Happy New Year

I realize I am a bit late but wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone! I hope this year is better than last, although I had some great times last year too. I hope to have more time to spend at the torch and working on things I love this year. Here is a pic of some of my most recent work, a custom order set in Boise State colors!

What's with this SRA business??

You may or may not have noticed the Self Representing Artist badge on my blog there to the right but chances are if you are involved in lampwork or jewelry making you have seen the logo many places though you may be wondering exactly what it is all about. I could go into detail about the benefits of buying from SRA artists and what that means, but I recently read another blog post with just that information so I'm just going to give you the link to go check it out yourself! It's a great blog anyway, one that I follow and you will undoubtedly find vast amounts of useful info there! ;) So to check it out, click here.

New Stuff!

I have been working at getting new stuff listed in my Etsy shop in the past couple of weeks. I still have a box full of beads that are ready to be listed but I'm making a dent! I'm also working on my masters degree so that tends to mean LOTS of writing which I'm putting off doing at the moment because the subject is not one that interests me....

Anyway, here is my newest listing!

Moving on and beads

So on the job front, I'm jobless. Yep. Really have nothing else to say about it; just going to move on and hope that the next job will be with people I can respect and who are not so threatened by someone who is going to stand up for what is right.

Anyway, I have spent most of the day back and forth between looking for a new job and working on my Etsy shop (see the shop mini to the right). I have neglected it for sometime as well. Because of that I have a PILE of beads that need to be listed. I know that sounds like a simple process but is really isn't. First they all have to have their pictures taken at least twice. Once I do that I put them in separate little baggies so that if there are several that look similar I can make sure that the buyer gets exactly what is in the picture (unless it is a made to order listing). Once I have a good bit of them packaged up this way, I get the pictures loaded into my computer. From here on out is my least favorite part of the process! I have several different places I use for photo editing, but I will be honest, I really don't know much about it. My main goal is to make the subject look as much like it does in real life as possible. Sometimes that isn't exactly easy. Once the photos are finished, then it's time to write the description. I'm not very good at that part either, but alas, it must be done. I always write my descriptions in Word fist one, to make sure I don't lose it and two because it has spell check! ;) When this is done, it is finally time to actually list the bead. This process takes some time but it is worth every step of the process when someone stumbles across something I have made and "hearts" it, or better yet buys it! If you haven't already, please check out my shop and let me know what you think!

Here is a pic of my most recent listing.

Work stuff

I don't remember if I talked about my newest "real" job task or not but I'm going to for a bit now as a bit of explanation why I haven't been blogging much lately. I am a nurse in my "real" job, lampwork/jewelry/craft stuff are hobbies for me, a sort of stress relief (very much needed most of the time). For the past year or so, I have switched from working with developmental disabilities to working in home health and I really enjoy it. However, we have a "new" computer system that isn't exactly user friendly to say the least. The agency took on this system before I started and were to start using it the day I started. To make a long story short(er) it has needed some...tweaking for lack of a better term, to get it to work for us. For whatever reason, I picked up on the system fairly easily so I have been assigned to rebuild this computer system. As I said, I am a nurse...they don't teach software programming or whatever this would be called in nursing school. Not that I don't sort of like doing it, just that it isn't what I was trained to do. And sitting in the office, at a computer for 8 hours a day for the past 6ish weeks has made me not very interested in having much to do with computers when I get home. On top of all of that, we have had 3 new directors in the past year, each with different expectations and quirks that have made all of us in our very small agency a bit....edgy...ok, we are just plain bitchy! The most recent of the 3 started this week and seems like he is going to work out well, he has a lot of knowledge and common sense, not a combo you normally see in upper management, at least not in Small Town USA.
Ok, now that I got all that off my chest, I do have pictures of the beads I made with the Devardi glass, but I don't have them edited yet so maybe this weekend (hopefully) I will get them done and uploaded so you can see the pretty colors. I have been very pleased thus far with the results of the glass especially one of the bright pink shades (I forget the name of it, but you will see.)

Glass!

