Something to Think About

Etsy Treasury

In keeping with the post below, about keeping awareness up, I managed to grab an Etsy Treasury yesterday - two guesses what the focus was.

All of the wonderful Etsy Artists featured in this treasury are either donating a good chunk of each sale to one of the various relief organizations in Haiti - or they have listed specific items which are designated for 100% of the proceeds will go to Haiti.

Check it out if you get a chance - there are some stunning pieces.

Have a Heart for Haiti - Direct Link

Have a Heart for Haiti - New Hearts Going up on Etsy

Over time the media will start to focus their attention on other World events & slowly the awareness of what is happening in Haiti will dwindle. Yet there will still be so very much that needs doing in the long run.

I hope people don't start numbing to it too quickly & that the awareness & peoples efforts stay strong for a long time yet to come.

Three more Heats listed tonight in my Etsy store

Heart#9

Heart #10

Heart #11

Things That Make you Go 'Hmmmm'

Some glasses, that upon first impressions were pretty ordinary (read - not at all what I expected), sometimes can later grow on you.
The Double Helix Hematinone glasses come under this category.
There are some truly stunning colours in this set that I haven't seen in any other glass.

Some Things Bring a Smile

A few months back I had the privilidge of giving a couple of 'Introduction' type lessons to a student, Mandy.

I must confess that it was really a matter of her watching me for a few minutes after a bit of a pep talk, then me leaving her to discover glass for herself while staying close if she needed help.
Mandy has set herself up with a Hot Head torch & some tools....& of course the obligatory glass.

I showed some of her beads here a while back, & last week I got some more of Mandy's beads to batch anneal.

Boy was I impressed, this lady is a natural!

I'm going to miss seeing these when she gets her own kiln. It's heart warming to watch her progress, & of course wonderful to have someone to talk 'glass' with.

Mandy's Beads

Have a Heart for Haiti - Two More

Hearts #7 & #8 will be listed on Etsy by Saturday night.

Heart #7

Heart #8

Have a Heart for Haiti - Heart # 6

Heart #6 in Gaffer's Blue Chalcedony is listed on Etsy now

Heart #6

Have a Heart For Haiti - "The Action"

This morning I woke up to the sale of two hearts on top of a substantial Etsy order.

I have to say it felt better than Christmas - 100 times better.

Just knowing that I can do something that in some small way will help alleviate the suffering & loss, either now or in the future when people start to rebuild their lives is immensely humbling.

Two more hearts will be going up tonight. I'd like to try & keep a minimum of three listed on Etsy.
I need to make time to get some made & listed on my website.

Funds Raised to date: US$57.38

Heart #4

Heart #5

Have A Heart for Haiti - Bead Number Three is Listed

The third bead is up on Etsy, so I am meeting my target so far of one bead per day.
Of course it would be even better if they sold. I've upped the ante & decided to also contribute 20% of the profit of all sales through my Etsy store.

I spent some time on the phone to World Vision today, just checking out a couple of things. Being absolutely certain that any donations were definitely going to go to Haiti was top on my priority list. I was thrilled to be assured that they would & that World Vision would send out a receipt stating so for all donations made.

The nice young chap that I spoke to was telling me how their phones have rung non-stop since the earthquake hit the news & that, in New Zealand, private donations from individuals have reached $60,000.00 in the first 24 hours, & along with corporate donations they now stand at $215,000. for the World Visions Earthquake Relief.

I was also thrilled to hear that some of the money raised from the 40 Hour Famine that Gabriela took part in last year has gone towards helping the victims in Haiti, $150,000. of it to be precise. It's great to know that our young people have also been able to help with this tragedy.

Apparently World Vision staff in Haiti have also been able to start handing out supplies. Their first large shipment has safely landed, & more supplies are now arriving daily. They started distributing water, clothing & hygiene kits last Saturday.

There is still a very long way to go.

Have a Heart for Haiti - "The Plan"

Monday I spent checking out all of the charity organizations that will be active in Haiti. Not as easy as you may think. I wanted a Christian based charity, one that was global, one that had an established presence in Haiti &, of course, one that you could specifically tag donations to go to Haiti.

