Three Stooges Movie Filming In Atlanta

We were driving near downtown Atlanta the other day, when my husband asked if I wanted to see something.  Always curious, of course I answered "yes!".  He drove me to this location and said this is where some of the new Three Stooges movie is being filmed.  Directed by the Farrelly brothers and featuring stars like Jennifer Hudson, Jane Lynch, Sofie Vergara, Will Sasso, Larry David, Sean Hayes and others, I thought it was going to be some big set with all those famous people.

Nope. This is the "green screen".  Inside the orange metal boxes (which is what my husband rents to them), it is painted green.  I can't imagine filming inside of that, with our temperatures in the mid 90's.

Just wanted you to see a small encounter with the movie world....but I think I'll stick with beadmaking.

Malloy Hover Bike

If you haven't heard of the Malloy Hover Bike, it's time.  Still in the testing stage, this bike flies (or hovers) off of the ground.  For testing reasons, it has remained tethered, for safety.

I think as kids, most of us dreamed of flying and this might be as close as we get.  although to lift off, you just need to increase the thrust with the throttle grip- just like on a motorcycle and the turning works similarly to a bicycle.  Nifty, eh?

Well, as we all know, dreams come with a price and the company needs more funding.  With certain size (rather small, actually) donations, you can get a chance to win one of the prototypes.  Click here for more info.

The concept makes me excited.  I've ridden Segways, jumped out of an airplane and now that I know about these, I have to say, my bucket list just got a little bigger.  I'd love to try one some day.  What about you?  What do you think of this invention?

Bead Removal with a Rivet Tool

I was on LampworkEtc (LE) a while back, when one of my thread-mates Michelle of Formed in Fire showed us a YouTube How-To video she made using a rivet to remove a bead.  She said it would take any mandrel from about 1/16 to 1/8th, using a bit of foam or slight buffer between the tool and the bead.  

Check it out.  Looks like a great excuse to take a trip to my local Harbor Freight!

Super Powers?

In life's little ironies, I saw this mannequin in a window when visiting NYC.  Oh! I thought- this will be great for my blog- I know it would be fun to write about super powers.  And then as soon as I got home, I saw this photo....

...which reminded me -  (okay, first it reminded me that it's time to vacuum, and then it reminded me that Bust Magazine has cute little super hero sets for sale, and then I wondered, "doesn't Superman have bigger guns? Darn! ) but after that, it reminded me that we all have to live in the real world most of the time and save our super powers for special moments.  

(And that I still wish I could fly)

Pioneer Woman- I Give Up

I kept hearing my friends ooh and aaah about "Pioneer Woman" this and "Pioneer Woman" that.  In fact, although I was happy they discovered her and her tasty recipes, I really didn't think I needed another source of recipes. I'm kind of not into cooking as an empty nester.

Well after my friend Bek cooked some of her recipes for a group get together, I'm not only eating my words, but will be eating more of her food too.  Wow.  Talk about home cooking comfort food.  It's the kind of stuff whose aroma and flavor wraps its loving arms around you and gives you a big hug.

Pictured above, is one of the treats we tasted.  It's goat cheese polenta with short ribs on top.  Yum  Here is the link to her recipe.  And seeing that I seem to be the last one on the band, er chuckwagon, how about if you tell me which recipes I should try next?  If you have a link, we can all check it out too.

Happy eating-   See you Sunday.

A Little Swinging Both Ways

Okay, so go ahead and admit it.  What did you really think this blog post was about?

I was talking about this darling dwarf hamster on a handmade swing that goes forwards and backwards.  Cute, eh?

Designing a Special Wedding Necklace of Friendship Pearls

I recently received a wonderful email from an Etsy friend.  We were on the same "team" together and have enjoyed a lot group bantering back and forth over time.

In her email, she announced her engagement and also explained that she wasn't able to invite us due to large families, cost, etc.  Of course we understood.  But the part I really loved, was that she asked all of us, her jewelry making friends- to send her just one pearl of any type, color, etc. and that way, she would have a bit of us with her for her special day.

I'm such a girl.  I still get teary eyed thinking about this fantastic idea.  Friendship, jewelry, and an upcoming non-traditional wedding....  I love it all.

So her big day isn't for quite a while. I had my pearls spread out and was trying to figure out, which one to send, until she saw one of my flower beads with bees and said she would like one of those. So now I'm designing one of those to send instead.

Have you seen any great non traditional wedding ideas that you wouldn't mind sharing?  I'd love to hear about them.

