Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everybody :) I wish you all the best in 2010.

If making resolutions does not work for you, but you'd still like to have a bit of focus during the year, I'd like to point you to this lady, Christine Kane, and her 'word of the year' instead. She is excellent.

And if you can see the moon where you are, go check out the tiny bit of an eclipse happening right now! Awesome end of the year :)

So - much success, health and happiness to you and yours!
P~

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

I made the Nifty!

Yes, I made a lovely fine bead. This is it, and it includes frit which is something you have rarely seen from me. But - I think I may need to get me some more, I like it!
This is zimmerman, dark rose (I think), which seems much more colourfull when not encased. Strange, I'll have to explore that. I'll also have to make a new bead, one that includes a bit of olivegreen with all the purple. I bet it would be delicious :)



Do let me know of any frits I need to try. I like strong, but muted colours. Think 'autumn'.

P~

Friday, December 04, 2009

I'm on You Tube!

And I didn't even put me there myself :)
It was the ladies of 'Millionøse metoden', Kirsten Stendevad & Christine Eilvig.
That's me in the red blouse in the front, at 3:33 and also my nose at 1:31 :)
Is this my 15 minutes?

P~

Monday, November 30, 2009

New Fibulas

I made these for a customer and was very pleased with the result. So was she, yay! :)
These have an ekstra bead, compared to the ones I have made before. I always loved an uneven number more than an even number, but these look well ballanced, so I am happy.

New Fibulas

Next year I will raise my price on these, but for the rest of this year I will take orders at the same low price(350Dkr/$70).

P~

Thursday, November 19, 2009

We have a Winner!

Monday night marked the end of my collection at Kræftens Bekæmpelse.
With the help of my lovely assistant we now have a winner.





Congratulations Lone!


Lone has her own lampwork website full of nifty beads and jewelry she has made, and also a new blog. Go visit her :)

P~

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Goddess Request

Some days ago I had a request, to see if I could make a goddess bead that would fit the Danish charm/bracelet series(Troll & Pandora). An excellent challenge since I have just cored my first beads.
These are my first attempts, front and back:





As bracelet beads go, these are quite large, around 2cm long, but I have tried to keep the diameter fairly slim. Since these are for a bracelet they do not need to be perfectly ballanced, which is nice for these front-heavy ladies.
I am not sure these two can be cored, so I will work on getting the rim of the holes even, and also on getting them a little bit smaller.

Now to see if I can make goddesses with the hole going horizontally ...

P~

Friday, November 06, 2009

Kiva Anniversary!

Yesterday was my 2 year anniversary as a lender at kiva.org.

I like Kiva. If you don't know it go check it out :)



P~

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Støt Brysterne! (Support the Boobs!)

Støt min indsamling hos Kræftens Bekæmpelse og vær med i lodtrækningen om en skøn halskæde i 24 karat guld doublé. Vedhænget (ca. 2,5 cm højt) er en af mine egne glasperler og hele herligheden kan ses på billederne herunder i posten. Hvis du ikke er til pink (eller nøgne damer) finder vi ud af et alternativ :)

Indsamlingen løber til d. 16 nov, og du får et lod i hatten for hver 25,- du bidrager med. Husk at kontakte mig med din mailadresse når du har givet et bidrag, sådan at jeg kan få fat i dig hvis du vinder. Læg en besked her i bloggen eller send mig en mail på profusionartglass @ gmail.com







Held og lykke!

'Support the Boobs' is the name of the campaign the Danish breastcancer research is running.
This necklace is the prize I am offering if you donate through my collection at their site.
It is all in Danish, but they take all kinds of cards, so I don't think it should be a problem for foreigners to donate too. Just remember to use the green button in the center of the page, and that 50Dkr equals app. 10US$. Each 25Dkr you donate will get your name into the drawing once.

The necklace is in 24 carat goldfill, sporting one of my glass ladies in pink. This can be exchanged into something else if you win and you really don't like pink (or naked ladies).
The campaign runs until nov. 16'th, and don't forget to let me know your email address, here or by mail to profusionartglass @ gmail.com, so I can contact you if you win.

Good luck!

P~

Monday, November 02, 2009

I did it!

Finally, I did it. And it was so easy too.

Yesterday, I sorted all my beads with 5mm holes into those that fit the Sterling tube I've got and those that doesn't.
I changed the peg on my untill now unused Impress Beadliner and tried for the very first time my tiny tubecutter, my de-buring tool and my somewhat unprecise calliper.
I read the instructions and proceeded to line my first bead. It was easy! I don't know why I have to wait so long to try a new thing, I do that most of the times I try new things by myself when it really isn't all that difficult. I am working on that :)

Anyway - here are my 3 first cored beads. Now all I need is a Dremel/-like tool to polish up the inside of the tube, that hid a white surface I hadn't noticed before. And some more tube of course :)



P~

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Here I am, at the Bazar last thursday.
As you can see, just a little bit of space, but enough for me after the long creative draught this year.



It was pretty crowded, so I don't know how many people/buyers showed up. Nothing much happened in my shop, but it was fun to meet a couple of other vendors I have talked to before. Very nice in fact.
We were only open for 2 hours, and I didn't get to see everybodys crafts, but here are a few links of some I did see and liked:

Greeting Cards, illustrated by Anja Gram: http://langtmedkort.dk/

Felted Hats and Scarves: http://www.mariannelundov.dk/

Lamps, angels and Bowls in coldworked glass: http://www.zugaicha.dk/

Many interesting products from Greenland, incl. muskoxwool which is just plain fantastic: http://www.sika-mut.dk/

Enjoy!
P~

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I have an Event tomorrow!

