Glass Glitter?

Glass Glitter Mushrooms

I was playing around online, and found this stuff I’d never seen before called “glass glitter”.  Evidently it is being used to make cards and mushrooms like you see in the picture.  It was on the Meyer Imports site, and this is what they had to say:

Welcome to the world of Gorgeous Glass Glitter! Packaged conveniently in Take and Make packages, this finely ground colored glass is silver coated for extra sparkle and shine. Over time a beautiful patina ages the colors, to give you a really authentic vintage glass glitter look.  Available in a rainbow of colors and blends, German Glass Glitter also offers 4 different grit sizes. Ranging from the super fine 100 grit, to the super chunky 70 grit.

Produced in Europe by fine art glass glitter artisans, available exclusively from Meyer Imports.
Project suggestion: Use with our Craft Tac Glitter Adhesive to embellish any greeting card, scrapbook or paper art project!


Frit bead with spirals on top

Now anyone who makes glass beads knows this stuff by another name, frit.  We use it to make cool color patterns on beads.  In fact, it is what made the pattern on my bead here. Lots and lots of bead makers use frit, and lots of places sell it.  It tends to have sharp edges, and often has powdered glass in it that is bad to inhale.  So I can’t quite see using it on cards.  Has anyone out there done this?

Oh, and to see fancy frit beads, take a look at the Glass Diversions web site.  The center column is all frit beas, and they are delish!

February 5, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: bead  One Comment

Some projects…..

Pink braceletjust don’t turn out like you think they will!  This one started with 2 kinds of beads, both with a lavender core surrounded by hot pink.  I thought they would go great together, with the different shapes making things interesting.  Instead it turned out much more pink than I had thought it would!  The button is great though.  It is a vintage metal button that my mom gave me.  She gave me a whole bunch of vintage buttons and I’ve been using them as clasps for my bracelets.  Later this week, more bracelets!

Pink!

February 4, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: jewelry  No Comments

Something I never thought I’d hear….

Judy's mini-ornaments.

When I took Sylvie’s class, I got a ton of new size 15 seed beads in 10 gram bags. Well, actually I got 2 of each and sent one set to my mother in law, Judy. Judy is a beadaholic, and makes really cool things out of those teeny tiny beads. These ornaments are some that she made, and they are about 2 inches in diameter. Perfect for a mini Christmas tree! What I never thought I’d hear from Judy…. “You have satisfied my bead lust!”.

January 28, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: bead  One Comment

Tree Planting

pawpaw fruit

We planted 2 new trees this past weekend, pawpaw trees!  You don’t see them around much any more, but for years they were a diet staple over a lot of the US.  They produce edible fruit, and their seeds used to be made into a shampoo that killed lice.  In fact, the active ingredient in the seeds is what they make lice shampoo out of now.  The fruit are supposed to taste like banana custard.  It will be a few years before ours bear fruit.  They propagate like birch trees… the parent tree sends out shoots that become new trees attached to the parent.  So eventually we should have a little field of pawpaw trees!

If you want more info about the pawpaw tree, here is a good site with lots about the history of the tree.

Pawpaw flower

Inside the fruit.

Fruit in the tree.

January 26, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Look what I found!

Plum Crazy about PurpleI was shopping around Etsy for headbands today, and at the bottom of the page it showed other things I could buy.  Imagine my surprise when I saw a necklace made with one of my lampwork beads!  Oklahoma Mama made this, and here is what she says:

Oh, purple… how do I love thee? Let me count the ways ♥

I found this beautiful Satake glass lampwork focal bead (Purple Swirls from DogmawGlass) and just had to do something special with it!

6mm purplicious peacock potato pearls (say THAT five times fast!) are snuggled down with 3×6 purple jasper rondelles (thanks to JenniferCasadyGems)

The pendant is suspended from a sterling silver ball and chain & capped off with a pretty sterling silver barrel

Did you notice the sweet petite rondelles? They’re 2.5mm tanzanite…a semiprecious stone I’ve always wanted to work with and I’m so glad I did! They add just the right amount of pizzazz to this design

I went with a sterling silver bali “S” clasp
If you’ve never used one before, it’ll soon be your new favorite too! Just gently pull either end up and slip the ring off… pinch shut to reclose

DIMENSIONS:

Necklace itself: 18″ around
Pendant & chain: 2 1/4″
Pendant: 32mm x 28mm x 12mm

So check out her etsy shop and see lots of cool jewelry!  Clicking on the picture will take you to it.

January 21, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: jewelry  No Comments

Are you entering?

