This is Lucie. Lucie is not for sale because she is cracked and I had to glue her back together. But I do intend to make lots of "siblings" for sale.

She is made entirely of glass. Her head and body are lampwork beads, her arms and legs are Czech glass seed beads.

I have kind of dedicated her to my dearest friend. She lost her dog (Lucie) a few days ago. She will be the store mascot.

If you are interested in one of Lucie's siblings, watch the listings. As soon as they are "born" they will be listed for sale.

I'm off to buy glass today. I love being able to purchase it locally. The fact that I can handle the glass and see the true colors of what I am buying is important. While it is true that they don't carry ALL of the Moretti colors, I buy all I can from them and what I cannot get I order online.

Locally, I typically shop at Fire Nation. They have a glass blowing shop in the back, a nice gallery in the front, and a separate space with supplies. The suppliers I tend to use online include Sundance Glass, Delphi Glass, and Frantz Art Glass. There are many MANY others but I haven't had the chance to order from them yet.

That's just for the raw glass and things like enamels, frit, tools, etc. Then there's all the jewelry making supplies. That's a blog post for another time.

So off I go to the "candy store", because that's what it is - eye candy!

I found a beautiful blog today. http://jelvehdesigns.blogspot.com/
It is beautifully written and has loads of lovely photos of her work. She teaches flameworking and also hosts visiting artists. She also does giveaways so head on over and read her blog from top to bottom!

Another great bead related blog I found today is http://www.beadersblog.com/2011/09/bead-soup-blog-party-reveal-andreas.html
Her blog is nice and clean looking, offers free tutorials and giveaways, and hosts bead soup parties. Bead soup parties are great fun.

And one more blog today is http://www.ceejaycreations.com/default.html Her blog is easy to navigate and her work is wonderful. Don't forget to read about the artist. Her bio is very interesting.

I have been running the kiln every day. Can't wait for the electric bill. Between the air conditioning - it has been very hot the last few weeks - and the kiln, the bill is going to be a killer.

I have so many beads listed now that it seems it is time to make them easier to look at. I will be putting the lampwork beads in catalog format. Watch for this change and let me know what you think.

So things have been busy. I haven't been working as much as I'd like, but I always have something in my hands as I watch television at the least. That's good crocheting time.

I have been working on some new things in the lampwork shop. I've been making mates for orphan beads. Sometimes things turn out fine and you'd never know that they weren't made at the same time. Other times, not so much.

I did get in some beautiful striking glass that has been wonderful to play with. I usually don't splurge because the striking glass is usually 4 times as expensive as the regular stuff. I make sure I use every single little bit when I do get it in. I'm so happy with the results that I can't wait until I can order more of it. It's just so beautiful.

I'm trying to figure out a display system. My studio is in my home and I'm starting to have people in to look at and purchase my work so the old system of putting everything in boxes doesn't work anymore. I need to be able to display my work. I have a plan that I will attempt to execute in the next week or two.

The kiln is loaded with beads. It wasn't a banner day for creation but I am always excited to see how everything comes out in the morning.

We will be home tonight, holding our dogs as they quake under each boom of the fireworks (and tomorrow night).

Enjoy the country's birthday celebration and take a moment to be thankful for the events that had to take place to get here. We are very fortunate to be Americans.