I thought you might.............

............need a break from all the lentils. I have been playing with some more enamel. I still have not exactly found a way to make it mine but I am working on it. More lentils tomorrow.

I might be...........

............addicted. I am having lots and lots of fun though. I am just loving the mixing of all this glass. It has been a while since I was just playing with color and design. I have however not come close to using up all of the piles of glass. I have not touched a new rod in a week though.

After...............

two full days of making very large beads my table looks worse than when I started but the rest of the studio has a couple fewer piles.

Day two.

Well here is day two of the challenge to use up all those rods. I have to admit I have really been having lots of fun with this. I did not realize not allowing myself to get out new rods would make me think through the colors that were already on my table.
I worked almost seven hours this day I was really on a role.

No new rods of...........

.......................glass were used in the making of these beads. That is the challenge, to use all the short rods and already used rods that are cluttering up the studio. I decided to start out making my favorite shape. This lentil is huge but I love the shape. I wear a bead shaped like this all the time and it just lays so nice. It also shows off lots of fun colors of glass and designs.
This is the first days work. I did not realize that I had that many pieces of pink and purple out and laying around.

Happy Holiday

we have been doing chores around here the freezer has been defrosted and my slippers are done we will see if i make this pattern again or find something different have a wonderful holiday

What I have done............

...........with Kate McKinnon's kit. A few months ago I ordered Kate's new kit and this is what came. All those lovely lovely beads were accompanied by that really fun bug. I am not the fastest seed beader but I have been playing and making the triangles in different patterns.
I actually have some ideas on how I am going to use these and they are frankly addicting cause I want to make more. They do take me a really long time though most of a day at least.

These Kate had been wearing as rings and they are really fun on your fingers the 6 pointed one fits my thumb and the little one in the back fits my Pandora bracelet. I so want to make more of those.

I did start on the studio clean up, use up short rods challenge but the beads are in the kiln and not cleaned yet so hopefully I will show you those tomorrow. I really had fun making things with colors that I don't use a lot. Any way you will get to see soon.

A Challenge

My friend Jodie and I have been talking about challenges and we have come up with a couple. Jodie asked the other day if I was going to take the challenge of using no new rods of glass until our torch tables were cleaned off. I did not have the heart to tell her that my torch table looked like this. But...............
............that was because it was so bad I just moved the pile to places around the studio like this pile and jar in one place. And .....................
.........this tray of one kind of glass. And..................
...............this tray of another type of glass. And ..........................

................yet another pile. I am sure there are more piles of mess in that room but my camera battery was getting low taking all the pictures. Jodie has posted pictures of the beads she has made just with short rods the last couple of days on her blog so you should go check them out. Starting tomorrow I am going to begin working on the mess of short rods I have made and see where it leads me. I will be posting pictures as I get them done so check back. I am sure to really meet the challenge will take me longer than it does Jodie she is just much less messy than I am even of her torch table looked worse to start.

New beads.

A customer asked me if I could make some beads inspired by Dale Chihuly shapes and this is what I came up with. She is pleased and I just love the new shapes and have been thinking about the jewelry designs I could see happening with them. But then the other day...........
......these came out of the kiln. They are pods and spikes and tendrils for the Alice's Garden series that I started almost a year ago and have not really worked on for almost that long. I am really excited about it again and can so see lots of pieces of new jewelry coming out of them.

Something different............

..........for me any way. I have been working on something for a customer. She wanted a very organic stacked kind of spike and I have been playing with making them for her and thinking how much I like them and how I can kind of see them in some jewelry. I will defiantly be making more and trying them out. But in making these I.........................
.............started making these little stacks. And while I have made stacked dots before I don't think I have ever left them kind of flattened out. I really like these and already have a project in mind but have to go back to the torch and make some more. I also like.............


...........how they kind of snug in together and might have to have some to work into something where they lay like this.