ImpoZters

Ok I am finally ready to show you all what I have been working on... As you might have read earlier I had become totally inspired by Sarah Moran's Beads (Z-Beads).

In case you are wondering about the title... It is "impoZters" because it is my spin on Sarah's beads. the capitol "Z" for "Z-beads". Clever huh? I thought so ;)
I began my adventure of really trying to come up with my spin on her spectacularly executed beads. I totally skipped out on stacking dots long ago because I am a totally impatient person and I worked on a hot head for many years(yeah, Sarah did too and she STILL made those style beads before upgrading) . Now that I finally moved up to my minor I thought it would be time to explore some of the things that I deemed impossible or pretty much too time consuming. Below are those ideas I was telling you about where I jumped out of the shower naked to grab my sketch book!

In red you can see where I wrote notes about how my experiments turned out and what did and didn't work

Wow! Sure is a lot of FAILURE in this type of bead. If you stack just a little off or use a color that decides to spread, man are you in for it! It's a wonder she didn't give up on these beads! I guess her expertise comes from YEARS of practice! Failure is hard for me being a perfectionist. I want to be good at it the FIRST time not the twentymillionth! I kept at these beads for days because I was so pleased at how the "good" ones turned out! OMG! They have so much depth, and texture. Before I show you the "good" ones I will show you the rejects.

You know I realized that people think that lampworkers always make good stuff all the time and I am here to tell ya, we DON'T! LOL. There are sometimes a lot of flops before we get what we want. Ok so I will tell you what is wrong with the beads above...

The eyes on top- Ok as you can see the silver did not particularly like the orange glass and it turned black on the first eye. You can also see where the orange glass didn't strike and where the white "peeked" though.
On the second eye you can see that yellow spot where the silver actually fumed the surface.

The one on the left was going to be called "Double Bubble" or "Crazy 8's"(remember that game?). Not a bad idea, but still needs some work on design. The same with the one on the right hand side. My hubby said it looked like "boobs". Figures!

The one in the middle of those two beads was going to be called "Wavy Gravy". Don't know if that really worked out.

The heart on the bottom reminds me of Gobstoppers or the Power Puff Girl's heart. My newer design worked a little bit better.

And finally the lips. You know how they made that piercing called a "Monroe". Yeah, I'm not totally fond of it. Mostly when people get it done its a huge ball and looks pretty stupid. The ones that are better looking are the teensy ones that just look like a speck of glitter. Anyways... this was my bead trying out the "Monroe" look. As you can see the clear actually popped off. The CZ did manage to stick in the glass.

You have to be VERY careful with those little babies. If you manage to get them to stick to the glass without falling out , you need to then apply some transparent glass. After burning off the glue from poking the CZ into the surface of the glass you need to cover them with a transparent glass to keep them from burning. You have to do all of this in a split second! if the glass gets cold from trying not to burn the CZ when you apply the hot blob to cover it, it will pull the CZ off of the surface where you just placed it. BOO!

The reason I have taken you the "long way" to the final product is so that you have some idea of the time it takes from inspiration, to experimentation to something worth sharing ;)

*Pulls back the curtain*

Here is a group shot of all of the ones I deemed to be "good" beads. The heart with wings design needs to be revamped a bit, but I thought it might want to be with it's friends. On the top left you will see my "pea pod" bead. It didn't have another beady to group shot with, so it got it's explanation here.

You know there HAD to be EYES since I have had a teensy obsession with them ever since I have been doing art. I even got a tattoo! The tattoo is by David Bolt.

My tattoo is on my back just below my neck(so my jewelry isn't covering my tattoo) and above in between my shoulder blades.Here is a pic of my color faded make up and my eyebrow piercing that I totally LOVE!

Here are all of the one's with CZ's. Soldered pendant is by Diane Thaemart.
Hearts. Who doesn't love being in love and of course RAINBOWS since they have the most color! I'm still working on that heart with wings design. I don't think it's quite done yet.
The flames since you know all lampworkers LOVE fire!

