It's Been a While | Fresh Glass

For those of you who don't follow the Creekhiker blog, I did not have surgery. My precious 91 year old mom came for Christmas and packed the swine flu. Even though we both had the shot, she got very sick and I was sick enough, my doc said, "No surgery for you!"

I've spent December recovering, and just relaxing a bit after Mom left. Then school started and I've been on the run... Between teaching, earlier hiking hours, the winter blahs and listing beads on Facebook... There has been precious little torch time. But I did have a few sessions.

I was playing with the black lace technique here. A bit disappointed as teal is too dark of a base for this technique.... I was supposed to make more today with a lighter glass. I just came in from torching and realized, I forgot! I fell like I've got some kind of old lady mental slippage going on! Oh and taxes... Taxes always give me brain fog. But as I've got to hire a new accountant this year, I'm determined to finish sooner than in previous years.

I wonder if I'll get this heart posted anywhere before Valentine's Day??

Auction Experiment

While I have been singing the praises of the sales groups springing up on Facebook, there are some things left to be desired.

All of the groups are ultra private... so there are NO share buttons on the auctions. You have to really WORK to share your listings... Copy the link, sign into your fan page, paste the link and upload the pic, sign in as yourself, go to your fan page and share. OY! I "think" this is fear of spam but how hard is it to just block and ban but allow the group to be seen??

And... the other downside is... I've seen some terrible hurt feelings when bidding gets heated. Additionally, portable devices can only view 20 listings and sometimes you get a notification that someone has commented (a bid!) but you can't SEE the comment. That is because the Facebook app SUCKS!  I always recommend people ditch the app and just surf over on an actual web browser.  And that app leads to bids not appearing fast enough and well, people get upset.

There HAS to be an easier way... so I've been searching. And searching. I stumbled upon the Buddy Bid App on Facebook. It's genuine auction software! It does ask you for a bit of info before allowing you to bid...but it only takes seconds and you can bid on an item!

So, I'm running an experiment on my glass bead fan page and listing an auction there. There is a low start on this silver laden heart glass bead focal. I hope you'll take a look and maybe even bid. Is this the future of Facebook??? Can we kill off FeeBay once and for all???

Fresh Glass 3.24.14

Creating Passwords - a Tutorial

You know I'm a gal that's all about handy dandy tips and tricks, right? Well, the subject of passwords and hacking what should be private accounts has come up more than once lately so I thought I would share my tip for creating a foolproof password no one can guess.

First, think of a song that has great meaning to you... Got one???

Next, think of a favorite line. I personally think it's best if you think of a line that has a proper name in in the middle of it.

My bestie and I have been listening to endless love songs lately preparing music for our niece's wedding. And the song "Home" by The Magnetic Zeros has been my favorite earworm lately. So for example, this is a good line for a potential password:

Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma & Pa

To create a password, use the first letters of each word: AAIdlmM&P  or if symbols are not allowed: AAIdlmMaP (using a for "and").

But then I mess with it. Everyone assumes you use your own birthday because everyone else does! Or a spouse or significant other. That's too obvious! Use your mom or dad's. I also use my parent's last four digits of their socials!   But get a four digit number... that's not your birthday... and insert it somewhere in the middle!

So now we have:   AAIdlm1234MaP

Now if they allow symbols, EVEN BETTER! Put the ampersand back in where it belongs or my favorite... Pick one of those numbers that has some meaning... we all have favorite numbers, don't we? (Please don't tell me I'm the only one!!!???!!) Let's say in this case, that 2 is my favorite number. In place of the 2 in that string, use the symbol over it on the keyboard, which is @

So now my password looks like this: AAIdlm1@34M&P

Who on earth could guess that???? Protect yourselves people!!!

Now for something beady... the Fire Divas Team Treasury is over and my zebra pendant is on the way Illinois but, there's a matching heart! Just thought I would show it off so we could have a picture to look at!

Have  a wonderful day and be safe out there... the Internet can be a scary place!

Inside My Jewlery Box - Another Hollow

This is actually the very first hollow bead I ever made.  It was a bit off center so I kept it for me. It's purple but covered in places with palladium leafing and the center of the sunflower has the most amazing goldstone.

 It's sparkly and beautiful and I've sold five or six of these just by wearing this one.  It is true... we are the best advertisement of our own work.

After this one, I became obsessed with making hollows and hollow shapes. I love making a hollow heart, drilling one end slightly bigger and filling it with Swarovski crystals and cubic zirconia for extra sparkle and then wiring the whole thing shut! The one below is just waiting in the glass bead shop for someone to come along and add a nice chain...

Fresh Glass 4.25.11

I feel like I oughta title this... fresh poop! But since I left out the really ugly beads I made yesterday... I'll stick with my usual title. Don't ya just hate days when the torch fairies don't cooperate???

Hearts Still Shipping...

