Time to Buckle Down and Touchstones of Life

I didn't get as much writing done yesterday as I wanted, but I did get all of my errands completed, three loads of laundry done and lots of fruit washed and chicken breasts baked. So the day wasn't a total loss by any means. However, it means that I still have a serious ticking clock making my life a misery for the next six days. I know yesterday was a very slow day at the shop and, even though I really need the customers and their money, I'm also rather hoping that today will be slow too. If it is, I might be able to wrap up the writing and begin the editing today.

I'll be cutting out letters and words today with gusto!
Editing MUST commence. 

Another possibility would be for me to begin the editing process now and then just end things with a flourish. My major problem is the word count - I want it shorter - a lot shorter. I have the same turf and questions being answered by various characters and since this isn't a "sky is falling, sky is falling" children's story, I need to cut out the repetition.

It's time to eliminate some of the repetition and streamline this story.

But in reality and in real life, repetition can be the touchstone that helps ground us to our lives and our loves. That good-bye kiss when I leave for work, that small pat on the backside when I walk by my DH, or just stroking down the back of a kitten or scratching the ears of a dog. These are all feel-good touchstones that can make me feel good.

There's just something about a cat's soft fur that begs to be stroked.

Have you ever purchased something just because of the touch? I've found that things made of stone can have that affect for me. Just stroking the stone can be calming and healing. This type of item is where the term touchstone originated. My touchstones are texture, but also light and color.

I love color and glass. I'm sure that's one of the reasons why I work in
glass when I have time to fire up my kiln or my torch. 

Sometimes I purchase something because of the light - the light it captures or sends out. That's where my candles and my glassware comes into play. The candles cast off a soft, warm light, and the glassware takes ambient light and magnifies or changes it in so many different ways.

There is something so soothing about the soft gleam of a lit candle. 

Then there's color - the color of our lives and homes. I've never been a fan of white walls.  I love color. My house is filled with wall art - paintings, weavings, baskets and metalwork by a variety of people. Each piece brings color into my life. As I age and look into selling many of my cherished items, I know I'll miss them. But life must go on and memories can be strong when things are no longer at hand.

This is NOT my home. Remember, I don't like white walls. But this
eclectic assortment of artwork on the walls is quite nice. 

Enjoy your Thursday. Get something accomplished so that I'll feel like I've done something today too :-)

Attempting to Refocus

I am winding down the projects for 2011 and starting to think about what I want to do in 2012. I know I want to do more enamel work, I know I want to play with my glass saw and fused glass pieces, and I'm really enjoying my writing and the photoshop pieces that I have worked with over the past nine months. But I don't have a specific deadline staring me in the face. Oh, I've already registered for some writing challenges. And I have a wooden base for an enamel piece that is barely hatched in my mind, but no specific deadlines. I have a year ahead of "no" though.

Rainbows of bead colors are just one of the fun things that B&B Show has tempted me with over the years. I will miss seeing friends I've met there, but the economy finally caught up with me.

I will NOT be attending Bead & Button Show for the first time since the 1990's. This will be a shocker and will take me some time to get used to the idea. But I'm doing less beading, and really developing my own personal style. I also just can't afford it any more. It's not the classes as much as the hotel room which is more than twice what it used to be. So I won't be in Milwaukee in June.

One of the fun things that the PMC Conference does are displays of work by various chapters and their members. This hallway at Purdue was filled with windows of exceptional metalwork - such inspiration!

I also won't be at any metal clay convention this coming year. It is the final year for the PMC Conference, and it will be held in a slightly more accessible location than Purdue University, but even though I will continue working in the metal clay media, I don't have the time/money to spend on going to the conference. So, it's looking like I won't get any vacation time in 2012, and that is really bumming me out. But if I can refocus on my art and spend the money that I would have spent on conferences on materials and equipment, I think I'll actually end up much happier in the long run.