I really had thoughts of going to bed early today, so I could be nicely refreshed for tomorrow, but no, I had to wait to the last day to pack my beads, jewelry and display-stuffs. Now it is midnight, but at least I am done. I think ...


Tomorrow I will be at the Bazar at La Oficina on Frederiksberg. It is a very nice place, and apparently we'll be 40 artists selling all kinds of crafts, so the 2 hours (7-9pm) we are there for, will run by quickly.
Be there, or be square! (foreigners and people living far away are excused ;)

Pics will follow at my earliest convenience (which may not be until saturday, because friday I will be watching the performance of Blixa Bargeld! Oh yes, we love that man, but hey, that is not the event I wanted to talk about).

Anyway, there will be 2 more Bazars before christmas, and here is the info in Danish:




Goodnight :)
P~

Friday, October 09, 2009

Newsflash! Beadorder saves a life!

Thursday night a little life was saved by a beadorder.
My beadstudio is in the basement, and as I opened the backdoor to roll out the gashose an get it connected, there he was - a tiny little, apparently dead, hedgehog. The poor baby had tumbled down the stairs and being just about 12-15cm long he had no chance of getting back up. I was very sad to see him there. I like hedgehogs, they are so cute, and of course even cuter in the tiny little size he was.
Since I took him for dead, I simply told BF that we needed a permanent board to be placed down the stairs to avoid this kind of entrapment, and went about my beadmaking business, thinking I would dispose of him later. Some hours later I had run out of thin mandrels and went to have a better look at the little guy, who hadn't moved even a tiny bit. He was still laying curled up on one side, and I could see his eyes and ears were full of flyeggs.
I had brought a flashlight since it was dark, and after a bit, suddenly the light made him react. First he took a deep breath. 'Whoa!' I thought. 'Is he alive?!'. He moved a tiny paw, then turned his face towards the light, wriggeling his little nose. Omg-omg-omg! I ran upstairs.

'What should I do? What can I do?' I asked BF, who only thought for a minute before saying 'There's a website ... I saw a bit of TV about a hedgehogwoman ...'. So we googled, and guess what? She lives 20 min. south of us. Yay! The website said I could call any time, day and night, so I did, even if normaly I would never call people this late. 'Bring him over' she said 'quickly!' She even offered to pay a cab for me if I needed it. So I picked up the little guy (I hadn't touched him, being afraid to chok him in his fragile state), put him in a small box with a little towel around him, and off I drove in the middle of the night.

When I arrived she had prepared boiled honeywater for him, and soaked some catfood in case he could eat it, but first she proceeded to check him out and rid him of the flyeggs. I have to say I was shocked. Yes, I could see the eggs around his ears, but when she scraped out his little mouth I couldn't believe the amount. I don't know how he could breathe through all those. And even worse (or not, I'm not sure), she squished out a LOT of eggs from, get this - his eye! It was disgusting. I still feel queazy thinking about it. Poor, poor little baby. I have a whole new dislike for flies I can assure you.
She bathed him, warmed him up a bit, oiled his little nose and generally checked him out (he only weighs 130g!). He seemed a lot better after that, beginning to move a little, look around and even drink a little. I stayed for about an hour, watching and lending a hand when I could, and happy to se him liven up. She gave me lots of the groups newsletters, stickers and info, and told me I had to go and find his siblings, cause they will not survive the winter. Apparently a hedgehog looses 300g during hibernating, so this little fellow would disapear twice over. We haven't found any though ...

She really is very dedicated to these animals. She had at least 50 boxes with one or more hedgehogs spending the winter in her care, spread throughout her house, and more in the outside shed. This is the website of the Danish Hedgehog group: http://www.pindsvin.dk/ Hint: They take donations :)

Thank you to Grethe, who made the order,
to BF who had heard of the hedgehog group,
and to Kirsten for taking good care of the many, many little critters.

P~

PS: Yes I should have taken a picture, but I were too perplexed and in a hurry to get going, so I didn't think of it untill later. Go here for Hedgehog Cuteness

Thursday, September 17, 2009

New Beads - fresh from the kiln!

Ooh how I love having a kiln! :)
It is a very luxurious feeling to be able to work with the beads I made yesterday, today! as opposed to the 'in 2-3 months' that I am used to.
I also love being unafraid of going larger, although I now have thoughts of how much more glass is potentially wasted in an ugly/wonky bead. Yes, I have a block against wasting. I need to give myself permission to not be perfect, to not making a masterpiece every single time I torch. I'll be working on it ...

Here are my new beads. The smaller one is an example of the size I am used to making.



These 2 are my favourites





Here are my first 2 test sculptures, with a pendant of my usual size beside them.




They are big! for me anyway, but I aim to double this size before long. Sculpting is fun!



and all those are annealed! Yay!

P~

Saturday, September 12, 2009

My kiln is here!

Yes! And here is the glorious thing:

Lovely :)

I have been running the prefiring program today. It's not quite done yet, and it shows a beautiful glow from the beaddoor that is slightly ajar to let out the fumes.
It has been running for 4½ hours, and even with an empty kiln I can sympathise with all the stories I have heard of beadmakers opening the kiln too early :)
I got the kiln at Uterm in Sweden. I finally ordered it and 2 weeks later it was ready. Then 1 week for the payment to pass the banking system, one week in transit and now it is here :) Yay! I have great plans :)
It says on their website, that kilns are build to size, so I asked for a deeper version of their BA-2. I now have an inner area of 30x30cm (1'x1') and it is huge! I have all kinds of posibilities open to me :)
I completely forgot to ask if I could get a kilnshelf and a mandrel rack for it, so I guess I'll need that before I get too busy. I might not be able to contain myself though. I may have to fire it up tomorrow already as my parents have requested the presence of their grandchildren. Score! I'll have several childfree hours tomorrow.

