The tut is for a chocolate dipped strawberry glass bead -

i made a pile of these (and other glass truffles) as favours for a wedding last spring and demoed this bead at the Glass Shoppe Studio last September.  It received very positive feedback both times so i thought it might make a fun bead design to share  as well.

The tutorial will be published in the February 2012 issue of the Soda Lime Times, an e-zine for lampworkers.  If you’re a subscriber, you’ll receive your issue just after midnight tonite!

Try the tutorial let me know what you think!

wedding favours from last spring

…quote from Paul Stankard’s artist statement.

The video is Paul reflecting on 50 years making glass and how now it has become so much more personal.  If you’re not familiar with his incredible flameworked paperweights, check them out here: http://www.paulstankard.com/ .

My faves are the ones with the tiny people hidden in the roots.

Glass Shoppe Studio
210 Colonnade Drive, Unit 12A
The Glass Shoppe Studio website

I’m all set up with my goddesses discounted for a one-time sale.

I’ll also be demoing at 3:00pm – a chocolate covered strawberry bead is what I’m thinking of making…

Hope you can make it!!

I’ll have lots of new goddess beads and jewellery…

This year my booth is located right near the Bank Street entrance to the festival: #17 South Pathway.  

For more details and ongoing sneak peeks into what i’ll be bringing to the show,

check out  this event on my my Facebook Fan page here: 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125876944158256

Hope to see you all there!  

Click the map for a larger printable version.

(Many thanks to the Teenager who designed this poster for me!)

I’ve been working on a large custom order for glass truffles – these are all about one inch in size.  It’s been fun trying to come up with a variety of designs that look real, edible yet also work in glass form.  They will eventually be wired and boxed as wedding favours. 

If you’re curious about how these are made and are in the Ottawa area, i’ll be demoing today at noon at the Glass Shoppe Studio here in Ottawa.  Details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207300679292863

Whether  you celebrate the Christian part or just the candy part, my best wishes for you and your family on this blessed day.

…cuz it means that my muse and I are playing nicely together and the kiln is full.

For the past year or so I’ve been drawing out my glass bead ideas on whatever piece of paper was closest to my hand.  It was like a weird compulsion: even though I couldn’t create at the torch my brain would randomly start teaming with new designs before dropping back into its non-creative daze. Never happened in the studio of course, they would pop up during my non-creative time like midway through emails, conversations, meetings, training sessions, dinner etc. First thing in the morning, as well was kind of nuts as I’d desperately try to draw out whatever beads I woke up with in my head before the images disappeared from my consciousness.

The result of that madness was a lot of new and fresh ideas… unfortunately though, drawn on random pieces of paper scattered throughout the house. So, a couple weeks ago I decided to buy myself a sketchbook and collect them all inside.  It came with a plain grey cover that practically begged for decoration so I freehanded a Holly Cooper style bird and some random doodling. I learned how to draw that style of bird with fine stringers on a bead in her class last month and i’m trying to find a way to use it on my beads while still making them look like my own.

The back of the sketchbook is still bare.  I think I might draw a goddess next…

…but i still managed to make a goddess. This is one of my daily 365 Project photos - so far i’m just loving this creativity resolution.  I struggle with photography but taking a picture everyday really forces me to think about the subject, framing, etc.  Hopefully by the end of the year there will be an obvious improvement…

One of my 2011 resolutions is to complete The 365 Project - take a photo a day, every day and post it online for the full year.  I’ve wanted to participate in this online public art project for years but never got around to it – carrying a bulky camera around was just too inconvenient.  Now that i have an iPhone though, it’s completely doable and given the multitude of photo capture and editing apps in iTunes, actually kinda fun!  I’m hoping this project will really spur my creativity in addition to also improving my photography skills…

So far i’m quite enjoying myself and have lots of ideas of what to post (thanks to the many blogs discussing the project).  I’ve decided to keep a completely open mind and capture whatever strikes my fancy rather than maintaining a specific theme.  My son (in the pic) and one of my sisters are participating as well and we’re all hoping we have the stamina to last through the full 365 days – seems daunting when i’m only at Day #4!

Sooo… if you’d like a daily peek into my life as a part-time glass bead artist, click the picture above to get to my 365Project profile and subscribe to follow me there… these pics will only occasionnally show up on this blog.