I was referring someone to my blog the other day and I realized I hadn't posted anything in a very long time.  It's hard trying to keep up with all the social networking that helps sell your artwork.  When you think about it, I've got my two sites  addicted2glassfusion.etsy.com and addicted2glassfusion.artfire.com and then you have twitter, pinterest, facebook, blog, and everything else out there.  It's really hard to figure out what's the best source to use.  So, I just plug away and I try to keep my etsy and artfire sites going.

Recently though, artfire did some changes.  It is very difficult to see what's going on.  The images online are huge.  You have to click in the upper left hand corner on "catalog" to see the categories.  The typical buyer would not know this.  The shop looks like it went through a hurricane.  It looks like after the hurricane had moved on, the items are stuck where they landed.  I'm not sure how it looks on my smartphone yet.  I am being told the updates done 10/1 are to make viewing on your phone better.  I sure hope so.  If you are a buyer, I will ask you to bear with my site and for the time being, shop on my etsy shop until things get sorted out on artfire.  I'm not sure I'll keep my artfire site going because it's not really cost effective for me to do so at the present time.  If you go to that site and it's closed, please check my etsy site which is in order and categorized and easy to sort through.

Now for the updates of what's going on.  I've gotten busy selling my supplies.  In fact, I'm so busy, I haven't been able to focus on what I love; making new glass items.  I'm contemplating when a few of my items sell out, not purchase any new ones to replace them. I know I'll continue selling my necklace wires and other necklace findings.  I will keep my square mirrors because I can use those and of course my new fabulous square wine stoppers.  As for all the other items, it just takes a lot of time.  I really want to do what I love so I'm torn at the moment.

 Necklace wires come in a variety of colors, lengths and screw clasp or magnetic clasp. I love the finished look they give my pendants.

Here's a finished pendant using a necklace wire to compliment the colors in the pendant.

This is my favorite purchase recently to use with my glass.  It is perfectly square so it is easy to work with, with my glass.

This is how awesome these bottle stoppers look to decorate a shelf in your bathroom or on a decorative shelf in some homes.  This is a great way to store bath salts in different scents so you can use what you're in the mood for.  I got these bottles at Hobby Lobby and I'm going to take epsom salt and add essential oils to them.  With this display I will be able to use three different scents so I can use whatever I'm in the mood for.  I'm also thing I might do one as a scented sugar scrub.

This is how great the finished wine stopper looks up close.  It is shown in the bottles above and it can be used for wine or any decorative bottle.

Here is the square mirror that is perfect for many craft uses.  I love it because it's easy to use with my glass.

This is a finished mirror with 3mm of glass.  I love this mirror because you can use it for fully fused glass or 1 sheet of glass.  The sides are perfectly square and I round the corners of my glass just slightly to have a smooth finish.

A little about what I've been making and my cremation items.  Over the last year I had been doing many custom orders for cremation items.  Here are some examples of what I have been making.

SOMETHING BLUE
Something Blue Cremation Ring.  This beautiful blue piece was made so the bride could walk down the aisle with her father.

Blue ring with an adjustable ring finding so it can be adjusted.

Hair clip with ashes for the bride to be.  Best part, it can be worn after the wedding too.

This is the same piece as above before it was attached to the ring base.

I love the idea of the "something blue" piece I made, that I decided to offer many colors.  I made a color bar of the available colors so my customers can choose their own colors.  The finished color with the ashes is slightly different than the color bar because I cap the cremation piece with clear glass, whereas the color bar is shown uncapped.

Here is a pink cremation piece I made for one of my customers.  I cannot remember at this time if this was #5 or #7, but I love how the heart sits right in it.  The blue one above bubbles up just slightly.  This is the fun part about my cremation items, it's always a surprise how it'll turn out.  No two pieces will be the same; therefore my customers get unique items.


CREMATION SUN CATCHERS
Last year, my grandfather passed away.  I struggled to make some amazing wall hangings for my family because it was now personal on a different level.  I love how each one came out differently.  The ashes form the walkway through the flowers at the bottom of the piece.  The bubbles are bigger than I like them to be, but these are cremation items made with ashes, not glass, so they tend to be a little different each time.

MY NEWEST PIECES - PENDANTS MADE WITH ASHES
So, now for my favorite items in this posting.  I entered a fused glass competition a few days ago and felt that since my most unique items are my cremation items I should make one for the competition.  Here is what I came up with.  I am so happy with them and I cannot tell you how amazing they are.