More pictures!

Big enough for a dinner plate!

You can put your fist through that beaddoor. Perfect!

4 heating elements in the top (1 hidden by the edge)

Glorious!
P~

Friday, August 21, 2009

New Tools

So what tools did I get you ask? Well -
I have been having a lot of fun playing with the large hole mandrels I have. They are only 5mm mandrels, but that is large for me and my tiny beads :)
The whole point of making beads with larger holes is of course that I would love to core them, and eventually cap them too. I just love the look, not to mention the feel, of cored/capped beads. Glass in itself has a lovely weight, but the extra weight of the silver is a treat that screams 'Quality!' to me.
I now own a tubecutter from Ridgid, a beadliner from ArtintheRound, and a bit of tube from Ravstedhus. The only problem is that the tube has a slightly larger outer dimension than the inner dimension of the beads I had prepared. Now I double dip the mandrels, to see if that helps, but of course these new beads are waiting to be annealed. The double dipping seems to make the seperator crack when I heat it, even if I leave it to dry overnight (or several nights as it may be), so it can be a bit difficult to work with, but I am getting used to it.

Artsy thought of the week - I need to start earning some serious money, because I think I may have to start a ceramic collection too, as well as a glassobject collection.
I collect names/cards of artists I like, and have done so for years. One day I will be able to shop art again, it will happen, most definately, because it makes my soul sing.
Last saturday I saw the beautiful earthy works of Annette Valstrøm at the annual arts and crafts market at Vor Frue Plads in Copenhagen. She had brought this type of figures, a lot of them, a whole forrest. It was a beautiful sight (and I want one! or two ...) :)

P~

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

An update ...

is in order I think.

Sadly it seems the summer is getting ready to turn into fall around here, not quite there yet, but I feel it coming. We could all use a bit more sun before starting to wear sweaters again. But we had a nice couple of weeks off from the ratrace and that will have to suffice until the christmas holiday.

The grown-ups are back at work, the kids are back at school. Well, one is back but a grade up, one has just had her first week of school, and one has upgraded from baby-daycare to kindergarten. It is all very exciting, with new experiences, new people and new friends all around.

Personally I have a lot going on too. During the summer I have been thinking a lot, planning, thinking some more ... I basically know what I want to do, and it is 'simply' a matter of acting on it, which of course is never as simple as it sounds.
I have begun by ordering new glass, tools and finally last friday - my kiln! Yes, I did it, and it will be lovely. I am having it custom made, to fit the plans that are still in my head. It is very exciting I can tell you :)
And - I have aplied to become a proper business! Today I got my CVR-number, and that too is VERY exciting. I am hoping it will send me flying on pure upbeat energy, throughout and beyond the winter.

Anybody else feeling the winter? Or better yet, feeling excited about the future?

P~

Friday, May 29, 2009

In other news ...

Greetings Loyal Fans and Followers,

Well as soon as one proclaims 'I'm Back!' things start to happen.
'Things' have subsided by now and I am indeed back, making lovely 5mm BHBs that I intend to core as soon as I get some of that sterling tube that is needed (European supplier links would be apreciated, thank you), and one of these beadliners which I haven't actually ordered yet, but will as soon as I know my inner dimension.

I have also not yet ordered a kiln, even though there are money in the bank for it. The problem is of course: 'What if I choose one that does not fit my needs in the future?' but in reallity I have my heart set on this little number from Uterm.
I like it because it opens up in the middle, I can drive there to get it (although it will take a full daytrip to do so) so in case of problems I don't need to cross continents to get it fixed, and finally - the swedish krone is deliciously low these days.
All I really need to do is 1) check if it runs hot enough for PMC, 2) Ask if the price listed is still valid, 3) Ask if I can get a Danish plug on it, 4) order the darned thing already!

And in other news - I have taken steps, serious steps, in honour of my chosen word for this year, 'change'.
For some reason I have recently been sucked into a couple of Danish self-development blogs/sites, and when one of them offered a 12-months course, and I realized I had a way of paying without hurting the family budget ... Well, I signed up right there.

It's a course mostly online (Phew!) by Sofia Manning, a very respected coach in Denmark, and her crew. She normally only teaches people to be coaches, she stopped taking personal people some time ago, but decided to do this tele-thing along with Mette Holbaek, also coaching, in more businessy topics. The course will teach us to use little daily fears as a springboard, rather than letting them stop us in having a great and accomplished life. Sounds great? I think so.

I already got the first assignment, to write down what I feel is stopping me at this point. Gosh, it's so depressing! No, I'm not actually depressed, it's just no fun sitting here thinking about all of my shortcomings at once (like decisionmaking, look above). I also get to write about the life I want to lead when the course is over, which is both fun and slightly depressing too, since I get to think once more about all the things I don't master today, that other people seem to be great at.

So in one years time, you may expect a new me :) Well, 'expect' might be a little much, but I have high hopes, since after all, something must rub off when contemplating things for a whole year, don't you think? Anyway - it is going to be fantastic and very interesting, as I have never done or even read about self-development before.

P~
(Go me! just for signing up)

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Thank you, Dayjob!

My glass adventure have just had a financial infusion!
Once a year, when the book-keeping of my workplace is done, all employees get to share part of the profit. It is a wonderfull thing, and we (boyfriend and I) have decided that we get to keep the money, each for our various hobbies, in stead of plunging them into the bottomless abysses known as 'Fund for Restoring the House' and 'the Budget of Daily Housekeeping'.

This means that nothing more than my own head is stopping me from buying a kiln! Yay!

