New item: Gift Certificates!

Yeah baby... I'm so excited!
Gift Certificates for the Holidays. :)

But beyond that, I am adding my classes as Etsy shop items! I will start putting my class listings on Etsy to see if I can gain some visibility there.

Speaking of which, I've added 3 new classes to my schedule:

January 24 - Dichroic Glass Fusing Workshop
January 25 - Gems and Glass in Precious Metal Clay
February 22 - Intro to Precious Metal Clay

Click HERE for more info

Holiday craft shows!

Ah... the holidays are upon us... and what does that inevitably mean?

Craft Shows!!

I had a whirlwind over the December 6 - 7 weekend where I attended 2 shows back to back. It was a lot of work but great fun! The shows were worth the effort just to see and meet all the great artists around the area. Finally, I could put faces to names!

The CT Etsy Show was wonderful... it was a great feeling to know that our collective marketing efforts resulted in actual foot traffic!! I used my "Constant Contact" account for the first time to invite my small but growing mailing list to the show, and I can remember at least 4 or 5 of the attendee telling me that they'd heard about the show through that email. Yeah! It actually works!

I didn't have my camera at the show, but there's a great CraftyStylish blog entry with a review of the show and lots of pictures here: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/31165/whos-who-in-connecticut-a-wrap-up-of-etsy-crafters-at-the-show

Then it was on to Guilford for an intimate show in the Gables adult community. This was in "concert" (ahem) with their "Cello-bration" Holiday Concert where we were treated to a whole bunch of local cello players working their magic on everyone's favorite holiday songs. It was the first day of real SNOW covering the drive to the location ~ which really got me into the celebratory mood ... and the light streaming in the windows really helped my dichroic glass shine and silver sparkle! It wasn't the most lucrative show I've done, but it was certainly fun!

Here are some images of the booth as it was at this show:

So ... this weekend was my first time out with my new series of Dichroic Glass Drawer Pull sets! There was a lot of interest in them... generally "wow, who would have ever thought?!" I think the idea is surprising to a lot of people who have never considered glass for this sort of thing. I bought a few of those little wooden plaques you can get at craft stores for wood burning or decoupage. I stained them, drilled holes, e voila! Instant display... (You can also see the effect of the sunlight on dichro in this picture!)

I also discovered the joys of label making. My Dymo label maker rocked it out, though I discovered that trying to put anything "sticky" on velvet displays just doesn't work. Even if you try double stick tape in addition to the sticky on the back of the Dymo labels. Don't try this at home, folks!

So it was a good weekend overall ~ a great experience that continued to teach me the best ways of creating displays, pricing, and marketing. I hope this helps me continue to expand my efforts of taking over the world with my jewelry!

More glass painting

Oh the excitement, oh the joy!

OK, I know I'm getting a little crazy but I've been doing lots more glass painting ...

I have been playing with little iconic images that I've used in my PMC Silver work ~ rubber stamps, drawings, and so on... expanding into a painted form of some of these, like so:

And then I started thinking about all the paper arts and what other kinds of things one can do with paint and a surface. So, I started playing with things you can only do with paint: Layering, interacting, creating dimension. I had already tried the watercolor effect (see below) but I wanted to drop paint on paint and see how it interacted with graphic images, like so:

And then, as I was layering one piece with some stripes, I remembered something...

One of my favorite things is to marbleize paper or fabric. So before the paint dried, I made up some marbled pieces:

What I learned is that the pastel-like tones of the glass paint take on a richer, more intense color when fired. I also noticed that nearly all the glass painting I've done - especially when it is laid on thickly - creates an orange peel texture, not unlike enamels when they're underfired.

So I am loving this new addition to the toolbox... and will need to determine if I'm firing them incorrectly. But for now, I'm enjoying the play on texture and color.

Come to the CT Etsy Team Holiday Spectacular!

Special Offer: FREE GIFT WRAPPING with ANY Sulimos Design PURCHASE!

Crisp Fall Air

Ah, Fall!  So crisp, like a macoun apple eaten while walking down a forest path!

Actually, Jonathan and I had an amazing walk this weekend at Chitfield State Park in Killingworth, CT.  It was the first time we'd been there and we loved it.   There's not only a small lake, but a really beautiful marsh with a boardwalk, as well as caves used by Native Americans and extensive walking and hiking paths.   What a treat!  

Walking through nature has inspired a whole range of new ideas ~ leaves, berries, branches, water.   The delicate curl of birch bark.  The way water ripples up behind an obstruction ~ almost like it points back at it.   So many ideas to explore!

That Sea Shore Smell

One of my favorite things is my blackberry. Oh, pathetic I know. The mobility, the practicality, the freedom. For example, here I am sitting at the beach with the sea breeze in my hair, surrounded by susicious gulls, watching a thunderstorm pass across New Haven Harbor ... The rain falls on West Haven - and I can hear the thunder - but I have sun in my eyes. Yet I am still, in a sense, at my desk. If my customers call me, I am here. If they email me, I am available.

There is only one thing missing from my blackberry, as I finally have discovered today. A camera. To share this image with the world.

And ok, a sound recorder, to capture the gulls' song, as well as that of the ice cream truck which just drove up behind me. There is a fishing pier here at Nathan Hale Park, and the families bring their kids when they're fishing. A captive market!

I just saw a lightning strike over West Rock! Far away, backlit in a sense, with me squinting into the sunshine.

The ice cream truck's song has a ring, an organ melody, and this little ocarina hoot sound. So many layers to such a simple sound. Thunder percussion, and bird whines too. And most importantly, the white noise of the rolling waves.

First mobile post!

This is a first... I'm sitting with my morning coffee and reading me email on a sunny Sunday morning... Ahhh...

So who wants to turn on their pc at a moment like this? Hmm?

Why not send a post from my blackberry? Well... Here it is.

This is a test... Only a test... If it had been a real post I would have talked about... Ah well, you know what I mean! :)