Organization continued.....

I've been trying hard to devote SOME time every day to organizing my work area. I have tons of seedbeads & crystals, not to mention semi-precious stones, sterling silver, findings, etc. So, in searching for that perfect cabinet to put some of the stuff in, I found this great wood CD shelving unit at best buy. And it's on sale for $89.99! BTW, I'm not affiliated with best buy in any way. It's just the perfect size for my needs & if you do a google search you might be able to find a coupon like I did. Mine was a $10 coupon toward my next purchase. Love it! OK, gotta get back to my organizing!

Organization........NOT!!!!

There are some parts of my life & my house that are organized & then there are others like my bead studio/basement that are almost beyond hope. But my friend told me about someone that she's had over to her house to help her organize & ever since I've the organization bug has bit me. OK, more like a little pinch, but it's something.

Her name is Cynthia Braun of Organize Your Life. She's hosting a mini workshop at her house that I'll be attending with my friend in 2 weeks. We'll get a tour of every room in her house & we'll be able to open closets, cabinets, etc. to see how she organizes her house. I'm really looking forward to going. I can't afford to have her come here to help me organize, at least not yet, but maybe I can get some pointers & be inspired to do something with the mess. Funny thing is that I'm finding things I had long forgotten I had & reordered. Well, maybe not so funny actually.

Beadfest

Well Beadfest was absolutely AWESOME this year. I took a 2 day class with Chad Trent on making Blown & Inside Out Boro beads. For those that may not know, Chad is an awesome lampwork artist specializing in boro beads and pendants. I'm not even sure if he works in soft glass at all. His ID is Cosmo on Lampwork Etc.

Chad's a gifted lampworker and an excellent teacher with the patience of a saint. Even with taking notes while he demonstrated I found myself asking a million questions. This is 1 technique that will take quite a bit of practice in order to master it.

Oh Gosh!

I'm so bad about keeping up on this blog. I don't know what it is. I guess not enough hours in the day or something. The summer has been crazy busy. Hubby & I went to Europe with my sister & BIL for almost 2 weeks to celebrate our anniversaries. It was so much fun!

I came home, had 1 day to do laundry & then headed down south to a lampwork retreat with a friend in Georgia. It was so much fun & the ladies couldn't be nicer. I'm friends with one of them & know another from an online lampwork group, but had never met the last 2 ladies. They were all so sweet. We became fast friends in no time. What a great bunch. I don't know which part of my vacation was better, Europe or the lampwork retreat. And I'm only half joking! ;-)

I'm off again on Wednesday to beadfest Philly. I'm taking a 2 day boro class in a technique that I've been dying to learn for some time now. I'm really looking forward to it. And then I want to come home & practice what I've learned & just veg if you KWIM ;-).

Softflex Designer Spotlight for May

I'm very excited to let you know that Softflex has selected me to be their Spotlighted Designer for the month of May. They had originally contacted me for June, but apparently the person selected for May backed out at the last minute. So I scrambled to get my photos in order the last couple of days, but now it's up. So please go to the Softflex site and check it out. Any & all comments are greatly appreciated.

20% off Sale in my Etsy Store Through 4/7

I am pleased to be a part of the new LampworkEtc. Etsy Street Team (LEST), and to celebrate the new group, everything in my shop is now 20% off!! The price listed has already been calculated to reflect this discount and the original price is listed in the item description! Sale runs now 'till April 7th! Search for LESTSALE for some incredible glass at great prices!!

Northeast Bead Retreat

I'm so excited!!! A bunch of us that met on a yahoo chat group are planning a Northeast Bead Retreat. We met tonight in chat & it's really coming together. The group is made up of people of varying talent, so we're just going to teach other techniques that we know. So, a bit of teaching & a bit of learning combined with lots of fun & laughter making new friends.

1st Etsy sale!!! WOOHOO!!!

I'm loving this whole etsy thing. I didn't understand it for the longest time, but I joined a street team, LEST & I'm learning quite a bit. I made my 1st sale this weekend, 3 items to the same person no less! I think it's due in part to some things I learned from my street team. If you're looking for fabulous lampwork beads, do a search for the tags LAJ (that's me :-) & LEST for the work of the talented LEST street team members.