My head however, can be quite a challenge occationally, but I'm working on that. So thank you, Dayjob, and also thank you to BF who divided the loot equally between us, instead of counting pennies. *Smootchies* in your general direction ;)

P~

Thursday, May 07, 2009

I'm Back!

After almost 2 months of being burnt out and very inactive on the bead front, much as described here: Robert Genn: Post-Show Blues I am back! and ready to melt some glass.

On the Webglas group, in April the challenge was to make hollows, and I have indeed made a few of those. I have only attempted hollows once before, and it didn't go too well, but ... it is a fun technique after all :)

My shaping of the hollows is not like the ones I am used to seeing (round or donutty), mine have a bit of a bicone shape going on, but I will work on that. There are amusing posibillities in the bicones, so I will have to explore that as well.

I am quite happy to be able to make such large beads, and I look forward to being able to decorate them at some point when I get more control of the process. My only decoration so far has been silverfuming which is a look I really love, both when I make it web and when I keep the lovely brown colour.

I should probably post a pic or two, but really they aren't that special. Well, they are 'special' all right, but I think I will wait untill I have something worth posting. You loose a good deal of your skill when not using them for an extended periode of time, and I can feel that. I'll be back in no time though, as soon as I get a few hours of torch time under my wings again :)

P~

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Profusion Art Glass V2 Uploaded

I have just uploaded a new and improved version of my website.

I decided that having Danish and English words together didn't work for me, so I have split them up and made two seperate, but very similar sections.
I have even build my own shop in the Danish section (keeping my Etsy shop in the English section), using paypal buttons. I have never used these before, so please let me know if you find that something is wrong with them.

And now, off to the site: Profusion Art Glass

P~

PS: I have also launched a new blog. It will be used for announcing news, changes and updates, and anything else pertaining to the site. For each announcement there will be 2 posts, one in English and one in Danish.
It is not much of a visual treat so far, as I have tried to make it as much a part of the site as possible. Pictures will come though, as I soon as I upload new pictures to the site.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

I'm featured!

I just noticed that I'm this weeks featured Englebasse, with my name on the frontpage here.
I don't know for how long, so hurry on over and have a look at the group :)

Apart from that, the whole family is home this week for easter vacation. You would think this would be a relaxing time, but then you'd be wrong :)
While I do get to sleep in, I make up for that by staying up even later than usual every night. And we have been cleaning house like madmen, partly because we needed to, but also because my girl Anna had her 6'th birthday yesterday, and we had my family over for dinner. It is much nicer here now :)
Here is Anna, cutting the beautiful cake made by my sweet sister



As for beady news, I haven't got any. I haven't made a bead for over a month now, and I don't know what is holding me back. I do miss torching and yet I do not simply go down and torch. It is very odd.
I think I may be planing, though it is all very airy so far, based mostly on my wish to improve in every way possible :) For tonight I shall work on my website (again). That is a good excuse, isn't it?

P~

Monday, March 23, 2009

After the show ...

First off, a List of Participating Englebasser!

-~o~-

Anja Gram: Illustrator, brought Greeting Cards and a Childrens Book

Marianne Lundov: Felted Hats and Scarves

Diannas Hatte: Fancy Hats and Headbands

Mette Duch Olesen: Childrens fleece sweaters

Pia Pamperin: Ofelias Opal, High End Jewelry

Dorthe Walbum: Paintings

Inge-lise Kristensen: Paintings

Kathrine Smedegaard: Was sewing a fur stola, but on her site shows headbands

-~o~-

Do check them out :)

Now for the show ... I have to say, it was a bit of a dissapointment. It was really very slow, and we had expected many more people. I don't know where the arrangers got their numbers, but they were quite a bit off.

I did sell a few pieces. 6 to be exact, in 3 full days! Two of them to my fellow angels. How is that for slow? That does not cover my booth fee at all, or my supplies.
I did get tempted by other sellers to spend money on their stuff though. I was especially pleased to meet www.smykkestativer.dk (jewelry displays) from whom I got a neckdisplay off the bargain bin. I have been looking high and low for one of those, and this was a great price. I also got 10 earring displays (to use on my next show ...) at a quarter of the price I had had quoted from a different guy (in a jewelry shop) some time ago. Excellent! I should have gotten one of those acrylic pointy things, for photographing rings on, but they live in Copenhagen too, so it's not a problem.

I also got the custom inscriped cap from my last post, and a bodyscrub with salt from the dead sea for my mother.

I'd like to link you to Sine Strøm too. I can't pull off wearing her clothes, but I really love her style and secretly wish I could :)

I had to eat too of course (yay for the 2 chocolate stands, and the very nice popcorn and softice guy, who let us help empty the maschines in the evening, Yum!). Luckily I could get free water from the tap.
In all I've had a very expensive weekend, when I really were supposed/hoping to bring home a bit of cash.

We all had plenty of time to chat during the 3 days, and it was so nice to get to know and speak to all of the great ladies in our group, and the surrounding people too.
We also had time to think, and I have come to a few conclusions.

1) I need more than 3 weeks to prepare propperly for a show, it can make me very tense. I did have a lot of nice pieces ready though, and since it was a shared space and my table wasn't too big, it all worked out well this time.

2) I need to settle on a specific style, rather than be all over the place. This may be mainly to help myself focus.

3) I need to figure out my target audience, which will of course be related to the style I settle on. I gave out a lot of cards, but several seemed to take them only to be polite. Many did go to have a look though, which was nice. I had gotten myself placed in the center of our area, so I had to point my table out to people if they were to notice it. The lights helped a bit, I will always request lights. On the last day I got half a day on the outer rim which was much better. I will not volounteer for a center space again.

