There's an amazing world around us

So today I was amazed by the beauty that surrounds us. My first encounter was the orange thing that I could see growing in my yard from my studio window. You know how curiosity is... I had to go inspect this bright orange plant growing in my yard.

Holy crap! It's mums! I didn't really think I liked them, but they are really pretty.

I have no idea what flower this is, but it was growing like crazy everywhere! It covered a good corner of my yard along with the white flowers below. No idea what those are either?

They look like little tiny fuzzy stars :)

Later while I was in my studio this little guy was actually on the inside screen. I flicked him from the inside and he landed on the ground. I guess he really wanted to see me because he made his way back inside to the middle of the floor in the basement. I carefully scooped him up. I was hoping he wasn't poisonous. I mean it's not like I was going to eat him or anything so I figured he was safe to pick up. God love the internet for being a plethora of information. This little guy is a Giant Leopard Moth

OMG! He is going to be BEAUTIFUL! I really hope he decides to stay so I can see him become this amazing moth! I have NEVER seen a but like this before..

Take some time out tomorrow and be amazed at the world around you. You won't be disappointed.

Bearden's art glass show

*Whew* I made it! I didn't think my sanity would last until the show! I was SOOO BUSY! The show was a HUGE success! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! I got some really beautiful stuff from a few lampworkers that were at the show!

I traded these lovely beads with Janet Vestal. Aren't they GORGEOUS?! I LOVE flowers! Here is Janet's website so you can see all of her lovelies too. The pictures just don't do them justice. They are so amazing in person!

I had to have this one too. I sent Ricky to go buy it for me. I saw a girl wearing one from Janet's booth and decided I might die if I didn't get one! I was really excited to find out that this bead is Janet's avatar for her Etsy page :D

Here is a really cool bead that I got from a friend Jana. Unfortunately I don't know her web address if any.. Anyways... this bead is made out of a boro glass called "satin." It kinda looks like Czech shampoo glass. She has a name for this style of bead but, the name escapes me at the moment....

I also met some amazing people at the show as well. I met Janet Vestal (her info above), Margaret from Neomythica(she makes these really awesome cast glass faries and cats, plus loads of silver cast findings), and Haui from Slap and Tickle Gallery(they didn't have an official website so that one will have to do ;). Haui is a lampworker too that works in boro. Unfortunately I was too late to view his wares, but I plan on stopping by the gallery for first friday ;)

Good times!

I must have been a *Good* girl

Look what the bead fairy brought me this morning! This is why I LOVE Bullseye glass!

They are actually brighter than the picture. I never claimed to be a pro photographer ;)

Here is that *secret* present. Front view.

Back view.

Finally finished!

Me being a dork modeling the new necklace I made for the show this weekend.

Did I tell you I like sepia photos?

Creation *IS* Messy!

This is how my desk started out today. There are unfinished projects, beads to clean and all that fun stuff!

I got a ton done today.. I made wingdings in fall colors, some delicious pods, and got some color comparisons done. I re-taped my duct work in the basement, played ball with Leeloo, edited pictures and showered :D

Now I'm pooped...

FUCKSTICK! I HATE software problems >:(

LOCKDOWN

Ok people,

I am seriously on bead LOCKDOWN until Thurs. I have my show @ Bearden's Bearden's website
on Sept 27th from 10-4pm. I am making some last minute things for the next few days so no time to screw around! I am also working on that special project. Oh yeah, speaking of special.... I forgot to post my special *secret* surprise for someone. Um... yeah.... well I guess that was all for now :D hehehehehe.

I *LOVE* mail

I just got another package from Kathy today. Her packages always make me happy since they are always filled with glass and other wonderful things :D

I do love ALL mail so feel free to send me stuff anytime :D:D:D



Here is a picture of the glass that Kathy sent me. From left to right new CiM colors Evil Queen, Crocus, and Marshmellow. Oops, she sent me some Black Currant Unique as well, but I forgot to grab it for the picture! The brownish colored glass is by a German company called Reichenbach. It is called Iris Orange or what everyone else calls RAKU(Borrowed from Raku pottery which is also amazingly beautiful)!! Don't be fooled by it's drab appearance. This glass is heat changing glass. By repeatedly heating and cooling the glass it makes a myriad of amazing colors!

Along with the glass that Kathy sent she also sent me this super awesome Yixing Teapot!Here is a link to some pages I found about it. http://www.teatalk.com/china/articleo.htm This link tells you about the teapot's history. http://www.ehow.com/how_2051548_brew-tea-yixing-tea-pot.html
This link tells you how to kind of "season" your teapot.

It's a crazy world this tea brewing culture! Who knew there were so many specifics? Anyhow, I am really excited to use my new teapot!

I went out with mom today to do some clearance shopping at Target. Mom got some new things and I just window shopped.

We also went to one of our local bead stores and she treated me to some beads for a project on which I am working. I will upload some pics when I am done.

Well I better get going so I can pick out what beads I am going to use for my special *secret* project.

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Much love,

Genea

Oooo Pretty!

Look what Melissa made with the beads I made for her for her B-day! Isn't it pretty?!Here is a whole shot of the necklace.

Here is a close up of the pendant.

Estes Park, CO and Fort Collins, CO

I thought you all would like to see where I went this past weekend for my SIL's Wedding.

Here is a picture of the outside of the cabin where we stayed for Aime's wedding in Estes Park, CO.