Early Solstice Gift and Art

I should actually head this as early Christmas gift, since it is from my DH and he celebrates Christmas. But he will buy me the glass saw that I've been wanting, the one piece of equipment that I found, while working on my projects this year, that I really needed. So, he told me to go ahead and order it and he woud pay for it. I happily agreed, telling him that the only thing I had on my holiday list was Barnes & Noble gift cards for more e-books, so it will be really nice to have a gift under the tree. I suppose I could also add some iPod gift cards to my holiday wish list since I'm starting to buy some of the classical music that I so love.

The newest version not only has a light by the blade, but the entire blade can be removed and used free-hand. Sweet!

I did get some work done on my repair yesterday, and two loads of laundry, but I didn't get around to my beta work. I'm slapping myself on the hand and will do it tonight. I did treat myself with a trip to Penco Graphic Supply. A few weeks ago Groupon had an offer from them for $40 worth of art supplies for $20 and I grabbed that quickly. I never have a problem finding art materials that I want :-)

I want to be able to draw items like this on my colored background paper.

So I happily wandered their aisles for an hour. I picked up some wonderful tinted charcoals to play with, some ultra-fine colored gel pens and a nice inexpensive rolling cloth pencil holder that had enough slots for the charcoals as well as my watercolor pencils and those gel pens. Now they are all wrapped up in a nice, compact bundle calling my name. The one thing I was very very happy about was finding a good assorted colors Pastel tablet by Canson. Twenty-four sheets, 98 pound, six colors of four sheets each. I've been looking for a good multi-colored drawing pad for YEARS! Every art store I wander into, I look for one. They actually had several choices from a couple of manufacturers but this one was what I picked. I am so looking forward to playing with my new media on my new backgrounds. Now I can finally use my white pencils and charcoals. So, even if I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted, it was a very successful day.

Adventures in Life

This is the week that my father-by-marriage is getting his electricity re-done.  It is also the week where we are meeting the man who I hope will become our new accountant (on Wednesday) and the week where I get my brakes done on my car because they are dangerous at this point (on Thursday).  Whew!  I think I've got WAY too much going on this week. 

I hope my brakes aren't this worn out!

My DH has been very kind and forebearing, but I think it is time for me to start working on the den again, finishing the clean-up.  It is a disaster and shouldn't be.  The only problem is time - I don't have any to waste on my "day off".  And on Sundays, I prefer to spend my time with DH.  But, I may have to make some changes in my schedule and just get this done because it's bugging me too. 

And I have my BFAC beads sitting in front of me trying to tell me how they want to be attached to the glass that I pulled out of the kiln.  I'm very happy with my glass.  It took what seems like forever to get them formed properly, but it's all good now.  So, I'll have to dive back into my art and do less writing for a while - bummer :-(

Success with Glass, Squirrels and Tornados

So, the more aggressive firing for my glass worked.  I finally have the look I wanted for the pieces and I can start the beading this week.  This will allow me to work on my BFAC project while I'm at Bead & Button, so I'm happy.  I don't have a roomate this year - I decided to allow myself the luxury of not sharing since this will probably be the final time I attend this show.  I'll miss it in a lot of ways, but I have other things that I would rather spend the time and the money on, and I need to focus on that.  I would like to visit some of my on-line friends next year so I'll save my money for some shorter trips to different places instead. 

I was starving by 3pm yesterday and DH and I went to the local sports bar - Grumpy's - for dinner.  They had $4 build your own Bloody Mary's and $2 beers.  We were happy.  The food was really good too.  When we got home, DH went outside to look at the damage that our patio has been experiencing.  We have a drainage problem and we're losing a lot of soil and coming close to flooding the den with heavy rains.  Some serious work needs to be done.  On the way back into the house, I heard some serious noise coming from the fireplace (DH, with his lousy hearing heard nothing, of course).  The D____ed squirrels have built a nest in there and they now have babies and they are making a lot of noise and I'm very uncomfortable with having the darned four-legged critters living that close to me.  But I don't think I have an option right now because I won't evict young ones. 

