New Year Project

     This is the project I have decided to work on to ring in the new year. These will be pendants, probably hung on colored ribbon. The ones that say 'Cheap Crystal Ball' will have small clear marbles soldered onto them.
     I think that how we begin each new year is a good indicator of how we will spend it, so I have decided NOT to begin it by wondering what I will do with it, but by making art. Since my goal for 2012 is to be more productive, and to consistently meet my short-term goals in order to achieve my long-term ones, it makes sense to me that I start with a fae project that I plan to sell at the most amazing venue in the world...FaerieWorlds. There is nothing more fun as a vendor than to spend 3 days in beautiful Oregon,  be surrounded by thousands of happy, festive people, eat lots of lovely (mostly organic) faire food, and listen to live music by bands from around the world. Oh yeah, and selling stuff...lots of stuff!
     I hope to be at many smaller events throughout the year as well, and to have a profitable year overall, but FaerieWorlds is my biggest 'fun for me' goal.  So starting 2012 with a magickal project makes sense, at least to my skewed sense of reality! May you all have as productive and profitable year as I plan to have!

Pain, Loss, and Hope...

 M'Lady - rescued 5 July 01 (about 5 years old) - passed 29 Dec. 11

RIP M'Lady.

You are leaving a giant, dog-shaped hole in my heart, but only because I love you so much. You have been the best friend and most treasured family to us, and we are happy that you are now at peace. Run free, my love...

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When I first started my blog, I decided to keep it light and fun...pictures of pretty things and places, descriptions and "how-to's" from the studio, and a bit of humor. Like most everyone, the New Year makes me re-evaluate my accomplishments in the old year, and my goals for the new one. 2011 wasn't a total success for me. There were a lot of goals that I let slip away, a lot of personal deadlines I just basically blew off, and a lot of time spent wasted, rather than being industrious and actively participating in my own life. Not a huge success.

...and I am ending the year with pain and loss.

I think that making the new year better than the last will take a conscious effort. It will involve being more responsible for my actions, making no excuses, wasting no time, and setting and meeting goals that move my life and my business forward.

...and I will forever be inspired by the spirit of my beautiful four-legged girl, and all the hours she spent by my side, both in the studio, and out.

Better day...

Well, so far, I'm liking this lid a whole lot better! Amazing what can happen when I take my time, and quit while I'm ahead! ...note to self...narrow tape, silver-backed...

Lessons...

Some days you're the windshield...some days you're the bug...
I always say, 'every mistake is a learning experience'. You know those days when you're just fated to learn a lot??? Yeah...
     Lesson 1: Don't take the short-cut...you'll just end up lost and have to back-track and go the long way around after all...
     Lesson 2: Don't try to finish the project when you're tired...your muse is tired too, and is going to be pissed off if you keep her up...

I  know that when I am working with a glass pattern, where pieces are going to be cut to fit together, (see picture) I am supposed to cut each piece individually...

     Drawing the pattern (as it will look when finished) onto the glass and cutting the pieces out that way is always a bad idea...
But what the heck...I can cut really straight, what can go wrong? I'll just take the short-cut! Uh huh...Well, there's always that one tiny bump on the corner of one piece that needs to be ground off. Then one little edge of another piece is a teeny bit too sharp and will probably cut the copper tape when I wrap it, so I'll just bump it against the grinder once...no problem, right? Well now, the other 2 pieces need to adjusted just a smidge to re-align the edges with the first two... see where I'm going with this???
     Well, the copper tape and solder do hide some minor differences, so it's all good, right? On to the taping...

Remember the 3/8" v 1/4" copper tape controversy? Well, since the top is a free-standing flat piece which will get handled a lot, I want it to be sturdy. I like the way the wider tape looks when soldered on the edges of the box, and the tiny bit of extra width it provides will allow for more metal (solder) and provide stability...Yeah...this is where the tired muse got a little pissy and neglected to mention to my tired brain that, while it looks good on a single edge, butting two edges together is going to double the width, and look ridiculously clumpy! She's got a mean streak, that girl... I like the edges on this lid, but the internal lines look like stove pipes! Five lovely pieces of glass, all hooked together by the art studio version of heavy metal! And did Miss Muse stop there at her spitefulness? Oh nooooo....
    

Let me explain about the tape used for stained glass... Solder only sticks to metal, so in order to put solder around the edges of glass, you have to put metal on them. You can either encase them in pre-made strips of lead or zinc, called came, or you can wrap them with copper tape (Tiffany method).  There are different kinds of copper tape...copper-backed, (no other color on the adhesive side), black-backed, (coated with tarry black glue), and silver backed, which looks nice with clear glass, where you will be seeing a little of the back side of the tape through the project. Now...do you think Miss Pissy Muse had the courtesy to say "Hey, wait a minute. You should probably switch over to the pretty silver tape to put that beveled clear piece in"? Nooooo... So let me sum this all up...
     Now I have a lid which is made of mismatched pieces, held together by a thick, clunky road map of (now wasted!) solder, with a beautiful center princess of a gem rudely showing off her dirty underwear!
     ...sigh...

Those who live in glass boxes...

     Well hello, Blog, I remember you! Today I am going to tell you about making glass boxes. You can pass along the info to any humans who may happen along...

     I have a lot of pretty glass that I like to turn into things...boxes, jewelry, wind chimes...

This is some of the glass I use for stained glass projects. I think I was a magpie in my last life, because I can never pass up anything colorful and shiny! Sometimes I buy glass with  a specific project in mind, but more often, I get it just because it sparkled and the color sang to me! Small window panes, card holders, sun catchers, and boxes of every shape and size have been known to spring from this shelf...

Now this stuff...this is cool! It's for fusing. I cut it up, break it, grind it, whatever, and stack/pile it and cook it in my little kiln. I have a small Paragon kiln, with my eye on a bigger, floor model when I become rich and famous! I make mostly jewelry with this, but picture frames, small dishes, and other melted things have been known to appear...

Lately, my muse has me working on boxes. I like to make them, people have been asking for them...it all works out! Pink ones, purple ones, clear ones, square ones, long ones, boxes to hold trinkets, tarot cards, and baby teeth...The possibilities are endless!

This pretty lavender glass is for the sides of a tarot card box. I have decided that I don't like the look of corners that have heavy solder on them, so I am beveling my short edges at 45 degree angles to make the corners tighter. That does give me a slightly wider edge to wrap with the copper tape, though, so I am trying the 3/8" instead of the 1/4". So far, the 1/4" is perfect on the long sides, but short on the bevels, and the 3/8" is perfect on the bevels, but too wide on the long sides...trimming may be in order!

Here are the sides of 3 boxes taped and ready to solder together. The pink is has the 1/4" copper, and the lavender has the 3/8". The difference is noticeable.

Sides are together, all nice and square...time to cut some bottoms. I have learned not to cut the bottoms until I have the sides together...no matter how careful I am, if I just cut to pre-measured sizes, something always changes during construction. I have added a lot of glass to the scrap box that way! Now I put the sides together, then use them for a template...it's working much better!

Got the bottom glass cut, time to smooth the edges and make it fit. I love the sound of grinding glass in the morning!

Bottoms for the 3 boxes ground, taped, and ready to solder. I tin everything first (apply a thin coat of solder), then I solder them into the bottom of the side assemblies.