Sarah- Thanks again for all of your inspiration. You and your beads are truly AMAZING! I hope to add some of them to my collection(as soon as that money starts roll'in in!). I have learned more things from my brief encounter with you than you probably realize and I am forever grateful!

Thanks to everyone else for reading.

Much love,

Genea

Quote

"Be yourself. Everyone else is taken."

*dun * dun* DUN*

(you have to imagine someone playing this on an old piano. Totally old skool.)

INSPIRATION STRIKES!!

I even ran out of the shower naked and grabbed my sketch book as not to forget all the ideas that flooded my brain at that moment.

Inspiration is a crazy thing... You never know when it will strike.

I'll let you know how it went after tonight...

Boxed in

So I have come to figure out great deal of interesting things over the past few days. Most of you that know me well know that I am an organized person and a perfectionist. I have found that sometimes those are NOT redeeming qualities. Especially when it comes to creativity. I have come to find that most really creative people are NOT super tidy(that doesn't mean that they are totally gross slobs or anything) it just means that they don't always clean up their bead mat, or desk or whatever creative area in which they work promptly after working. This right here allows creative things to happen. This allows those left over random things to end up sitting next to some other random thing and inspire something creative that you might not have put together if you didn't just happen to see it side by side. Here is one of those things...

My "Space Orbit," pendant on Etsy. This just happened to come together that very way... Crazy huh?

Other things that really creative people do is NOT be afraid to try something because it might not turn out too pretty. It is amazing to see what ends up being inspired by a flop! Here is anotherMy "Wing Dings". These were inspired by a simple bead that just wasn't going round. I furiously took the bead and mashed the bottom with a masher and then went "OH!" Great idea... why not smash the other side?... and VOILA! The "Wing Ding," was born. They are pretty popular too. I think its because they are an interesting shape and open up great possibilities for designs. My art teacher in highschool used to call these phenominons "Happy little accidents." OMG! When knew she was right?! I mean she was a teacher in highschool. What they hell do they know anyways?! ;)
Another one of my favorites that she said was I also liked "No risk, No art"! I think it was even a sign that was up in the art room. It's TOTALLY true!

So for an easy recap incase this is WAY too much reading for you....

Sloppy mess = Creativity
No having to follow a certain design = Creativity

These reasons may be the reason I was feeling totally "boxed in". I wasn't allowing myself to be creative all the way since being a perfectionist means there MUST be rules and a certain way to do things...

Who knew? I was feeling pretty Zen today. I hope my pearl of wisdom lets all of those other perfectionists out there just RELAX.

Much love,

Genea

Look what we did!

Here is a long angle shot of all of our pendants. Mine is the farthest left, then Billie's and then Kim's on th end. Pretty huh?

Here is a shot from above.

Billie and Kim came over and I taught them to make these pendants above. We had a really great time! I am totally in love with this new c-lon color called "cinnamon". It's the color I used on my pendant. I think it's almost kind of pumpkin colored. I would have called it"pumpkin spice, " or something. Anyways, it's a cross between orange and brown. VERY COOL! Thanks to Billie for giving me her newly purchased spool!

Billie and Kim, Thanks for everything! I had a wonderful time! Thanks for supporting me in all I do :)

Oh, I suppose I should show you all the pics of the newest beads I am totally in love with. We all had to have a set. I ended up making these lentils with the newest batch of Red Roof Tile that is almost kind of yellowy and orange with Raku and Silvered Ivory stringer. They turned out so GORGEOUS!

Here is Billie's set. It is entitled "Cave Magic."

Kim's set, "The Hunter." Her set has been put in etching acid to give it that ancient cave wall feel.Here is mine. "What Lies Beneath." I titled mine this because I did a design in Silvered Ivory first and then did the Raku design on top. Way cool.

You can't completely see all of the detail in the pics on the blog, but these beads are AMAZING! There is such a nice reaction between the Silvered Ivory and Red Roof Tile!

I think I am going to take some more pics today and add some more goodies to my Etsy. Be sure to check that out later!

Have a wonderful day!

