Motivation Monday - The Ocean

Dusty has to go out of town for work and he invited me to go with him.  *smiles!*  Because spending time with him and being near the ocean are two of my favorite things, of course I said yes!!  It really doesn't matter that it's a 4 hour drive and a ferry ride, or that the water will be freezing cold, it's the ocean!

I'm sure this picture was taken in the middle of summer and it won't look like this while I'm there, but it is beautiful ~ and it is salt water!!

And we'll need some driving music!

Happy Monday ~ Stay Motivated!

What? It's Tuesday? Where Did Motivation Monday Go?

So yesterday I completely forgot it was Monday.  But the good news is I was extremely motivated!  I think I had double the number of beads in the kiln this morning than any typical day in a long time.  I'm up really early this morning, so I'm going to make this post quick and get straight to work.  Watch for lots of new Etsy listings today!

For some reason I've been thinking about birds lately.  I have no idea why since I typically steer clear of sculptural work.  But I'm going to see what I can do with these little guys as inspiration:

and I think it's a Traveling Wilburys kind of day:

Happy Monday (Tuesday)  Thanks for stopping by and stay motivated!

What's Up Wednesday - Murrini

upcoming events, news, and interesting tidbits

The good, the bad and the ugly.  Sometimes you have to share them all!  I tried making murrini for the first time the other day.  I have a new appreciation for those that make these little guys! I've always been impressed with skill required to produce those tiny works of art.  I tried the simplest one, and this is what happened:

Teeny, tiny little things!  And using the glass nippers had these things flinging all over my studio!  I was down on my knees under the table trying to find them and wound up with 8. So I tried incorporating them in a bead.  This has never been my strong suite, which is actually what made me want to make these in the first place.  I figured if I practice the application with murrini I made, I wouldn't be wasting the fancy ones I've purchased!

This one turned out ok ~ if a little bland:

Now for the real fun.  (fun?)  Trying to encase the little guys.  

Oh look ~ little red bats!  So not what I was going for! 

And so I head back to the torch for more practice.

Have an absolutely fabulous Wednesday!!