I'm Addicted to Barn Owls!

Who knew that I'd get an addiction at this old age? I know, I should be writing about glass and creativity, but somehow, I think we can call this inspiration.

If somehow you have missed Molly the barn owl and her baby owlets, visit the live cam as she protects, feeds and definitely keeps warm, her brood of owlets.

And as of when I'm writing this, there is one more egg to be hatched, if it hasn't done so already. Stop by and visit, in case you see this magic happening. When they're all done, there (hopefully) will be 5 babies.

If you look closely between her wings, you'll see one of the owlets which looks like a cross between an almost bald flamingo and a pterodactyl. I believe that one is named Max.

Tomorrow, back to glass and all the fun stuff, but for now, I'm watching my own Owl-tv and enjoying seeing nature and its beauty.

Beads in Space!

Beads of Courage in Space! Contest!

(the following is directly from the Beads of Courage website)

How would you like one of your beady creations to take a ride on the Space Shuttle? We’re not kidding! As part of TEAM Beads of Courage we send handmade beads on special journeys and when they return they’re presented

to Beads of Courage kids. NASA is joining TEAM Beads of Courage and will be

taking some TEAM Beads of Courage for a ride into outer space with astronauts

on the next shuttle launch!

Here’s the scoop:

1. Entry fee for this contest is $15.00 for every three beads submitted.

2. All beads become property of Beads of Courage (BOC). If your beads

are chosen (by BOC jury) they will blast off on a space shuttle and be

presented to BOC Member kids upon their return as a source of

enCOURAGEment from TEAM Beads of Courage!

3. Beads not making the shuttle will be used for other BOC purposes

including but not limited to: fundraising web site sales, online sales, as

Acts of Courage beads for kids, fundraising sales displays, as jewelry

components, etc. all benefitting BOC in some way.

4. Any and all beads may be photographed by BOC and used for

promotional materials for Beads of Courage, including but not limited to:

publications, posters, postcards, blog entries, online promotions and

marketing.

5. Credit will be given to artists in publications and and elsewhere.

6. You agree to the above by entering the contest.

-----------

Now, let's chat for a sec. I'd really like for all of you glass artists to enter, please. Not only do you get a one in a million chance for something as wonderful as sending a bead into space, but Beads of Courage gets some great beads, publicity, and of course, the big winners are the kids. I'm hoping you'll join me in entering. Please visit the Beads of Courage website for additional rules and the entry form.

Beads From Platters?

I saw this Flower Platter featured in Crate & Barrel's sale catalogue.

I don't know about you, but it sure looks like a cool bead to me. I like the pattern and the colors which read very modern to me. I think we can match those colors pretty well throuth the soft glass palette too.

So do I have any takers out there? Anyone want to try an interpretation of it with me? If I get a couple people to say yes, we'll do a show and tell on this blog and how we all choose to interpret it. Literal is not necessary. So what do you say? Join me?

Oh, and if you just like the platter and want to pick one up, the link to it is right HERE.

Pig Tutorial for Beads of Courage

Here is a free tutorial that I quickly drew out yesterday in response to a request for a Pig Tutorial for a Beads of Courage project. I hope you'll download this and use it with a smile in your heart and blinders on regarding my artistic ability. I bet you can figure out what I mean. If you want this as a pdf, please email me at StudioMarcy@gmail.com and I'd be happy to shoot you the file.

Now make those beads for Dylan!
See you tomorrow,
Marcy

International Flameworkers Conference

The 10th International Flameworking Conference was held in NJ last weekend and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

Pictured here, is Lucio Bubacco as he was lampworking an angel which eventually held a paperweight, (in honor of Paul Stankard). It was part of a large piece that had been brought from Italy for the occasion.

Other fabulous demonstrators included the delightful Paul Stankard, Robert Mickelsen, Kari Russell-Pool, Cesare Toffalo, Ginny Ruffner, Loren Stump, Carmen Lozar and Shane Fero.

I have to say, I thought I had died and gone to glass heaven with all of them there and talking and showing their art. And the rest of the audience was PDC too. (pretty darn cool) I met a lot of other flameworkers, some gallery owners and folks who specialize in other styles of glass as well. The students from Salem Community College in the glass department were awesome as well. The did demos in the Hot Shop, on the lathe and at torches.

Some of my personal highlights? Well there were so many and I know I'll accidentally leave some out..watching Lucio work with amazing speed and finesse. It was almost like watching a magician and Emilio Santini's explanation and chat about it while it was done. Cesare Toffalo's use of gold leaf with boro- lip smacking gorgeous, Paul Stankard's paperweight and conversation with Lucio while both working side by side. Ginny Ruffner's presentation...I want to be like her when I grow up. Her creative mind is astounding...of course there was Loren's drop shaped paperweight made out of boro as part of a collaboration with Carmen Lozar whose work I love. Kari Russell-Pool mixes her own canes and colors and creates intricately beautiful large pieces. And I could keep going. Each artist brought something different and exquisite to the table.

