Glass Bead Miscellany

Welp, that open ended teaching job??? It now has an end date and that's looking like end of school. I've loved the assignment and the boys (it's an ED class of only boys) seem to like and respond to me. Instead of going through sub after sub, the school felt it best to provide some consistency to these guys. What does that have to do with glass beads?? Very little... as in that's how many beads I'll get to make in the coming months. But, a steady paycheck for a few months is a good thing, even though steady work sucks the creativity out of my bones! And I'm hoping that will lead to a productive summer...if I don't get back on the surgery track.

That being said, I've been cleaning out all my many bead boxes and making sure I have a better organization system for photos and beads for sale.  I have found every original photo for every thing I sell and placed all in one master folder organized into subfolders like focals, sets, necklaces, bracelets, etc... I still have to work on my website but my Facebook / Etsy crap is done!

And I wanted to share a bead I made for me. I've always wanted a rottweiler I made myself. I made this at the end of a Judy Carlson workshop. Very difficult as the mahogany goes black in the flame and you can't tell the two glasses apart!

Fresh Glass | Roadblocks to Creativity

This was my fan page post for yesterday:

Your Beadmaker has a case of the BLAHS! I don't want to make beads because I'm feeling uninspired. I don't want to clean beads I've made b/c my dremel is midway on another project. I don't want to photograph cleaned beads b/c it's hot. I don't want to list b/c no one seems to be shopping... sigh #FallDoldrums

So what do you do when you need inspiration???  No, really, I want to know!!  This is the hardest thing for me. I see people make cute little sets... over and over and over... and pass the bullets please! I was never cut out to be a "factory." I knew this with the rubber stamp biz.

Back when rubber stamping was really huge and there were actual rubber stamp stores, several of the more successful manufacturers offered a "card of the month" program. While this was a nice way to guarantee wholesale order every month....it also involved creating a handmade card for every store that subscribed to the program!  And the most had 200 -250 stores subscribed to this plan!  I knew  two of the artists who made these cards every month, Jane Beard, (who drew the Museum of Modern Rubber line that I press) and the late, great Georgia Cerone. Both loved the repetition of the work and having to come up with new designs for next month. I would just die if I had to do that!

And so it goes with beads. I have to have something new going on to keep my brain happy and with the doldrums... how do you just light the torch of inspiration???

I decided to explore some color sites.  I wrote down the color combos that appealed to me and before I knew it... the bead ideas were flowing. I only got a couple of beads made...but that's a start. And sometimes, that's all it takes!

So... what do YOU do when you need inspiration????

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FOUR Halloween Pendant specials on the fan page today!

Creative Highlights from 2012

I thought it would be fun to review some of my favorite projects from 2012. Looking over my blog posts from the last year, I'm happy to say it was fun and creative!

I was honored again to be selected for the Women In Glass issue of The Flow for one of my eye beads featuring the silvered glass eye murrini of  my friend Janel Dudley

I also won a photo contest sponsored by Archipeligo Botanicals to support breast cancer with this photo of my sister:

The bestie, her sister, a family friend and I planned our niece's wedding. I had a lot of fun making props for the photo booth and pulling off a most elegant wedding! Beading this ballerina (still in progress in this pic) for the candy table was most rewarding:

 

Which leads me to the most sentimental bead of the year:

That heart was made from the champagne bottle used to toast the nuptials. I framed it for the bride and groom with a story for them. The whole post is here.

Speaking of sentiment, I made a record number of Memorial beads... far more than shared here. For some of my customers, the memories are too fresh and painful so I don't even ask if I may share. Others...something magical just happens and I feel so blessed to have been a part of that grief process. (I have one of those to share.... but, you'll have to wait til next year!) While this work takes a lot out of me emotionally.... I'm SUCH a sensitive redhead... it is the MOST rewarding.

I found several color combinations that I simply adore this year. The Rio Party series was just plain fun and I had to make a necklace for myself:

My other favorite is from the Uptown Girl series... I just love the red and black with a little sparkle:

 

But my all time favorite bead of 2012 is this bent bead made in Kim Neely's Ether colors:

It was a challenging and creative year and I'm hoping that 2013 is  even more so and hopefully a little more profitable!

Happy New Year to all of you!

Creative Vision?

I'm taking a few days off to recoup from my trip to Louisiana and the nasty cold I brought home with me. So the bestie and I went to downtown LA to purchase a few more crystals she needed for one of our niece's many wedding projects. Along the way, we noticed that a wedding supply shop we had favored because of the kind old man that owned it had become a leather and findings store.  The old shop closing was expected. But the fantastic and unusual selection of the new shop was most unexpected!

I found inspiration everywhere I turned. The most amazing magnetic clasps ever! I bought some leather cording to try with kumihimo and my head was just spinning.