And yesterday was an afternoon/evening for tornado warnings.  We didn't get hit as hard as Joplin, Missouri, which was hit very, very hard.  But we did get some touchdowns in northern Minneapolis and had a lot of property damage and one death.  The season is starting a bit early and with some serious clout.  Not good! 

Fighting with Glass

So, I ground down and did the final shaping on my glass on Thursday night, then figured a firing schedule that should have allowed some slump of the glass.  I set the program, fired the glass, and nothing happened.  So, I adjusted the firing schedule, set the new program with some longer times, and fired that yesterday.  Again, I still didn't get the results that I wanted.  So, today I will get aggressive (and hold my breath hoping that I won't ruin things by doing a more aggressive firing).  Before I leave for breakfast today, I will have the kiln firing for the third time on this group of glass.  I have two other batches waiting for this group to finish.  Oh well, eventually it will all work out.  It's pretty, and I can work with it the way that it is, but I would prefer to have my glass slumping in the way that I envision. 

It's been a great ride so far and I've enjoyed all of it.

The world is supposed to end today, or at least the "Rapture" is supposed to happen...on a rolling schedule at 6:00 p.m. tonight.  I guess I'll meet all of you later tonight since I certainly won't be Raptured anywhere.  The whole thought of being with people who are that single-minded, without the different opinions that a variety of belief systems can inspire.  But, if the world does happen to end...well, it's been a great ride and thanks for all the fish. 

Progress!

Well, Malcom came through and I was at his glass saw yesterday at 1 pm.  I love using these - they just cut right through like butter.  I do have to grind things smoothly before placing them into the kiln for a final melt, but I'm really happy with the results, and it was fun seeing Malcom again.  We figured out that I've known him for about 20 years now.  He's doing some wonderful things with custom lighting fixtures - very nice.  He also showed me his larger equipment that I'm welcome to rent time on - his large flat grinder...oh, the possibilities :-)  I now have the pieces scattered across the top of my clothes washer and I hope that tonight I can spend some time with my grinder and do the final shaping so that I can set the kiln to start cooking again.  If all works smoothly I will be able to start beading next week.  At least on some parts.  I still have drilling to do also, and that, potentially, can cause the entire thing to crack open, so it has to be done very carefully. 

This is NOT one of Malcom's lights, but it's very cool, isn't it?

I got my author assignment for the LOTR Big Bang and was contacted by him last night.  I think we'll be able to work very well together.  I've never done story illustration before in my life - I only have to produce a single picture, but who knows?  I need some clarification from the organizers on the deadlines, but once I receive those and do a bit more thinking about what I want to portray, I'll be ready to start work on this.  How fun!  Have a great Thursday! 

Aarrgghhhhh!! and Other Thoughts

Oy!  Have I said lately that I just can't win?  So, Malcom has a time conflict.  I had Emailed him to confirm my 11am time at the glass saw, and it turns out he has a TV interview for an art crawl that ended up getting into that slot.  He would be able to fit me in tomorrow, but that won't do me any good because I'm only off on Wednesdays.  But I have a good shot of making it out there this afternoon sometime between 1 and 3.  I gave him my cell phone number and told him to call me.  His studio is only about 15 minutes away from me, so it won't take me long to get there when he calls.  Otherwise, we'll have to schedule for next week which will push me one more week behind on this project.  NOT happy! 

Harmon Killebrew died yesterday.  For those of you who are not baseball fans, he was one of the nicest people ever!  His standard biography states:  Born June 29, 1936, Harmon was signed by the Washington Senators in 1954 at the age of 17. Harmon “Killer” Killebrew amassed numbers matched only by the game’s very elite. In his 22 years of hard work and productivity, he was named American League All-Star 13 times, the 1969 American League MVP and a six-time American League home run leader. In 1984, Killebrew joined baseball’s immortals with his election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was so respected in baseball that even though the Twins were playing an away game in Seattle, the Mariners pulled down all team flags and flew their own flag at half-staff in respect.  They also held a minute of silence.  This from an AWAY game.  Pretty amazing.  We'll miss you, Harmon.  You were a very classy and polite player and will be remembered throughout the league as a beacon.  RIP. 

