So for the last couple of weeks, I've been in a bit of a fix. I have a show coming up in a couple of weeks that I KNOW I need to have some new stuff for, but everytime I have gone to start working on things, my mind just kind of shuts off. It's like I look at my workbench, and my brain says "You know, we could just come back here tomorrow and deal with things. It's already been a long day, why don't you just go have a seat on the couch, let me rest for a while, and we'll talk about it tomorrow."





I guess it's the equivalent of writer's block. And it sucks...





I think I am finally over it though; in the last 3 days I have felt my brain shift from Park to Neutral to Drive again. I owe a lot of this to my friend Janet, who was kind enough to spend some time on the phone the other night just chatting and working her subtle magic that gets you feeling so good about what you do. She offered advice, as well as a few new ideas that really got me thinking again and pushing me over this little hump that I was up against. She always knows how to make me laugh and which buttons to push to start the creativity machine up in full swing. Thanks my friend!





Yesterday helped out a ton as well. In the morning I was out and about running some errands and enjoying the new warmer weather. Considering that I had to be home and on the road for a daytrip by noon, I got a lot done. I stopped by a little shop that I have always wanted to go take a look at and never made it to; it was worth the stop! Orange Poppy Gifts was an amazing little place, and actually not all that little; it's one of those shops that just seems to go on and on, filled with all the neat little stuff that you never knew you wanted or needed. I might approach them about carrying some of my stuff once I get some new designs put together. After there, I went to one of the stores that I get some of my supplies from and picked up only what I needed from there (since my other supplier doesn't carry it). I took a quick browse around, and, while it's a handy place to pick up what I can't get at my other place, it just reinforces why I buy supplies elsewhere. This store has outrageous mark up on things that I KNOW are a lot cheaper elsewhere, sometimes to the tune of 40%. It was a good store to be in when I started my journey in glassworking, but I've kind of fallen out of love with it. Oh well...From there I went to my favorite bookstore and picked up a couple of magazines that I buy regularly, one being a glass one and the other a arts/crafts/design one. It's almost sad the tingle of excitement I feel when I pick them up. After grabbing those it was back in the truck and down to my main supplier of all things glass. I ended up spending way more time than I had planned chatting with the owner and using a couple of the coldworking tools there. I rushed home, D and I had a quick lunch, then were out the door to meet up with our friend for the road trip.





As it was a 2 hour drive, I had lots of time to browse through my new magazines. It's funny how looking at pictures of things that aren't even vaguely related to what you do can trigger inspiration and thoughts for new designs. Needless to say, I now have a newly rekindled fire in my belly to sit down at my bench and get working. On that note, I bid you adieu, and will return in the next day or two with some new pictures...

This little vase was something that I had been exploring last year. I kind of got away from the design, but am seriously considering revisiting it, especially with the promise of spring flowers...and the compliments of it by Miss J...

Oops...

Well, it looks like I have managed to let almost a month go by AGAIN and let this slide...my bad...again...

In my defense, it's been quite a busy time for me. I was sick for the first couple of weeks of January with a cold that just wouldn't go away. As well, while I was sick, it was kitchen renovation time, so that made things SO much better; ever tried painting while you're coughing and sneezing? Not fun, let me tell you...Needless to say, renos take time...but everything is done (except for touchups and a new floor, which is going in 2 weekends from now) and it looks amazing. It's also nice to do kitchen stuff in the kitchen; not microwave something in the living room with it sitting on an end table, and getting cutlery off of the living room floor beside the fireplace.

I've also got back to work on glass. As I think I mentioned before, the basement got shuffled around and my workspace got moved. It's now all set up and back in full swing, and I am finally using it again. Probably a good thing that I'm back to work on it, as I have a sale next weekend! I really don't know what it will be like; it's a "flea market", that apparently has artisans at it as well, taking place at Assiniboia Downs. It runs Saturday and Sunday 9-4, so the hours are fine, and we can set up the day before so that takes a lot of pressure off as well. As per usual, I'm located beside my friend Kylie (who designs the most awesome shirts, etc) so that will make it fun. The entry fee wasn't too bad, so I should do fine. Here's hoping, anyway! It's a chance to finish getting rid of some pendants that I've been hauling around for awhile, as well as see how some of the new stuff sells. I really have no idea what to expect from this sale, so time will tell!

Well, just wanted to pop in and say hi...here's to seeing you again, with a little less time between visits!

Wow...I think December has to be the quickest month in terms of passing you by; you spend all this time getting ready for it, shopping, putting up a tree, cleaning the house, and all of a sudden, it's January, you realized that there is so much that got put on the side-burner because of the December rush, and you have to figure out where to pick up from the point of leaving off. Unfortunately, this blog is one of those things that kind of fell by the wayside, waiting for someone to come pick it up, dust it off and give it a ride back into town.

Well, I'm back, baby!

The holiday season was a busy one for me. I had one more sale that I did, kind of spur-of-the-moment, so ran around and put together what I could for it. It went okay, as smaller craft sales do. Sales paid for my space, I made some extra $$, and got some work done while I was sitting there. The rest of December was a blur of get-togethers, shopping, panicking about what I still had to get, and visiting family. As this was my first Christmas living in Winnipeg, it made for a bit more time on the road, but it was all worth it. I have to be honest though; I was kind of happy to see the holidays go by, and know that life was getting back to normal.