In the center aisle, I found sections of ebeaded bits ready to be sewn into place. And then, I spied these loved velvet collars! I was envisioning a whole line of jewelry possibilities, mixing my glass beads with these lovely velvet bits when my best friend joined me. I quickly explained: I guess you slide a bead on, add a clasp and look they have these adjustable slides so it can fit anyone!

Without missing a beat, the bestie quipped, "Yeah, or you could just wear it as a bra strap!"

Still Here

I feel like my blogging has been rather lax lately. Truth be told... I haven't had a whole day off to do what I want since sometime in July. My rubber stamp shop has been jumping... our busiest fall in five years... still not great but better than the last few years for certain! Add in my crazy teaching schedule and my sister's illness (a sever mental distraction for sure) and I feel like I'm just running from one thing to the next.

Illusion - new glass bead on Hollysfolly.com

I turned on the torch last week for the first time in ages! I LOVED being there... just creating and not in my own head. If you are not an artist... skip this part, cause you'll think I'm nuts... My inner critic... that voice in my head that is never happy just shuts up and retreats to... who-cares-where!  Creating really is my happy quiet time!

Crazy Bird (coming later this week!)

And, I need to make the effort more often. Sure I'm creative in lots of areas... but those always feel like "have-tos." I "have to" get new artwork to the engraver. I have to make another kumihimo bracelet for class.... For the most part... when I torch, it's just for me.  And while it's SO nice if it sells, in many ways, the piece has already served it's purpose.

Green Eyed Girl Fish Glass Bead - new pics!

Just the same, I always do hope my beads find a new owner. So... I've also been trying to photograph some older bead with my newer camera to help them get adopted. Cause finding a new home is always good!

Still Creating...Just Not with Beads!

Whew! What an absolutely nutty week last week was! I was busy and creating every day...just not always with beads!

• I had a large wholesale wood mounted stamp order that took THREE 12 - 18 hours days.
• This was interrupted by a product rollout at the restaurant chain that I make food safe rubber stamps for. Every day last week, my work -day was interrupted by overnight rush orders. 
• My personal favorite head - shaker of the week: Shipping a $4 item overnight at a cost of  25 bucks! And I had shipped an overnight order to the same location the day before! If you wonder why corporate America is in the toilet... I would say it's lack of foresight and planning!
• Taught a crazy kumihimo class! I love watching people "get it!" Photos on that next week!
• Had a cookie class cancel and suddenly rebook when more people signed up. Had to cram three days of prep into ONE! 
• In all the crazy hours I worked last week, I still got in one torch session...but only made boobies to fill custom orders... sigh! 

Since I have nothing beady to show... Here's a pic of my work table:

Praying this week is just a little calmer!

Last Minute Birthday Card

Forgive the digression from beads but... my creativity takes a lot of forms. And I've been so busy teaching that beads are not first and foremost on the brain...

I had a coffee date with my grown Godson yesterday. I bribed him telling him that if he wanted his birthday gift - money - I needed bonding time with him. Whatever it takes, right??

Realizing I had no card to put some cash in, I frantically  searched the craft room for something to decorate a card with! Here is his card:

Nice bamboo... Or... is that paint chips??? Yep! I found some green shaded paint chips and sliced 'em on the paper cutter... Voila... a simple birthday card!

New Halloween Set

 I set out to challenge myself to make a large spider on a piece of candy... and ended up with a Halloween set. As you probably know by now, sets are a happy accident in my world!

I love working with the darker, more muted shades of orange I used in the pumpkins... they say "fall" more than "Halloween."

That glass appears way more striated to my picky camera lens then it does to the human eye...

I also wanted to see if I could make a small (for me!) witch's hat. It was really fun using layers of glass to create the quarter moon bead and the spider legs.

I love sets where I feel myself growing... in a good way! This one is available on Artfire.

Other Creative Pursuits

I often forget that many of you don't realize I have a "day" job... Not that I do well financially at either profession but... both are creative and that suits me well.

I make food safe rubber stamps that allow people to create intricately decorated cookies, cakes and candy. Back to school through Valentine's is our really busy season followed by another pop around Easter. After that, no one wants to be in the kitchen! I also have a number of bakeries that use this technique... and this is their busy season as well...meaning they are ordering rubber and food coloring from me.

Black Widow Spider handstamped and painted cookie  - a demo from my last class.

Forgetful Holly sorta forgot that all of this was impending and has orders standing in the shop with no product. So today, I have to dash South to get our special food color, hitting my silk floral supplier as I pass downtown cause I have no flowers for my next cookie bouquet class. Then it's West for a piece of glass I need for fusing and back toward home for some acrylic stock for rubber stamp handles... OY... I don't like "car days!" But the shop will be ready to rock n roll once all that is here! So... I'll be working all weekend! That's a good thing! No complaints here!

So, before I dash out the door into LA's monstrous freeway system, I wanted to share a tidbit about creativity. One of the things I love about artists is... they see the world differently. I had a most talented lady in my last class. She had chosen a sea them for her cookie bouquet. But often students pick up a rubber stamp and they aren't really sure what it is...yet they never ask. They always just seem to make it work.