Lamp Lust

If you have been following my blog for a while, you might know that I have a "thing" for cool lighting.  And I found another one.  This handmade paper and twig lamp by Tacoma based Etsy shop wyldewoodpapers, totally delights me. It's called "Coming Home".  If you click on this link, you can look at the bottom photo that includes some of the tools that this artist uses.  As an artisan, I always love seeing that.

I wish I were coming home to this adorable little light.

Pollination in Glass

When I started learning glass, I thought I'd be making floral beads.  Well,  I seemed to have taken a right turn over the years, but just recently found that I still want to make them, but sculpturally.

And I've been making a lot of flowers, which I'll show you in a later blog post, but first I wanted to show you this honey of one.  Bee-lieve me, it's a keeper.  (okay, got the jokes out of my system)

I'm in an exchange on LE in which all members post a picture of something that they like and the rest of us make beads that "go" with the photo. (the "Pick 6" in the Patio, if you're on LE)  You might remember that weeks ago, I showed you what I chose right here.  But this inspiration came from another member's photograph of a bee sitting on a flower which I knew I wanted to interpret sculpturally.  This is the one for the exchange.

So now I'm experimenting and refining my designs.  I want to do a lot more with this and include other sculptural pieces in my flowers...bugs (caterpillars & ladybugs), butterflies and perhaps a lightning bug with a glow in the dark tail for fun.  (I haven't grown up from loving to see them at night).

I might even do a small hummingbird gathering nectar some time. I have an idea of how I can do to make it sturdy enough.

So, my smart friends, here's the question of the day...what kinds of flowers do you think I should make, and what should the "extra element" be?  If you have other ideas than what was on my list, let me know.

I'll be selling them soon in my Etsy shop and at the Gathering.  Just want to make a few more to have some variety available.

See you tomorrow.

Garden Urban Oasis - NYC

Funny, we visited NY recently and I come back with photos of plants and flowers.  Yes, I took some of the typical tourist ones and plenty of the not so tourist ones, which I'll spread out over the next few weeks, but it was flowers and plants that always catch my eye.

We found a little garden that was open to the public while walking in Greenwich Village.  We almost passed it by, but the little bright flowers were beckoning and as usual, I had my phone out to snap quick pictures.

It was a delight to walk along the shady paths and see all the little benches artfully placed, to achieve the most privacy.  Couples, families and friends were perched on all of them, having quiet conversations.

Cities really need that, don't they?  I think that was one of the factors that caused me to realize that I wouldn't want to live in NYC.  Too many hard materials and not enough softness and color.

So I'll leave you with these photos of the one little oasis that we chanced upon. And soon I'll post some photos of our adventures and other interesting things we found.  And in our usual fashion, we found some gooooooood stuff!!

Happy Fathers Day Out There!

Happy Fathers Day to everyone out there who qualifies.  Hope it's been fun for you!

Shopping for a little something for my husband is rather hard.  He's the type of guy who doesn't want anything and means it.  He does love his pens though and I saw this one on Etsy right here.

You see, his hobbies are minimal and work (which is also his hobby) seems to provide him with the tools and resources he needs.

But there is one thing that always is well received.  A desert made with apples.  And have I got a delicious one from Colorado Cache, a Jr. League of Denver cookbook.  Below is the recipe and dh will get a gift coupon as he will be stuffed from earlier going out to his favorite restaurant.  So bake this one up and save a little touch of "Grand Ma" (as my kids call it) or Amaretto for a baker's bonus. Yum!

Pikes Peak Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 5 C peeled and sliced green cooking apples
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon sugar
• 1 tsp. grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 jigger Grand Marnier
• 1 jigger Amaretto

Crumb Topping

• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 C light brown sugar
• 3/4 C sifted flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 C butter
• Whipping cream or ice cream for topping, optional

Preparation

1. Arrange apple slices in greased 2 quart round casserole.
2. Sprinkle cinnamon, lemon and orange rinds and both liqueurs on top of apples.
3. In a separate bowl, mix sugars, flour, salt and butter with a pastry blender until crumbly.
4. Spread mixture over top of apples.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until apples are tender and top is lightly browned, approximately 1 hour.
6. Serve warm with cream, whipped cream or with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Luscious Feltedness

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Shirley's work in person, let me introduce you to the online version.  This is her "Cloisonne Felted Vessel" from Shirley's FlamesandFire Etsy shop.  Yum!  The delicious colors, intricate beaded detail and combined textures all add up into one lovely piece.  Stop by and check it and the other offerings out.

My Video from Demo Daze (And Sylvie Lansdowne too!)