I am!  The ISGB Convergence II competition that is.  Here is the scoop, straight from ISGB:

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF GLASS BEADMAKERS ANNOUNCES

CONVERGENCE II: ADORNING THE PAST, PRESENT, AND PRETEND
JEWELRY DESIGN WITH ART GLASS BEADS INSPIRED BY PERSONAS OF FACT AND FICTION
The International Society of Glass Beadmakers invites you to participate in our 2010 exhibition!

Due to the incredible response we received for our 2009 project, Convergence, andwith the depth of work that was submitted, we have decided to revisit the concept for a second year with a few updates.

Convergence II is a juried show that will feature functional, wearable jewelry showcasing the use of handmade glass beads designed for an imaginary or historic figure (i.e., What jewelry might Amelia Earhart have worn – a compass necklace or a pendant of a bird in flight? What type of cufflinks would the Phantom of the Opera wear? If Madeleine Albright was speaking to the General Assembly of the United Nations, what brooch would she wear? What considerations would you make when designing a necklace for Marie Antoinette- would you make a heavily fortified choker? Would you make an Art Nouveau style hair comb for Rapunzel?) The possibilities and interpretations are endless and the stories of inspiration, we think, will be amazing to share!

Here is your chance, either as a solo artist or with a partner or partners of your choice, to participate in this one-of-a-kind exhibition. Jewelry can include, but is not limited to, components such as seed beads, fine metal, PMC, fibers, etc. We encourage you to use multiple mediums for your work. The main focus of the piece, of course, must be the glass bead(s).

Our mission is to once again showcase how handmade glass beads are incorporated into exhibition-quality jewelry, to develop a purchase-on-demand ISGB catalog of the exhibition pieces, and to publish selected jewelry with tutorials in various glass-related publications. We will also produce and make available a wonderful art card of the exhibition!

The exhibition will open in Rochester, NY at the 18th Annual Gathering. From there, Convergence II will travel to several different locations over the next twelve (12) months. In June 2011, Convergence II will be on display at the Bead&Button Show in Milwaukee and it will close in Ohio in July 2011.
My piece is done, Chris wrote the story, and now all I have to do is submit it.  When will you see it?  Well, the submission deadline is Feb 24, so I plan to post it on that day exactly.  Until then you will just have to wait. :)

January 20, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: bead show  No Comments

How to clean poop off your laptop.

Hime the wonder dog.

Not what you thought you would be seeing as a post title, was it?  Well in addition to being a mud eating dog, Hime loves loves loves to sit on my lap.  And usually I don’t mind.  About every couple of days I let her up for a snuggle.  Occasionally she surprises me while I’m working and jumps up without being invited.  The last time she did that, I had my laptop in my lap.

When I opened my laptop the next day, I discovered poop in my laptop between the keyboard and the screen!  Hime had shoved her little poopy butt against my laptop to wipe it off.  She has yet to figure out that she can wipe off those annoying pooplets by rubbing her tushie in the grass.

So back to the post title.  The best way to get poopies off your laptop is to let them dry there, and then scrape them off with a damp paper towel.  Cleaning them off when the poopies are wet just leads to smeared poop.  Using too wet a paper towel will also make them smear.

So check that doggie tushie, and remember, damp paper towel not wet.

January 19, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: bulldog  No Comments

Finally finished!

Sylvie's Dolly

Covering up boo-boos

I finally finished the dolly I started in Sylvie’s class.  I made her into a decoration instead of a bracelet.  The sleeve’s are different from the ones we learned to do in class too.

I did have a few problems with the neck, mostly because I didn’t measure how far around it was first.  So the neck didn’t fit in the dress.  Which meant I had to add around the neck, which gave her a really lumpy neck.  So I covered it all up with bead loops, and now you can’t tell at all!

I also had to redo the arms because I didn’t measure right for the hands.  Starting to see a theme here? :)   I think next time I will measure better.

Overall, she turned out really cute.  However I am not a cutesy person, so I think I’ll be making some skull beads to try the beading techniques with next time.

January 18, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: bead  2 Comments

I wonder…

Hair!!!

I used to have very short straight hair.  Then I started growing it out for locks of love, which is a great group that makes wigs out of regular people hair for kids going through chemo, or having other issues that deprive them of hair.

Locks of Love Mission Statement:

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Permed hair is ok for Locks of Love, even dyed hair.  Just not bleached hair, since that weakens the hair so much they can’t make a good wig from it.  They even take gray hair!

Over Christmas I got a Hair Bear perm.  I wonder how many people will recognize me at the conference today?

January 14, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Rise, my army!

LOLcats strikes again!

This was just too funny.  I wish I could say I was responsible for it, but it was on LOLcats.  Today I am on my way to a math conference in San Fransisco.  It sounds really cool, but I fly in late Wednesday, talk on Thursday, and fly out on Friday.  No time for sight seeing. :(

January 13, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment