Fresh Glass 7.31.13

Today's Fresh Glass

And a tease for today's Fan Page Special. Sold three huge focals on the fan page yesterday! Whoo Hooo! Very grateful!  Beads on the Fan page are "listed" for 24 hours and 10% off! ;-)

New Beads Finally!

Finally! I got that pile o' beads cleaned and have started listing them. They go to the fan page first - at a discount of 10% so... catch them there if you can. After a day, I send them to my glass beads site. 

Waterlily

I've been playing with my huge frit collection and really liking what's coming out of the torch! I hope you will like them too!

Teal & Peach Glass Bead Spacers

Sedona Sunset

 

Here's the whole batch waiting for their close ups! If you see anything you like, don't hesitate to get in touch! 

Big Sale For Cancer Research

I made one of these dichroic survivor hearts in honor of my sister for the Syngenta Cruisin for a Cure. My sister and brother - in - law were always active participants in this annual charity event. With us losing her this year, my brother in law and I both wanted to donate some goodies in her honor!

The event is hosted by the ARC Car Club (Alternate Route Cruisers) in Baton Rouge, LA and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life program.

I strung a heart on a gorgeous pink ribbon from Jamn Glass and... it sold for $115!! YAY!!! So happy to contribute in my small way in honor of my sis!

Fresh Glass Times Two!

I've had TWO more torch sessions since I last posted Fresh Glass! Saturday's Glass Beads:

And Sunday's:

And the best news of all... the beads have all been cleaned...Now, if I can find my "good" camera!

Bead Chat Magazine and Summer Lampwork

One of my beads has been featured in the July issue of Artisan Whimsy's Bead Chat online magazine by Melinda Orr! Member's of Artisan Whimsey's Glass Geoup were asked to submit beach themed beads... and you know that's one of my favorites!

You can find more of the Bead Chat magazines... they are fabulous and chock FULL of ideas... by using the search feature in the upper right corner of the glossi (where the magazine is hosted) website. Just search for Artisan Whimsy Bead Chat! You'll be glad you did! And be sure to check out the beachy beads on page 55!

Click to view July 2013 BEAD Chat Magazine by Artisan Whimsy on GLOSSI.COM

Fresh Glass - 7/15

Fresh Glass! New beadies coming this week! A few silver laden focals and a couple donut sets in blue / purple and pink / teal.

Silly Me

Do you ever feel like you are in some perpetual classroom of life... that there are always lessons to be learned? I do. I never seem to feel like, "I got this. I KNOW what I'm doing." No, there is always a lesson and sometimes I don't like it.

Such is the case with this bead:

The Blue Goddess

She was commissioned on Etsy (really, do I need to say more? My thoughts on the value of Etsy drop almost daily!) by a survivor. I made SEVERAL beads...first wrongly assuming that the customer wanted pink flowers. I've since learned that many breast cancer warriors come to hate the color pink. But pink is one of those moody colors that does NOT play nice with ivory.

She was also the first customer that wanted a flower and a CZ... I finished the piece. I think she's lovely. And I sent pics... weeks went by, then months. No response to several emails. 

I know, I know...you are wondering why I didn't get a deposit. I make these beads in honor of my sister. They are so personal to me and, like my cremains beads... they touch my heart. And while it is a lot of work to make a bead with cremains...much prep goes into those, these really are "just a bead*!"  There is no excessive prep time, so I do what I always do with custom work. I make a few and hope the customer likes one enough to buy it. 

So maybe I should ask for a few bucks deposit...but I hate the bookkeeping that goes with refunds and Paypal keeps their cut no matter what... sigh.

But that leads me to Lesson #2: I rarely share beads anywhere but my Fan Page. Even though I'm a member of MANY bead groups on Facebook. I don't know why... I hate to feel like I'm spamming friends?? But I did share this bead yesterday and... as I started writing this post, it sold! Wow!

I HAVE to get better at promoting my work... sigh... Any suggestions? What's YOUR best promo tip???

{Update 7/15 - *This phrase hit a nerve. I didn't mean to imply that I don't value my work. I was only saying that as the goddesses are a basic bead with very little prep compared to the work that goes into a cremains based bead. Hence, I didn't feel I needed to ask to a deposit}

Good to Be Back Home

Hello!!! Long time my beady friends!!! I'm SO happy to be home! I had hoped to post at least once or twice but between taking care of my Daily Glass Bead Blog and Creekhiker and caring for Mom... I was pooped!

I did sell a couple of my all time favorites while I was gone. I love when my beads find a good home but, for some of them, it's hard to say goodbye!

I'm playing catchup today, returning calls and emails and dealing with some household chores today but shipping resumes tomorrow!

Can't wait to fire up the torch!!! New beads soon!