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

Finding the Right Camera Angle

Finding the right camera angle on sculptural beads sometimes is easy and sometimes, not so easy.  Here is one of my "Bird in Hand" beads.  The hole goes vertically through the middle.

Sometimes, it's just what is the part that should be the focal part of the bead.  Is it the hand, the bird, or the combination.  The hand is the harder part to make, and the bird is the colorful focus.  So I want both.  The technical detail needs to be showcased for adding value. For a beadmaker,  that's the hand. Keeping the fingers extending and and all a bit different, takes experience and technique.  The bird is far easier to make, but adds charm for the viewer and wearer.  Being blue, it could be interpreted as a bluebird of happiness.

So for me, I prefer the bottom photo.  The bird looks cute and chubby.  The hand shows enough for the viewer to see that there are individual fingers cradling the bird.  Which view do you prefer and why?

Haunted on Bourbon Street

I can't wait to get glass artist and author, Deanna Chase's new book, "Haunted on Bourbon Street" in the mail.  I just ordered it and having read excepts, it sounds like a great read.

I'm going to admit something- I enjoy a good romance novel.  There, I said it.  And this one is a paranormal romance novel which sounds like it will be lively and fun.  And New Orleans is a great location for ghosts, good looking landlords and a great plot.

You can order it HERE  and even get a signed copy.  I did.

Charm Exchange Bracelet

Do you love the diversity of charm bracelets?  Often, they say a lot about what you like.  Some people have topic, color or style specific ones.

This one was a lot fun, because it came from a charm exchange on Lampwork Etc.  Hosted by Mallory Hoffman and Deb Batten, it had a lot of beadmakers participating.  The maximum number we could submit was 15 charms with receiving the same number in return.  I loved it.  Any material was fair game.

I'll take a better photo next time, but I was so excited, that I wanted to show you.  Having a wire base, it was necessary to have spacer material between the charms, to help prevent them from bumping against each other next time.  I really like being able to use up some of my little lampwork donuts that were hanging around and I added in some of my fun rubber O rings from Yvonne at MyElements on Etsy.

So now I want to know what do you like in charm bracelets?  Do you have one (or more)?  What materials is it made from?  Does it have a theme?  And of course, I'll take any jewelry making suggestions you could toss out.  I have so much to learn!

Big Day for Lucky Winners...One World One Heart Giveaway

And the winner of this year's One World, One Heart Giveaway is........ (drumroll please).......Bella Modiste.

She was chosen fairly by the "FaceBook" method. Let me describe this uber unscientific, yet very fair method...
1. Sign into facebook
2. Ask your friends for a number between the range needed, but don't tell them why
3. Take the first number and use it.

It works for me. And beadmaker extraordinaire, Nancy Tobey was the first to answer.

So congratulations to Naomi, who also has Etsy shop, "She Sews by the Seashore", and I'll be contacting you.

By the way, if you're on Facebook and want to friend me, just let me know that you're one of my blog readers. I'm there under my name, Marcy Lamberson. And if you'd like to follow me on Twitter.com, I'm there under StudioMarcy. (I forgot that italics can be so much fun!)

Start Your Day Off Right ~ With a 30% Off Lampwork SALE

The Etsy Glass Artists (EGA) group that I belong to is having a quick sale starting today and going through Thursday, September 9, 10 & 11.
Participating shops will be offering 30% off select items in their shops ~ see see each shop's Announcement for their specific offerings! Use the code FFG (Fall For Glass) in your notes to buyer upon check out so you can get the 30% discount. A great deal and a great time to get started on that holiday shopping list

Of course I want you to stop by my shop first- and don't forget, free shipping for orders over $40 after your 30% discount.

http://studiomarcy.etsy.com

And here are the other wonderful participating glass artists in my Etsy Glass Artist Group...
http://willowglass.etsy.com
http://liskidder.etsy.com
http://glasscat.etsy.com
http://psodesign.etsy.com
http://susanlambert.etsy.com
http://chickadeebeads.etsy.com
http://prizmatic.etsy.com
http://mycabincreations.etsy.com
http://paulasstressart.etsy.com
http://monkeyblues.etsy.com
http://jewelrybynatsuko.etsy.com
http://sandree.etsy.com
http://susansheehan.etsy.com
http://LeahPellegrini.etsy.com
http://groovyglassgirl.etsy.com
http://wendylee.etsy.com
http://jochris12.etsy.com
http://popko.etsy.com

Bringing Home the Bacon

What are some of your favorite foods?

