Happy Mothers Day - Lulu's Luscious Body Butter- Yum!

When I saw my daughter last weekend, she gave me the most delicious Mothers Day Present without calories.  I swear, this stuff is fantastic.  If you aren't aware of Lulu's Chocolates, you are missing something.  They have delicious artisan chocolates and then there is this too.  Talk about just wanting to carry it around and sniff it...but it works great too.  and if you put it on your lips, it softens them, but you want to lick them too.  

I'm wishing you a Happy Mothers Day, whether you're a Mom, a Dad, someone who has a Mother or just knows one.  We're headed up to the mountains for the afternoon for a wine tasting.  This should be an adventure.

Ticked Off Birds vs. Pigs

So, uh, there's a game out there called Angry Birds, heard of it?

I'm kidding.  i think most people have.  And if you're like me, you know someone who adores it.  My dear friend lives in Austin and she puts up with me for looooooong visits.  So I decided to make her a lampwork glass jewelry gift of one of her favorite pastimes...killing funny looking green pigs by catapulting birds.

i had already gifted her with a pendant and earring set of the red  birds, so it was another bird's turn.  Seeing that it's spring, and the king has turquoise in his crown, I went for the blue bird.  I thought it was a good "seasonal" choice along with the green for matching outfits.  Perhaps the yellow bird will be perfect for autumn?

If you are a fan of this game, I hope you get a good chuckle.  And there will be a special edition of the blog tomorrow regarding the bracelet blog hop.  Don't miss it!

Time for Freud

Christmas is over and perhaps Santa brought you a little pocket change to burn. Personally, I have a "thing" for cool watches and lighting. This one caught my eye. It's a Dr. Freud watch with different words rotating at the top..".id, envy, sex, Dad, Mom" and more.

Freudian thoughts~ good for a smile and lucky you, it's in analog. I still prefer them over digital. You can find them of course at the Unemployed Philosopher's Guild website. One of my favorite haunts.

See you tomorrow

Save the Date: One World One Heart

Save the dates for the 5th and final One World, One Heart Blog-arama. All the information can be found here.

Essentially, it's one huge connection of established bloggers who each offer a "door prize" or more, for all the folks who read their One World One Heart post and comment. Not only does it give you a chance to win some really cool stuff, but what I really like about it, is that it opens our worlds internationally to more interesting people who do interesting things. I've made some good friends from it and found some fascinating blogs.

So get into condition now...practice visiting other blogs and commenting, lift weights, drink coffee or whatever you need to get in shape. It's a lot of fun and of course, I'll be participating for its last year with something (or things) wonderful to give away. Mark your calendars Jan. 30th. Bet you didn't have any plans anyhow....

See you tomorrow!

Gorgeous Glass Calendar

Do you collect calendars with gorgeous glass bead photos on them? I do. I just like drooling on the photos and well to be honest, I usually don't use them for what they're intended.

Marjorie Oxman from LampworkEtc has put together one and I must say, there are a lot of wonderful beads in it. And (ahem) I just happen to have my Snow Woman Bobblehead in there too. I think she's Miss December, but not sure. Because it's just hot of the press and available here, I haven't received mine yet.

I'll see you tomorrow...

Precious Gifts

I wanted to show you a precious gift that I received from one of my wonderful customers.

Before Christmas a package arrived from one of my customers who has become a friend. Quite a while back she showed me the quilting and embellishment that she does and I was (and still am) quite wowed by it. I love it. And besides, her sense of color and pattern is my taste too.

Well I have to say how very touched I was to receive this piece from her. I love the flying kitties in gorgeous colors with wings. It makes me smile every time I look at it. And I look at it often. It is right next to my desk within arms reach so I see it all the time when I'm on my computer.

So thank you Julie. Your gift of your time, and artistry, as well as your heart means a lot to me and I'll always treasure it. Thank you so much.

Meet Guppy ~ From Plushie to Focal Bead

Meet Guppy. Guppy is the favorite stuffed animal of one of my customers' little girl. Apparently, Guppy isn't allowed to go everywhere the little girl goes, so her Mom decided to find her a stand in who could.

So she contacted me through my etsy shop and sent me a variety of photos of this beloved pink seal. I was touched. Obviously this is a well loved "friend" and as a fellow Mom, I have my memories of how attached my kids became to certain toys.

So let's talk about the process a little. How did I get from step A to step B?

I looked at the shape, the texture and the face on Guppy, to decide how to form this and where the hole needed to be.

Then I picked my colors, which you fellow glass artists know are limited, when it comes to pinks.
I used the Effetre pink and CIM's Gelly pink for the two shades.

My first two efforts, (not shown) were pretty scary. I had tried to give Guppy some texture, so she'd look more like a plushie, but she looked more like a seal wearing a lion costume, as I added fur around her little face. Needless to say, those two got scrapped, but they were helpful in figuring out the body shape and flippers.

On to a smoother and more refined Guppy. No textured fur. I built the body like a large donut shape at first. I wanted to get my height of the body with that. Then I started adding on to parallel sides. A little bit on the side where I would attach the head and face and a lot of glass onto the back side. It looked a little like an asymmetrical torpedo. I wasn't worried about the exact shape at first on the back flipper end, but wanted to get the mass of glass in place.

I added the head in the Effetre pink and flattened the part where the CIM pink face would go. Two dots where the eyes would be added and then the face. Just a bit of black stringer for the simple eyes and nose. I chose not to make the whiskers, because when they're fine lines, they tend not to look very good...at least when I make them.

I shaped the front flippers with a little bit of detail made with pliers and then heated the back flipper side and slightly pulled it out for the elongated shape. I added to large dots of CIM and gently mashed them for the back flippers. A little more plier work for details (and maybe a touch of razor blade for more definition and we were good to go. Guppy is on her way to be wrapped for Christmas. What a fun gift and an everlasting memory.

You can see more angles of Guppy in the sold section of my shop. Just click here to get to it.

Do you have family favorite items that can be translated into glass memories? Or have you done it already? This was my first custom order like this and I really enjoyed making it. I could easily imagine a little girl loving that pink seal.