Tweezers

In a previous post I was talking about my favorite tweezers for lampwork. These are large tweezers. I originally purcahsed them in a set of three (shown). One set (the longest ones) I use for moving things around in the kiln - they keep me out of the heat! The shortest ones are grunt work - look at those poor tips. And the third ones have been altered by one of the wonderful glassworkers from Glass Act – The Southeastern Michigan Glass Beadmaker's
Guild. He is a furnace glass and borosilicate worker who makes wonderful goblets and beads.

Mark did this at a retreat we all attended. At first I thought they’d be too big – after all I was taught by Kim Fields to pluck little tiny pieces of glass off my work with miniscule pointed tweezers that looked like you could pull the antennae off a poor bug. Yikes! I still have those little tweezers – and until I began to get the hang of it I burned the ends off of them more than once…it was pitiful. The number of times I had to refile those tips was a disgrace.

It was a big switch to these honkers but I love them. Can I still pluck the hair off a frog? Yes, but I do that with a stringer now days. For just about everything else I use these altered tweezers.

Remember – these had big rounded ends and teeth too. He used a grinder to take them off and to narrow the tips. He made them pointed but what he didn’t do was thin the thickness a whole lot. It gives them power – they don’t bend and if you have the time to alter some for yourself you’ll love them.

Happy Torching!

Handmadeology Top 10 Etsy Team Challenge

This is an awesome opportunity to not only get our individual work and Fire Divas Etsy team noticed by thousands of new viewers, but if we all pitch in like I know we can, we might even win the prize of $450 worth of free online advertising!! WHOOHOO!!

The Fire Divas Etsy Team is participating in a Challenge by Handmadeology. This is all about social networking and team work - getting the word out to our fans, to glass bead lovers everywhere, to artists, jewelry designers and so on.

If you Tweet, Etsy, Facebook, Blog, and so on - please give the Fire Divas Etsy Team a shout out. It wouldn't hurt either if you went to this link and voted for our beautiful goods either....: - ).

You can vote as often as you like over the next 2 weeks—and remember, this is a team competition and not an individual one—so please try and vote for all the listings in our section to help give us the highest voting scores. *Ü* And the more you vote and help spread the word through social media sites, the more chances you'll get to win some super prizes from the Fire Divas! (We'll be posting photos of the prizes later on our Fan Page throughout the competition.)

Thanks a gazillion!

Mermaid Momentum

I thought I'd run a little update. Here is the Mermaid piece with the cab placed loosely in it for a "cab size check". The sprues are now cut off and I can see where I'm going so tomorrow I'll begin the polishing and refining process. Maybe by Monday I'll be able to fit that cab in there perfectly. I'm pretty stoked over the whole thing.

It would look good on a Viking knit chain but since I'm considering this piece for a donation I'm going to stick with the black rubber and silver and add some chain on the back so it's more adjustable.

She's going to need a title. Uh, anyone - ideas please! Maybe Midnight Pond???? I dunno. When I'm playing it "straight" and not yucking it up the ideas are a whole lot tighter than I'd like.

Have a great weekend if you don't get back to see me!

What Day Is It?

I thought things were supposed to slow down when you left your "career". That must go down as one of those urban myths or something.

Wedding Plans...we're working it. Today we hired a wedding "organizer". For a rural area we are getting pretty hip. We give them the details and they make this baby go off like a CIA black operation. Or so I have heard from others and am hoping for our own.

I've also got to update my blog listings - I've a a blog link or two to add too.

In the meantime I've been working on some wax models and came up with a dandy yesterday that we cast. This one is going to hold a half a bead that I lapped down. She's going to be beautiful. I'm thinking she should be given as a bold gift - but word on that later as she is finished.

These are the photos before I started cutting off sprues tonight. I swear the sprues were as heavy as the actualy piece. So far about 90 percent of them are off and tomorrw I'l get to the hardest ones and begin the grinding. I'm currently working on two pieces (the other one that had a fish on it and was a square cab). So far those are the only ones I have created made specially to hold a piece of glass as the design statement. I've done cabs for rings but not something that was purposefully designed to go with the setting.

It's not a bead - YET!

Meet part of what has been keeping me busy. First the mother feral cat had four kittens in my garage which she moved around the neighborhood on a regular basis driving me wild. The kits are visiting regularily and I'm a sucker - - - - no doubt about it. Hense the food. So, what happens next in the midst of getting painters painting the house and all of the mulitude of wedding details I'm tackling - We get a surprise visit from a mother raccoon and two sibs. Good grief. I find out the one neighbor is hand feeding them out his door. So NOT a good idea. Uh, although me being a sap for those kittens probably isn't either. I'm going to call the local rescue group and get some live traps. Kittens or Raccoons - I'm going to catch something. The local vet takes the kittens and finds homes. The raccoons will be loving raised and released into the woods - and about 70% of this county is state property so they will be safe. Maybe tomorrow I can get a bead done. (Smile - wink - grin!!!).

This photo was taken in our garage - yum, cat food! Yesterday they were begging the painters for handouts and even had one of the guys treed on a ladder. Never a dull moment around here.

Where is the Time Going?

Holey Crap - It's June! I need to get a move on.....I found this on Crafthaus.

29 Ways to Be Creative