Holy Crap Batman! Somebody's OLD!

OMD! (That's Oh my dog for you non-dog bloggers!) I almost forgot my birthday! And... the biggest sale of the year that I use to clean out my inventory!!!

It's a BIG birthday for me. As I told my bestie... "don't be lookin' for me!" I like to hide on my birthday and just do things I like to do with no one around to please but me! Since my new job is looming... I may just hide in my house with the phones and internets off! One last cuddle day with the pupster before I leave the realm of "work at home dog mommy" for the world of "mommy actually gets paid for work but she has to leave the house!" So not looking forward to that but... having actual money again will be nice!

But back to the birthday sale!  You can save 39% off my handmade glass beads and jewelry on my website through my birthday March 3. Just check out using code Birthdayfan39. This coupon is also valid on my Etsy shop.

Da Fine Print:

• Minimum Purchase $10
• No Made to Order
• No Free Beads Gift Certs
• You may save on bead but if you need me to wire wrap, that is charged at full price.
• Not valid on my class tools / ebeads / Kumihimo supplies or Rubber Stamps for Jewelry. 

I never do a bigger discount that I do at my birthday so... stock up and save!!!

Fresh Glass Beads 2.18.14

I finally stole a little torch time for myself this weekend. Taxes and all the endless paperwork for the new job have really sapped my creative energy of late.

Bellflower Earrings

To me, the shape of a bellflower pressed glass headpin lends itself perfectly to earrings!

Last week, an old friend purchased a set of purple bellflowers as a gift for her mom - who I love and adore! As the bellflowers were a birthday gift, I had to whip up something a little extra for Mom Dianne's special day. She LOVES purple, btw:

I had the two little lavender butterflys and I always have some Swarkie bicones on hand. I really love how they came out!


Here's another set of earrings I made from some discontinued CIM glass (Sigh... Isn't that always the case with CIM... fall in love and it's no longer made or not the same color...ugh!)

The earrings above are available here. Anyone ordering before 2/15/14, will get a refund on shipping! ;-)

Boobie Beads Doing Good

I heard from a customer recently who orders my boobie beads. Regina is making boobie bracelets. Check 'em out:

Aren't they just adorable??? And I just love the special card she makes to go with them:

The bracelets are $15 and a portion of the proceeds ($5) of each bracelet will be donated to breast cancer, Avon and Susan G Komen walk. Regina is selling these by email at the moment. You can reach her here.

I just love that my little boobies are out in the world making people happy!

Fresh Glass 2.3.14 Ebay Auction

This is some of what has been keeping me busy. Not much of a haul but keep in mind, bellflower presses get HOT and I can only make a few per session.

I have a new auction up on ebay ending a few days. My strategy there is to ask the lowest price I will take for a bead (including feebay fees!)....NOT what I hope it would go for... I never have a bidding war so best to just ask what I want....

There's a few other close outs up there as well as myriad of crafts and collectibles...

Thanks as always for l@@king! I so appreciate your support!

Custom Work Keeping Me Busy

Good Morning! My wire work class at Glendale College was AWESOME this past Saturday! Everyone got it and made a lovely bracelet and earrings! It was such a fun group! And none had tried wire before! Eight new wire workers out in the world now!

 

These custom boobie pendants went to Sweden!

My 2nd bakery show was a bust. Zero sales. I had pre-arranged to sell an earring display, so by the time I paid my breakfast / lunch tab, I had a profit of $8. Well, I always thought my stuff was a little to ritzy for this area. But it was January...people are in shock paying off Christmas. There was almost NO promotion this time. It was cloudy and breezy. We had one less vendor so the sidewalk didn't look as full. I left early because my sinuses were killing me. It was an experiment. C'est la vie! I know I'm going to busy with weekend classes for the next several months so maybe I'll try again before Mother's Day.

I still feel good about it. I always share the show with the fan page for our local paper. This time, they showed up and took pics! And, asked me to write about my Memorial Glass Beads! So that's really good!

 Scenes from the Bakery Show

And I made significant progress on a bracelet I've been doodling with for years! 

