A little behind

I have been a little behind in my blogging this week, I have been filling lots of special orders and getting ready for the next show. I have also started another blog to document the progress on the new house.
Here is the link: http://grandecasabianca.wordpress.com/

All I really have this week is a photo of the latest bangle that was a special order and a photo of our cats.

Bangles

Lately I have found myself wanting to spend more time experimenting with metal. It really helps me focus and exercises my eye-hand coordination. I love working with sterling silver and copper, it's really rewarding to me when I can change the shape of something by using tools and fire. The rhythm of annealing and hardening the metal is soothing.  It also reminds me of my daily life, being sure to be somewhat flexible while staying true to myself.

I have been focusing on bangles and adding my glass beads to them. The first one I made was purchased by a customer who wears lots of bracelets at one time. It had several glass beads and some brass beads that were able to move around the bangle and make a nice jingle sound.

The next 4 bangles were quickly sold at my last show in Arizona before I could take any photos of them. They all had glass beads, but the beads were static. I personally like jewelry that makes some noise.

The bangles have been such a huge success that I have been asked to teach them at the yearly retreat for our bead guild Glass Act.

Here are a couple of my latest bangles:

Bead show

On Sunday I did my first organized bead show in Michigan. This show was put on by the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild in Southfield, MI. The show was great. I met lots of new people, and sold lots of beads. It was a really good jumping off point for me getting into the show circuit here. The next show I will be the Northern Michigan Bead and Jewelry show on April 13th in Cadillac, MI. I am really looking forward to doing another show. It gives me another deadline to work towards.

 Here are photos from the show:

Three days with Hayley Tsang Sather

This last trip to Arizona was fantastic, I wrote about it earlier:  http://myglassbeadlife.blogspot.com/2013/02/surreal-az.html

In this post, I wanted to elaborate on my class with Hayley Tsang Sather. The first time I met Hayley was in Oakland at the ISGB Gathering in 2008. She had been making beads with silver glass and getting colors from it that I could only dream about. I was enamored with her work from the first time I saw it. She had a gorgeous bead entered into the silent auction that was very similar to the bead on her postcard. I wanted that bead, had to have it, and luckily, I ended up winning the auction. I love that bead.

I have followed Hayley's work on her website, Facebook and ISGB, and am amazed at how she can tame the silver glass beast. I purchased one of her tutorials and had signed up for her class in February 2012. Well unfortunately, the weekend of her class in Arizona was also the weekend we ended up moving to Michigan, so I was not able to attend. I was bummed, but in the middle of last year I was invited to take Hayley's class in 2013! Woo Hoo. So, at beginning of February, I attended a 3 day class with Hayley and it was fantastic. Hayley has some really great energy, and does not take no for an answer. She showed us some of her techniques and promptly had us design our own bead using some of the techniques she just taught us. Doing that really pushed me out of my comfort zone but in the end it was a success and gave me some confidence. Here are pics from the class:

This is the first bead we learned. Those are CZ's in the centers of the flowers!

This is "my" bead I made after learning color technique from the first demo. 

The second bead we learned.

My spin on the above technique.

And this is the last demo using the murrini we made on the first day, enamels and powders.

This is the bead I purchased from Hayley at her class.

Now back at home, I have been using more silver glass and creating my version of these beads. I especially love the "my own" bead I made in her class and have been making more of those with the new marble mold I bought in Tucson.

My bowl of Bead Soup

So, as you already know, I am participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party organized by Loir Anderson: http://www.beadsoupblogparty.com/ and my partner is Karen Vincent of Swallowtail Jewellery: http://www.swallowtailjewellery.blogspot.com/. If you haven't checked out her fabulous jewelry, please do. 

I received my soup ingredients from her last week and I want to share the gorgeous beads and findings that Karen sent. Here they are:

Look at those gorgeous colors!!

The copper focal bead

I am so excited to start thinking about what I want to make. I am so into blue and brown colors right now, so designing will be really fun.

Stay tuned for the big reveal on April 6th!

Bead Soup

As you may already know, I have decided that this is the year that I take the plunge with my beads and jewelry and really put myself out there. To do this, I have signed up for several shows in the MI area and I have decided to join the Bead Soup Blog Party created by Lori Anderson. If you are not familiar with the Bead Soup Blog Party here is a link:
http://www.beadsoupblogparty.com/

In a nut shell, Lori pairs up bloggers, artists and jewelry designers. You send a "soup" of beads including a focal bead and a clasp to your partner and they design something with those items. There will be 3 reveal dates where you reveal what you have designed. The fun of this is to meet new people and see their work and their blogs.

I have been paired up with another blogger and jewelry designer Karen Vincent. Her designs can be found here at Swallowtail Jewellery. http://www.swallowtailjewellery.blogspot.com/
Her and her daughter design the most delightful jewelry, I hope you will check out her blog page, Facebook and Etsy pages as well.
I shipped out my soup ingredients today, and Karen will have them in 2 days. Our reveal date is April 6th, so stay tuned to see what we make.

Surreal AZ

I just got back from my visit to Arizona and had a really great time. 

This visit I got to see many of my friends, made some new ones, visit with the family, take a wonderful 3 day glass class, visit the Desert Botanical Garden and spend a couple days bead shopping in Tucson at the Gem and Mineral show. The worst part of my visit was that I caught a cold, and am feeling the brunt of no sleep, a head swimming with snot and a chill. Boo!

The surreal part is that nothing had really changed. It's weird, in MI, I am around change on a daily basis, wether its the seasons changing, or my daily struggles with adjusting, there is always change going on. In Arizona, I just kicked right into my usual routine. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not yet. I still need to ponder that one. Either way, I had a really good time and look forward to my next visit!

My incredibly adorable nephews

Beads from my class with Hayley Tsang.

Yummy food

Desert Botanical Garden