This lady had picked up our speckled Easter egg and then realized... that won't exactly be right with her sea themed bouquet.

This image doesn't exactly scream "sea shore" now does it??

But look what my student "saw" in that egg:

I love that she used that egg to envision a starfish! It looked lovely in her bouquet (which Ms. Forgetful didn't get a pic of!)

So, see your world a little differently today... Look closer... or further. Look for patterns or color or repetition... Who knows what you'll see! Or what it will inspire!

Beautiful Failure

I'm sure that title up there is confusing to some of you but to me... it means progress. Your skills never progress if you don't try. And every successful lampworker I know has a drawer full of failures that come from parking your butt behind a torch and spending hours and hours there. It's the only way to get better.

What my vacation has taught me is I miss the time I should be spending behind the torch. All this social networking B.S. is just that. I can't think of one sale I've gained because somebody "liked" me. But what I do know is that my beads should speak for themselves and the more I torch, the louder their voices will be!

One of the things I did last week was to start dealing with this issue of cleaning up my life. I read a story about a bead maker who moved and all the scraps on her table became a huge problem. (Hello Pot, My name is Kettle!) She made a promise to her family that she would clean her workspace every night. She started making "end of day beads." These are beautiful and unique as they can never be made again. 

So instead of tossing all the stringers on my table... I made a lot of end of day beads. I made them all day long. This vessel was one. I love it because it's perfect... the most perfect on mandrel one I've ever made.  But there clearly was some strange glass on my table because it cracked. So I heated it up for hours and brought it into the flame and healed that crack. And another developed:

And yet, this cracked little vessel taught me much... Loved watching the play of light and dark glasses and how they influenced one another. I loved tweaking the balance of the piece.  I loved creating the lip and reading the glass for  volume. And I remember that I LOVE being at my torch - the act of creating.

And I love that I dipped this mandrel  with steel wool and bead release YEARS ago... the week I started lampworking...envisioning some graceful vessel. But I never felt ready to tackle it!  I'm ready now... and that's a beautiful thing.

Creativity Abounds

One of the reasons I named my business Holly's Folly is... I knew whatever my "folly" was... the name would fit. And yes, I sort of regret putting Beads and Jewelry in the title here but I hoped it would help customers find me.

Since I'm preparing for a mini show and won't have lots of new stuffs to show off... I was hoping to shift gears a little and just talk about creativity. A creative person isn't limited to one area. Creativity is abundant in all areas of life.

Here are just a few ways I've been creative in the last week:

• I got a shot in my arm and needed to ice it...only I had a dental emergency. It was kind of hard to hold the plastic cup of ice on my arm while in the dentist's chair. When the dental assistant walking me to my exam dropped a mask and went to trash it... a light bulb came on. I slid one ear loop over my bicep and placed the other just below my elbow. I turned the mask to cover my pain area and placed my cup of ice in just the right spot!
• Running late in the rain for physical therapy, I was miffed to see my seatbelt had been outside of the car door in the rain all night...just what I wanted on a Monday...to be cold and wet. I reached under my seat and grabbed a plastic baggie and placed it between my lap and the seatbelt. 
• I'm always hard on my hands and this week managed to split a fingernail halfway down the nail bed! OUCH! I cut a silk teabag apart (saving the grounds in a metal infuser) and trimmed it to fit my nail. I super glued it in place and every day, I give it a coat of clear polish. It would look much nicer if it hadn't been on my "good" hand. But it does the job. It will take a few weeks for the split to reach the place where I can trim it properly. In the meantime, it doesn't hurt. 

And now...It's time for me to get a little creative with something else...my wardrobe! I'm going to the taping of Dancing with the Stars with my BFF and her hubby. Her hubby is a world class long drive golfer and his student and good friend is a pro on the show. So we're going to cheer a friend and his partner on... and I haven't got a thing to wear! OY!

So... what are some ways creativity creeps into your life??? 

Tiger Beads Are Still Grrrreat!

It's funny how you can get caught up in the monotony of making the same bead over and over again. Your thoughts start to wander to all the other beads you want to make when you're finally done with the production work. It's really wonderful for creativity.

And so I'm still torching on that order but every other session or so, I have to explore. And you might think the last thing I'd want to make is another Tiger glass bead....but noooo! I've so enjoyed exploring the texture and wonder of this bead that I keep dreaming of OTHER TIGER BEADS! LOL!


My millions of leftovers will be on the glass beads website really soon but here are two favorites already listed.

I really adore this Tiger Key:

And meet Big Fat Tigger - the kitteh in need of a glass diet! His head is a glassy thing of wonder...Hope you'll click the link and read about him!

I hope you are still checking the Fan Page for my Deal of the Day! Here's today's... a favorite off mandrel heart full of silver reative glass. It's so rich and elegant and a nice large size! Save $15 today only!