Focusing on Wednesday and Tools

So I am carrying glass pieces to work with me today to finalize exactly what I want to accomplish while I am at Malcom's studio tomorrow.  If you recall, I managed to find out that he had a glass saw for rent, so I'll be at the studio tomorrow morning and ready to cut the larger centerpiece of glass as well as additional side pieces.  I hope Malcom might have a few minutes to talk also - he is WAY more experienced with glass than I am and I had a few questions that he might be able to answer. 

Hank Adams pouring glass at Wheaton Arts studio

I got my next weekly prompt for my drabble.  Fell Beasts have ended and we are starting a much more benign series based on hairdressing terminology.  So from Balrog to Comb - whew!  Did you hear the air moving, that was the whiplash of my head moving from one polarity to another - LOL. 

And I got my story assignment for the LOTR Big Bang.  I had mentioned this a while ago - I'm not writing for it for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the length of the story required, but I did speak to the moderators, show them my art, and ask if I could be assigned as an artist.  They agreed, and I have now had an author assigned to me for me to create artwork for their story.  I'll be turning this around in my head, and I'll need to double-check their deadlines also so that I'm sure I'll be timely with my format and then I can think hard about what type of artwork I want to produce.  This will be fun! 

Saturday on My Mind

Well, so here we are at the end of another week. I have a full work day today, Italian food for dinner, and then a trip to Target for grocery shopping. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning, I'm just exhausted.  

I'm looking at the glass on my desk and trying to decide exactly what I want for my next step. I have Malcom's glass saw reserved for 11:00 am on the 19th for an hour, and I want to make sure that I not only have the larger piece ready to cut out, but also any other smaller ones. It is much faster to cut glass with the ring saw, and there is every possibility that I will be able to cut several pieces. I have two larger slabs of glass that I want to have shaped smaller. On Wednesday the 11th, aside from celebrating my birthday (which I found out I share with Malcom - how cool is that!), I want to fine-tune the shapes that I ground out this past Wednesday, and if I decide to put any platinum overlays on top of the glass, this will be the time to do it. So I'll look at my glass for a while because I don't want mistakes - every step has to be deliberate. I'm not keeping this piece - it will be up for a charity auction in 2012 - but I will be putting work into it and I will be looking at it for a few months and photographing it later this summer. I'm fighting time deadlines here, and I can't afford mistakes.

 Here's hoping that you have a weekend of joy and, if you are able to spend it with your Mother, or with your children, have a very happy Mother's day.

My Hero

Malcom Potek is my hero.  He didn't rescue me from a burning building, and he didn't save my financial ass by pulling my assets from a crooked money manager; he offered me the use of a piece of equipment that I needed at a reasonable price and with a schedule that works with mine. 

This fused glass piece is by Charlotte Behrens and is called

Amber Dreams.  I looked for work by Malcom, but couldn't

find any good pics of his pieces. 

Malcom is a glass worker.  I grew to know him many years ago - at least 20 years ago, when his mother brought some exquisite black ash baskets in to my store for me to look at and possibly purchase.  I have one of them next to my fireplace to this day - they were really stunning.  I really enjoyed getting to know Nancy over the years, and when I met Malcom, we hit it off.  He creates wonderful fused glasswork and has a studio in Minneapolis where he teaches lampworking classes and rents hot torch and cold forming time.  When I have customers interested in learning how to work with glass, I always refer them to him because he knows what he's doing.  He's talented, and he's been making his living with his glasswork for many years now. 

The Taurus ring saw could make my wish list, if I could

find a used one at a reasonable price. 