Glass-wise, it was a good month. I got all of my special orders done and out in time, got a few gifts made, and then took the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's as "time off" from working down in the glass studio. D and I spent the better part of this past week getting the basement ready for renovations, so it was a lot of hauling bags of garbage and flattened cardboard boxes up the stairs. I also relocated my workspace to a different part of the basement, so that was kind of exciting. It's more or less set up now; I told D that I wanted to have my space workable for the start of the upcoming week, and it looks like it is ready to work in! There are still a few little piles of stuff to sort out, but overall I am back in business. I've got some new ideas for bowls and plates that I am anxious to get to work on, and I've got lots of new jewellery ideas as well.

Speaking of new stuff, here's a bracelet I made for my mom for her birthday in December...The band is made of a mixture of fine silver and sterling silver, and the "stone" is, of course, fused glass! Considering it was the first one that I ever tried, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I haven't decided if this is something that I am going to work into my repertoire, but it was a fun little project.





I also did some jewellery for friends of mine that got married in the Dominican over the holidays...Her bridesmaids wore them for the wedding, and I made her one as well, just for the memories...She seemed really happy with them, and it was nice to see some of my work in her wedding pictures; thanks Lauren! Although there were a few glitches along the way, as well as a major overhaul of the original design (the pendants were supposed to have a colour other than black in them, but it just wasn't working), they turned out really well, and everyone seemed pretty happy with them.


Now that life is more or less returning to normal, I'm getting back to work on new stuff for the upcoming season; I'll post as things turn out!

Happy New Year everyone! For those of you that I haven't seen in a while, I can't promise that we will get together in the next week or two, but the effort will definately be made!

One More Sale To Go...One More Sale To Go....

First off, yes I realize that I got kind of lazy this week in terms of keeping up with this little outpost of what happens in my life...Get over it...There, my apologies are done...

It's been another busy week; I spent a couple of days recovering from the open house, and then tried to do some work. It's funny; whenever I sat down to do stuff, there just wasn't a lot of creativity being channelled. It's that time of year where I still have lots of new ideas, but they just don't materialize like they usually do. I think it's just because it's such a busy time; I work full time, spend my evenings working on glass in my studio, and then spend my weekends talking about what I do all week. Don't get me wrong; I love doing the sales, they're just a little...draining...I do need to get some work done this week; I've got a (hopefully) big sale coming up this weekend at the Festival of Lights (http://www.friendsfestival.com/) as well as an order to get out, so I need to get some pendants made. Besides...D is away a couple of evenings this week, so I might as well make good use of my time, right?

The sale yesterday wasn't a overly busy one for me, but it was worth the time invested. My table was next to a couple of friends that I enjoy visiting with at these events, so the three of us made our own fun when we needed to. As well, I might have a custom order coming my way from some people I was talking to, and I have a shot at another place picking up some of my work. It's amazing the exposure that I have been getting from these events. The wheels are starting to turn to get things in motion; it's just a matter of keeping the forward momentum. It helps surrounding myself with great people as well; my partner D, my publicists, also known as My Parents, my self-hired business manager Dani, and the woman that tracked me down and convinced me to do shows that she is organizing. Thank you so much more than you realize...

On another note, the picture of the calla lily panel that I was bragging about a ouple of weeks ago is finally on here...quite happy with how it turned out, if I do say so myself :)

Ahhhhhhhhhh....batteries are charged :)

Wow...Friday night's open house was AWESOME; I got home at 4:00, Kylie got here about 4:10, and the first guest showed up at 4:30! Given that the sale was to start at 5:00, it was not a lot of time to get ready, so we were proud of ourselves for setting up the night before. By 5:30 we figure that there were 25-30 people in the house; it seemed like we had lots of room until we jammed that many people in here! There was about a half hour when we had no guests from 6:30-7:00, and then the second wave hit. The rest of the night was a steady flow, and it was great to see so many people out to support us! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make our night a success...

Having spent a day doing a lot of nothing yesterday, it's time for me to get back to work down in the studio. Yesterday was what I needed though; I slept in, had a low-key day of cleaning up from Friday, and then went out to a get-together last night. I can't really take too much time to laze around; I have two more big sales to get through, plus I have 2 orders to send out very soon. I also got asked to design some pieces with an East Indian flair for a new sari store that is opening, so I need to get to work on that. Crazy, crazy, crazy...

Today's the day...ready or not!

Well, it is officially the day for the open house whether I like it or not. Last night was spent cleaning the house, rearranging the living room and dining room, watching Kylie get her clothing and stuff arranged, getting my stuff set up and swearing at the glue that I use to mount the hangers on my pendants. I spent Thursday evening working on 38 pendants, and got a whole 8 out of the batch because of the glue not holding; it either holds like crazy, or pops off right away. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! This is not the time that I needed that to be happening! Oh well...complaining won't make any difference; I tried another glue that I had, so we'll see how things are when I get home tonight.

We'll have to see how things go tonight; I think it's going to be an okay night, but time will tell...

The Countdown...

Tonight is my second last night to get things ready for a private show and sale on Friday. Despite my feeling anxious yesterday about having enough stock, I am actually feeling pretty good about everything today. Must have been a bad day...

Anyway, I'm really happy with the last 24 hours; all the pendants turned out except for one (which I wasn't sure about to start with), and the calla lily looks amazing. I want to get it framed up before I put a picture of it on here, but I might just have to go ahead and show an unfinished shot of it...I am really really happy with how it looks. I tried mixing a couple different techniques and am quite pleased to say that they worked like a charm. Must make notes; where's that pen now...

Tonight I am actually not doing that much work; I am cutting one last bowl like the blue one, only in red this time, and then have gluing to do (putting the "hangers" on the pendants). After that, it's time to clean this house! It's amazing the mess you can make when you aren't home that much...ugh...