Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Back to work






Belize was truly incredible!  We had so much fun!  The ruins were fascinating, the weather was perfect, the snorkeling was fantastic, the people were great and the company was fabulous!  We celebrated our 14th anniversary while we were there, and 26 days of spending every single minute together was the perfect way to do it!  I am truly fortuntate to be spending my life with my best friend.




So, now that I'm home, decompressed from the trip and back into the normal rhythm of my life ~ it's time to get back to work!  Unfortunately, before I left I was facing a pretty serious dry spell.  I was totally uninspired and having a hard time even making myself turn on the torch.  I think it's finally over ~ thank goodness, because I really do love what I do!  I'm back to torching, I've made a ton of jewelry, participated in one fair and signed up for several more.  Now it will be all about continuing to push myself, getting my Etsy shop restocked and getting back into the swing of things!

Here is a pic of some of the new pieces I made last night:


Now that I'm ready to get back to it ~ watch out world!  I'll be listing regularly and torching every day!  Thanks for sticking with me through this dry spell, I'm truly excited for what the future will bring!


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Vacation

During the month of May my husband and I will be backpacking across Belize ~ I'm so excited I can hardly breathe!  Preparing to be away to for so long is a lot of work ~  I'm going back and forth between worrying and jumping up and down!  I think almost everything on my "before I can leave" to do list is done.  Hmmm.....  what am I forgetting?  (Jump, Jump, Jump!)  Hmmm... What am I forgetting?  (Jump, Jump, JUMP!) 

I know I'll come back renewed, rejuvinated, relaxed and ready to make fantastic new beads ~ 

Bon Voyage!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sshhh....

I'm working on some new ideas for expanding my business. Stay tuned :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Mobile blogging!


A few days ago my old mp3 player died. I looked at that as an opportunity to buy an iPod touch! I've wanted one forever, and since I can't work without music, I figure it's a business expense :) Now that I can blog and check in to facebook mobily, I'm sure it is! As a bonus, I officially have no excuse not to update more frequently ~ one more resolution down!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Local Woman Turns Christmas Gift Into Glass Bead Business

A photographer from my local paper contacted me last Monday and told me he had taken pictures of my jewelry at the local gallery and would love to see the process of making glass beads.  He came over that afternoon and took dozens of pictures and then called a reporter to come intrview me too.  The little article turned out to be a full page! 

Here's a quick excerpt ~ You can read the whole article at wenatcheeworld.com


"As the glass glows from the heat, Jessica Jones uses a knife to help form what will be a tree on a bead she’s making. She heats the glass up to more than 1,000 degrees to melt and form it. The owner of Veda’s Beads, she’s been making beads for sale professionally for two years in what started as a hobby about 10 years ago"


The photographs were taken by Mike Bonnicksen, the article written by Rick Steigmeyer.  Thank you gentlemen!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last Lesson of 2009

Happy New Year!!  I truly hope that 2010 will be everything you want it to be!  I wanted to share a couple new beads ~ we've been so busy with company I've barely managed to squeeze in any torch time, but I'm pretty pleased with what did show up in my kiln.  Glass teaches me something new everytime I sit down at the torch ~ sometimes with fantastic results!



I'm finally getting the silver glass to look like something other than mud. What I find incredibly fascinating is that both of these beads were made with the same silvered ivory base, the same black and the same silver glass ~ but look how wonderfully different they are!  This is truly a lesson in letting the glass do what it wants to do instead of forcing it to do what I want it to.  I'm looking forward to learning even more in the coming year as every torch session is a new lesson for me.  Bring on 2010 and let's make it our best year ever!

(P.S.  Happy 40th Birthday to my incredible, fantabulous, super sexy, wonderful husband ~ thank you for being my best friend and my hero! :D )

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Studio Clean Up!

I've been putting off the overwhelming task of cleaning my studio for months, but I finally buckled down and spent 2 days cleaning, organizing, and getting rid of all the stuff that doesn't belong in there.  Which probably means I was avoiding doing something that I wanted to do even less! :D  Well, it was approaching dangerous ~ I had a pile of glass that I kept putting the latest hot rod down on, and it was getting to the point that the hot rod would slip down the pile and I would try to catch it.

Years ago, we remodeled our house (this room was the original living room) and this became an office/laundry room.  The I started lampworking and set up in a playhouse in the yard that the kids had outgrown. When we remodeled again and added an addition with a new laundry room, my superfantabulous husband added cupboards, counterspace, ventilation and a sink to this room and moved me inside. 


This room seriously has not been this clean since the day I moved in ~  I guess now I'll either be way more productive or afraid to go in there and make a mess! 









Have a productive day!