I needed access to a ring saw.  A ring saw cuts glass, and I have some larger and some additional shapes that need to be cut from the glass I fused last week.  I spent most of my Wednesday cutting four smaller pieces by hand, and I didn't want to even think about trying to do that for the larger and more complex pieces.  I've used a ring saw before and I knew it could do what I wanted with a minimum of fuss and time.  The problem is, they cost $350 and that's WAY more money than I have or can spend.  So I Emailed Malcom to find out if he had one for rent and he does; $25 for an hour of cold studio time.  I'm deliriously happy.  I'll bring my glass there in two weeks and cut out all of the shapes that I need, then I can take them back home to flash fire them.  I need to work this project carefully, mistakes can't be redone so each step needs to be carefully thought out before I begin the beading.  The beadwork, at least, will be easier :-) 

Flooding and Accomplishments

My heart goes out to the people who live along the Mississippi River downstream from us.  We had bad flooding here a few weeks ago, but everyone escaped unscathed.  However, downstream from us it seems to be a much different story.  When I was a young archaeologist, I was hired to be a supervisor on a dig in Illinois.  It was my first trip to the Midwest and I was amazed by the amount of green - it was so luscious that it looked as if you could cut it with a knife.  One of the places that I was in fairly often was the small city of Cairo (they pronounce it Kay-roh, not like the Egyptian city).  Cairo is in danger of getting innundated by the rising waters, in fact the Army Corp of Engineers blew up levees holding back the waters to allow the waters egress.  It is hoped that without the waters backing up behind the levee, Cairo might be spared.  They have done the same thing to other cities further down the river also.  It's not expected to hit maximum flood stage for another week.  My heart goes out to these people, it was a nice area of the country and the people were quite friendly. 

Cairo is located at the meeting of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.  Because

it is low-lying, it has always been susceptible to devastating floods. 

Yesterday's craft day was generally successful.  I have discovered that I can't do a lot of shaping by hand,, at least not enough for the central element that I was envisioning.  I need a ring saw for that, and they are expensive.  I phoned the local glass shop to see if they rented ring saws, but they don't.  I don't have the spare several hundred dollars, so I'll try phoning a few more places today in the hope that someone has a cutter that I can use.  It was abysmally slow, but I did get the four pieces I needed to continue working on this project completed and I flash fired them last night.  They turned out nice, and now I need to get going on the next part, pull out the beads again, and begin stitching things together.  I hope that my vision was a true one, otherwise I've wasted two weeks in an experiment on a project that I don't have any available time to waste.  I'll know by  next week. 

Cutting Glass and Editing

It's my Studio Day today, and I'm so pleased.  I brought home my larger jewelers saw frame last night, the one that I keep at my home bench is too narrow for the glass that I want to cut.  I'll cut and shape the glass that I fused last week today, and then I can begin putting all of this together.  I am still working out the center element in my head, but I can at least get going on Step 2 of my BFAC 2012 project today, and I'll get to play with my glass grinder - fun, fun, fun. 

This isn't even close to what I'm working on in glass

right now...but isn't it just gorgeous? 

I also have a story by my German friend to edit, three stories of my own to work on, and I want to play with digital painting and I really need to get some house cleaning done, and the usual laundry, and the NookColor has a program update that will make it more of a tablet computer that I want to get loaded, and...and...  Well, it's a certainty that the grass, such as there is, won't be growing underneath my non-moving feet today because my list of things to do is a mile long, but my actual roadway is closer to 500 feet in length.  In other words, I have too much to do for the time I have available to do it in.  Happy Wednesday! 

Step One Complete and a Wedding

Step one of my BFAC is now complete (there will be a lot of steps, so don't think that I'm that far ahead of anyone - LOL). But the glasswork that I wanted to make for the piece turned out very well. Now I have some decisions to make - size and whether or not I'll do any embellishment. I have a bit of time to spread my beads out again and make sure I have everything that I want to use available.