For me, I have a notebook full of quotes, little notes and dreams. Not only to return each year, but to try these hints and tips that I picked up while watching. As I try them, (after my upcoming trip) I'll let you know how they turned out. I think I must have gathered a couple of month's worth, at least.

See you tomorrow!

Meet Molly the Barn Owl

If you haven't had a chance to follow the live camera on Molly the Barn Owl, you're missing out. Please click HERE, to watch her in real time. Molly lives in an owl box about 15 feet up in the air. You can read more about her, her eggs and enjoy a little owl life up close and personal. There's something almost magical about watching her every movement. Is it glass, not at all, but to me, seeing this beautiful natural element is definitely art.

Happy Birthday Grant

I think my daily readers know I tend to keep family and too much personal stuff away from my blog. But today is one of those exceptions to the rule.

What you see here is an old photo of a photo with too many shadows, but somehow, I couldn't let today go by without a shout out to my son, Grant.

It's his birthday. Well, to be exact, his 25th, which is a pretty auspicious year, if you ask me. I'd do the "Mom thing" about telling you how wonderful he is, but this posts on facebook and I don't want to embarrass him even more. But I can assure you, without him, I would have never tried skydiving.

So how about joining me in wishing him a Happy Birthday. And I promise, tomorrow will be back to glass, art and creativity talk- business and fun as usual.

Upcycling Artistically

I've always known that there are a lot of good uses for old tires. In fact years ago, my daughter personally tried to make sandals out of some. I didn't tell her that the ones she was trying to cut, were steel belted. I thought it might keep her busy longer.

Anyhow, this was one of my favorite ways of seeing tires put to good use. There's something about this statue that not only makes me smile, but I want to climb onto it and just sit on its lap, in the sunshine.

What do you use that is recycled in your every day life or art? I'd love to hear about it.

Men in Leather Skirts, Whynatte?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I saw an article about these two guys, Andrew Wessels and Jesse Altman, and I thought more folks needed to know about them.

These two have a company called Whynatte. I guess after an evening of partying, Jesse's friend dropped a shot of Jager into an Espresso. When asked if he wanted to try it, he answered, "Whynatte" And the brand was born.

At first, they wanted just to get the name into popular lexicon, and after careful consideration, they decided to sell the product that goes with the name. Says Jesse. “We had a brand and a following, but no real product.”

So they hired an expert and invented the Whynatte Latte, which is a cold energy drink that is also served in bars with your favorite shot of alcohol.
Expanding farther into Georgia after four years in the Atlanta area, the sky is the limit.

And the leather skirts? Well, the guys said that they enjoy the freedom of movement. I'm keeping my comments to myself on that one!

See you tomorrow...

Entertaining New Didymiums

Well, I got these cool new didymiums through Blue Moon Glassworks. They have sturdy tortoise style shell frames and are lightweight. I like the size of the frame too. It doesn't overwhelm your face, but protects it well.

Instead of using my stick on magnifiers, I opted for the clip ons, which I thought would work. In all honesty, I'm still getting used to them. They weigh a little more than the stick ons, but aren't too heavy, just different.

Have you seen the clip ons when they're flipped up? I couldn't help but notice that if you flip them all the way up, they make you look like you have a butterfly face. See what I mean? The magnifiers look like antennae.
And if you drop down the glasses to the end of your nose, you can look like you have a handlebar mustache and wire rim glasses.

I'll try to be more serious in my next blog post. But until then, go out and have a little fun. I promise, the laughter is good for you.
See you tomorrow, right here http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

Top 100 Art Beads

Have you added your Etsy Shop to Jenelle Aubade-Caracas' website, Top 100 Beads?

You can click on the website and look down to the center of the page for the "Add Your Website " button. It's easy and a good place to to show your stuff!

If you buy beads- lampwork, pmc, clay, paper, mixed media and plasic- what an enjoyable place for you to go shopping? Cruise through the banners and photos and see which ones interest you. I can poke around there for hours.

Have fun with the eye candy.

St. Patrick's Day Greetings

I know, today is the day we all have a little Irish in us. I know I do. My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Ryall and she always talked about her Aunt Tessie O'Neil. Claiming a little today, is fair game in our family.

But I wanted to show you my little leprechaun that I made a year or two ago. I've always saved his photo, because I like his little outfit and face. He's even carrying a pot of gold, although today, I'd probably use some reduction glass to get more of a shine out of it, or at least some aventurine.

So wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day and of course, a pot of gold.

International Flameworking Conference This Weekend

The International Flameworking Conference in New Jersey is this weekend, March 19-21. Celebrating the 10th year, the SCC welcomes back eight of the previous nine featured artists: Robert Mickelsen, Lucio Bubacco, Kari Russell-Pool, Cesare Toffolo, Ginny Ruffner, Loren Stump, Carmen Lozar and Shane Fero.

Paul Stankard will present a slide show the first evening along with Andrew Page, the editor of the Glass Quarterly at Urban Glass. And there will be demonstrations and talks by some of the featured artists throughout the remaining weekend along with a reception, banquet, and auction benefiting the college glass program. And a few vendors too!

Is anyone else planning to attend? I'd love to see you while I'm there. And of course you can be sure that I'll be blogging about it after the fact. I can't help but be excited and thankful to see all that glass greatness in one place.

Studio Marcy Featured ~ Thanks Linda!

I am delighted that Linda Lawrence chose me for her featured artist yesterday on her blog, Bella Bead Jewelry .

Linda had a list of questions for me to answer and one of my favorites was choosing three words to describe myself. Have you tried doing that? I just have so many that would work, depending on the time of day, circumstances and all other factors. Try it. Post three adjectives describing yourself in the comment section.

And meanwhile, please pop over to Linda's blog. It's such a fun one and every Sunday for awhile, she'll be featuring another artist. Oh, and look to the future. Linda and I are both going to make a Tweedle from the Alice in Wonderland movie. Anyone else want to get in on the action? It will be fun to compare and contrast them and how we went about choosing how to do them.

See you tomorrow!

AmericanStyle's Top 10 Fairs & Festivals

AmericanStyle polled their readers for their Top 10 Fairs and Festivals around the country and came up with the following list.

•Kentucky Crafted: The Market
Louisville, KY
•St James Court Art Show
Louisville, KY
•Paradise City Arts Festival
Northampton, MA
•Scottsdale Arts Festival
Scottsdale, AZ
•Francisco's Farm Arts Festival at Midway College
Midway, KY
•Kentuck Festival of the Arts
Northport, AL
•Bayou City Art Festival
Houston, TX
•The American Craft Council Show in Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
•League of NH Craftsmen's Fair
Newbury, NH
•Des Moines Arts Festival
Des Moines, IA

I'm happy to share the names, but I just don't have words of wisdom about any of these shows. I've never done any of them and tend to shy away from these. My work tends to sell well online, so I've always stuck with that primarily. But I know a lot of you sell at these shows,

I'm hoping that some of you experts out there, would please post some words of wisdom for all of us? The article also had some great info on each of them as well as more photos.

See you tomorrow!

How The Chicken Crosses The Road

I saw this fun collaboration over on Beaders Showcase. Artist Dot Lewallen and her husband worked together to make this amusing piece.

The rooster is a beaded beanie baby while the rocket is made from recycled vintage radio tubes. The pairing creates a whimsical sculpture that certainly makes me smile.

Dot has a photo album at the bottom of her page on Beaders Showcase. Just scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Squarbles

I am somewhat enamored by these darling Squarbles by Nicholas Kekic.

Sold in sets of three on Artful Home, the encased colorful canes give a slightly new slant to paperweights.

Seen any glass art that is functional and shows a different creative slant? Please shoot us a link so we can all enjoy it?

New Mini Website!

This past weekend was busy for me. I was working with Rose Wilson of http://www.webdazynz.com to build a mini website for me.

Wow, what a sweetie to work with. She told me that she's been doing this since 1999. Here's an excerpt from something that she told me, that really hits home. "My tagline is 'Simply Cool Websites' because I still adhere to the same principle that a website should be simple and clean by design, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. I am a firm believer in the fact that if a site is too hard to focus on, that people will click off your website pretty quick and be on to the next one."

Yep, couldn't agree more. And one of the first comments I received on it was that they liked that it looked "organized" with my diverse style of beads.

I saw Rose's ad on www.lampworketc.com and knew the time was right. I already have a mini one with my business name, "Studio Marcy", but thought adding another one that leads to my etsy shop as well, under my own name, Marcy Lamberson, would help potential customers find me in the google search system. Rose took care of securing the url and that kind of stuff too. She'll just send me the bill to renew each year.

And the whole process was easy. Rose communicated with me so fluidly, that I knew I would get what I wanted, even if I wasn't sure at the start. For some reason, I got it in my head that I wanted the color red to star in my new site. Now I've never really had a lot of red before, but thought this was the time to test it out. (go ahead, roll your eyes here.) Some of the journey was finding a color I love that I wanted with the red. As you can see, Rose helped me find a way to use aqua, my favorite color.

