Portrait beads...

I have to say something about my portrait beads because I am so proud of them. I worked really hard to get an image transfer process that is usually used in glass fusing to work on my glass beads. I now can put images of loved ones onto a glass bead and the image is actually heated in by the flame and then coated with a layer of clear enamel... then decorated. They will be in an advertisement in a few beading magazines because I am now selling custom portrait beads to the public! This is something that no one else is doing... or no one that I know of anyway... unless they saw my work at the ISGB conference during bead bazaar and figured out my secrets as well ;) I just love being able to combine photography (a past focus of mine) with whatever medium I am working with at any given time... Let me know if you are interested in purchasing one of my fully hand crafted creations :)

I can't believe I won something...

So there is a wonderful company called Frantz Art Glass that sells lampworking/beadmaking supplies and they have the most unique glass of all places I have seen so far. They get odd lots (basically colors that were made by accident but still have potential) from Vetrofond (one of the major makers of soft glass rods) and they were having a contest to name the colors of the latest 14 new odd lots. I sent in my list... and they actually used one of them! I am amazed... granted it was the one that I thought was the lamest name of all I chose, but it seemed to fit it well. They didn't take oyster (which my husband and I actually nicknamed "lung oyster" and if you see the color you will know why... not one of my favorites) or aortic twist, nor did they like tuscan marble or ripe banana... but they did go for Tomato Soup:

If you want to see the other colors that were named you can go to www.frantznewsletter.com and click on the area where it says: "name the colors contest." Amazing how many variations of orange they can make, tehe.

Post ISGB "Gathering"

I am sorry I have been less than consistent at posting! I was preparing for and then attending the International Society for Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) big conference called the "Gathering." It was the most amazing event I have ever attended. I have realized that glass bead makers are probably the nicest group of artists ever. From day one people were welcoming me as a newcomer and making me feel like part of the group.
I helped set up on Sunday, then TA-ed for a class on Tuesday and Wednesday, took some business based classes on Thursday as well as staying for open torch and then attended Friday through Sunday. I have to say I spent way too much money and I am not sure how I will recover from that one. I bought some different kinds of glass such as ODD lots of Italian soft glass, some Creation is Messy colors, and some Satake and Kinari which are both Japanese and have a very different look. I have been drooling over Satake ever since I started looking at lampwork! I bought a few tools (mostly graphite), the set of brand new enamel pens from Thompson Enamel as well as their luster powders, gold stone to make my own stringers, the list goes on... I also indulged myself by buying some amazing beads!!!!!
I love Japanese lampwork so I bought two beautiful Tonbo-Dama, and one beaded ring from a Japanese lampworker, I just wish I could speak Japanese. I bought a ton of other beads which I will post pictures of as soon as I take them :) On the last night I also got some amazing trades from some wonderful and kind artists. It was interesting watching people trade, especially as a newbie. Some people were willing to trade with anyone regardless of skill level while some would walk around the tables looking at everyone's beads and only trading with those they felt were "worthy enough" to trade with them. This was definitely something I want to keep in mind for when I am no longer new so that I don't ever make people feel that way. Everyone was new once, right?
The best part of the whole thing was the friends I met... I got to know some of the members of the local ISGB chapter, Star of the North Glassworkers, much better which was fun, especially since most of my friends from school have moved away. I also met a few people from out of town which will make the next Gathering even more exciting. Hopefully, my next post will have lots of cool photos of stuff ;)
I hope everyone is staying cool! It has been 90+ degree days here... in Minnesota of all places!

A sad day in Anoka...

