Information Please

Hello to one and all !  This weeks post is simply put, all about information about this and that.  Probably not going to be very long post but hopefully some fun and info about my little corner of the world.  :)

First of all, I am hosting a giveaway over on my Facebook page.  Click All My Beads Facebook  to go directly to my Beads page and LIKE my page.  Once I reach 100 LIKES on the PAGE (not on a post) then I will be hosting the giveaway and will post what the giveaway prize will be and the rules.  Don't worry, the rules won't be a hassle to deal with.  lol !  Some fun little game or something.  :)

My Etsy shop listings are finally dwindling down.  Slowly but surely.  Just an FYI - If you want anything over there, please shop now.  As all of the listings expire, I am not and will NOT be relisting any of it EXCEPT for the hand dyed silk cords and bellflower beads/headpins.  You can check out my Etsy shop HERE or click on any picture to the right in my Etsy shop.

With the heatwave still in full force with temps in the high 90's and with heat index temps of over 100 degrees, I'm still unable to sit at my beloved torch and make glass beads.  sigh.   Even very early in the morning it's still in the 70's with 100% humidity (we live near a huge lake).  Just can't justify opening that window to draw in back up air and heat up my work area anymore !  lol !  With a kiln set at garaging temp of 950 degrees to 960 degrees and the heat of the torch PLUS humid outside air, UGH !  Really not worth the impending heat stroke it will cause me !  lol !  So, I sit and wait for the cool.  sigh.  It'll come.  :)

Still no inclination what-so-ever to make, design, create jewelry.  Not one iota of creativity either.  What's up with that ???  lol !  Usually summertime, when I can't torch, is the high point of my jewelry making.  Not this summer.

Very soon I will be updating some posts I've made in the past.  One in particular, tips and tricks for using the bellflower press.   If there are any other posts you'd like to see updated or revised, please leave me a comment below.  :)  It won't show up immediately but it will be posted.  :)

Below are just a few of my favorite photo's saved from the web. 
I don't know the photographer or even remember where I got the first photo but isn't the color amazing ! 

Just for fun.  I LOVE Snoopy.  One of my all time favorite characters.

Think Snow !  :) 

Ok that's it for now.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon. 

 



 

Summer Days

Ohhhh man is it HOT and humid out there !  I hibernate during these hot days of temps in the 100 degree range - with and without heat index !  Today's high - 105 with heat index.

Because of the heat, no torching.  It's just too hot to melt glass.  I'd melt right along with the glass !  lol !   With the torch going and the kiln parked at about 950 degrees the torching area is almost the same temp as it is outside plus the hot air coming in the house.  Nope, can't do it.  So the beads you will see are ones that were made before this Hades heat set in.  :)

Jewelry - well, it's just not there yet.   Such is life.

I do have a few bead pictures I can show so here goes.
This first set is more fun with that new press I have.  I love making beads with it !  This particular set is made with some new frit I have and includes a few donut shaped spacer beads with it.  Love the fun colors in the frit and I really have fun cutting !  lol !
This press is one reason I can't wait to get back to the torch when it cools down.
White base with fun colors in the frit. 

These round beads are fun to make too.  Round with sparklies added in then lightly encased in clear so the sparklies have some depth to them.  All transparent colors except the lilac which is almost transparent.  ;)  More of these will come about too later on.  

I finally bought some glass to add to my supply.  I haven't bought any glass to melt in a very long time so there was a bit of sticker shock involved.  Prices have increased dramatically compared to the last time I bought any which was probably a year or so ago give or take.  And honestly, there's just no reason prices need to be so high.  It's a total ripoff but nothing any of us can do about it - if we want to melt glass.  That whole scenario is for another day.  All I know is, my glass will last a bit longer since I don't torch during the dog days of summer.  Think SNOW !  LOL !

I can't remember who took this photograph but it was taken in the Smokies and posted on the Great Smokies National Forest Facebook page HERE.  It's so gorgeous and perfect to help one cool down on this nasty summer day.  Go to their page if you're on Facebook and check out all of the fabulous photograhers that post there work.  Amazing stuff.

Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon. 

