Always on Sundae

I think I must have been daydreaming about mint chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top when I made this girl bead.

I do that a lot. Well, not only daydream about sweet stuff, but make beads that aren't planned, but just so you know, they show up on my mandrel. My hands aren't really possessed, but I start making something and then take a sharp right turn into something else.

My Sundae gal, has a chocolate chip skirt, a mint top with chocolate dripping down, whipped cream and of course the prerequisite cherry on top. Her bracelet and hair decoration are made of cherries too. I'd love to have something healthy and say they're organic, but honestly, I think they're more of the out of the jar variety. Too red to be real, wouldn't you say?

So my question for today is...do you pre-plan your beads? (honestly, I do plan plenty of mine), or do you wing it? Tell me a little about your process. I think we'd all learn from it.

And once Etsy is up and running again, I'll be listing my Mint Sundae girl at http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com. I think they're currently down for repairs. Hmmm, that will teach me to write my blogs at the crack of dawn.

See you tomorrow!

Ice Cream In Cold Weather- Here's a Tutorial on How To Make Your Own

To me, it's never the wrong time of the year for ice cream, no matter how cold outside it is.

I thought I'd tell you how to make your own ice cream cone, so when the warm weather hits, you can have plenty on hand.

1. Using dark ivory, make a small cone.  I use my torch mounted marver to roll it out.

2. Using the ice cream color of your choice, start adding glass to the top of the cone shape and once you have the top section full enough, gently melt it so it becomes rounded and smooth.

Hint: be sure to rotate your mandrel so the glass can flow into place,  I often have my mandrel upside down, so the glass flows next to the mandrel and rounds out on the very top.

3. Now you're ready to add your "drips".  At the bottom edge of the "ice cream scoop",  I make "V" shapes with more glass.  I also take the end of my rod and drag it farther down, if I need to.

Melt slightly so it's smooth.

4. With a razor or the sharp edge of your Stump Shaper, carve a circle around the original scoop, so it shows well.  That also pushes glass in each direction and enhances your drips.

5. With your razor,  gently heat one area at a time on the cone and make your diagonal slashes.  I do one direction first and then the other direction afterwards.

6. Using a red of your choice, you can add the cherry on top.

7.  Voila!  A calorie free ice cream cone ready for you.

If you want to purchase a ready made ice cream cone, click here.  And don't forget, I'd be happy to make one in your favorite flavors...just ask me.

And if you haven't joined in yet, check out my One World, One Heart post below.  The details to win Scoot the Valentine Pup are in it.  This goes through February 12th.

See you tomorrow.