Just Not Feeling It

Wow! Who knew that would be a two month hiatus?? Taxes, illnesses and no sales worthy of comment have kept me away...

First, I did manage to organize another sale in my Buyer's Group. This one is for Organic Barrels and it will end tomorrow. Here's a little preview pic:

Those aren't even all of them... I added a few flawed beauties that chipped coming off the mandrel on one end... so I ground them smooth and seriously, a bead cap will hide any issue! A great way to get a fabulous focal on the cheap!

Sales have been dismal and I feel like they aren't going to improve until our dreadful elections are over. I've been reanalyzing the amount of time I spend on Facebook promoting beads that just don't sell (I know it's not just me and jewelry sales are down too)... but I just would like a little more time to myself. I've stepped down from two of my group admin positions this week.

Anyway, now that taxes are done and I have put norovirus and my spring sinus infection behind me, hopefully, I can post a bit more.

Thanks as always for taking a look at the beads!

Fresh Glass 2.16.16

Continued from yesterday: I mentioned getting on the Easter bandwagon... I've been thinking about my infamous Eggster Bunny from years ago and wanting to revisit that design. I was coming up with different color combos for chocolate bunnies... when I decided to make a "white chocolate" Haole Hula version! I also call this the bunny that tried to kill me!

I was cold cutting a design element off when it went between my glasses and and landed on my eyelid! Silvadeen made it feel much better but it was SCARY!

I went on to make a dark chocolate Eggster Bunny and a micro egg set:

First Listings in the Buyer's Group

I will be listing this large grouping of Bicones Galore tonight in my Buyer's Group on Facebook. Join to shop! https://www.facebook.com/groups/HollysFollyGlassBuyersGroup/

New Buyers Group

Well, when last I left you, I was getting ready for a trunk show. It was most disappointing...What a huge flustercluck Facebook has made of it's event pages!!!

Event pages "used" to be the way to host a trunk show. It was great! You created an album of goods, put links on the first page/ main post. When people clicked, there was a lovely overview album. Here's a screen shot of an old trunk show album:

You got an overview of EVERY photo that was clickable. But on the new events pages, when you click the link, it looks like you are on the same page...you have to scroll down to see the post you are looking for. When you do, this is what you see:

 Look at that... FOUR whopping preview pictures. While those four links are clickable, the other 31 photos have be looked at page by page by page...ugh. So tedious. But that's not all... on the old event pages, when someone commented on a photo...to show interest or to buy, that photo was brought out on the main event page. So customers popping in could see what others were interested in and buying. It created excitement! Now, a comment does nothing to the front event page. You look at it and nothing changes! Something had to give...

Luckily groups on Facebook still work the same way the old event pages did... so... I have a buyer's group now! Ugh!

I will introduce new works there, have specials and sales and it will be the location of my future trunk shows.

So, come join won't you??? As an introductory special, I'm having a 30% inventory reduction sale!

Holly's Folly Glass Buyers Group

Fresh Glass 11.23

I've decided to try and have my annual trunk show... gee, I guess I should start promoting it! I've had two intense days on the torch, trying to fill orders. The Jaunty hatted snowmen are repeats / requests. The first one had mean bead release and he ended up a two parter...

Also in this batch, 2 pair of bellflower earring sets. I really hate the Jupiter glass didn't strike on the ribbed disk. I reannealed them with the bellflowers and they look much better. There is a tree parts 3 piece set, and three pieces of snowmen tiles... ran out of time to make his hat! And an aventurine earring pair for good measure.

Miscellaney

Sales have been slow and I haven't been posting a lot. Working a lot with the special kids I adore and managing to get REALLY sick. 103 degree fever sick. Too cold and windy to make beads even if my nasty shoulder would behave...

But I did make these recently:

These three long skinny beads got stuck on the mandrel and thanks to the Lampworking Tips and Techniques group on Facebook, they were saved!! Someone recommended soaking in vinegar... I tossed in some baking soda just for kicks... The next morning, they slid off!

I posted a thank you in the group and a friend posted a group grouping of beads that had been stuck for over a year...that all came off!

Trying to decide if I should have my annual 1st weekend in December trunk show ...don't have much jewelry on hand, but plenty of beads on hand!

Fresh Glass 11.4.15

Much better day!!! Only a few focals but I like 'em!

Fresh Glass 11.3.15

Finally got the shop floor tidied up and drug the tank in... My shoulder hurt so bad, I had to wait another day to soap the lines. I made beads yesterday. But I had been on a page where people were selling stuff below wholesale... and had that crap in my head so I made garbage...

That egg on the left... was supposed to be this color:

The middle one is some DH mystery glass that is "supposed" to be lavender...

 and I made an even tinier itty bitty kitty only to be told my prices are too high...

Sigh. Not a good day at all. Which is why I wrote this post to myself years ago... I had to go re-read it again today. If you are in a rut, you may find it helpful.

and Out of Gas

I tried to torch the other day and actually decided on a creative direction - I have some German pink glass and I wanted to make some small "normal" size hollow beads... and struggled cauae...small is really not my forte and my tools are all larger. So instead of a set, I made one. I didn't want to waste the pink.

Next I made a long skinny ivory base for a silver glass idea I had. And my flame looked funny.. I glanced at the tank and realized I was running low on gas. And here I was at the early stages of a one hour bead. So I tossed the ivory into the kiln.

I decided to try a tiny version of the silvered glass bead ...and was really glad I didn't waste the time on a larger version!

And then I ran the tank dry making some tropical sunset drums.