4) It dawned upon me that since I never have the time to do it when working up to a show (based on my 2 tries :), I should go ahead and make the folder I want now. Now is when I have time, and then it will be ready when I need it, and will not make me tense the next time. Clever, eh? I'd also like nice printed signs proclaiming 'Unique Handmade Beads and Jewelry' and 'Please Touch!'. Also - stamping my new boxes in advance would be a plus :)

5) I like to dress nicely. I should do that more ... It just doesn't have much purpose when going to work.

I'm sure I thought of more, but now I'm back at home/work and thinking of other things again. It's time to work some more on my website, which by the way was freshly up-loaded in a new version last thursday. Go have a look at Profusion Art Glass and rest assured I will update and add stuff over the next couple of weeks.
If you have suggestions of sections you'd like me to make, do let me know, yes?

P~

Sunday, March 22, 2009

LEG-messe

Tak til alle gæster der besøgte Englebassernes stand på messen, og tak til alle der tog imod mit kort. Jeg håber at I vil besøge mig her på nettet, og måske endda sige hej :)
Her er lidt billeder af min stand.

Here are a few pictures of my table.

Left side:


Right side (check out my new neck-display, yeah!):


And a close-up of my spiffy new hat with custom inscription :)


It makes me look like a truck driver, so I put it on the white lady. I'll use it when I'm torching though :)
P~

Friday, March 20, 2009

LEG-livsstilsmesse, all weekend

Well I'm off then.
Wish me luck on my show, I really could use a kiln of my own ;)

I have just finished a few rings I'll be bringing, and I think I've got everything I need packed up, so I guess I'm ready.

The show is in Roskilde Kongrescenter (Roskilde Hallen), so if you're around Roskilde this weekend, come on over and say hi :)

P~

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I'm a winner!

Oh my, oh my!
While I've been working on new pieces for my show I've had a bit of good luck come my way. Over at www.flamekissedglass.com several raffles have been held to support glass worker Shannon Hill. I don't know him, but the prices are all glass related, donated by the lampwork community, so I've been playing.
And I've won too :) Earlier this year I won a wonderful bird from Lost Marbles, and now - I won again! It's a beautiful necklace made by the amazing Stacey of Stosh B Design. I love her work, I really do, and I have been admirering her Etsy shop for a long time already.

It is funny, because yesterday I got Robert Genn's weekly letter, and this one contained a little gem for me. 'Do whatever it takes to honour your personal perception of quality' he says, and continues: 'This may mean slowing down, speeding up, multitasking, single-tracking, going back to basics, being risky, being cautious, dreaming, concentrating, winging it or even reading the instructions.' I'm not completely sure which one it is for me, but this is what I want to do.

And if ever another person has shown me what quality is to me it is Stosh. Her pieces are simply oozing quality and handmade care.
I love the colours she use in her beads, nice earthy muted tones yet they are strongly colourfull. I love how sturdy and solid they seem, and I love her silver work. I like a bit of weight to my jewelry, it just screams quality work to me. Her website says she has been working in silver before she made beads, and she is obviously very skilled. Just look at this beauty, how the double beadcaps hug the bead in a tight fit even though they are quite thick and must be difficult to shape with such precision. In fact go look at all of her shop, including the sold items. It's a gallery of pure excellence.

This is the unique and classic beauty that is coming to me shortly. Necklace and photo by Stosh, thank you so much!


P~

Sunday, March 01, 2009

OMG! OMG, OMG, OMG!!

I have done something insane! I have registered to be in a show - in 3 weeks!!!
If that doesn't kill me, I'm sure I will be stronger. Or perhaps just completely worn out. Ha!
Hmm, I should probably ask my dayjob for a day off, right? It's a 3-day event, friday, saturday and sunday.

I have 1 week only, to make new beads for this. Then 1 week to have them annealed and shipped back to me by mail, then 1 week to make the beads into beautiful jewelry. How is that for stressing out a poor stressed out girl? Well, I am sure it will be fun in the end :)
Here is a link by the way: LEG-livsstilsmesse. Not an artshow this time, but a show of wellness and luxurious unique clothings and accessories. That kind of thing.

And to re-cap the last weeks time - last saturday I got in our car and drove off to Ebeltoft, to meet up with some of the members of Webglas. We had a great day of torching, chatting and sharing at Louisa and Henrik Moeslund's. It was fun to meet people you have only known from mails on a Yahoo group.
I were happy to see their glassblowing workshop and the shop where they sell from. I love the bulls on wheels they have, there's a similar moose on their website :)

I have also joined a group called Englebasserne (Danish word for those fat cute heralding angels). It is a group of mostly women, artists and crafters, who has joined up to support each other. The lady who formed the group is very energetic. She arranges bazars and participation in shows and deals on promotion for the members. I went to a group meeting on thursday, and it was very envigorating. Which is why I have mailed her and asked if I can be in on the next show :)
I should probably have checked my calender first, and I have not had a confirmation yet, but YAY! :)

P~

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Webglas meet-up!

With all these bacillas stepping on me and my little girl, I have completely neglected to tell you about our Danish/nordic group Webglas. I haven't made too many beads either, but anyway -
The challenge for January was Dots, and I made these:






This month's challenge is Sculpted beads, which suited me just fine, as I have an order for a couple of goddesses. So I have made several that will be angel pendants, so she'll have a few to choose from.



I also made these decorated bones, directly inspired by this awesomeness by Amy Kuczewski. I don't have any Electroforming equipment, so I used Double Helix glass instead. This is Psyche on Ivory.



And this saturday webglas is having a meet-up, a full day of lampworking and bead chatting. Louisa Moeslund has kindly offered her studio to the group, so we can meet and 6-7 people can torch at the same time. It will no doubt be a great day and hugely inspirering. Yay!

