Fresh Glass - 11/30

I'm enjoying a real creative high lately!  Yes, that bead really is that purple / pink / mauve in real life!!!

Hope you have a peachy wonderful weekend!!!

Fresh Glass 11/28 | Last Day of Sale

 Please excuse the icky pic today... we've got five days of rain coming in and the lighting is just craptacular without our California sunshine!  It feels so good to be producing again... even if it's just color and size tests!  I adore the little bent bead (stuck on a mandrel for the purposes of this pic). I was kinda surprised at the color reactions in that one. And the long skinny purple... the glass in the middle of that bead is notoriously green for me.  But it reacted with the purple and turned PINK! Fun stuff for sure! 

 I am deliriously happy today over Dancing with the Stars. Our family friend Tony Dovolani finally got a mirrored ball trophy! I screamed so much last night, that a cuppa hot tea and the gentle flames of the torch seem like a perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.

And today is the last day of the last ever Thanksgiving Sale!  Ends tonight at 11:59pm PST

Regular deals:

• 15% off anything in my Etsy store coupon code THANKS15
• 20% beads and jewelry on HollysFolly coupon code THANKS20
• 25% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page. Enter News25 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

FAN ONLY DEALS:

• 25% off anything in my Etsy coupon code FAN25 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 30% off beads and jewelry on HollysFolly code FAN30 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 35% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page for Sweet Stampen Fans. Enter Fan35 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

Fan status will be verified!

Fresh Glass 11/26 | Sale!

Fresh Glass... feels so good! Been too busy to torch so I was thrilled to find a little time to color test a new batch of glass. Still not sure I'm getting the best results....  But I love the oval bead with a tiny bit of Gaia in it! And the big ring!

And the sale goes on... Ends Wednesday 11:59pm PST

Regular deals:

• 15% off anything in my Etsy store coupon code THANKS15
• 20% beads and jewelry on HollysFolly coupon code THANKS20
• 25% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page. Enter News25 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

FAN ONLY DEALS:

• 25% off anything in my Etsy coupon code FAN25 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 30% off beads and jewelry on HollysFolly code FAN30 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 35% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page for Sweet Stampen Fans. Enter Fan35 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

Fan status will be verified!

OK, Here's the Deal

So here's the holiday deals:

• 15% off anything in my Etsy store coupon code THANKS15
• 20% beads and jewelry on HollysFolly coupon code THANKS20
• 25% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page. Enter News25 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

FAN ONLY DEALS:

• 25% off anything in my Etsy coupon code FAN25 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 30% off beads and jewelry on HollysFolly code FAN30 for Holly's Folly Fans
• 35% off rubber stamps including anything on our vast sale page for Sweet Stampen Fans. Enter Fan35 in comments. Deduction taken after checkout!

Fan status will be verified!

Sale ends 11:59 pm 11/28 Wednesday! 

-------------------------  

Craft Supplies and Beads on Ebay: I've been a busy bee cleaning out my stamp room and my bead bowl on Ebay. I'm taking a break over the holiday weekend but urge you to check in there after the sale.Ebay shop link

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rubber Stamped Cookie Bouquet designed by Carole Busse

It's been a busy week getting food color out to our restaurant chain customer! Add in that I took a nasty fall at the creek and tweaked my back and...well, it dawns on me that I haven't released any info about holiday sales. Patience my friend! TODAY is for relaxing and family and chosen family and good food and NOTHING else!

There's plenty of time for all that other stuff...later!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! 

Grrrrr! Purrrr!

It's funny the things I find in my bead bowl. Last week I discovered a whole set of Tiger beads and a gorgeous long skinny Tiger focal I had apparently saved for myself for some project(?) a long time ago!  Now, I have no idea what they were for! So they are moving to the glass bead website starting today!

I have a dear friend in town and will be running the streets a bit next week. He seems to be my only "see-a-great-art-film-and-try-a-new-restaurant" buddy and it's nice to get out of the shop and see the world once every six months or so. I will be shipping every day though!

Fusing Class Photos

I thought it would be fun to see some of my students work. People are always fascinated by the before and after shots of fused glass.

This is shelf one before fusing:

Shelf one after:

Shelf two  - note that some of my lampwork beads that broke are on here. Before:

 
Shelf two - check out how much that cross bead (upper right) melted! And note the color shift of the bottom left piece! After:

Stretchin'

My last few torch sessions have been a lesson for me in what I can do.  Sometimes a customer makes a request and my first instinct is.. "I can't do that."

And then I stew on it for a bit... grousing about the lost work...wondering what people see in my art that makes them think I can do anything...feeling like I have no skills at all.

Months can go by. Then one day, it just hits me.

"Try it," that little voice whispers.

"But I can't, " I whine.

"Just try. See what happens... you never know," it pleads.

"NO!" I argue.

"TRY IT!!!" it screams.

And so it goes until it hits me at just the right time.

One customer asked me to make a cross. I've never made one; don't have the commercial press that is available for crosses. And that voice said, "How did they make them before there were presses?"

I gave a surprisingly technical answer! Which made me realize, I DO know how to make a cross. And so I did. I loved it! Unfortuantely, my hiking buddy called just as I was fire polishing and ... it cracked. But, I know I can do it... and I can do it again!

The other bead someone inspired me to stretch and create was a small, TINY version of my breast cancer goddess beads. I simply told her...I don't do small beads. Then I was making scads of boobies for a custom order last week. I got distracted and added WAY too much glass to the mandrel. Normally, I will pick small amounts off to deal with volume control issues. But it was a bit too much for that. So I started to think about what I could make with that smallish blob of ivory on my mandrel.

And there was that voice again, "Try it!"

So with nothing to lose but time, I tried a small goddess! And she's so cute!

She is for sale, made to order, in my Etsy shop.

I'm very thankful for customers that push me to try new things. They are a tremendous asset when my muse is otherwise occupied!

Pantone Colors of Spring

Glass Beads in the Pantone Colors of Spring 2013

The colors of spring 2013 according to the color people at Pantone are:

Emerald, Dusk Blue, Grayed Jade, Tender Shoots, Lemon Zest, African Violet, Linen,  Monaco Blue, Poppy Red and Nectarine. This set is my interpretation in glass lampwork beads.