Sunday Show-off: Custom Red Pinscher

It's not every day you get a good challenge for glass art, though lately it does seem as though my customers are connoisseurs and appreciate the skill involved for their goodies.  I do have great customers, and want to do my best when they ask for something special.  This is along those lines, as the custom mermaid was specifically designed to meet stringent specifications, so was this lovely red mini pinscher.  He wanted a red one, and I asked, "Copper?" "No," he replied, "he's pretty red."  After a bit of research and study, this is what we created as our first mini pinscher:

Red Mini Pinscher Custom Pendant

They have long legs for their size, and the eyes are not recessed or blended in with the skull like some other breeds.  His little ears must stand up and his tail is docked, though personally I would be a softie if given the choice for my poochie and let him keep his natural traits, though I don't think you often have a choice, especially if you rescue one.

It's really amazing how many breeds of dogs there are, and this led us on a journey to discover a bit about pinschers, mini ones, dobermans (named after a tax collected that began the breed!), great danes (though sometimes these get mistaken for ponies), and shepherds, of course.  It did make me inspired to adopt a dog, but the cats put that thought back out of my mind, as this is their home and that would be an intrusion of their freedom.  Dogs are hard to resist though, as such sweet animals you just want to adopt them all...  Well, at least I can donate more pieces to the animal fundraisers, with mine successfully sold at the silent auction last month.  Now that I know I can make dogs, I guess these would be the best pieces to donate to the shelters, right?

Happy Sunday all, I hope it's very restful :)

As Promised -- Black Octopus and Mermaid Pendants!

First, our newest black octopus:

He's full of tentacled-fury, with blue and black eyes.  Adorable, yet not overly-cutesy like some of our sweeter-looking tentacled friends.  Feast your eyes upon him now; our last black octopus was snatched up in a flash!

Now on to our custom request mermaid pendant -- This is the one that was chosen by the customer, and she gave it as a gift 3 days ago for a birthday.  I'm sure the recipient enjoyed it, so now here's your chance to sneak a peek at one of our newest custom requests:

I know, the picture isn't the best, but it was taken outdoors at the show before I handed her over :)  Some pieces you just have to get a shot of before parting with them forever...

More to come soon, as I'll try to post some awesome glass on here to keep it interesting.  Have a great weekend!

New Mermaid and Octopus Coming!

I made two and gave the customer her choice ~ I'll be back on later today with a photo of the second-best mermaid I've made :).

Yes it occurs to me that in a Glass Art (and other nature-related stuff) Blog, it is appropriate to occasionally put glass in here.  I'm sorry, it's just hard for me to put it out here without feeling like I'm advertising to you.  This blog should be interesting first and foremost, and I don't want to just force feed a bunch of shameless glass promos at you.  In this wish, I have sort-of avoided putting glass on here for the better part of a year, so I guess it's high-time to pony up the glass goods, eh?  Later today.  Patience...  Once it's too hot in the studio I'll come in and do my photo'ing and posting and whatnot.   Always the whatnot.  Cheers!

Suspicious Mole!

Well, there's something chewing up our garden goods but it's so overgrown right now with the issues we've been dealing with that they can have it for now.  Munch away if you must, your time will come in mid-summer, Mr. Mole or gopher, you sneaky bugger...

But I digress; this post is actually intending to link you curious types to an interesting page created by Mollie's Fund, an organization set up to raise awareness about melanoma in honor of Mollie Biggane.  She passed away at the early age of twenty; just six months after being diagnosed with melanoma.  Here is a page giving you a few tips on the ABC(DE)s of suspicious moles.

What I also found interesting is that there is a Pepsi Refresh project that is asking for votes to decide which worthy causes will get grant funding.  Check it out here and vote if you see something worth speaking out for.  There are some screwball ideas asking for funding, so maybe it's worth a few minutes just to click click click to help get funding to go somewhere it deserves to be.  Have a relaxing Saturday evening :)

Trouble(d) at the Knoll

Always a sprinter, never a marathon-runner.  It's so much easier to be positive in bursts, but extremely difficult to keep it up.  The negative energy is getting to me, as my morning drive is mostly spent trying to spot white GMC Suburbans, thinking "Is that the Suburban that the burglars drove?"  It's a double-edged sword to know exactly what they (and their vehicle) look like.  Although I know that they aren't folks I have to see every day, it's easy to imagine them rifling through my dresser drawers :(