My new Devardi glass arrived today!! Super fast shipping, only took it 3 business days to get here. Packaged really well and, while I have yet to melt any of it, I am excited about the small selection of colors I ordered. Here are a couple of pics both of the packaging and of the glass. The tubes were inside a medium sized flat rate box.

This is the $5/lb of shorts and a ring mandrel.

LOOK at that PINK!!

I am lovin' this green too!

Will be back when I have some test beads made!!

New listings!

Two new listings today! I spent last night taking pictures so I plan to have a few more up tonight if I can get the pics edited and descriptions written. Sometimes by the time I get through that whole process I forget what I have. For example that first picture was made a while back and I just found them on my bench last night, just sitting there all ready to go! :) Anyway, you can find these two in my etsy shop now.

Still no puppies.

Well, looks like we will have to wait until next weekend again for our foster dogs to get here. They are having some trouble finding enough volunteers to get them from a to b. It probably worked out better for us this way anyway; it was 73 degrees earlier this week and right now there is about 3 inches of snow outside! That is Missouri weather for you!

Maybe this will give me a chance to take some pictures of all those beads that I have piled up in my studio just waiting to be listed in my Etsy shop! I have some lovely big hole bracelet beads that I am really tempted to keep for myself if I don't get them listed soon! I have been having so much fun with silver foil and frits and heavy encasement on them and most of them have turned out just beautiful!

I talked a bit before about my nurse practitioner prescribing me a new medicine for my migraines and being afraid to take it, well I finally did and it worked with no side effects which was great! Unfortunately I was still having headaches almost daily and it had been going on for almost a month even after adjustments from my chiropractor and a round of antibiotics and trying some medicine for allergies so she put me on a daily medicine for the headaches now and it seems to be helping with very few side effects but right now it makes me sleepy still so that is another part of the reason you haven't been seeing very many new blog posts or new beads or anything from me for a while, I am just trying to get back to a good working rhythm. I am getting there, it's just taking a bit longer than I would have liked. But I'm feeling better and the sleepiness is less and less each day so hopefully things will pick up again soon! :)

Busy as Usual

I mentioned before that we had joined the All American Dachshund Rescue and will be fostering dachshunds and the rescue has been very busy of late due to several puppy mill raids. I have been working on one foster member application myslef, unfortunatly the person decided that fostering is not for right for them at this time. We were to get a female doxie a week ago Sunday but she was lucky enough to go to what I am sure will be a wonderful forever home instead. This Sunday, if everything goes as planned, we will pick up 2 *somewhere* as a caravan makes it's way from TN to AZ. It is really amazing to see the way this all works, all of this transportation is volunteer and because there are enough members, usually each "leg" of the trip is no more than 2 hours or so. I have also been working on putting together some things to donate to the rescue to put in baskets to raffle at the picnic that will take place in May in TN. I don't think we will get to make it to the picnic ourselves due to work schedules and things but it sounds like fun!
In addition to all of that, I have been working like mad trying to make new things to put in my Etsy shop, no pics unfortunately as most of it is in the kiln still or hasn't been photographed yet. I took an extra day off of work this week thinking that I would get some of these things "caught up"...not so much. :) Hubby has been sick with a nasty sinus infection so has been home 2 extra days himself. So basically it's been a whole lot of busy but not a whole lot of actually getting anything done! But hey, that's just me! :)

Finally Something NEW!

Yep, you read right! I finally got some new things listed in my Etsy shop! I have had a few custom orders over the past couple of weeks, one a very large one. That, along with my full time job has made getting new beads done to list a bit difficult. Not that I'm complaining at all, the custom orders were fun and turned out nice. But sometimes it's nice to not have any clue what I will be making when I sit down at the torch! Over the past few days I have managed to create a new frog bead (see below) as well as an elephant and a pig which have yet to be cleaned or have pictures taken yet.