I had planned to get on a more regular blogging schedule last week and then I was knocked sideways by allergies. I've coughed so much, my back hurts! Today, I'm finally feeling human...but I still don't have my taste buds back. I've decided my skills as a super taster are no longer an asset! I've discovered, if I can't taste, I don't have much of an appetite. If I could lose my taste buds permanently, maybe I'd finally be a skinny girl??? Eh...one can dream, right?

Just wanted to pop in and remind you that there's still time to heart someone special (or yourself...YOU are special!) in time for Valentine's Day!

Duo Glass Bead Heart - Black & White on one side / color on the the other. 

And... there's a NEW $50 Drawing starting on my Lampwork Beads Website. 

Off Mandrel Hearts

Hearts were the first thing I ever learned to make off mandrel. Although I frequently make leaves off mandrel too, hearts have always spoken to me. I find myself usually making at least one every torch session. I must admit, they are my favorite "jewelry." Despite being an avid bead maker and troubled jewelry designer, I often forget to wear jewelry. Even though I KNOW it's my best source of advertising, it's always an afterthought! I love being able to dash to my stash box, put a heart on a chain and go!

For this tutorial, you should know to keep glass warm in the flame. If you've worked on one side too long, give the other side a heat bath. I do NOT remind you of this in the tutorial... but it is crucial!!!

GLASS: 
If you are making canes, the leftover bits that end up in the water jar are a perfect and usually colorful place to start as I've done here. This can be a great end of day bead - a way to clean off your table.  But you can also start with a rod and some frit or stringer. If that's the case, you can start with Step three. This can be done in soft and hard glass. Just stick to your COE rules and percentages. You will need two rods to use as handles. I prefer a transparent or just clear as they take the heat better than pastels.

TOOLS: 

♥ Mashers   ♥Scissors ♥Corina's Magic Wand  ♥Delicate knife ♥Tungsten Pick ♥Reverse Tweezers*

DIRECTIONS:

1. Here are two still glowing ends from a cane pull. Place them far back in the flame to avoid shocking.
   
2. Usually, the larger one will crack. Try to crack it so the two pieces attach to each other.
   
3. Melt in and square off. If starting with fresh rod, simply melt a gather and square off with mashers. You should end up with a pretty firm rectangle. If you like your color, keep going. If not, heat the paddle and twist with mashers to mix the colors better OR  heat the paddle and dip into some frit for interest . Melt in and square off again. The end without the punty will be the top of your heart. If you don't like that, attach another punty on a the side OPPOSITE of where you want your top to be.
   
4. Get the paddle hot... red hot - but not drooping - on both sides. Use scissors to cut down the middle toward the rod - but not all the way to the rod.
   
5. The cut marks will be a little raised and can be sharp. Take a moment to heat where you've cut and allow the rough edges to melt in. You can smooth this out a little Corina's magic wand or other small brass tool. Then you're ready to add a bail.
   
   Most people are always a bit off on the cutting...it's never 50/50. Eyeball the smaller side... that's where you will put the bail to give the heart visual balance. Keep the heart warm in your non-dominant hand and in your "good" hand, heat a pea sized gather. You can also melt some of that same frit into the gather but know that it will pull into lines for the bail.
   Note how the same frit used on the surface of this heart striated into lines when the bail was pulled.
   
   Gently touch down w/ the gather on the small side of the heart. Move the heart beside the flame and keep your bail rod in the flame so that you are heating the glass that will feed into the bail.
   
   Start stretching that gather. Bend it in the flame until it touches the back of the heart. Once it touches, flame break / twist off bailing rod.
   
6. This step is  where many skimp... once you flame break the bail rod, your heart is still attached to the other rod at the bottom of the heart. Take a tungsten pick and use the flame to even up any thin spots in the bail. Add a drop of glass here. Heat and stretch there. If it collapses...drill a new hole with the pick (see below). I also take a pointy tool / pick / knife and make sure the bail really connects to the heart. Press or poke the connection points with a pick or knife. Get creative here: give it dimples or fingers... but make sure it's connected! Look at the dimple on this bail:
   
   You can keep the heart in the flame an infinite amount of time... just make sure the bail will hang true / straight and doesn't have thinner areas. Below, the ends of the bail are melted in and the hole is large.
   
7. If surface decoration is desired, now is the time to do that. Flowers, other hearts...where ever you want to go...just keep the heart warm and don't allow the bail to get too hot! This is another great use for stray stringers on the work table.
   
   
   Example of Surface Decoration
8. Once the bail is hanging true and any decorations have been added, I flash the tips of the reverse tweezers in the flame. They can't be icy cold! Grab the heart either by the bail or the crease left by the scissors.
   
   Place the handle rod in the edge of the flame until it twists and break off. It will most likely be a little wonky on the bottom...still kind of squared off.
   
   
9. Use the heat to pull the glass into a more graceful shape by heating one side at a time until the glass flows down. All the working side to cool (good time to give some heat to the upper part of the bead) before repeating on the opposite side.
   
