Getting Ready For the Christmas

Although I'm not quite ready to start thinking about Christmas, I have started listing Christmas items in my ArtFire and Etsy shops. I have a lot of Christmas suncatchers or ornaments. The smaller ones make great package tie-ons.

I Shop When I'm Bored

Why is it I always complain that I never have time to just sit down and do nothing, then when I HAVE to stay off my feet, it drives me crazy? I had foot surgery this past Wednesday to fix the toes I messed up wearing high heels. I was in constant pain and decided it was time to do something about it.

Now that I have so much time on my hands, I've been doing some browsing and window shopping. My wish list has grown considerably. A few of the new additions to my list are shown above.

I noticed that one of my online friends can do anything she sets her mind to. Linda, also known as Papernclay makes fused glass jewelry. She also makes polymer clay pieces. Her watermelon beads were awesome! She does origami and can make a crane out of your wedding invitation. Recently she started learning lampworking and I am in awe of the beautiful beads she has made already. People like Linda inspire me to try new things. You can find Papernclay at Etsy.com and ArtFire.com.

Butterflies in the Garden

Since I have been making stained glass suncatchers, I have made some on copper stakes to put in my flower garden and pots. I have birds, flowers, rabbits and butterflies. Recently I made two 3D butterflies and listed them on Etsy. The blue butterfly is the most awesome shade of blue, like the sky on one of those absolutely crystal clear days. The other butterfly is orange with streaks of yellow that shows up beautifully in strong light. Plant stakes look especially nice in green plants. I keep some in my houseplants all winter.

Something Different

I've been bored with the same old same old stained glass patterns for awhile. I have been using a lot of bevels and just recently bought some glass roundels to experiment with. Some of the fusers in the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy were discussing pot melts in the forums and had been posting pictures of the results. Needless to say, I had to have pot melts to play with. Papernclay, a fellow CGGE and Glass Anarchy member, was nice enough to make some for me. Let me just say that photos do not do justice to them. They are gorgeous!

I have made a suncatcher with a pot melt and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I didn't use a pattern either, so this is definitely one of a kind. This sort of represents what the Glass Anarchy is all about - something different. All of us are just a bit out in left field and willing to try anything once.

Collaboration

Recently I was approached by a fellow Etsy and Creative Glass Guild member, Smokeylady54, who asked me to make a pendant for her so she could make a necklace out of it. Since I do stained glass, I was a bit hesitant at first, but I realized I could do something with some old screw back earrings from the 60's that I had found in a box of old costume jewelry. I used some scrap glass that had a pebbled texture to surround the earring disk. Smokey has quite an eye for matching colors. Her lampworked beads are breathtaking and the necklace is absolutely beautiful. Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12440653 see if you agree with me.

A Beautiful Pendant

Before I started my blog, I had Catlady99, another Etsy artist and fellow Creative Glass Guild Member make me a lampwork iris pendant. It turned out gorgeous! I get compliments on it whenever I wear it.

She has some beautiful necklaces and bracelets in her shop right now. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5053222

She has another iris pendant and also makes the most adorable lampwork angels. I've never seen any like them.

One of my favorite panels

This turned out to be one of my favorite panels. It was a custom order for a lawyer who plays drums as a hobby. I wanted to give it some dimensional detail, so I made the drum stands out of copper wire and soldered them on top of the glass. And I got to use that piece of white ring mottle glass I had left over from a window.