Thursday, December 11, 2008

Go Bead or Go Home!

That's my new slogan.

I've been praying for direction in my life. I've been a Technical Writer for over 20 years, and I love doing it, but I haven't had a challenging assignment since 2001. In fact, I've been hired for very high-paying contract jobs only to be bored to tears. I'm either just really adept and fast, or my employers didn't need a full-time writer. I tried not to "look a gift horse in the mouth" but I cannot justify spending the rest of my life sitting in a cubicle feeling guilty and trying to look busy. Admittedly, if the right opportunity comes along I'll go back for the benefits, but for now I'm content to explore this new adventure.

My last contract expired in August. Since then I've been laying low to let my leg fracture heal and trying to torch and bead consistently and I think it has taken that much time to start to find my creative self again. Last week I poking around in my studio and I remembered the sports phrase "Go big or go home!" Since then I've been praying and talking to other beaders and friends about growing my business. I feel like it's in a delicate stage right now, but I'm trusting that I'm heading down the right road. It's a gamble, but I think it's also a challenge I need at this point in my life. Art is so personal, and I need to find my way back to the creative child in me, and I need to connect more with others - two areas I've always wanted to work on.

So much for the "deep" stuff! Here are some new beads listed on Etsy:


Saturday, December 6, 2008

Seahorse Beads

Hello again!

I just have to share this little guy. He's the most perfect out of all the seahorses I made yesterday. I gave him a big belly so he can have lots of seahorse babies!

I like making these because each one has its own character and they go pretty quickly. Plus, they open up a great way to use all the different frit mixes that I've been hoarding for some future purpose.

"Frit" is just another name for crushed up glass; however, some people buy furnace glass (which comes in many more colors than the type of glass I use) and blend different colors and sizes together to sell their own particular frit "blends." Check out my friend Robin Koza's website, Glass Diversions, to see some examples of frit. ...And that concludes our lesson for today!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Puppy Love

Well, yesterday was my birthday. Yep. That's right. Another year older and quite a few pounds heavier, I'm afraid. Oh, well. What 'cha gonna do?

As far as beads go, they're getting better every day. The twisties are twistier and the florals are getting cleaner. I'm waiting on a new bead reamer to clean them, so right now they're just soaking in water. Hopefully I'll get some new pics up soon.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share my favorite YouTube video with you. It's the sweetest thing!