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!