This beautiful orange sunset pendant is made with my grandfather's ashes and they form the walkway through the rocks at the bottom of the pendant.  This is the pendant I entered into the contest.  It was the most beautiful.  It represents the freedom my grandfather now has to not feel lonely anymore without my grandmother.  She passed away several years before him.  The birds represent my grandparents in a beautiful place, together again.  This style of pendant is for sale for custom orders on my etsy site.  It will be for sale on my artfire site in the near future.

 This amazing blue and cream pendant is also made with my grandfather's ashes.  It reminds my of my summers as a teenager in Oregon.  I stayed a few summers with my grandparents.  Where they lived, there was the deep woods behind their house.  My brother's, sister and I would play in the woods because it was like it's own world.  When you got to the end of the woods, you would come out onto the sand dunes.  In the distance past the sand dunes, was the beautiful ocean.  This brings me back to my childhood and brings a smile to my face.  This style of pendant is for sale for custom orders on my etsy site.  It will be for sale on my artfire site in the near future.

This is my favorite non cremation item I just made.  I wasn't sure how the end piece would turn out since the green was so dark.  It ended up being one of my favorite non cremation pieces.  This one is going to one of my most amazing friends to brighten her day.

Out of all the pendants I made, this is the only one I will actually be selling.  All of the other pieces are for family and friends.  This is a true beauty with all the sweeping colors in the background.  A friend said the colored parts remind them of the city lights in the distance.  

I almost kept this one for myself.  It's going to be given to a special friend of mine who always is there for me.

I cannot tell you how hard I worked on these pendants to come up with the right colors and it's amazing that most of these took 5-7 firings in the kiln.  They're not quickly made, but they are absolutely spectacular.  I will be making some more and offering them for sale on my website.  In fact I have more pieces in the kiln now.

My 2012 reflection my 2013 goals

I'm not very good with social media and I'm a little challenged when it comes to all the different types of technology that are useful to crafters like myself.  One of my new favorites, is Pinterest.  I get a few more "recover webpage" error messages than I'd like when I'm on the computer, so I use my phone mostly to view and post on my board.  I have less chance of being kicked out from my phone.  Not sure why that is.  It's a little frustrating, but I'm sure Pinterest will fix it at some point.  I'm sure most of you use it already, but I have to give a shout out and say thank you to Pinterest for coming up with the most useful tool I can use.  It's easy and I can put everything together in one place.  My favorite category is, OF COURSE, fused glass.  I have been able to look at other people's art and save it to my board for inspiration.  There are so many talented people out there.  Of course I'm posting some of my work and directing people back here to my blog, so it's a win, win in my book. http://pinterest.com/addicted2glass/ is my link for my pinterest if you are interested in taking a peak at my likes.  Of course the name is a little different because it took my login addicted2glass from my Twitter name and Twitter only allows a certain number of characters so it doesn't exactly match my business name Addicted2glassfusion.  Like I said before, I'm a little challenged, but I'm hoping to change the name eventually if it's possible to be my full business name.

In this blog, I wanted to reflect on 2012 a little and what my plans are for 2013

2012 was a great year for me in getting my fusing skills more tuned in.  I am getting more organized with my firing notes and trying to keep pretty good logs of what works and what doesn't.  I was disappointed with how my craft shows did and the amount of time I spent making things, setting up for craft shows, taking stuff down and all the in-between work.  The economy here in Reno is not what it's been in the past. At this point I am going to skip most, maybe all craft shows in 2013.  I did fairly well at 1 of the events and there was heavy traffic at another one.  I will decide at a later time if I want to do one or both of these again.  As it was this summer/fall, I did 4 craft shows this year and it did not pay off.  Unfortunately, the McQueen craft show was a bust for me.  I purchased 2 tables in a prime location and the traffic was not there.  McQueen, unfortunately did not have the amount of people that have been there in the past.  I am going to visit there next year as a customer and see if next year is any better.   I did visit a few other events this year and saw that there was traffic, but people weren't buying a lot.  So, for the upcoming year, I am going to focus on my online websites artfire and etsy and have a little more fun making some items for my home.  In the past I've focused so much on making stuff for other people, so now I want to have some fun and play with some ideas and start adding more art into my own home.

A few of my favorite items I recently made are shown below.  This was the first time I used glass frit and made bowls with them.  They are truely awesome.  I made a variety of colors and I think I may put them in my kitchen to use.  I also used glass frit to make my first wall pockets which are very pretty.  I was a little nervous to make them and everyone loves them.  I haven't sold any online, but I'd like to get some bigger pieces made to offer to my customers.