I still have a couple of custom orders to wrap up and I'm waiting and waiting for the next steps in my "real job hunt." I'm told I just need the final hiring appointment but... no word as to when that will be. 8-/

Vino Love

I FINALLY finished a customer order for Bar-ware I've had on the books since November! It's been so hard not being able to torch while working on the job hunt!

I really like how this one came out. Same colors as my Uptown Girl Series. The bead reads "Vino Love" and there are heats for the "o" letters and tiny heart dotting the "i" in Vino. Another heart between the L and e... in love.

My customer also wanted a dichroic floral and the tiger bead with just for play.

Very happy to be catching up on work... I hate to keep customers waiting. But then, if I had more customers... I wouldn't be job hunting.... sigh.

Finally Back at the Torch

I've been so busy with my job hunt and pre-work prep that I haven't been able to torch...despite having custom orders! OY! There's something about the thought of returning to gainful employment that sucks the creative juice right out of me!

It's like I assume that because I'm no longer self employed...why bother? Well, there is less motivation but, I'm hoping eventually to feel more freedom to make what I want to make and less pressure to make what I hope will sell. I've never been right about what sells... EVER but I still try. Hoping to get rid of that all together!

Re: the glass beads up ^^^ there. The two large ones are for a wine topper order. I adore the red one. I made another version of it for my in person sale at the bakery last month and forgot to photograph it! It says "Vino Love" and the "o" letter are hearts! It's so cute!

The ribbed round was to be a palette cleanser between big beads and I forgot I was supposed to make it on a Pandora sized mandrel... sigh! It's hard getting back in the swing! Then I was interrupted by a violent wind... hate torching in the wind! C'est La Vie!

I had been away from the torch so long... this is my new Facebook avatar:

Art Glass My ^$$

While I was actually in a retail store over the holidays, I stumbled on these bottle stoppers. Art glass for a whopping $4.99! Yeah, right! Pick them up and they have hardly any heft. I seriously think they are plastic! And yet I'm sure people fall for this... I saw one gifted to a friend. ICK!

Nothing like the serious beauties I made for the holidays!

 

It just makes me sick that people fall for this stuff! 

Scenes from the Bakery Show

I thought I would share some booth photos from my local show at the Back Door Bakery. I was very pleased sales-wise although it was fairly slow until the end! I had one sale within minutes and another shortly after... and nothing until the last hour of the show! That hour was steady and busy and I was thrilled for a little pre-Christmas dough!

 I always believe in making use of vertical space. It's great to create different viewing planes...more space to capture the eye of your customer. I placed a 18 beads on my "neutral" gray business cards and velcroed them to fabric boards.

I have several jewelry displays are a female form draped in a formal black gown. You can always find these at Ross / Marshall's / TJ Maxx / Home Goods.  I draped bracelets on them:

This Teapot is from my cake show days...made by an old business partner. Take an old teapot. Form spirals on several pieces of 16 gauge armature wire and feed ends through the bottom end of a funnel. Plop some glue down the funnel so the wire doesn't come out. Glue funnel upside down on teapot  and glue the lid off kilter on front... I used this for card displays at stamp / cake shows but it's awesome for earrings! I elevate it on a plastic display and keep extra earrings of a similar style stashed under there.  You can see the under side in the photo above.

Out front, I use baskets filled with rock salt to display necklaces. Many beaders use rice but I find that makes my jewelry "scummy." Salt is much cleaner. There was a kid there that had had the stomach flu and squeamish me kept reminding myself, "Bacteria can not grow in salt!"

I took some of my Christmas fusing pieces and displayed those in another basket with some pendants:

I collect small metal trays every time I'm in China town and I use these to fill in holes on the table:

I always carry an antique saucer that I use for all my Sweet Treat beads...they just look happier on something more formal!

My emergency addition for this show was something to display my wine toppers. Am I ever glad I had it cause I sold so many! I took a 4x4 and drilled 1.25" circles in it! Worked fine...not that sophisticated but eye catching all the same!

 I hope all of you have a wonderful and blessed New Year and I'll see you on the flipside of 2014!