Here is a picture of the family room inside of the cabin. You can see Nana and Ricky(my hubby) and Amelia (the great dane)in the background.

Here is a picture of the kitchen view. In the very far background by the sink is my MIL, then you can see Nana in pink and my FIL in the foreground.

Here is a pic of the dining room.

Here is a view from outside of the cabin on the right.

Here is a shot from the left of the cabin.

Here is a shot from downtown Estes Park.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful bronze fairy in downtown Estes Park, CO.

Here are the crazy Holly Hock's that were growing in my MIL's front yard by the garage. I couldn't believe how well they were growing in Colorado's dry climate. I guess they got a lot of rain this season.
Here is a closer shot of the beautiful yellow flowers.

Holy sunflower batman! This is a close up shot of a sunflower that was growing on the side of the house by the garage.

Here you can see just how tall it is in comparison to the height of the fence.

And finally their backyard patio. I love to sit out here on the swing! We would come to their house on chilly fall nights to hang out. We would light up the chiminea, drink red wine and smoke the hooka! It is a total blast!

Well I hope you enjoyed some pictures from my trip to lovely Colorado!

Much love,

Genea

Lampworking VS Glassblowing

So it seems like many people are confused about the differences of lampworking and glassblowing. It seems like most people have hard of glass blowing and assume that that is what I do. I am actually a lampworker. Below are pictures to show you the differences...

Here is a picture of me lampworking. You can't really see my torch from this angle, but lampworking is working on a torch to melt glass. After a bead is made in the flame it is then placed into a kiln to further anneal (or harden) a bead. Annealing takes the stress out of the glass and slowly cools it , giving it strength and durability so it will last a lifetime.

In this photo you can see me melting the glass onto a mandrel with my torch. The black thing under my wrist is a creation station. It is one of the best tools I have ever purchased! The creation station is a device that is bolted down to my desk. This device has adjustable rests for my wrists (the black handle), and rests for my elbows. This device allows me to steady my hands and elbows so I can work comfortably for many hours.

Here is a photo of Glassworks Studio and Gallery in Estes Park, CO. The glassblower in the picture is artist Taury Bailey.

Here is a picture of the Glory Hole which is a glass furnace where the glassblowers heat up their molten glass. the pole on which the glass is places has a blow tube at the end of it. Glassblowers blow air into the tube to inflate their pieces. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to catch Taury blowing into her tube.

In this photo Taury is rolling her glass piece in frit which are tiny pieces of glass used for decoration glass pieces. We also have frit for beadmaking, but it is much smaller than the frit in this picture.

Here Taury rests her glass onto little metal rests to rotate her piece and even out the shape of her molten glass vase.

In this picture you will notice the bright orange blob on the counter behind the purple cups. Taury has just squeezed a small blob of glass from a metal rod onto the table top to make the bottom foot of her vase.

Here is a picture of Taury heating the top of her vase to the footed bottom. I didn't get to take the rest of the pictures that I wanted since my camera was full. After this Taury heated a punty to the bottom of the vase and then heated and opened up the top of the vase by heating it and then using a pair of tweezers to open the mouth of her vase. She made the mouth very wide and kind of folded the glass back as if she had made a collar around the opening of the vase. When she was done with this she took her vase and spun the tube as if she was spinning a baton. This made the top of the vase ruffle like a flower. It was really AMAZING!

This is a photo of a really lovely set of shelves with all sorts of glass items. You can see some of the vases with the ruffly tops like I was describing in the text above.

I hope that this entry has made you familiar of the differences of lampworking and glassblowing :)

Much love,

Genea

Yeah Baby!

Mmmm breakfast

Here's how I got to start out my day! I love it when my hubby makes me breakfast! Yep! I got one that cooks and he is damn good at it ;)

Lampworking with my beady buddy!

"Caffeine Addicts" by Karen Woodward
www.karenwoodwardstudios.comThis picture is in honor of my beadiest buddy Melissa! We are both coffee junkies and this totally made me think of us!

She did it again! My friend Melissa is one of the most amazing jewelry designers I know! Here is a pendant she made for me out of my wishing wheel beads! It is so awesome to be able to collaborate with a friend that does such amazing things. For the rest of the necklace I am going to make a bunch of plain spacers in the pastel colors of the wheels and do a simple, but amazing all lampwork spacer necklace for the pendant. Isn't this going to be AWESOME?!

Melissa, I had such an awesome time with you today tag team lampworking! I hope this starts being a regular weekly thing!

Much love,

Genea

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 2007 Family Vacation

So I was looking for some glue to fix something and came across a cd my in-laws made for my hubby and me with our pictures from vacation. I came across a few videos I wanted to share with you all....




Here is my FIL and future BIL playing chess on a ginormous chess board! You will see a quick blip of my SIL and my MIL is the one recording...





This video is sunrise on the beach. Not as impressive as the sunsets :( I HATE being up early too! First you see my SIL and my future BIL (as of 9-13-08). Then you see my FIL my hubby and then me. My MIL is the one filming again ;)

I can't wait to go on our next family vacation! I hope it's somewhere tropical :D

Much love,

Genea

Red letter day

The contents of my package from Kathy.

What a fantastic morning! I woke up to breakfast in bed w/ coffee, my package from Kathy arrived, my beads from last night turned out amazing(I'll post those later), and I got a check in the mail! I LOVE days like this! *Beams*

I hope everyone is having as wonderful of a day as I am!

Much love,

Genea