She is a corporate website administrator by day and does this and lampwork at night. Someone who understands us! (and heaven knows, I sure tested that.)

So stop by and see my new mini website http://www.MarcyLamberson.com and Rose's website http://www.webdazynz.com And if you decide to try her out, please tell her I sent you.

See you tomorrow right here!

Watch Out!

Need some color inspiration? How about a place to waste a little time? Then just pop over here.

There are a couple of free games, (time wasters), that are kind of fun. From this ball game where you click on the different balls and it separates them into four more balls to my favorite puzzle, Boxspin, where you are trying to spin the boxes and get them all the same color. Even "guess the tag" will keep you working.

So when you're ready for a 5 minute break, pop by here for a few minutes and enjoy.
See you tomorrow and I promise not to waste your time.

Playful Candelier

Happy Sunday to you.

In my constant search for all things fun, this Candelier by Jellio has popped up onto my radar.

Look in the lower photo and tell me what you see? Yes, you're right. Those are gummi bears.

This light, designed by Kevin Champeny, is one of 10 that uses over 5,000 acrylic gummi bears in a process that takes over 2 months to complete.

I love the repetition of a single item to create a different look. Kind of like pixels shaped like little colorful bears.

And if you think about it, this can be done in a similar way in glass. Whether with commercial beads, or ones of your own making.

With the acrylic, this light weighs about 50 lbs. I'm sure glass would require a lot more arm strength and much stronger bolts in the ceiling to hang it.

But can you imagine the constant amusement and fun that it would create? It's like a visual candy store in a functional item without the calories!

The company Jellio, is committed to providing unique home furnishings reminiscent of fun childhood memories. Visit their website for items like ..(one of my favorites) an ice cream sandwich bench, a lite bright style table and slider wall art similar to those little puzzles that you had to move around.

Searching for Statement Necklaces

I've been researching "Statement Necklaces" and have found some good ones over on Neiman Marcus's website. (Still searching for the ones that use flamework glass though!)

This one is by Oscar de la Renta and is called a "Bead Bib" For $790, you receive metallic engraved beads, metal bugle beads, glass crystals and acrylic beads with a hook clasp and silver hardware over rope. It's possible that I would be disappointed, if I saw it in person. This is pretty, but I'd like more soul.

I'm searching for websites containing jewelry with more of a handmade artisan appeal.

Can you help me out? Please post ones that you enjoy and would show me "Statement Necklaces" (with flair!)

See you Sunday. Right here at http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

No Farm, Full-Tilt Civilization

Ants marching? Well probably not marching in this Mayan Temple for ants. But if you treat them right, hopefully there won't be any unnecessary sacrifices either.

Apparently, this one was designed to simulate real sized ant chambers. And the red plastic makes it seem like it's night, so they stay active during the day. What fun for us humans.

If you like to be entertained by ants, (or Aunts perhaps), you can find this inventive ant civilization here. It may be part of the Pre-Classic period, but it's totally 2010 t00!

Walking the Fish

In the "what will they think of next?" category, please note that there is now a goldfish tote by designer, Michal Shabtiali.

I'm thinking there are just not enough goldfish getting fresh air these days anyhow, and they would like to go for a walk. It's healthy for both of you.

If you don't have a goldfish, I'm kind of thinking that filling that with margaritas and a really long straw could be rather fun as well.

You can see more of his work on his flickr page here.

Rosebud 101- Love This Jewelry!

I just had to show you my new necklace and earrings from my friend Mallory of Rosebud 101. I love her colorful style in my favorite colors and the whimsical way that she put it together. I'm wore them to the Southern Flames Atlanta Board meeting last night to show them off. (that's our flameworking artist glass group for those of you not in our "biz".)

I was lucky enough to meet Mallory in person a few weeks ago, after we had been online friends for years. We both took a chance when she agreed to come stay with me during a class we were both taking here in Atlanta.

You know what? She's even better in person! And you know what? Her beads reflect her inner person Their bright, happy style reflect what a fun and delightful person she is.

So how do you find my friend? Here you go:

Etsy Shop, 1000 Markets Shop, Artfire Shop & Blog

http://www.artfire.com/users/rosebud101

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

Bubbles...in my glass world, of course they look like beads to me. The transparent ones are just like my clear glass...well- some clear glass. As we all know, clear glass isn't always clear enough for us.

But wait, I digress. I want to show you a new product. Zubbles. They are colored bubbles that you can blow. Presto pink & blazing blue are the two I currently see on their website.

And even better- the color disappears when exposed to air, water or pressure. Bottom line- no staining, non toxic and fun! They're working on more colors that magically fade like these and do have some that are washable- but you need to ask for those specifically. Easy peasy and another product for adults to enjoy.