   
10. Often the handle rod is clear. It's nice to give that bottom tip some color. If you started from a cane pull, use a bit of the same cane. OR stringer or more frit. Melt the tip in. 
    
11. Finally, it's nice to draw the bottom of that tip to a nicer point or even a curve. Heat just above the tip and use the end of a warm rod to touch down, stretch the tip of the bead and break off in the flame. It's also a good time to put the bead on a tungsten pick and make sure it will hang properly. If not, return it to the tweezers, heat the bail and straighten it with mashers so that the heart will hang vertically.
    
    One last heat bath and in the kiln! But... check for tool marks... like I have here! ICK! Heat that out, do any final shaping and then...to the kiln.
     

THINGS THAT CAN / WILL GO WRONG: 

• The holding rod could melt. Work further back in the flame and don't put so much of the rod in the flame. It needs to be warm...but not soft! You can marver it quickly to cool it down. Grab your mashers and re-center your heart before the rod sets firm again. 
• The heart could fall off the holding rod or out of the tweezers. Pick it up with mashers or a pick...whatever is handy. Super heat where you want to punty while heating a punty rod, reattach and keep working. 
• The bail could melt in. Use your tungsten pick to drill a hole. Do this by warming the bail a bit and moving it BEHIND the flame. Place the tungsten in the flame and when it glows, begin twisting your hand a bit to the right and a bit to the left. The tungsten will drill a hole in the glass! You may need to flip it around and work from the other side too. When the hole is all the way through, give it a little heat to smooth those rough edges created by the pick, recenter the bail and you're done.
• The bail could be thin in places. Just add a few drops of glass, melt in slowly and add more if needed. Also, if you heat and stretch the bail hole, make sure both sides are warm for more even stretching. 

This is my final heart. It came out a bit darker than  I would have liked because I stopped and took too many pictures.  Keep in mind: if you use fussy glass, you will have unpredictable results.  

*I like my reverse tweezers to have a wooden grip as I hold the tip in the flame and the handles can get hot without something to protect you. Reverse tweezers give you one less thing to worry about while balancing all that hot glass in the flame. They hold the piece for you and you don't have think about keeping them closed.


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If you found this tutorial helpful, please consider making a donation to the artist. Or purchasing a heart here. Thank you!

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!

Deal of the Day in September

It occurred to me that I have way too much in inventory and as I have exactly zero shows booked for the fall, I should maybe try and move some of it out of here. And since I tend to leave an ebay auction in tears, I thought I would try something on my Fan page.

I'm going to offer something on sale every single day this month. One offer is good ONLY until the next offer is posted to the fan page. I "might" blog about them here but... I don't blog every day and I'm not a heavy duty sales pusher here so... the Fan page is the place to check in!

Today's deal is actually one of the very first off mandrel hearts I ever made. It's small by my scale but it's depth and color created by a faux boro technique make it so pretty to behold. I named her Blue's Gal because I was kinda shocked at the blue color she developed when I opened the kiln.


Today only! She is reduced from $15 to $12 and I will include one of my rubber necklace's to hang her from!

And in other Arfire news... I'm "hoping" to get a new Calavera up there today. Before you go, I just have show off my latest from my glass beads website - a Calico kitty bead. Ain't she cute???  I wuv her...

Just for Fun - A Giveaway

I feel like trying something for fun. I'm giving away a heart and will let you choose from this green one

or this pink one - Winner's choice. Black silicone necklace included.

But what do you have to do for it? Well, help me spread the word about my glass beads website and fan page.

To enter: You will get one entry for each of the following. You can enter as many or as few times as you like. Leave a comment telling me about your entries. Winner selected by random drawing and  announced Monday!

• Tweet about my websites or a particular bead or piece of jewelry. *
• Follow me on Twitter.
• Join my fan page.
• If you are already a fan page member, comment or post a link to one of my beads on the fan page.
• Become a follower of this blog.
• And one that has nothing to do with me... please VOTE for Beads of Courage (link on upper right) to help them win $25,000 to help children with cancer. Leave the rank of the charity (1st place, 20th place, etc) in the comments box.

 *You must post a link to the tweet in the comments. To find the URL of a particular tweet, click on the TIME the tweet was posted and that will take you to the URL. Paste that link in the comments. Example: http://twitter.com/HollysFolly/status/19107767265.

If this is wildly successful, i.e. more than 30 entries, I will give BOTH hearts away.
Da fine print: Neither Pepsi Co nor Beads of Courage endorses or supports this even in any way shape or form. This is my way of getting help for a fantastic cause!

It's Time for Hearts

I've been making a number of hearts lately. It's funny but it's a shape that seems to have endless possibility for me. The first lampwork beads I ever bought were boro hearts.

I love all sizes and shapes of them... off mandrel, vertical, horizontal, long skinny tails or big and fat...they all have a place in my...er... collection!

This one is new on the Holly's Folly site and I should be adding more by week's end. This one is hollow in pink / lavender and aqua with holes big enough to add small crystals or czs.