Jennifer Geldard class

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take a class from Jennifer Geldard. She was an amazing teacher! I loved every minute of it. Here are a few beads that I made in her class.

About Time

I guess it's about time I posted something to my blog. I thought I would be keeping this more up to date, but alas summer came, and I don't spend much time at the computer. Besides, I haven't torched since April, and there have been no new beads to show. BUT, I did take Kim Field's class at Bedrock Supply this weekend. It was fantastic! Kim is a super instructor and I learned a ton. Pictures are of Kim, a demo bead she made (which I was lucky enough to take home); beads I made in class, and a group shot of me and my classmates.

Brent & I just returned from a relaxing few days on Saltspring Island and Victoria. My cousin's daughter was married in Victoria, so this occasion gave us a pleasant excuse for a vacation. We have been to Vancouver Island many times in the past but never made it to Saltspring. It was beautiful, low key, and very relaxing. Here are some pics of an Arbutus tree (which only grows on the west coast) -- it has pealing cinnamon coloured bark. This tree sheds it's leaves in July! Also, is a picture of Ganges harbour, a lovely little town with many shops and great restaurants. Did you know there are no stop lights on Saltspring Island?!

Backyard Muck

Hi. I haven't posted in a while. Too many backyard activities to do, but as you can see from this photo -- it's way too messy to start anything today. Perhaps I can torch, and I'll be able to put up some bead photos to share.

Spring is here!

Finally I think, for all of us Edmontonians. This weekend I'm going to plant out my tomato and pepper plants that I have been faithfully ferrying from outside into my house every night. I also notice that my carrots, lettuce, beets, onions and peas have made an appearance in my garden beds. Here is a picture of a beautiful crabapple tree located by the Dentistry building at the U of A. It's spectacular!

Corina Beads

Sorry, I haven't been updating this blog as much as I would like, but I haven't been at my torch for a month now. Too many outdoor activities now that the weather has warmed up!

Here are some "Corina" beads for eye candy this week. Corina was my Idol, when I was getting started in my lampworking career. I loved all the details she included in her itty bitty beads. So Corina, where ever you are...? Here are a few beads made in your style.

Shed Progress

We've finally made some progress on our garden shed; and what a big one it is!! My husband thinks we have a lot of "stuff", so hence this structure. I believe it's 10' x 10' x 6.5' high (at the lowest part), so it should house a lot of "stuff". Brent & Kevin worked until 11:30 pm last night (with flashlights) pushing the roof trusses into place, and then hammering them in. I'll be very excited to have it finished, so we can claim our garage back from the evil "spreading stuff fungus".

Pics from Larry's course

Attached are some pictures from Larry's class. He has the most amazing dot control. On his Byzantine beads, there are 200+ raised dots/bead!!

Larry Scott

I had the pleasure of taking two 2-day classes with Larry Scott recently. We attempted to make some of his "trade mark" beads such as Byzantine, knot and carved beads. We tried our hand as well at some cane and latticino. Besides being an amazing teacher, he is truly funny and loves cats.

Spring is sprung, the flowers riz, I wonder where the birdies iz?? These are the only flowers blooming in my yard right now......

I'll be spending my Saturday at our Aurora Borealis Fireflies One-Day Studio Sale, Saturday April 14th 10:00 - 4:00 at the Bellevue Community League - 7308 - 112 Ave. Come check it out!

A fish I made over the weekend created from Bullseye glass. He's quite a big one as you can see compared to the quarter. Not sure what I'm going to do with a large piece like this one. It's hard to incorporate it into anything besides sculpture, I think. Personally, I don't like to wear large beads like this one, so probably he'll make his way onto my windowsill, or in my china cabinet with all the other underwater creatures.

I set up my new Mini CC torch last week. Wow, the flame is much hotter than my old minor! I was pretty faithful to my minor for many years - it always performed well. I listened to a lot of my bead buddies say that they had made the switch to this new torch, how they just loved it, yada yada yada. And, I thought, no, I'm stayin old school, stickin with my minor. Well, I succumbed, and I'm not ashamed to say it. Bring on the heat!

This is a set I sent to Calgary last week, made with moretti black, silver plum, turquoise, purple and coral.

Spring Fling!

Spring - it's finally here. Is it my imagination, or does it feel warmer today?? I saw two robins at the University this morning, so I think it's official. I can hardly wait to get out mucking in my yard, and when I say mucking, I mean mucking. We moved to a brand new house last spring, and I have no grass yet -- just a backyard of wet clay. But, before the snow arrived in October, my husband built me 4 raised garden beds, so even if I have poor soil elsewhere, I can plant a garden this year -- hurray.

For today's viewing pleasure, a lime green/blue bracelet. I haven't made this style for a while, and it was fun to do again.

Where is spring???

