Wednesday's Items

Well this is the only listing I was able to accomplish yesterday. "This Blue Earth" pendant. It is a quick, re-listing with upgraded pictures.

I had to pull the ring listings as they didn't meet the requirements fora multiple listing. I guess I will relist the rings but in silver only as I have been thinking about discontinuing the gold anyways as it is a gilt plating over the silver color.

I wouldn't say I have failed, but more like this goal has been suspended for yesterday and today as I had a more important project pop-up.

As you may have heard be mention I help my dad run a small, retail stained glass store and custom studio.

Our glass stock, mainly Spectrum has been running low due to the economy. And it is getting pretty sorry looking. Dad has decided (Finally!) to order a crate of half sheets of glass. So I was/am charged with the task of going thru all our Spectrum glass cases. We have four different slots for different sizes of glass, half foot, square foot, two square feet and four square feet per glass color. So I have been dusting the slots and cutting larger pieces down to fill the smaller slots. I have made it halfway through the cases. Today I will be doing the other half. This our way of "inventorying" our glass. The good news is I have found that we have more colors of glass than we thought as they get lost in the four square foot bin! Which means we will be able to fill more holes in our inventory than previously thought.

Small Victories!

Well I had a much better day today compared to yesterday. No sales yet and am doubting I will see any.

I had so hoped to go to the biggest bead show in the state, the Portland Interveave Press Bead Fest at the Oregon Convention Center. It only seems to come around about every 18months. But with the way my sales are going online and off. I just won't have any money to spend..

But on another note I have decided I'm not happy with my banner. So I was poking around and found one I love. With the help of my plurkie peeps I decided to go for it. This banner has inspired me to come up with a new tagline, "Mystical Wire Wrapped Dichroic Glass Jewelry". Also I plan to rewrite my bio and studio intro. In the coming months I will also edit my listings to go with my new theme. I think (hope) part of my problem is I'm trying to portray my studio in a manner that just isn't me. This new banner is!

As soon as I get it loaded i will share it via a link and explain more about my new branding and what this new banner means to me!

On another note I did work in the glass shop today pricing and putting away three stacks of glass from the studio! I didn't get started on cabs so it may be another small batch. I have to have them in the kiln tomorrow if I want to have them ready for the weekend. I have to say it is much easier to make smaller batches. Less cutting and less channeling later. Which is easier on me.

p.s. another picture taken of the McKay crossing falls!

Fall Cleaning Of The Glass Shop & Studio, Part I

As I posted the other day it is just about time for me to start my fall cleaning spree and get ready for the long winter months inside where we'll be spending most of our time. I love the winter as long as I'm looking out from a nice cozy inside!

This is a picture I took of our studio late last winter. As you can see it is a cluttered mess. And it looks even worse now!

We are working around a large box of fused and slumped glass dishes we had on consignment and have now been returned. As usual there are stacks of glass leaning up against the counters and the usual huge glass pile up next to the cutting board! (That is the large white grid on the left of the picture.) The floor is now well covered in large splats of solder from all of the repairs Dad has done lately.

So I have decided I will start here. First we (Dad and I) will have to get our messes cleaned off of the work benches and the fused/slumped glass off the floor. This means sorting, cleaning and organizing..again. Then it will be time to scrape all those solder splats, sticky bits of copper foil tape and other miscellaneous sticky stuff off of the floor. Then I can sweep and mop. Somewhere in all of that I also have to clean off the windowsills.

This is my "big" project for the week along with making more little cabochons. I have a couple of new colors, a hot pink and a pale lavender that I need to make a bunch of along with re-stocking the other colors. I also need to make some small cabs that are about 10-12mm besides the 8-9mm ones. These start out as 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch pieces of glass. I need these in all colors.
These are the size I used in the "Stardust Earrings" Hopefully I can remember to keep an accurate record of the time I spend cutting, cleaning and stacking the glass so I can get a good idea of the labor involved.