Feeling Like Spring

Glass Bear with flowers by Marcy Lamberson

It's Spring.  And as I always do, I get a little flower obsessed as my trees and shrubs are blossoming here in Atlanta.  The azalea, dogwood, cherry trees are done and just the rhododendron have lovely blooms.

When I have a lot on my mind, often it translates into glass. So recently, I've been making my glass bears with flowers inside of them.

I've always loved the encased florals (as glass folk call them) and it's a nice challenge to add that technique with sculpture.  We don't usually see that, so it's a little different and a lot of fun to learn.  And honestly, I have a long way to go.  These are nice, but I am working towards "spectacular", which might take a few years.  Lol, I'm not in a rush, but do want to make different kinds of flowers inside of beads.

If you have spare time, I have a 48 hour live auction starting in one of the Facebook private groups, "Limelight" starting tomorrow- Tuesday 9am EDT through 8am EDT on Thursday.  Here is the link if you would like to see what it is all about:   "Limelight "

See you soon!
Marcy

Getting Ready For Blue Moon In Austin

I am excited to be teaching in Austin next week at Blue Moon Glassworks. My two day Pets Class is so much fun. It is the same one I taught at the ISGB Gathering last year. We will work on a range of dogs and cats, of course, but will also touch on a small rodent (we actually had a pet rat when my kids were little, but no fear, this one is the much cuter hamster) and of course we will do a bird too. But my favorite part is when each student will use their photos and will design and make their own personal pet! I love how excited students are when they make their special family member...like an inner glow comes forth. Totally awesome.

Tomorrow I will tell you about my other class.
If you are interested in classes Blue Moon, you can reach Jim and Rose Berry by emailing.
Jim@austinbluemoon.com. Or check out the website at www.austinbluemoon.com

ps  I had to include a photo every blog, so this is yesterday's test kitty with a bird on her head .  Haven't made this style before, so have plenty to tweak.  But wanted to show you my first try.  It will be fun to see where it goes.  Can you tell I wanted to try one with color?

Madly Listing

Thank goodness I'm not a boat with that blog title!  Actually, I'm working on my 50 listings for this Saturday's Tophatter live auction.  I am experimenting with this, so please come join me and the fun.  1pm EST on Saturday, Feb. 23rd.  This Saturday!

This is how it works.  I am partnering with Jenelle Aubade and her beads which are lovely sets, pairs and very jewelry design oriented. I'm bringing my sculptural pieces so they all complement each other.  The buyers join Tophatter and each piece is offered, one at a time and you bid in real time.  I am there to answer any questions.  And we each have our own little avatar person.  So sometimes you get great deals and sometimes the bidding goes high.  It looks like fun.

Here is the link:  http://tophatter.com/auctions/15406

Please come to see us!

Fish Display

Oh the joys of creative displays!  I saw this wooden stand at a second hand shop and thought it would be cool for display purposes.  (the end of the tail isn't shown, sorry.)  So we drilled some small holes that would fit mandrels and I made some fish to go on top of the fish display and hung beach style simple necklaces from it.  The mandrels keep the sections from slipping and helps keep them separated.  I can sell the lampwork fish on the top and just replace them as needed and meanwhile, it gets a lot of attention.  I love it when a $3. item works out.

If you are in the Atlanta area, my next show will be on Mothers Day weekend for the Dunwoody Art Festival.  Saturday 10-7 and Sunday, 11-6.  Hope to see you there!

Hot Times 2011

Hot Times in Asheville, NC was a wonderful event again this year.  It's an extra long weekend of demos and camaraderie, live auction & raffle to raise funds for Beads of Courage and trading beads.  This year, hosts Marjorie Langston, Terry Hale and Gary Newlin invited Jeri Warhaftig, Nolly Gelsinger, Deanna Chase and Cindy Lemmo to demonstrate and each one created awesome pieces.

As important as the demos, are the attendees.  To be honest, it's a major reason that I try to attend each year.  I love seeing old friends, and meeting new ones.  Having time to look over their beads and see what they are working on now, what has changed and hear what interests them is fascinating to me.  And so often, even as an old timer, I learn so much from the newer ones who have chosen to go in different directions or might even have one of the latest & greatest tools or colors that I haven't seen yet.  

Our field is generally a solo situation.  We usually are alone working at our torches throughout the year.  It's situations like this (or my teaching) that give us the ability to form strong, lasting bonds and networks with others.  And I have to say, I'm totally convinced that we have to have one of the nicest groups of people.  Laughter, smiles and friendships (okay and perhaps the jalapeno grits) along with the wonderful glass and sharing is what makes my Asheville experience so special.

