my goodies from the bead swap and some Bead Bazaar purchases

…and trying to take it all in.  I had a FABULOUS time and have so much information now whirling around in my head i need a few more days to let it all settle in. The one thing i can say is i now completely understand why other beadmakers get so excited about going every year - it was 1001 times better than i expected – the demos, energy, eye candy, meeting beadmaking and glass legends, making new friends…  I can’t wait to go again!

I’ve slowly been loading the pics to my Facebook – so if you haven’t seen them yet, take a look there… I’ll try to load them to Flickr as well (for the non-FBers) by this weekend.

We showed up, set up a little display area and then Grace (the Glass Shoppe Studio owner) introduced me to the group.  There was a good range of skills in  the crowd – from people who’d never heard of lampworking and beginners who had just finished class a bit earlier to experienced lampworkers. 

I’d brought an example of the bead I was going to demo – a winged goddess made with glass that resembles Moonstone.  I actually had to steal that goddess from the Teenager since he claimed it for his collection right after the show.  I have to remember to give it back to him – the actual bead i demoed is on display in the “Vase of Fame” at the store.

I was pretty nervous at first but calmed down a bit as the demo got going.  Everyone seemed interested and asked questions plus from since my very first attempt, I’ve always found goddess beads incredibly calming and relaxing to make… they just flow with (from?) me. 

All kinds of ridiculous things happened – like i talked so much answering questions that i forgot to keep the bead heated and it cracked along the mandrel and a piece flew off her butt (doh!).  It was pretty funny as those were the sorts of errors i used to make as a newb but rarely do anymore.  So then of course, I took the opportunity to demo how to carefully heal a cracked bead without melting away all the details!

Once the demo was done i stayed to talk with the various people there including two lampworkers who just moved here from Winnipeg who I’d previously only ever communicated with online.  Being the demo artist was a ton of fun (despite my nerves) and now that it’s over I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity and looking forward to being asked to do it all again!

The Glass Shoppe is the first studio solely dedicated to lampworking (no fusing, stained glass, etc.) in Ottawa and was sorely needed!   Grace has an awesome set-up - lots of torches, great ventilation, spacious workstations, comfortable seating – i could go on… She also showcases the work of many local and Canadian glass bead artists and plans to bring in famous instructors (Yippee!!). 

I left several of my goddess beads and some jewellery for sale there so do stop by and have a look! 

I was asked to be the June Demo Artist by Grace (formerly the Lauscha Lady) at the newly opened Glass Shoppe Studio - Ottawa’s newest lampworking store!  A goddess bead was requested so i’ll be demoing how i create them - likely a winged goddess since that seems to be my newest THING.  Soooo… if you’ve ever wondered how a goddess or sculpted glass bead is made, be sure to stop by on Saturday if you’re in the area.

I’ll have some of my newest inventory of beads for sale during and after the demo as well, so if you didn’t make it to the Festival a couple weekends ago, here’s another chance to get a look at my newest creations.  Apparently this is called a Trunk Show so that will be another first for me!

Grace wrote some lovely things about me (i didn’t coach her, honest, lol!), you can view the publicity details here on the OGBA website:

Evelyn – ShebaMakeda Glass Art Demo

Details here:

ShebaMakeda Glass Art Demo & Trunk Show

Date:   Saturday, June 19, 2010

Time:   1-4pm

The Glass Shoppe Studio

210-12A Colonnade Rd

Ottawa, ON  Canada    K2E 7L5

For more info contact: Grace Edwards

613.230.4414

grace@theGlassShoppeStudio.com

(click either of these pics to print details in larger format)

Hope to see you there!

www.artinfoboy.org

It’s been an extremely hectic past couple months here and i’m enjoying the luxury of several days off, time with family and not having to think about either the day job or bead orders for a little while. 

I’ll be back into beadmaking and blogging again once the new year arrives…

In the meantime, i’ll leave you with a couple seasonal videos - above: a fantastic rendition of the classic Christmas song “What Child is This” with Andrea Boccelli featuring Mary J. Blige and below a hilariously tongue in cheek  Bollywood version of Jingle Bells.

In case you’ve been wondering why i’ve been so quiet…

i’ve been busy with the day job and prepping for our annual handmade glass bead show next weekend.  Last year was such a hit, we’ve extended the show to TWO days this year and changed to bigger location.

I’ll have my usual selection of goddess and Pandora beads plus some other new designs in focals and maybe even some jewellery!

You can find out more details about the show here:  http://www.ottawaglassbeadartists.com/ and artist stories here: http://ogba.wordpress.com/ 

See you there!

I’ve relisted the two Pear Tree beads and the Liquid Fire goddess bead HERE.  They are really some of the best beads i’ve made – all three came out of the kiln better than i expected.  I have a couple more beads i’m planning to list next week as well.  Take a look, auctions end October 15th.   Happy bidding!

UPDATE 10/19:  well, it seems eBay was not the right market for these beads – I’ll list them to my Etsy store this week instead… In other news, i received the loveliest thank you note from my first Etsy buyer.  It makes me so happy when i know the recipient loves their bead as much as i do!

I have three auctions listed on eBay – click any of the pictures below to take a look!