My friend, Sylvie Lansdowne and I were the featured artists at FlameTree's Demo Daze for the month of June.  What a blast!  Lots of folks showed up and a good time was had by all!  Had to say it, but it's true.

Here is a link to a condensed video of the demos that Maureen McRorie made. It has my seahorse and dog with a bird balancing on its tail and Sylvie's three part delightful mermaid.

Well need to give you a little of the background too...  The room was very comfortable temperature wise, with a large air conditioner blowing hard.  This made the much hotter torch than usual play a few games.  And I had chosen dark ivory glass because of its "gooeyness".  So you can imagine what it was like in there, if you melt glass.  I felt like an acrobat with that hot ivory moving all over the place. I chose that glass, because sometimes I get chatting during the demo and wanted a glass that had a little more "give" to it.  It sure did!

And later, as Maureen was putting together the video and adding music, she asked me, "what song do you want?"  Does anyone out there know what music goes with a seahorse?  I thought perhaps reggae, maybe Hawaiian, but I ended up just picking Jessica by the Allman Brothers.  Although it has nothing to do with seahorses, it just sounds "happy" and that's what making seahorses does to me.  Hard to feel sad, when you see those cute little faces appear.

So that's the behind the scenes dirt on the demo...  Now here's the LINK so you can watch it.  (you thought I forgot, didn't you?)

And if you can come up with seahorse music, please post and let me know.  There must be something out there!

NOTE:  I just heard, the music is copyrighted and Maureen has temporarily taken it down until she can find some "free" music to use.  Sorry to tease.  The video is fun and the seahorse is so cute.

Photos of Chile's Volcanic Ash

I just saw these photos from the volcanic eruption in Chile recently.  Apparently it is part of a mountain  chain which has about 2,000 volcanoes.  It is the second largest mountain chain in the world after Indonesia.

Although the photos of the ash look a bit surreal, the eruption and evacuation caused the Chilean government to evacuate the residents into shelters.  A 6.2 magnitude quake recently occurred as well, with thankfully no deaths reported.

.....I'm hoping that Mother Nature goes on a long vacation soon.

Shell and Starfish Class Wrap Up

Here's a quick snapshot of the some of the shells and starfish from my last  2 hour class at FlameTree Glass.  I was really impressed that my students did so well.

Those starfish can be a bit hard to do the first time around.  And we all were laughing.  Before they get their decorations, they look a bit like an uncooked chicken ready to be popped into the oven.

Dekotora Trucks

They look like rolling pinball machines on acid, but have you seen Japanese Dekotora trucks yet?
Most of them have neon or ultra violet lights, bright paint and lots of shiny metal parts.

I haven't seen them in the United States yet, so I'm wondering if they have made an appearance that I've missed.  Don't you picture them in Las Vegas all lit up?  (or serving food out of the side of one there!) Anyhow,  I read that these are also sometimes called "Art Trucks" and can surely see why.  What do you think about them and please fill us in if you have more information on them.  

Custom Sneakers

Using Hermes scarves, Vanns created a variety of custom sneakers for their owner.  Although I don't own anything that fancy, loving "the unique" lead me to wonder what other custom sneakers are available?

It appears that there are lots of options on the market.  I found this cookie monster style one at http://www.pimpmykicks.com.  If you just google the topic, there will be a plethora of options.  For more choices, check out the arts websites, like Etsy.com or Artfire.com.  

Do you have custom shoes?  Did you make them yourself?  All of us would love a link, if you have photos posted.  And if not, just tell us about it. 

The Backyard Farm

I saw this  half price "Deal Swarm" offering in my inbox and thought, what a wonderful idea.  The Backyard Farm is an Atlanta based company, who will come to your home and consult with you how to use whatever space you have available to set up your own produce patch, or whatever you have your heart set on, within zoning regulations.  They can even start you out with chickens and other small animals too.

(meet Harold, their new little Nigerian Dwarf Goat)

The Backyard Farm will test your soil to see what would grow best.  And even if you live in the middle of the city, they can help you figure out, what will work for your specific situation.

This concept really makes sense to me. With all of the concerns about what is in our food, if you have the desire to grow some of your own food, we all know that fresh produce always tastes delicious.  I hope other communities have something similar available.

So tell me, (well known in my household as having the brownest thumb ever), do you grow anything?  I'd love to hear about your successes.  Tell us where you live and what grow.  Thanks for sharing.

Southern Flames' Postcard 2010

As many of you fellow glass beadmakers are gearing up or recently printed your postcard for this year's Gathering in July, I thought you might want to see our Southern Flames postcard that will be soon replaced by this year's.

