Saturday, October 30, 2010

Saturday Show Off: Mint Green Red Eyed Tree Frog and Grey Elephant Pendant!

Mint green body, orange feet, blue thighs, yellow and black accents on his sides, and red eyes make him one of my most complex frogs yet. He's a test frog for a custom order I'm working on, and I'm uber-proud of him so far :) Paul suggested I make the feet separately and attach them on after the body is done, so I may try that on the next one.
Also new on the block: this Grey Elephant Pendant

He's a sculpture and a pendant!  I love making pendant animals that can stand on their own, it really helps show them off at our Farmer's Market booth :) 

Friday, October 29, 2010

Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge: Holidays! RESULTS!!!

We have a winner!  This quarter's Jewelry Challenge winner: R. Scott Bjorge of Accente.  Congratulations Scott!  Here's his first-place-winning jewelry challenge entry (using the spider he designed that I made!):

Char Black Widow Necklace by R. Scott Bjorge of Accente
From the Fire Divas Challenge entry:
"Sitting in a dark corner we find Char our Black Widow Spider, designed by Patrice of Shepherd Creations. Char awaits her prey perched upon a patina copper web surrounded by aqua colored glow beads, designed by Janel of Janel Dudley Beads.
Our sexy spider loves Halloween but is secured in a manner that she can be removed and another focal piece can be designed for year around wearing."

Fortunately, there are also second and third place winners: 


"Bracelet made with olive green bead set by Fire Diva Holly Dare, brushed vermeil heart beads, lampwork red & green dotted bead, 10mm and 6mm green fire polish beads, gold spacers, bead caps, branch drop and gold vermeil filigree clasp.
My inspiration is from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
"And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."
The bracelet depicts the Grinch's transformation, while the dotted lampwork bead on the clasp represents the Whos. The gold branch is the horn the Grinch tied on his dog Max’s head.
What would the holidays be without watching all those wonderful TV specials we grew up with?"




"This necklace was inspired by the focal bead, "Monstrous Algae" by Melanie of Arensea. The beadwork is netting strung on soft flex wire with brass findings and swarovski crystals."

Great job, jewelry artists!  Enjoy your prizes, and remember to enter your goodies in the next quarter's challenge for another chance to win :)

Monday, October 25, 2010

Fire Divas Quarterly Jewelry Challenge: Holidays!

Ok, so many of you may already be aware that this awesome group of talented glassy ladies I belong to hosts a Jewelry Challenge quarterly... but did you know that voting ends tomorrow?  Go vote please!  Here is a link to the entries so you can see what to vote for: Fire Divas Holiday Jewelry Challenge Entries.  Recognize one of those beads?  I'm not saying you have to vote for that one, but please vote for your favorite holiday-inspired piece of jewelry art and help get the voting participation up.  If elected, that bead will... just be gorgeous.  No promises for tax breaks or anything! 

Here is a preview of the entries, but you have to visit the blog for better photos:




Ok, now that you've caught a glimpse of what's up for voting, go vote!  The winner gets to enjoy a shopping spree in the Fire Divas shops, details over in the Fire Divas blog :)  Thanks for voting! (I know you will :P )

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Saturday Show-Off for October 23rd, 2010

Happy Saturday! We had a very productive day out in the studio, and while those are cooling off, feast your eyes on these new insects! (I know the spider isn't an insect, but we still lump them in for our purposes!)

Yellow Bumblebee Pendant

Amber-Wing Cobalt Dragonfly Pendant

Red and Black Ladybug Pendant

Goofy Skull Spider Pendant
Thanks for visiting, and I'll see you back here for more glassy updates :)

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Show Updates for the Fall of 2010

Wow, so we're slated to do eight (8!) shows this month. That's a lot for us, so expect to see me on here even less :P We're excited to be in that many shows and markets, and we need to bust out some new fresh designs to keep up with sales. I made some lovely new dragonflies recently, and those should be up here soon. Our pumpkins sold out, the vampire bat is still here, but not for long :)

The newest show in our schedule was yesterday, at the Riverside Canyon Crest Towne Centre Art Walk. We were among good company of other local artists with wood work, paintings, ceramics, prints, sculpted flowers, jewelry, and embroidery. Sorry if I missed anyone, Paul's tummy wasn't feeling well and I couldn't leave as often as I'd like to go visiting. It was a nice show day, and we enjoyed the weather, customers, and good lunch. Our glass art also had plenty of sunlight, and that always helps!

I had a few new custom orders that turned out well, including a set of dichroic hearts by Paul for earrings to match his previous pendant, and an Eastern Star from me for a nice young lady. Photos should hit our site soon, as that was rather tough to make a star.

The Riverside Certified Farmer's Market is still doing well, and it's full of vendors this month. Our loyal repeat customers (you know who you are! :) ) keep coming back and perusing our newest wares, oftentimes buying glass I've only just made the day before!

Well, this is only our second year of shows, but we're mighty excited to enter the second Christmas season for our glass, because it is so nice to hear someone say they are giving your handmade animals to someone else as a gift for Christmas. Nice enough to hear it's a birthday gift, but even better for Christmas. Thanks for the compliments, it's always nice to have your work appreciated :o).