I have also been looking at going back to school to get my bachelors and then masters in nursing with the ultimate goal being getting my family nurse practitioner licence. I know that will take a lot of time and effort, actually it kind of already has just looking at programs and pass rates and tuition and scholarships and all that goes along with that, but it will be worth it in the end. If I can't be a full time lampworker, this will be second best. :)

My husband and I have also applied to become foster parents (insert look of shock here for all who know us and are saying "Why don't you just try and have your own kid?!")....and the rest of that sentence is for dachshunds. Yep, you read right, foster parents of dachshunds. We have been approved with the All American Dachshund rescue! As some of you may have read from previous posts, we have a mini dachshund named Bobo, and we just fell in love with the breed when we got him so we wanted to be able to help out where we can. These dogs come from kill shelters, or abusive home environments or puppy mills and the like for the most part. I'll keep you updated on how that goes and if/when we get a foster pup I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to post!

Ok, now on with the beads! You can find all of these in my Etsy shop! :)

Custom orders

Custom orders are not something I do a *lot* of, but I do tend to like them. They often push me in ways I may not have gone otherwise. I had a request from a repeat customer for some "flat flower beads" to use with these fantastic little felted containers that she makes. I had never made any flowers like these before so it took me a bit to get the hang of it and the first one turned out....well, not really looking like a flower! I worked at them for a few days and finally learned what I was doing wrong and the ones that followed turned out much better. She also wanted some "large" (2") ones which I had a bit more trouble with but, like anything else, they just take some practice as well.

New stuff

Well I managed to get a few new things put in my shop over on Artfire and got one new listing up on Etsy (see below). I have been working on some custom orders which have kept me happily busy! I did manage to get a few other things done tonight, hope they turn out as good as I think they might! Today was a good day to just stay inside and torch, it has been raining/sleeting/snowing for the past several hours. :( And in the spirit of that, here is the set I put up on Etsy this week; Winter Wonderland!

Art Fire

OK, so I took the plunge and signed up for the "verified" or paid account. So far I only have one listing, but will be adding more. I like that all of your new listing info is entered on one page; much easier than Etsy. So if you want to check out my shop there, it is http://LuckyBunnyLampwork.artfire.com

Well, some of you may have noticed I've been absent for a while, seems that post-Christmas things got more hectic than pre-Christmas! We did get to go to my brothers house on Christmas Eve, and even though we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked, we enjoyed being able to spend the time with family. I will try to put up some pictures later of my beautiful niece and oh-so-handsome nephew. :) Lately I haven't felt like doing much of anything, started out with a headache a few days after Christmas that would come and go every other day or so. Finally on Wednesday I made an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner because by then I had had a headache everyday for the past 6 days straight. She put me on an antibiotic, thinking as I did, that it was probably nothing more than a sinus infection; but she also thinks I may be having migraines as some of the headaches cause nausea and dizziness as well as sensitivity to light. She prescribed a medicine that I can take when I have a migraine, but I'm sort of skeptical about taking it. So today is day three on the antibiotic and the headaches are better but I still don't exactly feel well. I did decide to go back to work today and I may even fire up the torch tonight. I have some beads made that I should be getting listed, and more ideas than I can keep up with which is unusual. Next week is my birthday and a friend of mine and I will be making a trip up north, Kansas City area and try to find some lampwork supply stores, there has to be at least one right? If we find one, it will be the first time I have gotten to buy glass from a person rather than over a computer, I'm very excited about that! :)

New Series

A few posts back I spoke about a new series I had in the works. Well, it is finally time to show it to you, at least the first of the series. I got this idea after finding out what the October challenge would be for LEST (Lampwork Etc. Street Team) on Etsy; breast cancer awareness. I have made very few goddesses to this point but the idea of a "Survivor Goddess" popped into my head as I was trying to think of things to create for this challenge. To me, a goddess represents the beauty and grace of the female form regardless of size, shape, age, color...or whatever else. I was so excited about the idea of this that I made several before it occurred to me that some might be offended by this...if you are one of them, I am truly sorry. I didn't create these to offend anyone, the plan is to raise awareness. As part of the challenge on Etsy, the proceeds from anything pink and these goddesses will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Please help me support this great cause!

Sponsoring a Giveaway!