I chose World Vision as it was important to me to have an agency that already has a team in Haiti ready to act now. That is what the people there need, immediate help & support.
World Vision has had a presence in the region for 30 years & already have 800 staff there, 18.1 metric tonnes of supplies due, hopefully landed by now and more of their global emergency relief team are on the way.

My plan is to list at least one heart per day. Ultimately I would like to make (& hopefully sell) two hearts per day until at least the end of the first week in February.
100% (after the Etsy/Paypal fees) of the profit will go to World Vision. I'll make the donation to World Vision once a week. Postage will be the cost of the shipping with no charge for packaging etc.
I've tried to calculate the price of the beads so that World Vision will end up getting a minimum of US$15.00, after the fees, per bead sold.

I will show a running total of the beads sold, amount raised & donated so far in my Etsy Shop Announcement, my Website & here on my Blog.

Without further ado - Bead #2

Have a Heart For Haiti - "The Idea"

As Kiwi's, it is so very easy to distance ourselves from the Natural Disasters that happen around the world.
Down here in the down under of Down Under, it's as simple as not watching the evening news, or bypassing your homepage on a daily basis should it be one that shows news headlines. I will freely admit that I'm guilty of that, telling myself that there is so much negativity & that I'll start watching again when the news starts reports at least some positive content, instead of all doom & gloom.

But there comes a time when you can't ignore it. In recent years there have been a few too many of those times.... natural disasters of monumental proportions happening right after Christmas. When you have been sitting here bemoaning the lack of any real summer, or feeling sorry for yourself because you dont have a car to drive any more, or that the neighbours have absolutely no consideration for others because they think it's OK to have their sub woofer thudding it's irritating beat into your home all hours of the day & night, something such as the absolute devastation that the Haitian Earthquake has caused, can make you take a step back & look at what really is important.
I have to say it really puts things into perspective.

Quiet frankly times are tough....everywhere. When times are hard it becomes all to convenient to take the easy way out by saying to yourself "but what difference will the little I can afford to give, make". The voice in your head whispers back "but if everyone thought that way, all those little amounts would never get to be a big amount that CAN make a difference".

In short, a couple of days ago I was thinking of a response to an email I'd received from a friend, & I had an idea. I suspect that it had been quietly brewing for a while, but the school holidays have dulled my senses somewhat ;o)

I'd recently been looking at lampwork hearts on one of the glass forums, which offered a spectacular display with everyone getting into gear for Valentines Day.
I enjoy looking at all of the beautiful glass hearts & all of the different ways that the many talented lampworkers create them, but I have never really been called to make them. I'd even visited the "One World, One Heart" project trying to find the incentive & had thought about joining that & perhaps trying to make a couple of hearts to give away here on my blog, but decided that I wasn't really that fussed on making them at all. I'm not sure why, perhaps it is just because I didn't have a good enough reason ...until now.

Then on Saturday night it hit me, I could make hearts to sell in my Etsy store & donate all of the proceeds to a Charity organization that was active in providing emergency relief in Haiti.
Sunday's torch session was spent trying to figure out how to make presentable hearts & I managed three that will see the light of day!

Here is Heart #1 - no names for these listings, just numbers so that it makes it easy for everyone to keep track. It will be up on Etsy shortly, but watch for the next blog post for more information.

Christmas Day 2009

Another Christmas day over. A quiet one, spent with family.
Somehow it never seems quite complete when one of them is not here. Kieran, aka Baby Boy, is on deployment in Timor Leste. It was somewhat quieter without him.....

Being a good Mummy I took photo's of what I knew he'd miss the most...& it wasn't the gifts!!