Each year, we've been lucky enough to do one.  It gives us a visual sense of where some of our members are in their glass art as well as the older ones showing where we've been.

Each year, I do my own separate postcard as well, that I use for business.  But I love being a part of this group and including something each time.

I'm wondering if you can tell which bead is mine?  It was a style I just started doing last spring.

If you are curious about the beadmakers, please visit our website, www.SouthernFlames.org and you will be able to click and find out who made each one.

Handmadeology's Recycled Glove Chipmunk How-To

Have an old glove that needs a new life?  I recently saw a How To on Handmadeology, which tells you how to cut it up and make it into this darling chimpmunk.  He's a cutie

The tutorial is well written as you can see and would be a great way to rescue a glove from the trash.

Just click here to get the full story and the link to the pdf.  (Then send me the photo of what you made!!)

Custom Bobblehead Pets

Meet Yogi and his mini-me glass bobblehead.  Yogi is a goldendoodle, which is a combination of golden retrievers and standard poodles.  He is already a media darling. He models in  his owner's landscape company advertising.  What a sweet face!

His owner saw my bobbleheads at Pismo Fine Art Glass in Denver and asked if I could make a custom bobblehead for her.  I worked from photos that she sent and designed my miniature Yogi Jr..  She took this photo of them together.  I fell in love with it and it will also be my postcard for this year's ISGB Gathering.  I just couldn't ignore all this cuteness in one photo.

With his new found fame, handsome Yogi might just need a talent agent.

Thanksgiving Is Year Round

Have you ever participated in an arts group when someone or a company has donated items for your benefit.  If you're a lampworker, perhaps a shop has offered up a tool, glass, murrine or some other goodie.  It's always so fun to use something that you didn't have to spend your hard earned money on.

I can't tell you the number of times, I've been somewhere and a company has donated an item that has benefited me in some way.  Whether it's  glass that I got to try, frits, tools or whatever.  And in return to show my gratitude, I want to do some of my shopping with these generous people.  I know what the economy is like and how competitive it is.  And yet, with the downturn, they still are kind to us.  So please join me, in giving back to those who support us in our artful endeavors.  If you need a certain item,  check with them first.  Perhaps it's a dollar or two more than the least expensive available.  We've already reaped the benefit of that dollar or two, by being able to test drive it. Let's do what we can to keep all our suppliers and friends in business.

Demo Daze at FlameTree Glass

Thursday night, Sylvie Lansdowne and I had a great time demonstrating some of our whimsical glass art at FlameTree Glass in Roswell, GA.

I went first.  Yikes, that tanked oxy and phantom torch were quite a difference from my small concentrator and Minor that I generally use.  But what fun!  I could make such different and much larger pieces using that great set up.  I chose a one of a kind seahorse focal bead to demonstrate.  The gooey dark ivory Moretti glass combined with the heat, made it both a challenge and a delight.  I'll post a photo after I pop by FlameTree to pick up my work.

Because my allotted time wasn't up, per request,  I also made a little spotted dog with his long tail extended and a bird sitting on the end of it.  I love playing with heat control and seeing what I can do to stretch the glass.

Sylvie entertained us with funny comments as she made one of her gorgeous multi part mermaids.  Oh they are so pretty and she is generous with her tips and tricks.

Maureen and Lance McRorie were the consummate hosts too.  Food, drink, and lots of air conditioning were offered along with the free demos.  You can find more dates, topics and presenters for future Demo Daze on their website, http://www.flametreeglass.com.

Sculptural Beach Shells Glass Class

Well folks, there still is room in my 2 hour Saturday class at FlameTree Glass in Roswell, GA from noon until 2 pm.  I'd love for you to come join me in making seashells and starfish.  If there's time, we'll dive into something else oceanic as well...the class members will decide.  

Just give Lance and Maureen a call...1-888-FLAMETREE  or stop by their website...www.FlameTreeGlass.com

Stalactite Ring

I have to admit, I am rather smitten over this stalactite statement ring by Devon Leigh from Neiman Marcus.  

It's 18 karat gold plated brass with a slice of stalactite and even some silver tone beads.  Not the fanciest materials, but nice and it sure works for me.  Sadly both my birthday and Mother's Day have passed, but you know, I can still hope for Christmas.

What have you been looking at recently?  Post a link and tell us about it!  See you tomorrow.

Tea Divers

Abel Partners Design Studio.

Your tea never had it so cute!  Just load up your loose leaf in this Korean diver.  Made of silicone, it will be fine in whatever your temperature range for tea requires.