P~

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A week later ...

Well, my head never exploded or imploded, and I never did get to my list of blogs from the OWOH that I had enjoyed. Instead I got attacked by a nasty cold and haven't been doing much of anything at all, except working a little bit on my website. I'll have to be completely done before I can upload it though, as it involves a new structure.

So back to the OWOH. I found that I have little interest in collages of any kind, which seems to be a domminant artform. I were pleased to find a couple of soapmakers (as I am in the market for a shampoobar) and several quite amazing dollmakers.
These are a some I have come across, which make me want to make dolls myself, but I guess I already had that bug :)

Check out:
Linda Smith Originals for how-to's of beautiful fairies
Melissa Valeriote for holiday themed dolls
Sprite for fairies, goblins and dragon eggs
Mealy Monster for creepy-cute polymerclay creatures
Woodedwood for strange caricatures of humans
Rosanna Pereyra for beautiful faries and other people
Loopyboopy who I knew from etsy already.

I have still not been through all participants, so if I have missed you and you are wonderfull, I am sorry. Next year I will do better, because this was fun!

P~

Thursday, February 12, 2009

We have a winner!



I have counted through the comments twice, just to be sure, and the winner is
Becky Holso!
Congratulations Becky, thank you for participating, and thank you to all the other commentors too.

It was fun to be part of this and I will definately join in again next year. I didn't get to visit all of the participants quite yet, there were more than 900 after all, but I did get to see a lot of blogs, and I will post a short list of some of my new favourites later, when my head stops feeling ready to explode. Or is it implode? I can't tell. I'll be right back (or perhaps do it tomorrow).

P~

Saturday, January 31, 2009

One World - One Heart: International Give-Away

Photo


I couldn't help but noticing this fun event, and I have decided to join in on the karma-fest. You can read all about it here.

In short - all participating bloggers will give away one or more items, handmade or not, on february 12'th. This will be done by drawing a random number among all that has commented on the give-away post.

My gift to the universe and the lucky winner will be this nifty pair of earrings. These are the smallest tiny little lampwork birds I have made yet. Very delicate, and in a lovely skyblue colour. The earwire, wire, daisy spacers and little dangly flowers are all vermeil.

So hurry up and leave me a comment :) Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you if you win, either your email or through your own blog.


Do visit my sister's 2 give-aways of a very artfull framed rose transfer and a stunningly pretty bracelet.

I'm off to check out all the participating blogs, all 780+ of them :)
Have fun!
P~
***************************************

Sorry, no more comments.
Thank you to all commentors, now let's see who feels lucky today :)

P~

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Art Dolls

Yesterday I had a short exchange of words with Amy Kuczewski of Torch by Night about this fascinating piece of glass:

Bead and photo by Amy Kuczewski
Thank you Amy, for the use of your pictures :)

She makes such wonderfull beads with electroforming that I can't help to be intrigued by this process. I simply must try it at some point, but that is not what I want to talk about right now.
I proceded to remember the dolls she has in the gallery section of her website. These were one of the things I remember marveling at as a super newbie lampworker about 1½ years ago. This one is my favourite, as it has bend-able arms and legs and a funky helmet. I'd like to see her face :)

Doll and photo by Amy Kuczewski
Again - this I must try. I can come up with loose ideas for at least 15 of these already, but if I could finish just one, that would be huge for me.

So how to go about it? I am guessing a detailed, in scale sketch would be the core of success. I would very much like the seperately made parts to fit each other in size at first try. Also, any decorations should be determined before I start, as I would otherwise end up with all different looking parts. What can I say - I have a scattered mind. Perhaps I should try to make a simple decorated beadset before taking on a complete artdoll, yes? Or even a proper face :)

I am wondering how one might make it stand up, and not just hang limply from a hook/string, although the jangle would be lovely. Yes, I am allready considering display of the thing, before even setling on a theme :)
Could all parts be strung on a heavy wire, and then even end up poseable? It could be a wonderful shelf-sitter (with a propper safety belt of course, our floors wobble). Maybe give it a miniature chair to sit on ...
Or how about one of those winged spirits that hang from the ceilling (usually made of wood)? There is also the possibillity of making a working puppet, with a string holding up each limb ... hmm?

So last night I made a search for Glass Art Dolls, and I came up with ... Ta-daa, nothing!
Now I know that can't be right, so if you have any links to share, please do. I am looking for jointed dolls, and they should be lampworked. I did find one nifty picture of a doll, but it was beaded, and while beautiful in itself, not what I were looking for.

As for art dolls in general, here are links to some of my favourites:
Lynn Dewart has a ton of beautiful and strange artdolls.
Amy L. Rawson masters miniature tayloring too, and Beth Robinson has a spooky collection of creatures.

Nice stuff I found while seaching:
Karen Woodward has many funny and sweet lampwork faces in her portfolio, Bruno Torfs has a garden full of sculptures,
and the Needle and Clay blog is full of wonderfull doll related links.

Enjoy!
P~

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I sold something!

It does not happen so often, so it makes me quite happy :)
This is the necklace that sold:

Panda pendant
I really hope she likes it, as I haven't made a lot of necklaces yet, but I think she will as it is a super cute little item, and I am very pleased with the assembly of it too.

As for my shop, there are items that has been relisted for close to a year now, and since they don't sell I will simply let them run out and not relist. I am looking to improve my items this year anyway, so it's 'out with the old, and in with the new!' from now on.

P~

Friday, January 23, 2009

Web-cam fun :)






Well, I guess you'd have to have been there :)

Oh, and yes, I'm ONLINE! Wooot!!!