Anyone who knows me well can imagine how my mind would work in this situation.  I'm a person that rarely ever loses things, and is generally quite organized.  I've come to accept that although I tend to have clutter around me, I can usually find most things in under 5 minutes, which is the true definition of being "organized."  Many adjectives have been used to describe me over the years (remind me not to ever say "anal" and "stick-in-the-mud" in the same sentence again!), but "lax" and "happy-go-lucky" aren't on the list.  I tend to over-analyze things, so this situation is really less than ideal for me.  I spent 45 minutes yesterday before work looking for a puzzle box I KNOW was in my office in front of my printer, with a little necklace inside it.  It's not in the office, and it's not in the rest of the house either.  Neither are the 2 Caesar's Palace gaming chips my father gave to me when I was ten after I found out our house burnt down.  Seriously, you steal gaming chips?

It's really not any of the things missing that bothers me.  I've never been really wrapped up in actual things, but more the idea of them.  Having a fully-stocked pantry has always been comforting to me, and the idea that we were totally private in the house was too.  Someone asked me if the burglars took anything from my fridge, though I'm sure that person immediately thought better of it a moment too late.  Never did that occur to me, though it sure does now when I reach for that jalapeno ranch dressing.  Did they try my fresh salsa that Paul and I had made together just days before?  Were they tempted by the tuna salad that has not aged gracefully?  Too many questions.  Not enough answers.

Yet...

Trouble at the Knoll

Ok, so back in the day, we used to make our own wine.  Paul is a chemical engineer, and figured he could be a wine connoisseur and vintner also.  He created his own label for his artisan wines that continued for several years until we fell in love with glass and it became the alpha-hobby.  During that time, he coined the name "Shepherd's Knoll" for his labels, and that's what I like to use in reference to our home, our castle.  Moving right along...

I was intending to blog about our show and to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day, but our plans were derailed.  Upon arriving home last night after a show and putting in 7 hours at the office, we found our home had been burglarized.  We were initially concerned we may have interrupted the crime in progress, as the television was off the wall but still connected to the stereo, so we went outside cautiously to dial 911.  As many of you are aware, this is a crime that strikes the very core, the foundation of our security, as it was abundantly clear that nowhere we lay our heads was sacred.  Our possessions ransacked, cats escaped (they came back in the house, but they're indoor kitties and shouldn't be exposed to the elements like that) and previous weekend's show revenue gone, we are still reeling but settling in with the lessons learned.  The Riverside Police responded quickly, although the first two attempts to dial 9-1-1 were met with BUSY signals, forcing Paul to dial the non-emergency line used to report noise issues from raucous parties.  It was a cold night waiting outside while the police searched the residence and property to secure the area so we could come inside, but we were eventually left to clean it up and try to get some sleep, hard as it was.  Fingerprint residue seems to come off alright with Lysol wipes :)

The items can be replaced, money can be earned to replace the cash lost (yes, we should have deposited it, but we were going to do that today!), and we are very thankful that the most important "things" in our life cannot be stolen or ransacked.  Our safety is most important in this type of situation, and we are both fine, as well as the kitties.  The Riverside PD recommended we remove our show schedule from our website, however, and we have.  We ask that you contact us for specific show dates, as we won't want to post it anymore.  Harsh lessons I know, but ones that we all learn eventually, one way or another.  We appreciate the kind sentiments from our friends who have sent messages our way during this turmoil, and will now proceed to apply the lessons learned for better preparedness.  Onward and upward, and no looking back at what we could have done differently.  Happy Saturday folks, and don't forget to celebrate your Mothers this weekend :)

Friday: Farmer's Market!

Ok so it's a little past Friday, but we have a big show this weekend, so it was bound to happen ;)

We normally attend the Riverside Certified Farmer's Market (on Arlington x Madison) every other Friday, but we threw in one more for those customers wanting something special of ours to give for Mother's Day.  Can't say what we're giving our moms for Mother's Day (because they might read it here), but it's bound to be good.  It's difficult to keep trying to top it each year though.  Moving right along...

The weather was lovely, albeit a bit gusty, and we had a great day.  We did, however, become famished as it approached the noon hour, and Paul could not contain himself any longer; Here's a photo of him munching on the end of a Jalapeno Cheese loaf (PRICELESS!):