December's Giveaway

I'm having another giveaway for the month of December. The giveaway is for a pair of barrel beads in white with raised black scrollwork and lines. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, follow me on Facebook and comment on this picture. I will draw from the comments with a random number generator on the first day of the month. It's hard to believe that it will be 2014.

As always, sharing is appreciated as it helps me get more fans. Thank you so much. I hope you're all having a nice Holiday so far.

Some New Techniques

Last month, I took a quick introduction to copper clay class at Studio 34 in Rochester. It was for complete beginners and was very affordable, so on a whim, I decided to go. I had such a great time. Metal clay is so much fun to work with. If only the silver clay wasn't so expensive. That's part of what I love about this copper clay, it's so affordable and takes minimal tools to make something beautiful.

I finally got around to picking up my pieces from the studio this weekend.

Tada!

In other "trying new things" news, I made some icicles. These ones are made from clear boro as opposed to soft glass. They're simple, but I like them. My first one is on the right and last one on the left. I spent some time working on my loops with a scrap piece of glass and it helped immensely! I hope all my family members need icicles for Christmas gifts, cause that's what they'll be getting most likely.

November's Monthly Giveaway

I am giving away this lovely scrolled red lampwork bead pair. To be entered into the drawing, all you have to do is leave a comment. If you have Facebook you can be entered again by clicking here and commenting.

Have fun and thanks for stopping by :)

Gallery Pictures from ISGB Gathering Friday

The plan for me was to blog about each day of the ISGB Gathering, but then preparations for Beadfest happened and blogging was forgotten. This seems to happen a lot.

For now I want to share pictures from the gallery exhibits we visited on Friday. Nothing else needs to be said, just enjoy some pretty pictures.

ISGB Gathering Thursday

Thursday was a quieter day for me. I skipped the tour of the local bead shops since I live locally anyways. It would have been fun, but I figure I should take a little bit of a break while I could.

I started my day after lunch with a class about teaching. I've been getting more and more requests to teach, so the timing of this class was perfect. It was very interesting and a little humbling. I have a few ideas on where to start now.

I went to the first timers meeting as well. I know I went to the Gathering in 2010, but I only had the time and money to go to one day. It was a fascinating day, but I really felt like I missed out on a lot years ago. I really wanted to absorb every speck of information and take every opportunity I could. Honestly, I probably fried my brain a bit.

I was able to meet several people from the Lampworketc forums before leaving for the Arc and Flame Center for the opening reception. We all piled on the buses and off we went. I've never been to a Gathering opening reception before, but it was fantastic. The Arc and Flame Center had demonstrations of welding, blacksmithing and lampworking. I suppose it's a rather odd combination of activities, but it was wonderful to see some different stuff.

I need one of these! Didn't have the cash on me at the time.

They also had the Presidential Collection of lampwork beads on display. I took a few pictures, but there was such a crowd, I didn't get pictures of everything

I know this sounds like a silly thing to be excited for, but there was so much desert available! The location of the Gathering this year doesn't really have a lot of options for food. The Hyatt served food, but I have a hard time spending that much money for alright food. I wanted to go to Dinosaur BBQ, but there was always a wait and I didn't want to miss any activities. I really stuffed my belly with cannolis, watermelon, veggies and hummus. I guess it's just the little things sometimes.

They also set up gaming tables for blackjack. You received gaming chips by donating to Beads of Courage. I was so bummed that I left my Beads of Courage at home. I really wanted to play. The beads will still get donated, but it would have been fun to play with other lampworkers.

That was day two of the ISGB Gathering in Rochester 2013. I slept so well that night.

ISGB Gathering 2013 Wednesday

Oh, hello. I'm the world's worst blogger. I have periods of posting and then long long periods of forgetfulness. If you can forgive me for my absence, I have something to write about.

Most of my fellow lampworkers are familiar with the ISGB annual Gathering. The 2013 event was held in Rochester. How lucky am I that it is in my home town? It was a fantastic five days of lectures, demonstrations, exhibits and galleries. Not to mention the Bead Bazaar and the vendor area.

I started my week on Wednesday with the bus ride and tour of the Corning museum of glass. I've been there before, but it had been around 5 years. I had a better appreciation of it now that I've been working glass longer. I had an awesome bus buddy who had traveled all the way from Australia to visit the Gathering.

I ended up taking 190 pictures while I was at Corning. Clearly I have a problem here. I think I wanted to take the entire museum back home with me. I'll just share a few pictures here.

These petals were larger than dinner plates

The glow on this pyramid was surreal. I wish I could capture it better.

Lots of simple pieces coming together to form one impressive piece. This was the size of an exercise ball.

We all love Tiffany stained glass.

Loving the carved glass.

This was a commemorative paperweight by Josh Simpson. Apparently his wife is an astronaut.

Gianni Toso chess set. I've seen this before and now having taken a figures class in soft glass, I have even more respect for the artist (not that I didn't before).

This one made me sad, but I still found it beautiful.

After the museum, we all toured the teaching facilities and the Rakow glass library. I've taken a class at Corning before and the lampwork room really is fantastic. State of the art tools and glass along with a museum of inspiration. What more could you want? Their line up of teachers is always impressive as well.

The Rakow glass library houses every text on glass you could ever want. It's free to visit too!

This book was written in the 1300's. That just blows my mind. You can see that they even had ventilation at that time for lampworkers. 

I had an amazing time at Corning and I'm looking forward to visiting again. If you ever have the opportunity, GO!