Smell that Mimosa!

Our Mimosa tree started blooming last weekend. Since the rain yesterday the blooms have really come out. We were sitting on the deck this evening and it smelled fantastic! It is right behind the patio beside the pool, so you smell it the whole time. My youngest son and I planted it in 1991. It was just a twig about a foot tall that I paid a dollar for. We never dreamed it would end up becoming such a beautiful tree.

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.

My Babies

I have been watching a robin's nest in the weeping cherry tree in the front yard. She watches me while I cut the grass or while working in the nearby flower beds. I saw her catching worms so I knew she was feeding her babies. She doesn't mind me taking photos, I don't get too close. There are 4 big healthy babies that are growing noticeably every day. Their flight feathers are beginning to grow and it won't be long until they will be trying them out. I love those big mouths!

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.

It's About Time!

Two years ago I had bought a collection of irises from Schriener's. They were just beginning to bloom last spring when we had a hard freeze (unusual for Tennessee this late) and every single bloom was lost. This year they are making up for it. I had forgotten the colors and the tags with the colors dry rotted, so it has been a surprise every time another color blooms. I have brought in a stalk of each color and they smell heavenly!