Glass Beads In The Works

So much to say, so little time.  lol !  The past week has been so hot and humid.  Typical for this time of year and now the coming week is suppose to be hotter and more humid.  Problem is, no rain predicted !  We need it badly too while other parts of the country are drowning in rain. 

Even though we had all that heat, I did have LOTS of torch time.  Every morning I was at the torch trying new goodies and a new technique.  I REALLY want to talk about the technique I played with but I must carefully think that over.  The new goodies are the press I got recently, new sparklies and some silver.  Fun, fun stuff.  So I played all week. 

I made lots of little bead sets over the last couple of weeks and lots of focals.  Focals have always been my favorite thing to make in the last few years.  The bigger the better.  But playing with the new sparklies made it even more fun.  Check out these beads.   All focals, all encased.  Left to right:  pretty lavender, aqua in the center and amber rose on the right.  Yummy colors !  These were so much fun to make and each one took a while to make.  I've never been great at encasing so it takes me a while to get it right.  Boy, but when it's right, what a treat !  lol !  If you look closely, you can see the light shining thru the beads except for the lavender bead.  That is not transparent glass.  ALMOST transparent but not quite.  lol !  These are for sale on my Facebook Fan page HERE  if your interested in purchase.  All of my Beads on that page are for sale.  :) 

I have no other photo's to show.  lol !  I have a bunch of beads I made and still have not taken pictures of any of them other than these.  lol !  I have NEVER done that before.  Talk about lazy.  Well, not entirely.  I was pretty busy LAST week doing other stuff.  Since I won't be able to torch for the next several days (at least) due to heat, that will give me plenty of time to do the photographing I would think.  lol ! 

Time for me to get my day started.  I hate starting late.  Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again very soon. 

Remember to check out my facebook fan page with the link above.  Also, check out my Etsy shop for hand dyed silk cords, some jewelry and some beads from long ago.  lol !  When the bead listings in my Etsy shop expire, I will NOT be listing them again.  If you want any of the beads that are left, now's the time.  :) 

 

Time to Burn Out

In a blog post a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the subject of burnout.  We all go thru it at some point in our lives whether it’s at work or play, with work being the harder one to resolve.  So what is the actual definition of burnout ?   I just looked it up and there are several versions but for the purpose of this post, this definition fits my purpose right now: 

 fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or intense activity.

I’ve been feeling this way about creating jewelry for several weeks now.  Mainly frustrated, fatigued when I even think about it and apathetic towards it.   Most of it has to do with creating beaded Kumihimo jewelry but it really has to do with ALL forms of jewelry making.  I just don’t care about it and want it to all go away.  I look at all my jewelry creating supplies and just sigh, look away and wonder if I’ll ever care about it again. 

I felt this all coming on when I was working on the necklace pictured below.  That's the last piece I made and I love how it turned out.  I want to make more but then again, I really don’t.  (enter me shrugging shoulders here).   Just the thought of it makes me feel fatigued, frustrated and apathetic.  lol !  So yep, this is total and complete burnout.  I have MANY other hobbies/crafts/arts I can get moving on and all the “stuff” to do it with but again – I don’t want to.  No, I’m not depressed or stressed or hurting or any such thing.  I just don’t want to make jewelry – I even feel a bit guilty about not wanting to make jewelry.  Isn’t that kinda weird ?  So the question is – Why ?  Why all this jewelry making/creating burnout ?  If this happened to you, how did you get through it ? 

 

The one thing I REALLY want to do is make beads.  So at every opportunity when there is a “cool” day, I get to the torch as early as possible.  Like  on the 28^th.  First day in a week it did not hit near or at 100 degrees.  It stayed fair all day long and I could of torched all day long but I only allow myself a max of 3 hours on the torch with breaks.  And that’s only if I start early enough.  lol !  Yes, making glass beads is my first love.  What I enjoy the most.  I’ll concentrate on that  - when I can.  It’s the down times, when I can’t torch that I NEED to be doing something which is when I always made jewelry, dyed silk cords, made fiber braids, made beaded dolls and etc.  

The necklace above IS for sale.  You can find it here  All My Beads Facebook Page  If you're interested, just leave me a message there or post a comment under the necklace.

Thanks for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon.  The next post is gonna be a good one.  I got to torch ALOT this past week.  lol !