Trollbead Release Party!

Last night I attended the world premiere of Trollbeads' new concept, the nation speciffic beads.
500 tickets were available and the event was held at Arken, a danish museum of modern art.



The Trollbead people showed us a fun and lighthearted powerpoint presentation of the Trollbead history, ending with their thoughts on what might best represent the spirit of Denmark.
I'm afraid I'm not much of a reporter, if I were I would have pictures of the new beads here, but alas I didn't think of it. I can tell you however that the 4 new beads are:

1. a glas bead with a green core and alternating white and yellow flowers (lovely!), representing anemonea, the herald of spring in our forrests.
2. a sterling vikingship complete with a dragons head in front (a little on the light side)
3. an amberbead with 'Denmark' in runes around the middle
4. a tribute to the great designers of our country - a tiny Arne Jacobsen chair, the Egg, with a teeny tiny troll climbing it. It's a fun bead, with a very nice weight to it (I like that).

Before and after the presentation there were a couple of live demotables showing a bit of the process of making beads. One was a lampworking table



and much more interesting for me, two tables demoing wax modeling. This is something I have had an interest in for years and years, and I really want to try it one day, so even a little taster like this is fun for me.



Even more fun - I soon realized that I know the guy in the picture! His name is Allan Bayer and he used to be the younger brother of a boy my friends and I used to play with after school. Now he is a skilled jeweller with his own shop, making both lovely classic jewellery and fancyfull modeled pieces. Also - and that is the reason he was there last night, he is a Trollbead designer. I think there used to be a list of each designers beads at the Troll-site, but I can't find any now so maybe they took it down. He did make this fabulous tree though, and here is his website: www.guldsmedbayer.dk so go have a look for yourself.

The new beads were up for sale of course, along with a new necklace, and a lot of shopping followed. Here are a couple more pictures, from the end of the evening when things had calmed down.







I had great night :)
P~

PS: the shrimps in the buffet were great!

Anniversary!!

One year ago today I conquered a fear.
I told myself it would be okay until I believed it, and I jumped in feet first with excitement in my heart.
One year ago today I registered as a proper business, and it was huge for me.

What have I learnt:
It wasn't so scary after all. In fact it has been a fun, exciting and interesting adventure
I rather like doing the bookkeeping (when I'm done and have solved the 'what goes where' puzzle)

What to work on:
I really need get over myself and work on pushing my goods, really!
I must set a fixed date for bookkeeping each month, so as not to let it accumulate (done! now to keep it up ...)
Less TV/websurfing = more time to torch = better glass art! Yay!

To celebrate this happy event I am having a 20% off SALE at my new shop. You can find it HERE at the new danish website for all things handmade: www.amio.dk

The sale will last 'till the end of the month, 5 whole days, and prices have already been reduced by 20%.
I will upload new goodies during these 5 days, so please visit more than once.

Happy New Year everybody!

Mythbuster!

Yesterday, for the first time in 3½ months, I fired up my torch.
I have no good reason for not torching, so I must have just needed a summer break. Well, a break this long will make you loose your routines, and besides making uninspired beads, I also got a burn. I were rolling a bead in frit, reaching under the torch, when I got my highest knuckle turned up into the flame. Very stupid, but my attention were on the other end of the mandrel.

I finished off the bead (quickly!), and then thought I would try out the advice I had read about for burns, a remedy you are pretty sure to always have handy: toothpaste! I smeared on a blob, and what can I say, it really works! The pain subsided right away, and I could go about my business.



So I went about my day with a glob of toothpaste on my hand. A couple of times I had to wash my hands and each time I removed the paste I would feel the burn again. So I reapplied and even kept it on for the night (secured by a piece of bandaid).

Today I have a blister, but no pain, and I didn't have to spend the night with my hand in a cup of water. Excellent! :)

And the bead I made? So not worth a burn ;)