Motivation Monday - Pantone

With Spring around the corner I think I'll see what I can do with this year's Pantone Spring palette.  It could be very interesting to see what comes of this in bead form!

I found this in my bead inspiration file today too.  Funny that it looks like it has all the colors!  Wonder if I can do this in a bead?

And the motivational music for the day has to be Zac Brown ~ much like every other day, I'm ready to go to "Where the boat leaves from"!

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What's Up Wednesday - CONTEST!

It's time for a contest!! 

My 400th Etsy sale will be coming up soon and I want to share the love!  The prize will be a set of chunky squares like this:

in your choice of color. All you have to do is guess what date I'll reach 400 sales.  

I'm pretty sure that short of winning the lottery, free beads are the best contest prizes!

So here's the rules:  "Like" my facebook page HERE then post your guess (i.e. Feb 28th) ~ that's it! (If you already like me just guess) :-)  If you want more chances to win ask your friends to do it too (then knock them down and take their beads if they win!)  lol!  If multiple people guess the correct date, the winner will be selected by a random drawing.

I only need 37 more sales, so what are you waiting for?  GO GUESS!!

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!!

Motivation Monday - Colors

Things that inspire me, color combinations I love, the music that rocks my studio and 

anything else that makes me want to jump up and make a bead!

I seem to have been inspired simply by color lately.  It happens occasionally, a whole day where only 2 or 4 colors come out of the kiln.  This week I had a coral day, and a blue and green day.  It's a good exercise to just see how many ways you can use a few colors.  Today I really think I want to focus on pink and black. I found this pic on pinterest and while I don't think I have a pink that vibrant, I'm still inspired by the photo.

Really, if any glass company produced this color I would buy a hundred pounds of it! In the mean time, I'll work with what I have (and see what I can come make with layering).

On the other hand, I purchased a photo from Natural Illumination the other day that I find really inspirational, so maybe I'll go with that; the ocean always, always inspires me and the quote is awesome!! (p.s. great customer service and stunning photo!)

and the music for the week is Styx

Friends of mine are opening for them at a local show, so of course I had to get tickets!  Congratulations to Lynus and Lucy!

Thanks for checking in ~ and stay motivated!

What's Up Wednesday

The view from my studio window

The view from inside the studio

Guess where I'll be all day!

Stay warm my friends!