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!

Busy Winter. New Beads for Spring

Here are some of the beads I've been working on lately when I haven't been filling custom orders. I've challenged myself to go bigger on the focals. It's hard! but the solid weight of a large finished bead is very satisfying. I can also make so many more tight designs with a bigger canvas.

I know I've been MIA with blogging for the past few months. It has been a busy Winter for me, but no complaints. I hope you all had a nice holiday and are as excited for Spring as I am.

Unplanned November Coupon!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I've been so wrapped up in orders I never planned out a black Friday sale, so here is a coupon for 15% off anything in my Etsy shop. I'll leave it going through the end of the month. Use the coupon code Thanks9

Also here is a picture of a portion of the order I've been working on. Just want to show proof that I haven't been a total slacker :D

Etching Beads

Etching beads is pretty easy. There are a few different ways to do it, but the easiest is to purchase etching acid, plunk the beads in it (using proper safety of course), clean them up and they're all done!

Gradually over the years, I've been etching a larger and larger volume of beads. I've run into minor annoyances with etching, like when several beads are touching in the etching solution, so they have some shiny unetched spots. It's even more annoying when i have a strand of beads strung up, I etch them in liquid and when they come out, they have shiny spots on the ends of each bead where the beads were touching.

So here's how I currently etch a large amount of beads.

First you need a shaker cup

Make sure you get one that has a sealable lid and a plastic grate. I bought mine at Walmart for 5-7 dollars.

Etching solution is pretty important too I suppose.

I highly recommend Arrow Springs' etching crystals. You add hot water to the crystals and make a liquid solution that will last a long time. 

Don't forget to be safe! Use gloves and safety glasses for this. Be sure to work in a well ventilated area. Keep all animals and small children away. This is not a chemical to play with!

Put your beads in the shaker cup. Keep in mind that they will get shaken a little bit. I don't use this method with beads that have raised stringer design on it. I mostly use it for large amounts of spacers, or other round beads.

Using your gloves and safety glasses, pour enough etching solution into the cup to submerge the beads. I do this over my slop sink in the basement. Seal the container with the grate in place and set a timer for 20 minutes.  I usually use this time to dip some mandrels, clean up the studio or whatever miscellaneous tasks I can do for 20 minutes. Every couple minutes I will gently shake the cup. This should make sure all the beads get an even coating of etching solution.

All done? Using proper safety, Pour the etching solution back into its container. The grate will hold the beads in the shaker cup. Add a little bit of baking soda to the shaker cup and a bit of water to be sure the solution is neutralized. I give the beads a good rinse with the shaker cup and then pour them all out onto a towel to let them dry.

Pretty easy right?

Back from Beadfest 2012

I'm back from Pennsylvania! Actually I've been back for a few weeks now, but I've been busy getting ready for my next show in less than two weeks. I think I might have overbooked myself a little bit.

So how did it go? It went very smoothly. The show was very well organized and that helped relieve a lot of stress. I purchased an artisan table which worked out perfectly for me. I really liked how they had all the artisans together, but I do wish they had labeled "Artisan alley" better. I had quite a few people who were surprised when I told them that everyone nearby was a self representing artist.

I got to meet lots of cool people. I was sitting next to someone selling kits for needle felting. I had never seen it before and while I'm not a huge fan of felt beads, I loved her little animal sculptures. They were just way too cute. On my other side, I was sitting next to Diane Dennis who creates amazing intricate beadwork.

I also got to Bobbi Helms of FatDogBeads. She has been a customer of mine on Etsy and it was really nice to meet her in person. Along with her, I was able to meet several lampworkers whos work I had admired online. They're work is just beautiful in person.

So how did I do financially? I made quite a few sales on Friday and was feeling pretty good about it, but Saturday and Sunday felt very slow. I made enough to come back again next year, but I have to keep my expenses down. As someone who is still very new to shows, I do have a lot to learn, but I am learning and getting better each time.

What will I do differently next year? Bring a cooler full of food! I was planning to do that this year, but about a week before the show I received an email with some last minute rules. One of which was "no outside food." This was my first year and I didn't want to get in any trouble, so I played it safe and only brought a protein bar and a small box of teddy grahams. That snack helped, but by the end of the day I wanted to eat everything in sight! Even if there is no outside food allowed, I might keep an ice chest in the car or hotel to help with food costs. Eating out and eating semi-healthy is expensive.

Another cost that I was surprised about was the tolls in Pennsylvania. Driving across New York cost me  $2.40 in tolls. Driving across Pennsylvania cost me at least $30. I was expecting toll roads, but I was thinking they would be a similar price to the NY thruway. I suppose it's a small cost on the grand scheme of things, but these things add up quickly!

I do plan to be back next year. I'm hoping these small changes on my part, will make it a more profitable show for me to attend in the future.