Mandarin Mousse - a la Nana

Fresh fruit Salad - a la Mummy

Christmas Eve 2009

Gifts all purchased - check
Food Ready - check
Wine Purchased - check

I'd like to say that I was well prepared. The reality is that until earlier today I had done nothing - as in not. a. single. thing. purchased or organized. The only thing I knew was what I was getting Miss Gabriela & what food I needed to get for the day.
Strangely enough I wasn't in the least stressed or panicked about this, & didn't leave the house to start getting it all done until 2.00pm.
I figured that if it didn't come together, Christmas would come regardless.

After all of the decidedly naff Christmas carols being played in the malls, it was time to focus on some real Christmas music when I got home. I have always had "Do You Hear What I Hear" on my list of Christmas favourites, & was recently introduced to Third Day's version of it. This has to be my all time favourite version, & not just at Christmas.

Enjoy!

Always on my mind at this time of year

Paua Paradise

Paua Paradise

Firestorm

Firestorm

Kambala

Kambala - Capped & Cored Big Hole Bead

Sublime Illusion

Sublime Illusion

Good Memories of a Great Dad

My Darling Dad would have been 81 years old today. It's kind of hard to imagine, as just under three years ago when he died he didn't look or act like someone with only a year to go before turning 80.
I still miss him dreadfully, but every now & then something happens to remind me that there is a reason for all of this. We grow, although we don't see it as such at the time, & we become stronger people.
I have always missed the sound of Dad's voice, quiet, calm & practical in times of upheaval & stress, but the rest of the time there was always a laugh not far from the surface.

He adored all of his grandchildren, big & small, & I have great memories of how those same children loved their 'Papa' beyond measure. A couple of months ago it was fabulous to discover that Mum had a couple of short videos of Dad with the two youngest grandchildren, Milla & Zoe. I can't begin to describe how good it was to hear his voice again.

Gaffer's Chalcedony Glasses

I'm grateful. I find it impossible not to get colour from Chalcedony & I know that I am fortunate in that. It doesn't matter whether I use a high oxy flame, neutral flame or a reduction flame, the colour just seems to want to come.

When I compare these to my early results, which I might add I was pretty darned pleased with at the time, I can see that perseverance has paid off. I guess that it takes a glass like this to encourage one to really learn their torch & the way different glasses behave in different flame atmospheres.

A twistie bead made in G-1095 Blue Chalcedony

G-109 Chalcedony - Beautiful Autumn Colours.

The G-1095 Blue Chalcedony etched.

Chalcedony Rod

Isn't this scrumptious? To me these look like core samples of agate that have been polished - they are so beautiful!
I don't think that I am going to able to bring myself to break them up. What are they - two beautiful rods of G109 - Chalcedony. These are what they *gasp* smash up into frit, or pull smaller canes for decoration down from.
No way I can bring myself to smash these babies.

G-109 Chalcedony

Comparisons II

It's always interesting to see how a new glass stacks up against its peers.
Having noticed a lot of similarities in results & the way I achieved them when working Gaffers G-1095 I thought it would be interesting to see how they looked alongside each other.

On the left G-109 Chalcedony & on the right G-1095 Blue Chalcedony.

Comparisons I

Now who would have thought that after working so hard to get good colour & a high shine in a striking glass, that one would want to etch it?

I'm not sure what made me etch the first Chalcedony beads that got thrown into the tumbler, aside from the usual Deb thought of "I wonder what would happen if ...."
I am so pleased that I did.

How fortuitous that I just had these two sets sitting here ready to list the other day when I got a custom request for a set of each!

Chalcedony Etched & Unetched

Suprise.....

I promise that I won't swamp you with this glass (well, I shall try very hard not to anyway).
A couple more images of the Blue Chalcedony test beads. The best of them are on their way up to Gaffer Glass on Monday & I shall start working on what else I can do with this wondrous stuff.

My first set of spacers made with it came out of the kiln before work this morning & I am well pleased with them. In a spacer size bead the difference between the first of Gaffers 'Chalcedony' glasses, G-109 & this G-1095 is there, but more subtle than on a bigger bead.

I'll try to get decent photo's of them when I produce something else 'show worthy'.
Lets face it - I'd far rather be playing with the glass itself, than trying to take decent photos of the stuff ;o)

What I can tell you is that using both Chalcedony's together produces some wonderful results!