Happy Wedding, Kate and WilliamWe're getting close to the arrival of Kate Middleton to Westminster Abbey, the Queen is in her car coming to the Abbey just now, so things are well under way. The Royal Brothers are spiffy in red and blue, and the Queen is in yellow. Carol Middleton was in a lovely lilac and I really enjoyed her hat. The hats at this wedding are over the top. I really hope that someone does a fashion spread of the hats, there are so many marvelous ones. Camilla is very conservatively dressed - that's appropriate. And Prince Philip is in red, just as Prince Harry is. Apparently that's the dress of the Irish Guards. All I know is a lot of cochineal beetles gave up their lives for that red - LOL. The Queen has arrived and the bells are peeling.  Party on, London and ye Brits.  Enjoy your day.  Well, I'm going to watch this wedding and enjoy it. I think that they are a great couple and I wish them all the best in what is bound to be a very public married life.

Playing with Fire

So today I'm back to work, my rose is sitting next to me brightening up my day, two electricians were found to make quotations on rewiring my father-by-marriage's home, two new CPA's have been found to phone and switch my business to one of them, and my kiln is still clicking as it goes through a VERY long cycle to fuse the first 4x4 square I'm making for my BFAC pieces.  It's rather like cooking a souffle - you can't open the oven to check the progress or everything falls apart.  I don't have a peephole or window in my kiln (I've been wanting one, but $ isn't there).  So it's an unknown until I open the door.  Either I will have a nicely fused 4x4 square of 3-layer glass, or I will have a serious puddle on the floor of my kiln which won't make me happy at all.  I still have one more piece to fuse before I can start the next stage.  I'm crossing my fingers that my fusing program had accurate times and temps for the complicated program that I input. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

I'm caught up on writing challenges, so I can either spend my mornings working on art or beadwork, or I can continue working more chapters of my Original Female Character.  She's been very well received by my fellow writers and is turning into a very popular character.  I have a good book that I'm in the process of reading all - that's probably where my efforts will go today.  I'm too tired to expend a great deal of energy.  24 Hours and Counting until the Royal Wedding. 

Busy Studio Day

Today I get to go glass shopping. I have an idea for my Beading For a Cure kit, and to do it I need to play with glass. "So" disappointing (just ignore this big grin on my face). So I need glass, I also need to drop by Barnes & Noble, and my box people. I should be able to get some experiments done today because glasswork is not as time consuming as my metalwork can be.

 Yesterday, my DH was awakened by my father-by-marriage phoning him shortly after 7am. He complained that his power had gone out shortly after 4am. So, I got to phone the utility company and report the outage. They came over and checked, and it was actually in the wiring going into the fuse box, so then I had to call an electrician to come over and get that fixed. Well, code won't allow them to do anything but a temporary fix because the electrical system needs to be upgraded and brought up to code. So next week the electrician will go over the house with DH and his father to give them an estimate about bringing the wiring up to code. Anyway, when I arrived home last night, there was a stunning red rose in front of my place at dinner with a note thanking me for my help. Sometimes my DH comes through in spades!

I have two stories in for crit right now, and I'm actually happy with both of them. So those will be posting onto ErulisseDances soon, if you are subbed to that board. Look for them by the end of the week.

Gimme Back That Filet of Fish

It's Friday; Friday during Lent. And even though I am happily Pagan, my DH was raised Catholic and enjoys keeping the idea of Lent. Whatever - it doesn't bother me at all. I'm cool with fish on Fridays - I love fish. So that means McDonald's Filet of Fish sandwiches for dinner. OK, this is not gourmet eating. And it's not like their FoF isn't available during the year, but it is one of my favorite McDonald's items and one that I order year-round. It's odd to wake up at 3:30 am and look forward to something I'll be eating 16 hours later, but that's how it is. I need that goal to make it through the day. So I'll have my two FoF sandwiches and a salad for dinner tonight and enjoy every bite - LOL.

(BFAC Necklace by Cynthia McBroom)

I had ordered a glass grinder and it arrived at the shop yesterday. Glass Crafters was running an excellent sale of 20% off everything that was in-stock, so I was able to get the grinder and a foot pedal for it at an excellent price. Since my DH will pay $100 towards this as one of my Holiday Gifts, I ended up paying $40 out-of-pocket. How sweet it is. And it will get used fairly quickly. I have a need for some shaped dichroic for a project of mine. Now if I could just get into the groove for my beading project for the 2011 Beading For A Cure. Although I have made up my mind about what I want to do, the time needs to be cut down and I need to hit my groove for beading. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I am trying to read on-screen at the same time as bead and watch TV. Nothing like multi-tasking!

