Bunny Time

I am getting my rabbits in a row for the Spring Festival in Southport next weekend, April 5-6.

Valentine's Day may be over, but the hearts keep coming.

The hearts are so much fun that I just keep making them. Here are a few of the batch I cooked up the past week. I don't mind having extra inventory since they were popular last year at the Cherry Blossom Festival- now just a month away.

The weather has for the most part been fueling my floral obsession with daffodils blooming in January for the first time in my memory. Mother Nature threw us a curve ball on Monday with a dusting of snow. The yard pictures were both taken last week. The first on Saturday, the second on Monday.

I have also been obsessed with making kumihimo necklaces and bracelets and have started using a bit of borosilicate glass because it makes nice organic focals for the kumi.

AND, as if I didn't have enough to do, I took an earring class Saturday with beading wizard Kathy King and learned to make her special style of "beaded bead" earrings. I think they will be a spectacular accessory for my kumi necklaces. Kathy may have created a monster.

If it's hearts all the time, it must be near Valentines!

It seems so predictable, but I am always surprised when I become obsessed with making floral hearts this time of year. Here are a few of my new offerings.

Sculptural Fun

It is amazing how much other people influence my work. I never was that interested in sculptural beads, but after classes with Leah Fairbanks and Loren Stump in the past six months I can hardly make anything smooth. Here is some of the fun I have been having at the torch this week. It is hard to tear myself away to take pictures.

Valentine's Day is Coming

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday to make beads. Here are some of my first offerings. I cannot wait to make a few more during this "heat wave" (60 dgrees!) and then start turning them into jewelry.

$2,000 Paperweight

My mother has been bugging me to show her what I learned in Loren Stump's course in Corning last week. Loren was overwhelming and awesome, but I was simply treading water the whole time. I was "exposed" to a variety of techniques which I hope to incorporate into my own toddler pieces if my studio ever warms up.

Usually I bring home lots of products for show and tell, but this time I only had a few unfinished and broken objects which even left my long-suffering husband perplexed. Fortunately, there was still one thing which I had to leave behind in the kiln to cool while I returned to Hillsborough- the paperweight! It arrived in the mail on Thursday and, although imperfect, looks a heck of a lot better than anything else I have.

I should call this a collaborative effort between Loren and me since he rescued me during construction more times than I care to remember. While I was making it, I swore I would never attempt another paperweight, but if anyone has the $2K I paid to be able to make this one, I will gladly surrender custody and take another course.

The paperweight measures around 2inches in diameter.

Happy Halloween!

In honor of my favorite holiday I am posting a picture from The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch in Palo Alto, CA. The annual event benefits the Bay Area Glass Institute and the Palo Alto Art Center. What could be better than glass AND pumpkins! My favorite material and my favorite inanimate object.

In addition, I just opened two new online stores for the holidays.


www.artfire.com/users/GildedLilyGlass



http://www.lilyglass.bigcartel.com/



Stroll in and take a look.

Lynn