Spring is taking forever to get to Edmonton this year. Making florals puts me in a better mood though.

Coral Sunset

Some coral beads from a few days ago. "Old" coral with raku stringer, pressed. This makes for an interesting combination I think.

I spent a total of 3 hours on this bead this weekend - my Andrea Guarino Slemmons knock off. After all the filligrana and murrini making, and then melting the glass for this monster - my hands were getting sore. I use a Nortel minor with a concentrator. This torch just did not have the ooomph to melt the glass down fast enough. You can't tell from the picture, but it is quite thick - about 3/4". I was trying to use my large Jim Moore mashers to make it into an approximate 2" diameter x 1/2" disk. I love my minor for small beads, but I seem to want to make larger and larger creations. Might have to think about a torch upgrade.....

A recent picture of my husband with our two cats (orange - Bernie, long brown hair - Sophie). I thought it was a great picture of all three. Bernie is a lovable talker; Sophie is our monster around the house -- takes great delight in beating up on Bernie, taking over his food dish, and all-in-all total domination of our household. She loves her Daddy though, and loves to sit on his chest while he is on the computer.

Kronos

My friend Carrie gave me a rod of Kronos glass to try out. These were made with transparent pale blue moretti, a stripe of Kronos down the middle, and decorated with clear or pale blue stringers. It was interesting watching the silver develop while bathing these beads in a reduction flame (trying to tease the silver out). Some beads turned out well, others, I either over reduced or under reduced I think. Either way, they were fun to play around with. Thank you Carrie!

This was my "end of the day" bead on the weekend. I was making a lot of pressed tab beads, but I always seem to get the most pure pleasure out of making encased florals. I tend to get bored if I'm making sets (my mind is always racing, thinking about the next swirl or dot combination). Making florals for some reason calms me down. I like this colour combo. I used a pulled latticino technique that is in the Tonbo-Dama Japanese book.

Hope you have a great week!

Hi. Not much new from my end of the world today, but none the less, I promised to keep my blog more up to date than my web page. So, here for your viewing pleasure are a few large holed donut beads -- black with lots of swipes of dichro. TTFN (ta ta for now) Pat

Beach Tabs

I think these new tabs I made recently remind me of the beach - the sand, the blue/greens of the water. They also remind me of beautiful batik fabric that you might purchase on a tropical island. It's -18 C today in Edmonton. Perhaps that's why I'm thinking about the tropics. Keep warm!

Hip, Hip, Hooray

I finally have my home studio set up and running!! I am elated! It's been nearly a year since I have been torching at home. We moved to a new house nearly a year ago, and I haven't been able to torch at in my own space since. Brent and I (mostly Brent) ran the propane up through our deck header, so the propane is able to be outside. The ventilation runs through a flexible hose to a screen window that has been retrofitted with sheet styrofoam. It works well, but it was rather cold today sitting underneath there. I think I might have to place some insulated batting in there to stop the cold drafts. I didn't mind though - I was torchin!!

Here is a bracelet I made for my sister-in-law Barb (one of my best customers!) for Christmas. She wanted a brown/black/white combo. I really like the flattened beads that can be made with one of Corina's presses (sorry, can't think of the name right now). They are so comfortable to wear (even when typing away at the computer -- you don't notice weight or the shape of the bracelet). Comfort is my friend. As soon as I start fussing with something; off it comes. Or beads, for instance. I don't fuss much with them either -- they work, or they don't. I think this bracelet works. Happy end of the month!

Where's the beads?

This blog is supposed to be about beads. Where's her beads you say?? Ok, Ok; I'll turn my attention to beads.

I took a 2-day workshop at Bedrock a couple of weeks ago learning how to electroform beads with Janelle Zorko. It was a great class, although I don't know if I will ever get back to Bedrock to do more electroforming. Here is a link to Janelle's web site http://www.pigeonpointglass.com/

I made these beads in her class. So there you have it; finally, my beads.

January 22, 2007

Hi. Another beautiful day in Edmonton. Wow, our weather is weird this year. -30C temperatures in November, and +3C today. I'm not complaining though. I don't handle cold weather very well. Here is a picture of me walking down frozen Whitemud Creek. It's kind of a treat walking down the creek, as you get some fantastic views of the creek cliffs that you don't see in summer (unless you are wading down the middle of the creek)!

January 20, 2007
I had a great day today with my Aurora Borealis Fireflies buddies, 'Berley, Marianne, Cindy and Susan. We met for breakfast at Barb and Ernies' on 99th Street. My drowsiness soon wore off after that first cup of coffee and a lot of good laughs. After b'fast we met at Bedrock Supply for some torchin and shoppin. While there I purchased a cool book "Tonbo-Doma - Japanese Glass Beads" by Kogure Norikazu. This book is so awe inspiring. There is still so much to learn...