P~

Thursday, January 22, 2009

I've got a new toy!

It's not directly bead related, but still ...

Last year I had my 10'th anniversary at my dayjob, and I got to order my own present :) It took me a while to get around to it, but finally I did, and two days ago I got it.
It's my very own (and very first) laptop.

My old PC is very old, and a hand-me-down. It has a habit of freezing up within 10-20 min. of starting it up, so I have not been using it much (at all) for quite a while. BF has been slightly annoyed that I have been taking up the seat by his PC at home, but that is going to end now that I have my own shiny equipment. At least it will as soon as I get connected to the web :)
Yesterday my sister and I had a blast playing with it, even if off-line. It has a webcam and an array of squishy effects, making us look all kinds of funny. It was great, and as soon as I get connected I will have to post a few handpicked faces.

I am looking much forward to being able to transfer my files into this new pristine space, and then I will work some more at (if not just plain finish) my website Version 2. And even if it weighs a ton (aren't these supposed to be mobile?), I just might bring it to work and use my lunchbreak for taking beadpictures, so I'll have something to post and list and all that good stuff :)

And I hereby pledge to keep it nice and uncluttered, to remove files I don't use anymore, to take regular backups and in general be a good housekeeper of the virtual space that has been given to me.

And now - to get online ... hm ...?

P~

Monday, January 19, 2009

I am fuming!

Yes I am, and it is so much fun!
I know this month was for practicing dots, but in december I got Andrea Guarino-Slemmons's mothbead tutorial (available here), and really I have been itching to try it. Finally I asked my danish glass group webglas if somebody could spare me a bit of boro, and last monday I recieved 2 bits from a kind soul.


I must apologize for the picture, but check out that webbing! Ooh lala!
I love the mothwing beads, I really do (and have I told you that I have once held an actual mothwing bead, made by AG-S herself?), but the web'ing is what I am really after :)
The tut said that the ivory would turn grey, but as you can see mine didn't. I got a wonderful dark leathery brown that is just yummy! I think if I fume a bit more the grey will come, but I really like this colour. I shall try to make a webbed goddess, though I don't know if I can. The web'ed beads I managed got so hot they almost got away from me. I could fume dots though :)




I probably should not link to the master right next to my own first attempts, but go have a look at her beads anyway. They are too delicious :)

Thank you so much to Bente Clausen for making this possible by sending me boro-rods, and to Fru Babsan who offered, but didn't have any on hand quite yet :)

P~

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Josh Simpson

I really don't remember how I first learned of Josh Simpson, it was several years ago after all, but it was instant fascination for me. What he and his crew does is just amazing, and as a glass-dabler one can not help to be inspired.

The first thing you see on his website, is one of his megaplanets rizing above the horizon. They make several sizes of these, from 1 7/8" to larger than a mans head. Now beads might need overnight annealing, but these monsters must anneal for a full month if not more. And they are just mesmerizing. Like any real planet they are full of details to explore, full of layers to discover. Some of them even have spaceships floating through the atmosphere :)

My favourite of his pieces though, must be the wonderful tektite portals. I'd love to present you with a picture, but I'd hate to infringe on the copyrights of my idols, so you'll just have check it out yourself.
His inhabited vases and blue new Mexico vases are supremely beautifull as well, and some day I will own something of his. How could a glass collection be complete without it? :)

Do give his website a visit, have a look at the splendid infinity project, and his YouTube too for a bit of live tektite action.

P~

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

2009 Goals and ideas

Beady Goals, mind you.
In 2009 I would like to sell more than in 2008.
This should not be difficult since, 2008 was a hurried jumble for me, and incredibly slow bead-sellingwise. The only action I saw all year, was the show I participated in, which was fun, but didn't even break even. So for 2009 I will see if I can find other (cheaper) off-line venues to sell from. Getting out in public is good.
As for online selling - well, it isn't working too well so far. I need to mingle and promote more, and that is hard for me, not being a chatty type. And it is difficult to join in on the international bead scene. The simple fact that prices of materials are much higher here than in the US means my prices will be higher that those of US beadmakers. Thus I loose not only the US market, but everybody else that is confident in shopping online. For these reasons I am convinced that I should try my hands with the Danish beadmarket (if I can find it ;). I have tried googling, and even though not much comes up, I am still hopefull that I will find a good public spot.

There is also the possibility of getting my beads/jewelry into an actual shop. This is an idea I have not yet acted on, but I have compiled a (small) list of places I could contact in case I got extremely courageous. I suppose I feel like I need more finished and unique pieces before I can approach anybody, and so far I am happy just considering the possibility and keeping an eye out for places to add to my list.

In order for me to be more confident with my work I need to streamline my products. Recently when surfing beady sites I came across a site/shop that allthough very full of items, looked rather like a fleamarket since there were no rhyme or reason between the items. It may have been perfectly fine items, you just wouldn't know from the jumbled up look of the shop, and I'm afraid I see that in my Etsy shop too. So I have decided I want a more consistent look to my items. I shall make a soulsearch and find out what I really love in terms of colours, shapes and products, and then I will work from that.
One thing I know I love is my organic freehand shapes. Like this one:

Pod-like freehand pendantYes, my pod pendant again. I love it :) I might even love it more than the goddesses I make, because there are better goddess makers than me out there, but this one is all mine. I want to try to elaborate on this shape this year, and see where it takes me. As for colours, definately Ivory, and all the mild earthy colours. Browns, greens, blues, rusty reds ... Yes, I'll make a list in my sketchbook and then try to keep to it. It will do me good.


