Beads of Courage Purple Hearts

I promised to show you my other purple heart design for Beads of Courage.  You know the kids receive a purple heart when their medical treatment ends for their cancer or other life threatening illness.  

When I was submitting ideas to Beads of Courage, I was thinking, what would seem like a celebration to me?  I knew that it would be hard to portray fireworks- but cupcakes always seem like a little party to me.  I'm making them on Creation is Messy's Crocus glass.  I love that translucent look, and yet, it really reads "purple" to me.  Click on the link to see a more accurate shade.  

Hope you have a wonderful long weekend.  I'll keep my same blog schedule that takes Saturday off, but I'll be back on Sunday for a quick post.

Cheaper by the Bakers Dozen Cupcake Glass Beads

I had an inquiry from an online bakery specializing in cupcakes. We discussed a wholesale price for cupcakes.

Now I know that a lot of artists don't do wholesale, but I have a different opinion. If the details are spelled out carefully and agreed upon, then it can be a win/win situation.

But back to cupcakes. Part of the fun for me, was trying to figure out what types of cupcakes to offer. I reviewed her website, and then thought about what would I want to make multiples of at the price we agreed upon. (and decided that I was pretty open as long as the cupcake wasn't too detailed)

Here are four samples of the many that I came up with. I first made a list of what colors cake bases might be. Then I went to frosting colors and then I have a separate column for decorations. By writing out my ideas, it's easier to make an assortment, once I get to the torch, than having to think them up as I go. I'm a list person through and through.

Do you sell wholesale? And if so, do you have any pointers for our readers? And of course the other thing I want to know is...what's your favorite type of cupcake? I think mine would be rum cake with pineapple frosting and lots of coconut sprinkles, I've never seen one, but it sounds good.

See you tomorrow!

Glass Hand Coolers- Modern & Delightful

Recently, I've been poking around for current or past others uses for our glass art, and have come across this cupcake and plate that are lampworked and slumped/fused by Patty and Dinah Hulet in the glass hand cooler fashion.

In Victorian times, it was the style for women to carry carved egg shaped glass objects to wrap their hands around and hopefully cool off a bit. These were decorated in various ways, but were somewhat similar to a slightly larger paperweight about 1.5 - 3 inches tall. I can imagine that the way women dressed in those days and the lack of air conditioning, made it quite uncomfortable in the summer.

While reading about these hand coolers, I also found that small spheres of glass have been made for at least 2000 years. They found that some were used for juggling in ancient Rome's baths - which apparently had sand floors, so it's not quite so crazy sounding.

So cheers to Patty and Dinah for their new, modern spin on antique hand coolers and here's their cute blog for a little more fun viewing.

Pumpkin Cupcake ~ Bead on a Bead

Sometimes I make beads just because I want a challenge or the concept amuses me. This one encompasses both.

I was discussing pumpkin bread with someone and wondered if there are pumpkin flavored cupcakes. I thought it would be fun to make a Halloween cupcake that showed that.

For a long time, I've been messing around with stacking objects on top of each other in my beadmaking, so it was natural to add a pumpkin on top of the cupcake. I needed to watch my heat control to keep it nice and distinct between the two and yet make sure that it is totally fused on, so that it doesn't crack off. That sometimes happens if they aren't heated enough together. But I didn't want the pumpkin to look like it was melting into the frosting.

I solved this problem by melting a smaller first wrap into the frosting pretty well, before adding the rest of the pumpkin. This is just one of a couple of methods that I use when attaching a section that needs to look separate.

This delicious pumpkin cupcake is available in my Etsy shop - here. And I've also recently added some other food items to make sure my specialty food shop has plenty of delicacies.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bead Makeovers- Taking Your Art In A Different Direction

I love cupcakes. Pink frosting with sprinkles sounds pretty yummy to me. And obviously a lot of other people like them too. This style and others tend to sell well in my etsy shop, http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com.

But other people make similar cupcakes and in an earlier blog, I mentioned that it's a good thing to reconsider beads that you make, that perhaps could be restyled, or taken in another direction. This can be good for you as an artist, and maybe add a little zing for your sales too.














Between watching Ace of Cakes, and wanting to incorporate a little of my surface decoration and sculptural approach, I decided to give one of my cupcakes a new twist. This one has a small branch made of aventurine with multi shades of green leaves. A sculptural butterfly in transparent aqua and a touch of lapis give it more dimension. To add a dollop of whimsy, bright pink transparent glass dots the surface too.

There are so many directions to try. I'll be adding more cupcakes over the weeks to show you more makeovers on them, and other beads.

In the meantime, if you are on Facebook or Twitter, please add me as a friend. I'm either under Marcy Lamberson or StudioMarcy. See you tomorrow....