I have two fresh tanks...but it's been really windy.

Trunk Show on Glass Melters Open Market

OMG! It JUST dawned on me that the trunk show LOADS tomorrow afternoon! 4pm PST!!!

This is be a show chock full of more affordable glass beads! A few giveaways too!! There will be tons of purple and kitties!!! I sure hope you'll come by Glass Melters Open Market on Facebook and take a look over the weekend!

I'm hoping to list around 50 items!!!

 

Fresh Glass 9.25.15

More Trunk Show goodies: A large purple dichro focal, some penguin squiggles, some tabs... the purple set came out nice but the teal ones look like cold lozenges...sigh! And the pumpkin moonwalk that is for sale on my fan page:

Fresh Glass 9.23.15

More trunk show prep: a set of Kaleras in purple and raku as well as a pair of squares in the same colorway. And... a focal that didn't come out the way I thought it would... but got some nice color reactions in spite of the artist!

Fresh Glass 9.16.15

Today's kiln harvest included an amazing purple raku focal, some earring pairs and a silver glass mystery...sigh...

Show Prep

I'm having a bad pain day complicated by having to deal with a naughty customer who backed out on an order. So instead of more fresh glass, I thought I'd show off my show prep tray where I'm stringing sets, getting beadies ready for their closeups!

And for more glassy goodness...check out what the last three days look like in bouquet form!

Pretty fun, huh?? Wish I felt up to torching today...but it was already 90 when I got up!

Fresh Glass 8.26.15

More trunk show prep! Itty Bitty Kitties: Punkin, Olive, Calico, Old Gray and a normal size Punkin Kitty. And more PURPLE!

Fresh Glass 8/24

I was on a bead making roll last week! Here we have a variety of spacers  and one of my daisy beads in a smaller 1" focal size. I must say...it's harder to make one smaller than it is a larger one. IF I got paid for my time...this one would be much more $$ than the larger ones...sigh. It's likely to be one of a kind! And a Clio focal. I love that pink... I just hate how many freaking layers of glass it takes to get that color! I like long skinny beads... and I'll never have one in that shade of pink! GRRR!

Fresh Glass 8.18.15

Are you one of those lampworkers who take copious notes? I envy you! I wish I were...but I don't. And I do stupid stuff... I rename all my frits... and I'm walking around with that info in my curly little brain! One bump and... nothing! I remember reading some post from a lampworker on one of the forums... for ages she would mention in almost every post, "If only I could remember how I made my {insert fantastical name here} set!" I could be her... So far I haven't forgotten a bead I want to duplicate...but I'm sure I will.

But the one thing that drives me batty is notes to myself!  I'm notorious for writing down a phone number and no name... And I write down bead recipes with no point of reference. On my to do list was
"sedona w/ lapis stringer." Der... was that transparent or opaque? Where did I see this?? Was it a tut? Did a friend tell me? I have no idea... and the bead was lackluster... Hardly worth my time. Can you see it in the jumble below?

I also made scads of squeezed beads... a fun trip down memory lane that will be another post at some point. A pair of drums and a set of ribbed donuts are in there. And... a bead called "phantasia" that looks like a butterfly...only the hole is on the wrong side. Figured that out after I had made pairs in several colors!

Fresh Glass | Where Have I Been??

Fresh Glass from July 1:  A Dark Waters long focal and 2 sets of earring pairs.

 I've been sorting through photos... trying to get in the listing habit and I'm just wondering where the heck I've been...for months?? I found folders of photos as far back as APRIL unedited! And then I keep finding the same photos that have been taken over and over and over. Sorting it out took me all day yesterday and several part-days before that. I'm finally editing photos from July and have five that need re-takes or supplementary shots. Sigh...

Do you ever feel you haven't really been in your life?? It's been a strange year and a busy one. I'm sitting here stunned it's half over.  But from long teaching assignment to back to back to back jobs, doing my own taxes for the first time ever, along with two sudden deaths of friends and one family member's prolonged illness and recent death and onto an extended work trip to take care of issues in my 92 year old mom's house followed by weeks of severe shoulder pain... I just feel like I'm on some kind of roller coaster that won't ever stop! 

I'm hoping that the sorting of pics and beads will get me back on track... OY! 

Fresh Glass 6.22.15

More fresh glass... And back to the drawing board... what a crap sesh!

On the left, I was playing around with a flat stringer I learned in Corina's class...only I had to use a fussy, reacting, devitrifying pink in the middle... Just a piece of crap...

Then, I was trying my hand at Lori and Kim's Candy Jacks...using their cupcake murrini... can you even tell those are cupcakes??? I can't.... sigh!

The next silver glass lentil I like... and I like the cz candy jack... at least I can tell they are czs in there! But I used more of that fussy pink... ugh!

Different view...you can see all the divit... and the lack of definition in the cupcake.

Here  is the crack in the lentil... compatibility for sure...dichro, fussy boutique glass...destined for a water bath!

And here's the CZ bead:

I've been on vacay in Louisiana with the pup...hope to be feeding some of these to Facebook in the next week.

Fresh Glass 6.18.15

More Fresh Glass: this batch is the result of playing around with lapis and ivory. A friend had told me about the several shades of Avorio lapis glass... it is ivory and lapis mixed... I decided to try and create the effect on my own.  The bead on the right was first... and I used cobalt instead of lapis. I got very little striation of color and realized my mistake.

Then came the bead on the left... LOVELY striations! Then I made the two silvered ivory beads... the long one broke... ugh! And the heart is a bead that over grew the lentil mold. Sigh...