(BFAC beaded doll by Penny Smith)

And take a look at these two items up for auction in this week's Beading For A Cure auctions. One or both of them could be yours if you bid high. Remember, the monies raised from BFAC go towards helping to erradicate colorectal cancer - a VERY worthwhile cause.

Bead & Button Week

Well, tomorrow is class registration for the Bead & Button Show. I decided that I would be able to attend, but for a far shorter time than usual. I'm cutting my usual 9 days down to 4-1/2 - a serious cut. There are two classes that I'm interested in getting and I'll try and grab those tomorrow when registration opens. My Manager and I are switching days off so that I can get registered. I already reserved my hotel room. Now all I have to do is find a roommate since my dear friend Pam will not be attending this year.

And I heard from two friends about my glass grinder tool decision. One, a friend from Oregon, has input for me on what might suit my needs best, and she may even have a used grinder that I could get from her for a reduced price (she owns several). The other friend, a jeweler who I absolutely admire for his wicked twist of thoughts for his projects, recommends against getting one. But, I actually think I'll get a lot of use out of it. I have projects in my head that will combine my fused glass and my enamel work into single pieces - wouldn't that be fun? And I have no real idea if that will be possible, but why not try? Yippee......play time!!!

Shopping, Planning...

One of the gifts that my DH presented me with for the holidays was a promise to put $100 towards the tool of my choice. After much thought (and marking many pages in my favorite tool catalogs) and discussions with him, I have decided that a glass grinder will suit me best at this time. In fact, the moment that I finalized the tool in my mind a project for enamel and glass popped into my brain. Now to see all of this become reality.

Having decided on the tool is only the first step. There are a lot of different glass grinders available and I need to determine which will be the best suited to the work that I want to do with it. They all operate in a similar style, but looking at product photos online just isn't coming clear enough for me. So I'll have to make a trip to my local stained glass supplier within a week or so and look over some of the models in person to help narrow my choices down. I don't mind putting a little bit of money into the purchase from my own funds if $100 is not enough to cover the purchase, but I need to know that the tool will actually fulfill my requirements not only for the next year or so, but for a long time. Ah....tool research. What fun!

Glass and Fire

What is it about glass that fascinates me so? I think it is the color and the fact that I can melt and form it. I love beadwork - after all, it has been my primary media for most of my life. But there is something so satisfying about painting with glass.

The wires were fused into the disks and I was able to start laying in colors on Saturday night. After the first firing of Laurelin, I think I'll be very happy with it. The first run of colors is fabulous. I'm placing a sunrise sky behind this tree and the bright oranges, sultry purples, pinks and roses, and glows of bright gold are wonderful. I'll put true 24kt gold in the "fruits" and the tree itself is "tea", a nice lighter brown, with golden highlights. The ground of Ezellohar is in varying colors of green, from light darkening to dark at the base of the hill. I think I'll continue work on Laurelin first and do Telperion afterwards. Telperion will be done in silvers.

And we went to the Rock Show yesterday. The PMC demo was OK, he uses a lot of molds, something that I don't use a lot. I bought some very nice slabs of agates and ran into a lot of people that I know. Primarily among them were my sister-in-law, my nephew and his youngest daughter, Emma. Also, VerLaine and her mom Claire, and my customers Amy and Gerry. For a small show, I certainly ran into many people - LOL. Then we dropped by Minnesota Fabric to find a grey wool for DH's cloak - but they didn't have one that worked well for us so I didn't buy anything this coupon. And finally we went to TGIFriday's for dinner. The Vikings won again, so DH is happy. Denver plays tonight - I hope that we can also keep our unbeaten status :-)