Close Up's of Blue Chalcedony

Once again my photo's dont do this glass the justice it deserves. It seems that to get the colours to display as they do in hand & give a fair online representation of them, the only way to take them is outside in natural light.

It seems that no matter what I have my camera set on & regardless of whether I use one daylight lamp, two of the darn things of all four - there is always the undesirable yellow cast that just isn't there in hand.

Chalcedony.... I adore you as a glass, but gee it's hard to capture your true beauty in photographs!

A New Day , A New Glass - Blue Chalcedony

For over 3 weeks now I have been sitting on my hands & trying to conceal my excitement about testing Gaffers new G-1095 - to be known as "Blue Chalcedony".

It all started with the arrival of a few different labelled rods for me to test to see what colours would bloom from them in the flame.
Gaffer, with their usual high standards are ever mindful of being able to produce a glass that they can replicate exactly from batch to batch. The five test batches were narrowed down to one that immediately outshone the rest, then tested against their master glass for compatibility before production of a full batch commenced.....


Meet G-1095 - Blue Chalcedony



Just to show what it looks like stacked up against it's 'big brother', & the forerunner in Gaffers "Chalcedony" glasses



In the middle row are some encased G-1095 beads and beads made using both G-109 as a base & G-1095 as decoration in various forms. Believe me they play very nicely together!!


You are going to love this wonderful glass - I already do!

I'll talk a bit about working it a little later :o)

Accentuate the Positive

Sometimes, in order to preserve a vision, you have to take a step back from negativity.
If you allow it to, it will eat undermine the determination you have to reach your goals.

It will start to colour everything you do & before you know it you will be saying to yourself 'what is the point' of this or that.

I don't see the world through Rose tinted glasses, I only have the standard colour sunnies, & a blue pair & an orange pair. They suit me just fine.

Times are tough for everyone, unemployment leapt to a 6% high here in June this year, the highest quarterly jump in 20 years!
I see the closed down businesses, sad empty establishments that have been in existence for as long as I can remember - yet I go to the Mall & see that the Telecom shop is full as always of people looking for new cell phones, the people are still in the store at Silver Moon (a NZ chain of jewelry stores & kiosks). There are still crowds in the fashion stores browsing & buying the new Spring fashions.
Those are the visions that I prefer to take away with me & perhaps later dwell on, they allow me to follow the path of my dreams.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Chalcedony.... again.

I rather like this bead. The colour is a little different to what I have been getting - then again it is mixed with a special ingredient.

Do You Remember The First Time?

I doubt Hercules does, he was to busy sleeping.....as usual!
It was the first time I have seen him get into a box, unlike Bizkit who gets into every empty box she see's.


Not to be outdone by Grumpy Cat sitting nicely in the Gaffer box - he strikes a somewhat more relaxed pose. What can I say - he's a cool dude!

You Know How It Is

Buying just one of something & later wishing you had bought two or more in that shape at the time, kicking yourself that you didn't because you weren't quite sure how 'that shape' would feel to wear.

There is a definite upside to being a lampworker. My practise run.....

The Aroma

There is something so incredibly heady about the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans.
As seen, & sampled, at Ris'tretto Cafe.
I'm sure that I go to get my daily 'real' coffee fix there as much for the delightful smell of fresh coffee as I walk through the door, as I do for the taste of the wonderful Fair Trade Coffee that Andrew roasts...not to mention the friendly ribbing that I get from the staff. 'Dangerous Deb' indeed!

I Could Be Somewhat Obsessed

Darn that silly game on FaceBook! (yes, I can hear you say "which one, there are many").

The only one that I check in daily on is "FarmVille" - I'm sorry to say that it had me hooked the minute I figured I could plan & build a garden of sorts.
Daily I rotate, harvest & replant crops & tend to my virtual animals...which I only have so that I can get more points faster & eventually purchase better crops. After that I will sell most of them. That's if I dont accidentally send another cow off to the slaughter house by clicking the delete button. Oops!
I do feel rather bad about that, of course I would feel worse if it had been an Alpaca, but FarmVille doesn't have Alapcas yet.

