The M* F*ing Saga Continues

Hello friends!

And so the saga continues.... Since you last stopped in here is what has happened. We finally got downstairs to set up the studio. When we got ready to set up we noticed some black spots on the ceiling. Yep, you guessed it! Mold! Damn it! So we got out some bleach water and sprayed the spots and followed that with 2 layers of Killz. 

Ricky painting the ceiling.

Here was us setting things up.

Here is my horribly stripped oxygen concentrator connection. The shitastical plastic threads were finally stripped. Who in their right mind puts PLASTIC threads on an OXYGEN machine? Someone needs to be brutally maimed. So my darling husband does his best to saw off the bad threads with a STEAK KNIFE of all things(we don't have many tools) to get to the nice textured threads at the top. After sawing, and sawing, and SAWING, and cursing, and SAWING. He finally gets that bottom part cut off. We attach the hose and you can hear the oxygen hissing out of the top at the connection.

Awesome.

Class? Do we know what this means? Oh why yes, this means that the concentrator is CRAP until that part if fixed. :(:(:( So now we need to locate the correct fitting and order a new part. So what does this mean? No mini cc torch set up for me :(:(:(

How do we remedy this problem? Well we take out our OLD torch set up before our upgrade! So out comes the Nortel minor torch and old oxy con. We get them all set up and awesome. Check for leaks, adjust and we are back in business! SWEET!!

BUT.....

I flip on my kiln and the most horrible buzzing noise comes out of it. I quickly switch it off. What could horrific sound be?? Oh it MUST be the kiln relay I have NEVER replaced since buying my kiln in 2008(normally those crap out after 4-5 years). 

Awesome. 

So then what? Well we go upstairs and sit. Panic. Feel like the universe must be telling me I should NEVER make beads again. Gah.. WHY?????? *sigh*

We decide to be proactive. I call up Glasshive(the makers of the most AMAZING kilns ever. No, really!! EVER!!) to find out what the damage is for this new part. Turns out it's only $20 bucks! Awesome, but um.. I am short the $20 at the moment. So what do they do? They SEND IT TO ME AND TELL ME TO PAY LATER. OMG! Um yeah, what I said about best kiln company EVER. Yeah, so if you need to buy a kiln, guess where you should be spending your money ^^ 

In the mean time my friend Brandon calls. I had called him just after calling Glasshive to trouble shoot my problem. He told me that it may be and overloaded circuit. That means that I plugged the kiln into an outlet that is less than 30 amps(the necessary amount to run the kiln). So being the genius I am, I decide to play lets guess the outlet! Awesomely enough NONE of the breakers are labeled in our breaker box. Boo.

So here we go, outlet number 1- BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Outlet number 2-BZZZZZZZZZZZ. Now as you are reading this you still don't know just how awful this sound is. Imagine a super buzzy alarm clock x 100. That might give you an idea. Playing guess the outlet is like playing Operation. You remember that game right? The one that buzzes every time you bump the sides as you try to remove the broken body parts from the patient. Yeah, the outlet game is like that. I cringe as I plug in the cord and flip on the switch. Outlet 3, outlet, 4-BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. 

Outlet 5- Bzzzz CLICK. Wha?? NO FUCKIN' WAY! It's WORKING!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! 

A fuzzy photo of the magical outlet.

Next I call Glasshive to find out if running the kiln will hurt it worse. Turns out if it's running it will be just fine. I guess generally after the kilns set they can get moisture on the contacts and have the relay go out as well, OR they can turn on, dry up, and start running again! So I did a trial run. I just decided to make spacers incase my kiln decided to continue dying.

Mmmm so pretty! Just like candy!

So for day 2 I decide to get a little more ballsy. I was told that the relay generally dies in the off position. So I figure if it turns on and heats up we are good, right?

There she is. My tiny little hot girl. My very first upgrade from my hot head torch. It was SO nice to make beads even if the torch is so much cooler than my Mini CC. I could MAKE THINGS. Ahhhhh.

Ok so the fan set up is not so awesome, but we will be attaching my vent fan soon so I can go back to having real ventilation! Hooray! Until then we just do it however we can, right? Not that I am telling you that this is a safe way to work. 

There she is still kickin and holding the temp correctly. 

The kiln relay. The magical switch that regulates the kiln temperature. I have yet to install this piece yet, but will as soon as my friend stops by to help. I am not skilled in the art of mechanical devices. I leave that up to the people that are. We don't need ANY more studio drama.

On a side note. Life around me goes on. Mom gifted me with this gorgeous passion flower! I am super excited to see it bloom. She told me it's a red one, but the label says otherwise. I guess I will be surprised when it opens.

Look it already has a bud :D I kinda think it will decide to open when I am out of town this weekend. Drat.

Oh did I tell you I will be going to Red Feather Lakes, Colorado Friday-Monday?  Ricky's dad is flying us in for Ricky's mom's b-day. We can't wait to see them! Not to worry the shops will remain open for your shopping pleasure and purchases made between those dates will ship on the 10th ;)

We also have some exciting business new coming up, but I will save that for another blog post.....

I spent the last few days getting back in the swing of things and waiting for inspiration to strike. My friend Amanda kidnapped me for a hang out day. We saw a sign on the side of the road for 25 cent snow cones! These darling girls made us snow cones and they were quite amazing! What a treat. The world still does have sweet simple pleasures for next to nothing :)

I made this awesomeness from a bunch of organic fruit that we were gifted. Our friends work for a delivery organic place and the fruit was in the bruised bin.I put each fruit in my juicer and poured and froze each layer to get this amazing star pop! Holy crap was it AMAZING!! So delicious! Way better than that crap loaded with sugar and fake dyes. Ick.

Mom sent me home with some of her day lilies. I planted them by the front deck on stairs. They should fill in here nicely :)

I weeded the left side of the house by the garage. That big heap of green inbetween the hostas was all weeds! Rat bastards trying to choke out my plants! *shakes fist*

I had a few more lilies so I planted them in this, also weed filled bed on the right side of the house. It doesn't look like much, but they will be so pretty when they grow in.  

Would you believe this?! I even made *RED*beads! You all know how I hate red, right? Why do I hate red? Well I will be a girl about it.. It doesn't match with my red hair. Yep, really. Lol.  I really am smitten by these beads. This red just glows when layered and etched. I even added some stone texture. I will show you what I did with some of these next time.

Until next time... 

Have a great weekend and see you next week!

xo Genea