Fused glass platter and matching bowl.  The platter is really large.  It took so many firing steps.  First I had to fuse the bottom part into bricks, then I used my saw to cut them into this design.  My next step was to lay the platter out and fuse it.  The final step was to slump it into a mold to get the shape.  It is truely amazing and a work of art.  Looking back on it, I would say, I spent a good 17 hours making this platter, maybe more.  What a beauty it is in person.  I'm so in love with it, I'm not sure I can part with it.  I would love to sell it, hmm, we'll see.  Maybe you'll see it on my etsy or artfire site. 

The bowl at the top matches so perfectly too.  I used the same colored glass so that I could have a matching set.  The bowl turned out so fun, that I think I might make a few sets and sell them in groups.


I made two of these wall pockets.  One had a deep chocolate brown glass around the edge and this one was made with the blue color.  As you can see this matches the bowl and platter perfectly.  This was given as a gift to my friend for Christmas and it matches her new house colors.  The other one was sold to one of my favorite customers that visited me at the McQueen craft show.

Here are the two links to my Pinterest site if you want to see some other artist's work as well as a few more of my items.
http://pinterest.com/pin/211174954543892/
http://pinterest.com/pin/211174954543883/

My next exciting pieces were my two beautiful potmelts.  A potmelt is where you put a bunch of glass in a bowl, raise it above the board below and melt the glass at higher temperatures than most other glass until they become liquid and basically pour out of the bowl onto the board below.  I have to say, they turned out so amazing I am definitely going to try them again.  I had a few problems setting them up, but once I really thought about what I was doing, I went for it.  Here's the link to my Pinterest site with these two bowls. http://pinterest.com/pin/211174954543870/. 



The one on the right was supposed to be much more green than it turned out, but that didn't matter, it is beautiful.  The one on the left was made with a lot of fuschia and purple glass, but it turned out more blue than I thought.  What I learned from this technique, is to have fun.  It'll be a surprise so just go with it.  I can't wait to make a few more.

I just purchased some new colored nail files. They are perfect for my fused glass. I had a few mosaic pieces that were the perfect size, so I attached them and they are so striking. I already have 3 people in mind for them, so I will be working on more in the near future to sell on my etsy site. http://pinterest.com/pin/211174954554874/

Looking forward at 2013, I'll take a step back and re-evaluate my etsy and artfire shops.  Some of my pictures could be a little better.  I have taken some photography classes and I've been trying out my new methods so my pictures have improved quite a bit.  Another goal I want to achieve it my packaging. I'd like to give another shout out to Pinterest. I have found and posted so many ideas about packaging to my Pinterest board, I can't wait to start playing with some new ideas.  I ordered some new gift bags and boxes online. I received my new Paw Print bags that I can't wait to start using with my local vet customers when I finish their pet memorial pendants.  The bags are white with big black paw prints and I will put black paper inside to decorate it further. They are going to be super cute. I will post a picture when I have a little more time. I also ordered some colored boxes (turquoise with brown and dark brown with light brown. They are the perfect size for 1 pendant.  I will post some pictures when I have time to play with the packaging.

Two items I'd like to try to make are some large flowers for my wall and boiled glass.  When I have some new items to show you, you'll be the first to know.  Just keep checking back to see what's new.  I think you can also be added to see when I post something new.

I hope if you're another fuser, my information is useful or gives you inspiration. 

Fused Glass Scenery Pendants and Wall Hanging

I wanted to show some of my favorite scenery pendants and a wall hanging.  Some have already sold and some are still for sale on my etsy site.

This darling cat wall hanging is so cute. It's for the ultimate cat lady in your life; even if the cat lady is you.

This fused glass pendant is so absolutely beautiful how the background sunset has the most beautiful colors sweeping across the sky.

This mom and baby elephant pendant is amazing in person.

Need I say more? 

This baby elephant hanging onto the moms tail is my favorite part of this pendant.

Even though summer is coming to an end, this pendant gives me a smile when I think of the warm days at the beach and the sand between my toes.

This one is one of my all time favorites.  It is the perfect pendant.

This one was hand painted to get the sky effect.  I love how it turned out.

Another one of my hand painted pendants and I love the sky in this one.  It's a great one for all the animal lovers out there.  The dog chasing the cat up the tree.

This one was tough to get a great picture because of all the colors in it reflecting the light.  It is gorgeous!

