy cause, Beads of Courage. My daughter would of loved this program. I feel that it not only gives the children a visable and tangible reminder of what they have been through, but adults too. This reminder will help to promote funding for research to cure the many horrible illnesses and diseases our children and others suffer through. Please vote!

New Pendant Style!

2010-07-05T20:32:00.001-07:00

For the most part I have tried to take it easy today and be lazy. As you can tell my muse had other ideas! Up till now I hadn't found a way to make swirly wire wrapped cabs. I came across a variation of the "traditional" wire wrapped cabs with swirls-but it wasn't quite what I was looking for and I didn't want to buy a bunch of wire for it either.

A week ago Sunday when I was at the Crook County Gem & Mineral show I picked up two new wire wrapping books. I must confess that I have a weakness for books...I always love to see how others do things and I figure the more I learn the more I can expand my creativity. One of the pictures on the cover that caught my eye were swirly wrapped pendants. I had looked through the books and decided I would pursue them more later. Well later was this morning as I was trying to be lazy. . I was so excited when I looked at the swirly wrapped dichroic pendants in the book and realized that they were built around a channeled dichroic cabochons!!! My muse took over and I managed to wrap two today! I found the instructions to be confusing-BUT I was able to figure it out enough to make these. My fingers are sore and my muse is happy!

These are listed in my Artfire studio! Blue Dichroic Glass Swirled Wire Wrapped Pendant and Purple Dichroic Glass Swirly Wire Wrapped Pendant!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July! It has been a very awesome, albeit long Fourth of July for me. I had a great Saturday Market and an even better Fourth of July show. I finished thirty pairs of earrings. Here is one pair of them that I couldn't wait to share. I think they turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. What do you think? They are a gorgeous shade of purple and the way they sparkle...mmmm! I etched butterflies into the surface of the dichoic glass before fusing them. Afterwards I wrapped them in sterling silver and accented them with a lighter shade of Swavorski crystal bicones on sterling silver earwires.

All the hard work I did last week to get ready and make more earrings last week was definitely worth it to me, but now I am exhausted from going to long on too little sleep. So it is off to dreamland for me!

New Pendants & New Cabochons!

2010-07-02T22:39:00.001-07:00

I have been so very busy these past few weeks. Weeding, driving my aunty around and working on glass. I've been so busy that I didn't even realize until this evening I haven't blogged in quite a while. (blushes in embarrassment)

So here is my works in progress. A bunch more cabs for earrings, pendants and rings. Also here are some cabochons that I have gotten finished in the past few weeks. I have been listing pieces and now have a bunch of my fancy Modern Bold Collection Pendants listed. I've also started listing some of my newer Image Pendants. And to top this all off I had the pleasant surprise of finding out that I am the featured AJDJSS, Artfire Jewelry Design & Jewelry Supply Shops studio of the week!

I will be at the Central Oregon Saturday Market tomorrow and will be at the Old Fashioned Fourth of July Show in Bend's Drake park on Sunday for the Fourth of July.

Shingles-Get Your Vaccination!

2010-06-17T10:39:00.001-07:00

Well I got my aunty taken care of today. Turns out she has an outbreak of shingles. I knew that it was caused by the Chicken Pox virus and that it is a painful rash. The part many are unaware of is the excruciating physical body pain that also accompanies said rash. It is normally on only one side of the body. If it is on your head you get to feel like your head will explode. Similar to a migraine I would guess. If it is on the head you run the risk of it infecting your eye and damaging the cornea! The Doctor also told us of tales of people coming in, bent over double in agony from abdominal pains. They run all these test and can't find a thing. Then about a week later the rash appears.

If you have had Chicken Pox then you are supposed to get this vaccine. I am starting me a savings envelope for this vaccine as it is expensive and as I am uninsured I will have to pay for it in full.

Dichroic Glass Pendant-Landscape VI

2010-06-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, what can I say? The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of busyness, traveling and more work. I have accomplished more in the last six or seven weeks than I normally get done in months! ;)

I am back to listing and have listed all my new rings and am working on the pendants for my new Modern Bold Collection. I plan to list this pendant tomorrow morning as a break from the others. This one is my "Landscape VI" pendant. This one was the last and lonely one of a half dozen I made several years ago. I've upcycled it by adding the 22 karat gold decal of a tree and a fancy wire woven bail. I just love it now!

Other News-I have been lucky enough to re-join the Artisan Jewelry Guild on Arfire~The last Saturday Market was slow but overall I did okay.~Had breakfast on Monday morning with my dad and his brother, sister and their spouses. My great Aunt on my dad's side is in the last stages of passing away. Aunty Jeanne will be sorely missed by all.~My Aunty was in a car accident on Monday morning. I picked her up, ran her around and took her home. She has a major seat belt bruise and is very stiff and sore due to the impact. Meanwhile her SUV is in the shop for body work.