Thanks to everyone who came to visit me at Riverfest in Anoka... those who didn't, missed me looking like a lobster! (Once again, living in Minnesota because I hate heat :P ) I would have been under my lovely new EZ up tent... but, the darn thing broke as we put it up in the morning! I was so bummed out... it is only the second time I have used it and it totally fell apart. I am hoping the person I bought it from is willing to take it back and give me a new one. It was an ebay buy from someone who had over 99% positive feedback and sold many of this model. It just goes to show that you really should be cautious when you buy large items off of Ebay.
So I sat in the sun all day, but was able to recover today. I don't know if I will be doing any more art fairs except maybe the one in Jordan next year. I have found that my work is not really what people there are looking for. I work hard to make sure each of my pieces is one of a kind, creative and as fully hand made as possible. I carefully select my glass (some of it is quite rare) create anything that is embedded into the piece and then carefully sculpt any of the findings (such as bails) that will be seen when it is worn. My bails (the part that connects the pendant to the cord or chain) are secure because I have created a way for them to lock around a portion of the glass without having to go around the entire outside of the piece. The chain or cord with it's lobster claw clasp is the only premade thing that I buy. Because of this, I just can't compete with those who buy glass cabachons in bulk from China (or just slap a couple pieces of glass together without finishing the edges) and glue on a base metal or silver/gold plated bail to the back and then sell them for $16 each. I will be looking for different venues because I know there are people out there who will want to buy my work, I just have to find them.
So, keep checking my website for additions to the events and shows page because I am hoping to list some gallery representation to this page as well... and as soon as possible.
Thank you again to everyone for your kind words and undying support :)

Custom work...

I love to do custom work because it provides me with a challenge but also gives me guidelines... plus I have to make something that my customer will like. A woman approached me asking for a match to be made to an earring that was missing it's mate. I recognized the top piece of glass to be black mardi-gras glass, and the base was a copper dichroic. Seemed simple enough, right? Well, I found that it was amazing how many different colors of copper/orange/yellow/gold and combinations of all of these there are. I finally fired every single tiny piece of dichroic glass that I had that could possibly have worked! I think I counted 40 little pieces and none of them were correct! I ended up having two pairs of finished earrings and mailed both to her with the hope that she will enjoy at least one of them. It was still a good challenge, I just hope she feels like she got more than she was hoping for.
If anyone out there sees anything that they think would look nice with a different design, color or image... I would love to try to make it for you. I want my work to feel personal to those who wear it. I want it to feel like they have a connection to the piece they purchase. Sometimes that happens by just seeing something that catches the eye... but sometimes it takes a match between the minds of the artist and the customer.
I hope you are all doing well!

Too hot! :P

Okay, I live in Minnesota because I don't like the heat... thanks to global warming, high pressure weather systems in Nevada, the return of the Sasquach or whatever, it is hotter than hades out here! Needless to say I am inside today in the air conditioned comfort wondering how the heck we made it through without ac back in the day?
Oops, this is my jewelry blog... I have listed 7 of my pieces on the great Etsy website so far. You can get to it by typing in www.uniqueinalltheworld.etsy.com I just love that website, it is for people who create just about anything creative to sell their work. If you have never played around on that website you should try it. The coolest thing to do (next to looking at my shop of course) is to click on "buy" at the top and then use the various tools for finding cool stuff such as by color, by your interests, etc... and when they bring up the images... if you don't like it you can use your cursor to throw the image off the page! Pretty darn cool!
Well, I have to finish attempting my domestic duties, stay cool everyone :)

Welcome to my blog!

I thought I would keep everyone updated on what I am doing, how my jewelry develops, where I plan to be showing and any other tidbits of info that I am in the mood to write. Last night I spent many hours in front of my torch making beads and have been trying to make the smallest beads I can (this is a much harder task than one would think!) I decided that I needed to make some small spacer beads so that I can use them with the larger ones to make finished jewelry. Making glass beads has been the most amazing process. Imagine staring into the fire (with special glasses on of course) while melting and manipulating glass the consistency of honey... until you take it out of the flame. So many colors at my fingertips! If anyone has some ideas of things they want to see here, please let me know, until then I will continue to talk about my process and plan to add some photos soon.
Best to all,
-Kirsten