Fishing Around for Inspiration

So what kind of shops do you go to for inspiration?  I hadn't been into a salt water fish store for a long time, so I popped in to have a look.  I love the big fish especially, or the ones with the bright colors and beautiful patterns.

This one wanted to be my new BFF.  He kept coming over to have a better look.  Right up against the glass.  I've never really noticed any alive thing with real blue lips before.  Pretty awesome (and one of my favorite colors too!) 

And the colors- I think this moving item (what is it anyhow?) was gorgeous.  It is my inspiration for Fall colors. I love the warm, rich shades - red, purple and gold together.  And the shape would make a gorgeous bead too.  Watch for this one!

So what do I find in a store like this?  A lot!  I find nature's gorgeous color combinations and patterns.  I find shapes not only in the fish, but in the corals, and that unnamed purple/red/gold unit that I love, and I even saw some little creepy crawly things that looked like they could be inspiration for Halloween, when it comes around.  Not bad for a quick visit.

So tell me, where do you like to go for off beat inspiration?  We'd all like to hear.  See you tomorrow on my blog, http://www.StudiMarcy.blogspot.com

Recent Itsy Bitsy Commission Work

I make a lot of commission work.  I love doing it.  So when I received an email from someone who asked me, "can you make me 20 Christmas bulb lights that are 1/4" long?"  I decided to give it a whirl.

If you are a flameworker, you know that is a pretty tiny scale to be working in.  But always loving new challenges, I got out my tape measure and turned on my torch.

I found that I could reasonably get to 3/8" of an inch using a 1/16th mandrel. (non- glass folk, I know you secretly love tech talk).  And made an assortment of colors for her.

So in case you're wondering what she is doing with them, here's the answer.  She is needlepointing Christmas stockings for her grandchildren with a house that has lights hung from its roof.  She tried the plastic miniature ones for embellishment, but decided that glass would be better.

And I couldn't resist taking a photo of them, so I added my little trailer that I got years ago on Etsy, and one of my new Santa design beads and made a little vignette.  Might just be my Christmas card this year too.

Stay tuned for my next commission blogpost . I'll give you a hint.  It has to do with a Spirit Animal.
See you tomorrow!

Kitty's Interview with Me!

Lampwork bead maker Kitty Bozzini recently posted a really sweet interview with me that I hope you will enjoy.  It included a "tip" and even a photo of one of my watercolors, that I usually don't show.
I hope you will check out her blog, right here and after you read my interview, check out some of her other posts too.  I  really enjoyed reading it.

Thinking About New Fall Colors in Glass

It's that time of year, that I start looking at Fall colors for glass beadmaking.  I know, I'm a little late. Often I'm starting in July.  But I was noticing this Adobe by CiM glass and thought how pretty it would look in some of my Fall Leaf series that I do each year.  It would mix well with the ambers, greens, oranges and reds.  And I know it would also do as well as the more expensive Red Roof Tile in my hamster beads too.

I was also looking at this Honey Swirl (new from Effetre) that seems like their response to Vetrofond's Honey Crunch.  I wish we could see the end of the rod, to know what it is made up of.  I love this shade for my dog beads- but it too, would look nice in Autumn related beads.  Haven't you seen lots of leaves with this color in them?  It would contrast and yet blend well with the other colors.  I have a feeling that it is a blend of transparent amber and an opaque glass.

Are there any other ones that you are thinking about buying for Fall?  Would love to know which ones sing to you and on a practical level... a link to where to find them.

Tennessee, Ready of Not, Here I Come!

I'm lucky to be headed to Tennessee for a little while to be with some of my friends.  We're going to melt glass, pound metal, discuss jewelry making and probably act just a tiny bit unrepresentative of our ages for a little bit and laugh the whole time while doing it.  But most of all, I'm going to have a chance to catch up in person and find out what's going on in each person's life.

I enjoy our online community, but I love even more, getting to know lampworkers in person.  We're a pretty special group of folks who each has a lot of interesting things going on.  And this year, I'll meet some new people too. We'll get to see each other's art up close and take time to watch and learn what others are doing. And as beadmakers tend to do, we'll all be doing a little trading too.  I'm pretty excited, if you can't tell.

So my blog will continue as usual and at the end of my camp, I'll fill you in on some of the highlights.  But right now, I'm off to the library to find a few books on tape for the long drive ahead.

See you tomorrow!
ps, my friends pictured above- Angie, Pam and (flat- but not in real life) Rebekah will be some of my buddies there.