Etsy Shop Open!

I'm so bad about keeping up with this blog. It's not that I don't have what to say. I just forget ;-). Well, I just wanted to announce the opening of my new etsy shop. I'm going to try to be better about loading things there then I have been about blogging. So, here's the link if you'd like to check it out. Feedback is always welcome.

http://www.lajewelrydesigns.etsy.com

Happy Birthday to Me :-)!

It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

I would like you to dance--Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance-Birthday
I would like you to dance--Birthday
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

OK, so Sunday is my birthday. WOOHOO!!! Yes, it's my birthday, but I feel like giving too so I
am offering everything on my site at 30% off from now until Valentine's Day, which as you all know is 2/14. I have no way of discounting the items or at least I don't know how to do it & my
techie son is away at school so rather than bother him, please just e-mail me at lajewelrydesignsATaol.com letting me know which item (s) you'd like to purchase & I will then send you a paypal invoice.

auction won by Bunny Crosson

I'm so excited! Our auction ended last night. The winning bidder was Bunny Crosson. I love her designs! It's truly gratifying to have it go to the home of such a talented seed bead artist. And, did I mention that we took in $147.50 for the Susan G Komen Foundation??? YAHOO!!!

auction to benefit the Susan G Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research

I was involved in a colloaborative project, a necklace that was featured in the September/October issue of Belle Armoire. We are 5 members of another yahoo group that created the components for this beautiful piece. We've decided to auction the
necklace off on ebay. Should any of you be interested, here's a link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUTUMN-NECKLACE-BELLE-ARMOIRE-SUSAN-G-KOMEN_W0QQitemZ1901680\
35237QQihZ009QQcategoryZ110665QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/34dgzj

Please note that 100% of the proceeds is being donated to the Susan G
Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. I hope you'll take a look
at this lovely piece and bid generously.

Adult Ed class

My adult ed class started last week. It's a big class! I had asked them to cut off registration at 10 people since I'm teaching on my own, but at last count we're up to 12. I was a bit unnerved by the size of the class & was concerned how I was going to be able to give everyone my attention, but the 1st class seemed to run pretty smoothly since several of them were in my class before. My biggest challenge is being heard. I have a soft voice & it's a chatty bunch ;-), but that's what makes it fun. We even finished a bit early. It's hard to gauge the timing of the class.

The projects that I chose for last sessions' classes were a bit challenging for people that had never beaded so I decided to start with a simple stringing project. We made bracelets strung on beading wire with gemstones & crystals. The bracelets came out beautiful & everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves. It was gratifying to see at least 4 people from last session that had signed up for this session. I guess they liked it ;-)!

I'm still working on this coming week's project. The consensus was that they had wanted to make knotted silk cord lariats. These are actually a bit more challenging than one might think for beginners. They're somewhat freeform so although that sounds like it would be easier, it really isn't. I have to check my stock anyway. I'm not sure I have all the materials on hand for it.

Collaborative piece in September Belle Armoire

Five of us that are all members of the Jewelry Haven yahoo group got together (virtually) to compose a necklace. We submitted it to Belle Armoire and it is published in the current issue of Belle Armoire. I coordinated the project, but everyone involved made charms of their own choosing to include in the piece. Interestingly enough, unbeknownst to one another the 5 of us each used a different media, which proved to add each person's individuality to the project. My contribution was the focal bead & hand torched lampwork leaves. I then took all the components and made sterling silver heart shaped links to attach them to.

Here's an excerpt from the issue:
Five Jewelry Haven members were inspired by Fall to create a collaborative necklace using various mediums. As the season unfolds with the myriad of colors, they have been inspired to capture the best of the season-the changing leaves - the landscape- the changes in our lives and the constancy of friendship.