Well, our day was pretty good today. We did some shopping (and spent too much $$) and dinner was GREAT but it was a long day! I almost forgot that I am sponsoring a giveaway on Simply Sentimental the Blog this week; click here to go check it out and enter to win this sterling silver necklace with one of my own handmade hollow lampwork pumpkins!

Something New in the Works..

As most of you know, I am a member of an amazing group of lampworkers who sell on Etsy, the Lampwork Etc. Street Team (LEST: see our link to the left or click here). Our team has a different challenge every month and beginning in October participating members will be donating a portion of their sales to the breast cancer organization of their choice. I have agreed to donate 100% of my profits from all pink beads sold, and anything else marked...

I am really excited about this challenge as so many women are affected by breast cancer each year and I wanted to do something really special, so I have a new series (at least I hope it will be a series!) in the works! What is it? Well, you will have to wait and see! I don't want to reveal everything all at once, where is the fun in that?! It isn't even October yet! :) In reality, I have a bit more work to do, there is a lot more to this than I thought there would be! Anyway, keep a lookout for more info and pics to come!!

Halloween Beads

Ok, I did manage to get a few pictures today, though they didn't turn out as good as I would have liked...


Here are a few of the beads I will be sending in for the Halloween exchange.



Not much else is new in my world, I did get a few sets of disk beads listed today in my Etsy shop and started to add a few pics to a Flikr album...that's really about it!

Inspired by Mallory...

Ok, here are some pics of the disks that I have been talking about that I made from my "shorts" after being inspired to try it by a fellow beadmaker and LEST team member Mallory aka rosebud101.

And here is a picture of one of my first hollow beads! :)

Also, you may have noticed I changed my template. In doing so, I lost my blog list so for those of you who were on it, it isn't that I'm not still interested in what you have to say but that it will take me a bit to get it put back together. That is the one thing I hate about changing templates is loosing everything I put up! :(

More classes and Differnt Beads

I just got home from another management class at work, and I think this was the worst one yet! The subject was motivation...hard to get me motivated by making me go to a class at 8am on my day off! Oh, and don't give me an extra day off to compensate for it either, I'll just work 11 days with only one day off, sure that's fine! :( (can you sense the sarcasm here?) I have one more class to go to on Friday and then I'm finished with these, but of course that just means more responsibility.

Some of you may have read in earlier posts about my time with the facility I'm at and how I had to leave when I finished school and then came back later but was put in another building; well it appears that a position may soon come available in the building I started out in. I work with MRDD (mentally retarded/developmentally disabled) people and there is quite a bit of difference between the two buildings, even though it is still the same facility. One building (I'll call it 'A' so it doesn't get to confusing) has more "medically fragile" and lower functioning individuals that require more care and the other ('B') has higher functioning individuals with more behavioral problems. As far as the individuals are concerned, I really like both buildings, there is still so much to learn and so much to teach them and I really like that aspect of the job. On the other hand, I don't feel like much of a nurse most of the time because I'm in building 'B'. The staff are a lot different as well, 'B' has more staff that are in my age group as a whole than the other does so there is more gossip and drama than 'A'. I did have some issues with a few people in 'A' while I was there, but I think I'm better prepared to deal with it now than I was a year ago; so I'm kind of hoping that I get to go back to 'A' and that things will get better. But I'm also trying not to get my hopes up too much in case it doesn't work out, I don't want to be disappointed!

Now, back to beads! I think I have posted before about the amazing "team" that I'm a part of on Etsy, the LEST Team (see our link in the upper right corner of my blog); anyway, they are an amazing group! Always willing to help out other team members with advise and promoting and encouragement..anyway one of the members "rosebud101" ( http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5181465 ) been making these beads for a while out of "shorts". They always turn out really cool, but they are usually disks which I don't normally make....well, I tried it last night and now I'm stuck on them! I must have made fifteen or twenty last night! She always says how fun they are and I though, yeah right, I can't make a disk to save me! But I've been practicing and she is right it is fun! I like that I don't have to think about it much, I just pile all my shorts on the table and start melting! Believe me, I got some strange looks from my hubby though when I told him I was making beads out of nothing but shorts! :)