HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Western Halloween

I love this image of Halloween. The headless horseman has found his head and sugar skulls meet longhorn skulls.

I've been tagged by Vonna. I will get to it! Promise!

October Sky

We usually like to go on at least one substantial hike each weekend. Sometimes we just don't have the time. So we go to MacIntosh Lake at the West end of town. It's about 4 miles all the way around. I consider this more of a walk rather than a hike as it is perfectly flat with no gain in elevation. There is a beautiful view of Mt. Meeker and Long's Peak.


Tagging is a blogger's game. You tag someone by leaving a comment on their blog and letting them know that they have been tagged. When you have been tagged you post several random, weird, or whatever facts about yourself. Then go tag seven other blogs. Post the URLs of the blogs you tagged. That's it!

Alrighty then! I just realized that I've been tagged! So here are seven facts about me:

1. I have a MS in Computer Science (so I'm a geek).
2. I was married to my husband 6 months after we met.
3. I had a close encounter with a bear one evening in Rocky Mountain National Park.
4. My favorite TV show is One Tree Hill, no wait - it's Pushing Daisies, or . . .maybe it's Fringe!
5. If I won the lottery I would donate a bunch to Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota.
6. I love potato chips on ham sandwiches.
7. My grandmother's grandfather was a math professor at a university in Austria.



OK - Here's who I've tagged:

http://smgdesigns.wordpress.com/
http://lisaliddy.wordpress.com/
http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/
http://mizmerrymac.blogspot.com/
http://www.one-earedpig.blogspot.com/
http://www.sherrybellamy.blogspot.com/
http://villa-design.blogspot.com/

Countdown to Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I'm always looking for new sources of inspiration. Dover Clip Art books are one of those sources. Their newest book of clip art called "Happy Halloween" has loads of new contemporary images and fonts. I'll post a few of them over the next couple of weeks.

Slide Show!

Someone told me about this cool widget that makes it really easy to create a slide show. I thought that I would try it out!

Goldstone Glitter

Goldstone is one of those materials that can added to glass for some extra sparkle. It consists of copper filings suspended in clear glass. If worked too hot in a direct flame it will appear to be rust colored or brownish instead of sparkly gold. I've been very pleased with the goldstone I've been using. I heat chunks of it in the flame, case it in clear that is the proper COE for the glass I want to use it with, and pull it out into stringer. I just love the glittery results!

A gift of creativity

On one of the glass forums that I belong to there are often "exchanges". An exchange is where you send trade a piece of your work with another artist. I like to join exchanges that offer new challenges for me. That might be in the type of work or the style. Here is a bracelet I made using a finger weaving technique developed by Robin Atkins. The real challenge for me was making the sculptural flower beads. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

There's a bit of crispness. . .

. . .in the air! This is my favorite time of year. August, September, and October - bring it on!

I feel so invigorated. And, I get to work with some of my most loved glass colors.

I HAD TO do it!

I've made very few flower beads over the course of my bead making career. So. . . I guess I'm getting it out of my system!

Still in flower mode. . .

. . .but I like it!

Working with Italian Millefiore. . .

is challenging but the results are well worth it. I love looking through heaps of brightly colored bits for the perfect piece. Then I have to persuade it to meld to a hot bead and behave as part of the final design. I really like the way this slider bead turned out!

Silver Passion. . .

I so love the silver laden glass. It's hard to not work with it! But with results like this why resist?

It's been a busy summer

I've rediscovered bike riding! And, my little tomato patio garden seems to be a success! I have six plants in pots and they are just huge.

I've been busy perfecting designs for big hole beads that fit the popular add-a-charm chains like Pandora, Biagi, Chamilia, and Troll.

Silver Glass

No - silver glass is not silver. However, it does have a heavy concentration of silver that is forced into solution with the glass. This creates a glass that almost seems like it has magical properties.

Like this vessel made out of Double Helix Triton.

Colorado Spring

Another gorgeous spring day! Hotter weather ahead. I hope they plow out Trail Ridge Road soon. It's a lot cooler at 12,000 feet.

Here's a piece I call "Memories of Earth"

An artist's blog.

During my time at the torch as a hot glass artist I have time to muse about many things.

Sometimes my musings are worth saving. Sometimes not. I'm going to write about the things that I think are worth saving.