Much love,

Genea

I'm sure there is some kind of disorder for this...

You can ask everyone. I colorize EVERYTHING. Have you seen how Crayola crayons come in a box? It's one big CLUSTERFUCK!

You can find inspiration in anything

Have you seen the new THX sound test? I saw it in the new "Indiana Jones" movie. I thought it was so pretty I wanted to share it with you! I can't figure out how to upload a video from you tube so here is the link. THX sound test

Beware the GROOVE

Yeah, something threw off my groove today. I mean I even had breakfast in bed thanks to my adoring husband. I made one really super cool bead and then after that I just couldn't get things to work. Oh well... I guess you have days like that right?! I think I just need to leave my environment too and be around some PEOPLE. I think my mind was preoccupied thinking about all of the things I needed to do to totally focus on making beads. BLAH! I even went to LE for inspiration.

I stumbled on a thread that was talking about Sarah Moran's beads. I had never heard of her so I thought I would check out the link. OMG does she make some AWESOME beads! Not only does she make some awesome beads, but she is silly too. People like that really warm my heart yanno? She is all self taught too. She uses super bright colors and has such precise detail. Her site really fed my eyes. I think I am going to go back and look through ALL of the pages. I just love it when lampwrokers have galleries for me to peruse. I love to see what everyone else is making and get inspiration.

Well I supposed I should be off. My mom is coming to rescue the Loo and me since I am carless.
Have a great night!

Much love,

Genea

Quote

" Never make somebody a priority who considers you an option."

Wow! Pretty powerful quote huh? My mom's friend Donna at work told her that quote. I think I am totally guilty....

OMG I did it!

Holy crap! Ok I am totally NOT tech support, but somehow I managed to find a driver for Lucas' camera and get it up and running. Not only that but I also figured out how to take pictures on his little camera and they look pretty good! *WHEW* Seriously when I am a rich and famous lampworker I am going to remember these times and be so happy that I finally have amazing equipment with no compatibility problems due to having old equipment! Ok well after all that craziness I am TIRED... if nothing else I am mentally done. See you tomorrow...

Nighty night...

<3 Genea

Spider update and beads

Well, my spider is GONE :( It was really cold and rainy yesterday and I think she got washed away. I did get a glimpse of her mate and when I went to photograph him the next day he was gone. I guess they mated. He was gone and she had a sack of eggs in the middle of her web. Her web is empty now. There is a huge hole in the middle where she used to hang out. I think her sack of eggs is still on the web though. Poor Fiona...

Well the last couple of days I have made some really cool beads. I finally got to make a "magic beads" set out of stone ground. I did find out that Stone Ground doesn't react the same way to Copper Green and Dark Turquoise the way that Opal Yellow does. It does, however react with EDP and Rubino, so I used EDP and Rubino to be the precursor for color reactions and added in the other colors touching them to get the "magic" effect. I will have to attach pictures of those later. Lucas, being the SUPER FANTASTIC friend that he is has offered to lend me his camera until I get a new one(hopefully in the next week or two). So, pending we don't have any computer issues I should have some new pics up soon.

I made a few more organic style beads like my "Song of the ancients" bead( you can see this bead if you click on my flickr slide show) only I did them on a base of Tequila Sunrise Coral odd lot and Pea Green. Unfortunately, a kinda dotty raked area on the Coral bead cracked. I am about 95% positive that one spot has a crack in it because it is dichro, then Raku, and then clear. They all aren't totally compatible and since they were all kinda melted in together they weren't happy. I will show a photo of this bead later as well.

I also made my 3rd Goddess out of CiM Plum. She also cracked in a spot, but I am 95% sure she cracked in a spot on her legs because the glass was too thin. It was where I made the crease for her legs. Again, more photos later. I also rolled her in some Raku. I was inspired by some of Teresa Laliberte's amazing Goddess beads. I think I am going to have to have her tutorial on how to make them! Pretty much everyone that I have showed them to says they LOVE them and they all, including myself aren't usually into Goddesses ;)

Well I guess that's all for now. I think I am going to list two more items on Etsy (since I can't take any new pics) and get some cleaning done around the house.