Two more things that need my attention this year, is my website and my book keeping. I may have kept all receipts since I began this glass adventure, but what good does that do if they all lay in box uncounted? I will line them all up and look at the lovely red numbers and tell myself it is all right. It is. We are still eating aren't we?
And the website ... yes, I have been building a new version slowly, but I keep questioning if this is the way I want it, and so I stop working. And furthermore, since jan.1'st I have the option of installing wordpress on the server that holds my domaine. Though I know nothing about using it, this is what I wanted when I got my domain last year. As far as I understand you could build a complete website using wordpress. So do I toss all my measly HTMLfiles and start from scratch yet again, or do I keep on with my very limited knowledge of HTML? Decisions, decisions ... and that is why I never get anywhere with it.
Maybe I should set myself a deadline? In fact many deadlines might be in order, so that I might do it in babysteps.

So these are my goals:
To streamline my items, my web precence and my economic insight, and to work on making a profit at some point.

P~

PS: with this post I just beat my all time hight of 6 posts in a month. Isn't new Years just invigorating? :)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

A technique for January: Dots

After I wrote my post on choosing one technique for each month of 2009 to practice, the leader of the Danish glass group I am in took up the challenge.
She posted the idea for the group and several people wanted to join in. She has accumulated loads of links for us to look at and be inspired by, and on Jan. 1'st she posted the technique for January: Dots.

So far I have only had 2 torch sessions, but both were full of dots. December was very busy and I didn't make a single bead, so I wanted to start out slow and easy.
I used the technique described here, the Wavy Bead technique which I have done before. I didn't do as described though, I used only opaque glasses, and in stead of just dollops of glass laid on the disc, I laid out stacked dots which made funky eyes. When I were halfway through melting everything in, I thought: 'This is a fun shape. I think I'll just keep it'. So I did, and here is the result.

Funny and strange multiple eye beads
Next time I tried out my 5mm mandrels. They are very thick when you are used to 1.6mm, and heavy. But it was fun, and I look forward to the day that I will try to silver core some of them. I love the cored beads, it's a beautiful thing :) It may not be this year though, as I am trying to not buy stuff, but we'll see what happens.
These are my first beads with a large-ish hole.

My first beads with 5mm holes
More will definately follow :)

P~

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

My first beaded ring!

A few nights ago I made a ring. I set out to make a ring including beads in colours to remind me of my word 'change'. I didn't have the colours I thought of, and so I winged it. This is my first beaded ring ever, and I have to say I rather love it :)

My first beadring, nice!
I have worn it for a couple of days now, to see how it works out, and it is amazingly un-troublesome. As it is a ring with a dangle, I feared it might snag sweaters or things I handle, but it really doesn't. It's a complete joy to wear, and makes me feel very feminine as I don't normally wear this girly or colourfull jewelry.
It is a small orange bead with yellow dots around the holes, and interspaced white and light blue dots around the center. A tiny sterling leaf/feather charm dangles below. It is very spring-y.
I think I might just have to make some more :)

P~

Monday, January 05, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Oh wait, that was a while ago, wasn't it?
Well, I just wanted to show off this necklace I made for my sister for christmas. Last year one of my goals were to make a finished piece of delicious jewelry, and I think this one qualifies :)

Delicious long necklace in goldfill and green
Thank you Hanne for the picture

It's a looong necklace, made with a full meter af goldfill rollochain and 16 links, each with 2 goldfill saucerbeads and an etched spring green spacerbead. You can wear it long or twice around the neck (still fairly long). It's really nifty. And pretty too, the gold and green are lovely together.
I also made one in transparent cobolt for my MIL, which I had to send off by mail before I could take a picture. That was a great colour combination too. I have one more in sort of brick red, that I made a while ago. I am still debating wether to list it on Etsy or keep it for myself :)

P~

Saturday, January 03, 2009

I had a dream

It was weird, and here is the short version in Haiku.

Earthworms are fleeing
1000 silent wide-eyed screams
dead-ends by the wall

Yup, told you it was weird :)
I love haiku'ing.
P~

Friday, January 02, 2009

New Treasury!

I made it! And here it is.
I had a bit of a dilemma about what to call it. I wanted to make it about glass of course, but I also wanted to include my sister, who does not work in glass. Luckily, her shop is closed for a couple of days, so I were free to choose another subject I love: Lampwork Godesses.

Etsy Treasury - Lampwork Goddesses

AngelinaBeadalina, MamacitaBeadworks , ehmeglass

GlassJulz , RonnieRenee , R2rockz

SheilaMorley , Ritual , Beadfreaky

Serena29 , Beadforever , NValentineStudio

Aren't they lovely?
I never saw one in wood before. Yummy!
Enjoy.

P~

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy New Year everyone! :)

I hope you had a nice and safe evening, and are ready to tackle a fresh new year of adventure.
It is quite freeing, isn't it? I have heard of people who feel that their birthday is a good time to evaluate and set new goals and better themselves. I don't feel that way, only New Years Eve can do that for me. It's a calender thing I am sure. Is there anything better than a fresh, blank new calender/journal, ready to be filled?

So far my bracelet morse code has not been working quite as well as I had hoped, so I will have to find another way to remind myself of my word. I am pretty sure it will be in form of jewelry :)
Also, it might be a bit too broard for me, so I will choose a few(!) areas to focus on, so that I might actually focus.

In other news - this morning I woke up finding myself in a treasury on Etsy.
This treasury was made by rockstarwife who doesn't have a shop of her own, but there's the link anyway.

Etsy treasury, my teeth beads again :)

BeverlyBijou, Me :) , Necklush

Seaunicorn , dbabcock , redrubyrose

Vegandish , colorbombcreations , tijusai

Katherine Leslie Soaps , paintedfish studio , EBSpider

P~
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