Fused Glass Wall Hanging

This is the finished wall hanging I made for friend of mine.  I think it's the perfect gift.  It turned out amazing and my friend loved it.  I love creating these because when they all come together with the chain and beads, they look absolutely perfect. 

Art Paws for Artown craft show my new business card holders

I'm getting ready for a local craft show in July 15th called Art Paws.  It's being done in conjunction with Artown at McKinley school in Reno.  I went last year, but not as a vendor.  I was amazed to see about 100 dogs; maybe more.  It was a perfect event.  I felt this is the perfect opportunity to showcase my pet remembrance jewelry, picture frames and sun catchers.  I was so excited to find they still had room for me to have a booth, so now I'm busy working on getting a few new pet related items done. 

I just finished some new business card holders and they are absolutely perfect. These are excellent quality and you can fit several of your business cards into the cases. They are similar to my keychains which will also be at the craft show.  Below are some pictures of some of my items you'll see at my booth.  You'll also find some pet related rings and hopefully some earrings if I can get them finished in time.  My scenery pendants will also be available.  I posted a picture in my last blog to give you an example of what they look like.

Business Card Holders

Bowls

Keychains

If you can make it, please stop by and say hello.  If you need an address, please let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Scenery pendants

Here are my new scenery pendants.  I took the picture with my phone which turned out pretty good.  All I need to do now is attach a bail to each one and they'll be ready to list on my website.  I've sold three already which is very exciting.  I would love to try the kitty cat sitting on the porch as a pet remembrance pendant.  I think they would be darling if they worked. 

My grinder arrived just in time for Mother's Day and I was able to finish my fused glass wall hangings. I am absolutely happy with the final pieces.  Here they are.

In this piece I wanted to bring out the darker colors so I used darker and lighter beads.  I love how it brings it all together.  I also love the color of this chain.  It's almost a peach color.

This amazing picture is delicate and feminine which is perfect for the person it is made fore.  The wire is the same wire as in the picture above, but it is a totally different look, especially because of the light pink or peach colored beads at the bottom, which compliment the whole wall hanging.

 

In this wall hanging, I used a darker chain and I found the awesome focal wire bead and two small glass beads to bring it all together. 

This is why I love to work with glass.  I can make amazing memorable pieces of art for people to enjoy.  I love this new concept; rather than putting your photo in an album, you can now turn it into glass and hang it on your wall to enjoy every day. 

If you like these, check back in a few weeks to see how my other wall hangings turn out.

I'm very pleased with how my wall hangings ended up after firing them in the kiln.  The edges need some grinding and then a final firing in the kiln after that.  So far, I'm am so happy with how these turned out.  I had to send the top part of my grinder back to the company because the grinding pad is stuck onto the grinder.  I am hoping I get it back in time, but I'm not sure.  If not, they will have to be a little late which would be disappointing because of how much time I took to get them ready.

Here are some of my almost finished pieces that will all need grinding and firing one more time.

In the piece above the top picture is approximately 5x5" and each of the smaller pieces are about

1 1/2".  Each of the smaller pieces will be hung with chain.  This piece will be fairly large.  I don't think I would make it any bigger, but the smaller pieces are a little too small and some of the detail got a little lost.  It's still amazing and I can't wait to get it all completed.

In this piece, I wasn't sure how the mountains behind them would turn out, but I love it.  You can see all the detail and the dimensions of the different hills behind them.  I made the top piece 5x5" and the bottom piece approximately 3".  I think the larger 3" piece turned out better than the 1 1/2" pieces in the piece above. 

This one turned out great, but definitely needs some grinding on the larger piece.  In the bottom piece where the wire hoop is, I will hang a bead off the bottom to give it a little something extra.

I chose gold for this one because it brings out the feel of Autumn.  I love nature, and this one is an amazing piece.  I cannot wait until this one is finished and she sees it.  I didn't choose to put a hook on the bottom piece to keep it clean and simple.

In this wedding wall hanging, I was going to make the entire piece white and the champagne glasses in the second picture gold, but the outline of the champagne glasses was too hard to see.  The person in this piece loves antiques and is a very romantic person so the gold reminded me of her.  I felt that gold was more her than silver.  In this finished piece, I think gold was definitely the right choice.

This wall hanging is perfect in white because of the wedding.  It brings out the wedding theme of her white dress and keeps it bright and simple.  This one will be hung with silver wire and silver chain with a clear or white bead at the bottom. 

After I finish the wall hangings, I will certainly post them online.  Not all of them are intended to be given for Mother's Day so you'll see some online sooner than others.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my work.