Have a wonderful day!

Much love,

Genea

48. Remember that Everything Has God's Fingerprints on It

From " DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF... and it's all small stuff" Page 121

Rabbi Harold Kushner reminds us that everything that had God has created is potentially holy. Our task as humans is to find that holiness in what appear to be unholy situations. He suggests that when we can learn to do this, we will have learned to nurture out souls. It's easy to see God's beauty in a beautiful sunrise, a snow-capped mountain, the smile of a healthy child, or in ocean waves crashing on a sandy bead. But can we learn to find the holiness in seemingly ugly circumstances-- difficult life lessons, a family tragedy, or a struggle for life?
When our life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday things, something magical begins to happen. A feeling of peace emerges. We begin to see nurturing aspects of daily living that were previously hidden to us. When we remember that everything has God's fingerprints on it, that alone makes it special. If we remember this spiritual fact while we are dealing with a difficult person or struggling to pay our bills, it broadens our perspective. It helps us to remember that God also created the person you are dealing with or that , despite your struggle to pay your bills, you are truly blessed to have all that you do.
Somewhere, in the back of your mind, try to remember that everything has God's fingerprints on it. The fact that we can't see the beauty in something doesn't suggest that it's not there. Rather, it suggests that we are not looking carefully enough or with a broad enough perspective to see it.

-Richard Carlson, PH.D.

Thunder in paradise

*sigh* Well I went to take pictures of my snow people and my camera took a nose dive off of the tripod onto my hard wood floor. Need I say more?..... The lens is now jammed and it will just turn on enough to turn itself back off. I tried not to panic as my camera is part of my livelyhood and my business. I went to the store to track down a screwdriver small enough to unscrew the teeny tiny screws they use to put the camera together. Why they don't make tools to fit these tiny screws is beyond me. I went to Walmart and then do CVS and finally got a hold of the tiniest eyeglass screwdriver I could find. It wasn't a phillip's like my screws but it worked like a dream. I unscrewed my camera and opened it up. Yup.. still broken. I had hoped there was just some little thingie jammed that I could magically fix but alas THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY. So my dear friends if you would send a little prayer my way or send some good vibes that would be super appreciated.(yes the text is blue cause I am sad :'( )

OMG shes got a mate!... and bead stuff

Ok so I am lame and totally excited about my garden spider that has decided to make my porch her new home. I am going to call her Fiona btw so when I say "Fiona" you will know about whom I am talking.. more on her name later.... ANYWAYS... I was checking on Fiona tonight to see if she had gotten any dinner. I even tried to turn off my porch light and turn it back on hoping that this poor helpless moth would fly into her web... ANYWAYS.... when I looked up I saw her MATE! The article said he might even be hanging out in a web right by hers. He TOTALLY IS! SO her web is spreading from the top awning of my porch to the railing and his is in the awning above where the top of her web is. HOW COOL! He is so *teeny* compared to her. I tried to take a pic of him, but it is too dark outside and I can't get close enough to him to take a macro photo. I guess I will try to snap a pic of him tomorrow.

I guess I am just really enjoying all of the little critters and nature around my home. There were surprise lillies that popped up in summer, surprise mums that sprouted out of nowhere, my giant leopard moth caterpillar (which is MIA at the moment. I hope to find him when he hatches), and now my spiders :D I totally have to take a pictures of the beautiful trees in my yard too. I have two GIANT old trees in my front and backyard along with some other really nice ones. Maybe having creatures to inspect is fun for me because I am learning something new. I dunno, but I am totally entertained. Oh yeah... I suppose you want to know why Fiona well there is a song on Fiona Apple's cd called "the first taste", and that made me think of my spider.