Sad, but true. I'm addicted!

Still it does satisfy the need to plan a garden. Far lower maintenance than a real garden too. Quite amazing how the soil always provides a bountiful crop with no need for fertilizer or bug, blight or pest control.

However when one see's a tractor over at the park & dashes to get her camera & take a photo (hey, do you know how often we see tractors in the city?) because it reminds her of the tractor in FarmVille - one has to sit back & take a long hard look at ones self ...doesn't one?

Right - off to plant my grapes, before bed ;o)

More, more, more

Every time I show a Chalcedony bead I think of the Andrea True Connection song "More, more, more". Showing my age there methinks!


Are you all getting sick of it yet? Chalcedony I mean! I almost wish that I was - but no such thing! I discover something different every time I work with it, & I just love every little thing I discover. This glass has taught me so much & allowed me such a vast amount of freedom that I feel as if I owe it big time.

The minimal investment in comparison to other silver glasses, has allowed me to relax without fear of wasting money if something doesn't work as anticipated. Heck - if I'm truthful this costs me less by weight, than getting a 1/4lb of one of the Vetrofond oddlots, or most of the CiM range.

I've relaxed a lot & been able to focus my attention on form, shaping, ends & all those little things that needed improving, due to working with this glass. Knowing that it will do something, no matter how long I work it in the flame has relieved me of the juggling act that was associated with trying to maintain a design & shape, have nice puckered holes & tidy ends - without risking losing any design elements by the repeated marvering required at times.


Because of the strike cycle of this glass, I have learned patience & how to work slower. I have an gained insight into heat control that I never had before. I have learned to read the heat of glass & when it is ready to be marvered or pressed.

Because of this my skills have improved immensely. I still struggle with even ends on tube beads, but that too will come. I finally feel as if I am 'getting there'. It's amazing what relaxing can do!

I'm Not The Only Convert

...and to think I used to call her psycho kitty. It seems she's not as silly as she acts. She still looks perpetually grumpy though....

This Guy Lives for Pleasure

While the rest of us toil & sweat over a hot torch, this cat lives in the lap of luxury...well, when he's actually awake.

All he has to do to earn his keep is be sure to find a sunny spot to sleep in, or lie near a hand & be petted. Good grief, he doesn't even have to clean up the masses of hair he sheds after himself!

He still thinks the 'road kill' position is cool.

And he still doesn't realise how dopey he looks.
None the less I want to come back as a cat!

Mariners Swirl

Still playing with the fabulous Gaffer palette & gradually managing to 'sometimes' drag myself away from the Chalcedony to work on some beads in the styles I enjoyed 'BC'.

Spring Cleaning.... or sorting

For some bizarre reason Spring always brings out the worst in me. Time to clear out the clutter (along with the dust & cobwebs) & minimise things somewhat.
I like my clothes grouped so that I can see what I have at a glance. I've found if they get messy, I forget I have stuff - which perhaps points to the fact that I have way to much stuff, stuff that I dont wear.

A weekend spent with visitors & kids saw my tops & jerseys from my dresser sitting unsorted on the bedroom floor. How did they get onto the floor? Valid question.

The arrival of some new glass last Friday found me feeling a little overwhelmed, I had packing & posting to do, custom orders to photograph, listings to get up on Etsy & drawers emptied when the surprise parcel arrived. Some new glass to test. YAY!

After much thought, some really good advice ( something about throwing clothes - and ending with "After all, we know us beadmakers have our priorities in the right order...") & not expecting to have the next 4 days with this house being a mini version of Grand Central Station, I hit the torch. That night as I went to jump into bed I realised that it was covered with the contents of my drawers, so I placed all of the piles on the floor, & there they stayed until today. Oops!

I really do need to go through them & GET.RID.OF.STUFF.
But what did I do - placed them all back into the drawers. I'll minimize next week. Might do the wardrobes too...