Beadbijoux

A girl can never have too many power tools. I know, I know . Most girls are into fashion and makeup and sparkle and glitter and all that jazz. Not me. I could spend hours on end perusing the power tool section at the hardware stores. I can't last 5 minutes in the mall. My husband is the luckiest man on earth. One of my recent tool purchases ( to the delight of my husband ) is a drill press. He's been wanting a drill press for as long as I've known him. Apparently he was just waiting for me to suggest adding one to the workshop. A drill press isn't required to bring my glass work to the next level, but it certainly helps. I tried drilling a hole with a hand drill once. Once was enough. The press makes it much more precise. And I'm less likely to drill through my finger. I absolutely love the new finish the drilled holes give the pendants. I personally feel it adds another level of sophistication and refinement. With holes I can finish them off with fine ste

Considering I haven't been in the studio for almost 9 months [ see my previous post ] I thought I would get my feet wet with some fused glass kilnwork before lighting up the torch and potentially burning the house down. I always like to come back to my comfort place to rebuild the confidence when I haven't done something for a long time - even though it is a lot like riding a bike. These little glass cabochons are cute and fun. There are so many possibilities. They can be turned into just about anything: buttons for sewing, fridge magnets, wire wrapped jewelry, mosaic and craft projects, and anything else you can dream up. I've decided to list them as cabochons and let my customers decide what they want to do with them. Of course if you want them finished off into buttons, cufflinks, mini pendants, or fridge magnets I am happy to do it for you. Feels good to create again. The creative juices are flowing and I have a lot of new ideas spinning through my head. Stay

There. I said it. I’m having a mid-life crisis. Admittance is the first step to recovery right? It has been a long, difficult year. The last few winters in Minnesota have been exceptionally cold, snowy, and downright miserable. They canceled school 5 times last year due to ridiculous cold temperatures. Unfit for human inhabitation. That is what it has been. I began my swan dive off the [crisis] platform over Spring Break. We took the kids to Disney World and also spent a few days ocean side at Cocoa Beach, Florida. I woke up in the morning and drank my coffee on the balcony watching the sunrise over the ocean, and something inside of me just snapped. I couldn’t go back. But we came back. To more snow. And more cold. Shoveling 16 inches of snow on April 28th will send just about anyone into crisis mode. Turning 40 in May certainly didn’t help. Of course aging is usually to blame for these type of things. And hormones. I’m sure they aren’t helping either. Making matters even