I've been translating food into glass beads for awhile now and in a very unscientific survey, I've noticed that bacon, well... brings home the bacon.

It's one of my best sellers in that category. I know that pies and cupcakes and even fried eggs do well too. Some veggies seem to be popular as well as snack foods. And just for the record, no one has requested a custom order for stew. Go figure.

What are your favorite foods that you feel should be interpreted in glass and why? Do you have childhood memories of it, or perhaps it's something that reminds you of one of your kids?
Maybe it's just a food that you think would look cute on a necklace. Let me know.

Elvis Has Entered the Building?

Elvis has entered the building? Well, this Elvis impersonator has entered my Etsy shop at least. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14606866

His real name is Erwin Fescue and he plays the small clubs and lounges, but he's always aspired to be an Elvis impersonator in Vegas.

I demonstrated a similar Elvis Bobblehead for our International Society of Glass Beadmakers recently in California at our annual conference. Elvis is actually two beads connected with a spring, so he can bobble or even be worn on an interchangeable pendant.

And here's the rest of the story.
Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about being filmed making these two beads. I had not only had to make the two beads in under an hour, but I had to make him with expertise and not flub anything. I had prepared pretty carefully, by practicing at home. Well the morning of the taping, I thought about those close ups of my hands being filmed and how dry they looked. I didn't want lizard skin on film, so I used some of the hotel hand lotion in my room. Big mistake! Oh the lotion worked well, but perhaps a little too much. My hands were really slippery.

For those of you who aren't beadmakers reading this blog, we make our beads on steel mandrels which are about the thickness of those bamboo skewers that you use for making fruit shish kabobs. My beads are sculptural and not symmetrical like most beads, so the heavy part always "pulls" a bit as we continuously rotate them in circles to keep the molten glass in place. (your basic centrifugal force). Dang, I wasn't sure what to do about my uber-slippery hands.

So I started washing them... a lot. I would have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive behavior, if you didn't know me. They were still slippery. After more scrubbing with hot water, I finally knew what to do. I took my nail polish remover and wiped them down to get any remaining lotion off of them. It dried them out. I was prepared to use our bead release, which is really drying if that other option hadn't worked.

Luckily, my hands looked okay after all I put them through, I didn't flub the filming and I learned a lesson, which I'm passing on to you.

New Torch Testing Yesterday

Yesterday, I got to try out a new Japanese lampwork glass torch at a friend's house. It's the picture above. Now flameworkers will understand me here if I say, there is no focus on the flame. It's the all over bushy, around 3" wide and shoots straight up, which makes it look like it's better for roasting marshmallows, than melting glass. And for non glass making people, that means that when I want to heat just one little nook or cranny- like just the bunny's ear, so her arm doesn't get too warm and melt, I can't do that with this torch. It's definitely more of a challenge. But I like challenges!

The Kinari glass is somewhere around 128 COE too. Satake brand works similarly. The higher the number of the COE (CoEfficiency of Expansion), the softer the glass when molten. So this one just mushes really nicely, but poses more difficulty for sculptural beads. It sure is beautiful though.

After I get my beads back, I'll be happy to share photos with you. In fact, I'll be checking out this torch sometime and perhaps even buying one and some of the glass to go with it. The glass has beautiful colors and looks a little different from the Italian, so it might be fun every once in a while to play with it.

The 15 Minutes of Fame Have Returned

I'm back up in Vicki's treasury, which makes me even more famous now. Not everyone gets 30 minutes of fame. I sure appreciate the extra notice from it.

And this morning I'm getting filmed for a presentation for the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) which is meeting in Oakland, CA. It's a little exciting and a little scary all rolled into one new experience. I'll let you know how it goes. This coming Sunday, I present it to the organization.

If you're in the Oakland, CA area this Saturday, please come by and see me at the Bead Bazaar at the Marriott City Center. I've been making new beads for it, so there will be plenty of selection. It will be an 8 foot table full of fun. (and lots of other beadmakers who are amazing)

I'll catch you later,
Marcy