Love Catchers

I have a friend, Su who has a delightfully creative mind. She comes up with some of the coolest glass creations. She sells her glasswork as Squidglass on ArtFire and Etsy.

Her latest endeavors are fused glass hearts that look like mesh, like they came out of a waffle iron. Now, as I understand it, these are very special hearts. They are love catchers and they capture love and good vibes, but let the heartaches go right on through. Very magical hearts, these are. They come in black, blue, pink and for you traditionalists, red.

I know I love mine!

Granite

One of my boys works with granite. They fabricate and install granite countertops, backsplashes, fireplace hearths and surrounds and windowsills. The company has weathered the economic slump, but it was rough.

Looking at the growing pile of scrap granite, my son decided to use the sink cut-outs for cutting boards and trivets. Since I already sell my stained glass online, I listed some of his cutting boards in my ArtFire shop. Some are 8 inch square, some are 12 inch and there is a 4 inch trivet. Each one is 3/4" to 1 inch thick and all have plastic or felt "feet". They are heavy and the weight makes shipping out of the US too expensive. They are only available in the continental US and are shipped in Priority Mail boxes. My ArtFire shop is www.artfire.com/users/GlassFancy

I have had one of these cutting boards in my kitchen for awhile and absolutely love it. It's not going to scoot around and is going to last forever. I have another that I use under a large planter, to keep it off the carpet. Works great and looks nice! Recycling these granite scraps is a great idea.

Made Up My Mind

After thinking about and considering my alternatives, I have decided to cut back on my stained glass work. I will be concentrating more on the mosaics. For the past year, I have been having problems with arthritis in my hands. Some days I can barely make a fist and the affected fingers ache like they've been whacked with a hammer. It is especially bad in the winter after I've been out in the cold. Foiling glass is almost impossible when my hands are stiff and I am not satisfied with anything but my best.

I will still make my 3D butterfly plant stakes and some of the snowflakes with the bevels. No more small suncatchers with tiny pieces and absolutely nothing with foiled marbles or glass nuggets. My thumbs hurt just thinking about foiling a marble!

At first, I was disappointed. Then I was angry that the only joints with arthritis are in my hands. I wasn't ready to admit it was time to move on to something I could manage. I'll admit I haven't made much for about a year. But, I'm ready to move on and take another direction.

I have completed the pattern for a stained glass panel for a friend's birthday in March. It's two parrots in the jungle and will look great in his bathroom window. Sort of my last hurrah in stained glass.