Ok now we can talk about beads ;) So I worked on making twisties when I got home from the gym to us for my snow people's scarves. After an hour of cane pulling I worked on some snow angel's, a few snow girls and I think I made one scarf girl. I was pooped after that. White glass is so mushy and just moves in all the ways you don't want it to. Ugh... I totally burned my finger on one of the snow angel's faces. My hand slipped when I was poking my cold stringer in it's face to make the eyes. Luckily it was just a quick tap so it just barely got my skin. It doesn't even hurt. Who knows I could be getting immune to the burns too! I swear I about burn my hand every time I fuss too long about getting my bead in the kiln. I have to be really careful so my beads don't *kiss* eachother. That totally sucks when they do!

I totally didn't get to taking more pics of my stuff for Etsy either. I even had some good literature for my Etsy listings too. I guess my mind was feeling eloquent. Maybe I will get off of her and take some new pics now...

Have a good night.

Much love,

Genea

Halloween Spider and Genea beads update

Look who came to visit my porch this morning! I will leave you with a link to find out a little more about Garden Spiders

I am really excited that one came to visit me again. I have not seen one in years. When I lived at my parent's house I had one camp out across my above ground basement window. Her web took up almost the whole length of the window. I went outside to shoo her away and then was so amazed by her that I left her alone. One stormy night came about a month later and she was gone :(

More later.... my chef(the hubby) has just prepared breakfast for me!

Yes, Christmas stuff ALREADY.... There are people out there that like to stay ahead of the seasons so I am starting a few early X-mas things like snowpeople :) Have to be PC right? lol

Some earmuff girls and boys.

"Holly" and "Rosie". White isn't really so fun to photograph :(

I have also added more items to my Etsy shop. You can click on the cool widget at the top of the page to get there. I will be adding tons of stuff over the next few weeks.

Oh yeah, I am FINALLY adding more pics to my Flickr page. You can get to it by the cool slide show on the right side of the page. I filled up my 200 pic limit and you have to pay after that. It's $24.99 a year. Anyone want to buy me a membership for this year? lol. I went through and deleted 22 pics so I could add some new photos. When I get a membership you can expect to see new pics often. Well I am going to get going so I can finishe updating Flickr.

Ta ta....

Genea Beads update

So it's been awhile since I added new items to my Etsy store. I was going to totally delete most of what I had in there and start fresh, but Ricky told me I should just leave it all in there. I thought about maybe adding new things and when I was done delete older items and then it dawned on me that people will be starting to think about Christmas soon. So... I will just be adding new items and maybe retaking pictures of the older items. I finally have a tripod so I will be able to take no flash photos of all of the stuff that likes to glare on white. I think I am going to retake anything that was photographed on my gray beadmat. I think the beads just look better on white an then everything will be uniform. Ahhh uniform ;)

I have a ton of stuff sitting on my bead studio table waiting to be made into jewelry. I have an order and just another fun thing on which to work.

I have one more run of color comparisons to do and then I am done! Woo hoo! I didn't make the deadline of the end of Sept, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. I was out yesterday due to a massive pressure headache. The temp dropped drastically and I think there were a bunch of allergens in the air! YUCK! :(

I will probably make some focals with the new Messy color Ming and maybe some with Pulsar. I am told the color page needs some beads since it's naked. We can't have that you know! I have been thinking of some designs in my head. I STILL have not gotten around to make some magic beads with Messy Stone Ground and Moretti Opal Yellow!

I made one test bead with stone ground to see the difference and have not gotten to get back to it since I have been so busy with the show and other stuff. That is on my list of things to make too. I will probably make some things in purple since Messy has made a shit ton of purples and I am pretty sure that people really LOVE purple.

I also need to jump start some X-mas stuff and then go back to fall. People are ALWAYS ahead of the seasons. I am just trying to enjoy fall! I really want to make some scarves with beads on the fringe this year. It just doesn't seem like there is time for everything huh? Ashley come make some scarves with me!

I have been making myself cups of hot tea in the evening since it's been so awesomely fallish outside :D I still need to get some Chai tea too! Lucas are you going to come have some Chai with me?

Ok... I guess I should shut up now... LOL. I have to go to the the store anyways and get Leeloo some more food ;)

Toodles...