Oxycon is working

So apparently the part I thought was missing from the oxycon is not a necessary part. I've been worrying for nothing. It would only be necessary if I were using the oxycon in a medical situation. Since I'm not, it's all good. Now just need to get DH to attach the hoses to the new torch & I'm in business. I tried to do it myself, but just don't have the strength to do it myself. Hopefully Sunday I'll be able to give it a try.

got my new torch & oxycon!

Well, so I'm a bit impulsive ;-)! I sold out all my 90 COE glass & some fusing things that I had hopes of attempting, but never did & went & bought myself new toys. Well...new, used toys. I kept all my 104 COE glass though. I just didn't want or need to have 3 different COE's.

I bought a Knight Bullet Burner & an M20 oxygen concentrator. This is one big torch, let me tell you. I just didn't want to have to upgrade again. I received both of these this week. I drove to Connecticut to pick up the oxycon. I'm a bit bummed cause the oxycon is missing the O2 tube & connector so can't use it till I get replacement parts. The person I bought it from sold out her entire studio & is now not returning calls. Not too cool, if you ask me. Oh well, will just have to be a bit more patient, not my strongest virtue.

I just returned from Beadfest in Philly where I took a Boro class & fell in love all over again. I'm chomping at the bit now to get a bigger torch & oxygen concentrator that will melt Boro rods. My DH had a canary when I told him the news so I am doing some creative fund raising, LOL! I've decided to offer 25% off on anything on my site from now until September 10th.

I found someone selling the torch I'm interested in & someone else selling the oxygen concentrator so everything is right with the world, except of course coming up with the funds for these major purchases, ;-). If taking advantage of the 25% off sale, you'll need to e-mail me at lajewelrydesigns @ aol.com (remove the spaces) & I will invoice you with the discounted pricing.

best party ever!!!

I've become close friends with 2 local bead buddies. We get together to bead about once a month. We bead, we laugh, we eat. Is there more to life ;-)? Well, we were supposed to do a party together this past weekend, Soiree we called it. It was hosted by Linda's step daughter. Unfortunately Jean couldn't make it. Her MIL had brain surgery earlier in the week.

Well, Lisa, Linda's daughter, put out a beautiful spread. I was feeling guilty at how much money she must've spent on the food. I'm not sure how many people were actually there, but there was a steady stream and each one was nicer than the next. They enjoyed looking at our jewelry, trying them on &......BUYING!!!! We came away with just shy of $1000 for the night. Now all we need to do is find more folks wanting to host a party. Here's a photo with my side of the table:

studio set up

I've been making lampwork beads for over a year now. I tried torching in several different places. First, I tried the back deck. The problem with that I soon found out is that if it's at all windy, it could/would affect the flame.

I then started working at the kitchen table, which was great unless someone in the household actually wanted to eat a meal at the table. So, every night, I'd have to pack up the glass, torch, tools, etc. for the night. This got to be old rather quick so I built myself a little studio in our 1 car garage. When I say little, I mean little.

I built myself a table top using a piece of wood that someone had freecycled. I lined the walls with wonderboard, which is flame retardant. I even built myself a small cabinet to hold all my glass rods. The square dividers that you see are cut up fence posts. For some reason, the Home Depots around here don't stock it so I had those cut down for me by a fellow lampwork artist in Florida.

My kiln sits on the floor since I have insufficient counter space. What you don't see is my fire extinguisher that's mounted on a side wall within arms reach of where I torch ;-).

Here's another view of all my glass. I just looking at it, LOL!









The next photo shows a revolving plexiglass display that I purchased from Tower Records at their Going Out of Business sale. I love this tower. It's where I keep all my presses and glass frit (ground up glass pieces used to decorate beads). Besides the fact that it rotates, it's on wheels so I can pull it closer to within arms reach when I'm torching.













And here are photos of me actually torching in case you're curious to see.

Chameleon Beads are a hit!

Since the release of the June issue of Bead and Button, I have had orders coming in for my Chameleon beads. I'm frantically torching away at every opportunity to replace beads that have sold and to attempt to build up stock so as not to run out. I have some beads that I made this week that came out great. Just need to clean them up and will be posting new pics on my site hopefully by the end of the weekend ;-).