Neptune's Garden Encased Flower Garden Bead

I absolutely love this bead, probably because of the color. I don't feel like people have to chose ONE color to be their favorite, especially if you are an artist. However my desk, my favorite shirt, my jacket, my laundry room, and even my car happen to be this color. :)  You can find this bead here.

"Worry Stone" Series Beads

A while ago I was making a bead and had a beautiful aqua base covered in dichroic glass ready to become an encased flower garden bead. Before I could add leaves and vines, the bead release broke. So I stuck the mandrel in a jar and tried again with a new one. Later when I was removing the failed  bead from the mandrel I noticed how pretty it was. It was a freeform shape because I had just finished the stage where I pressed the dichroic glass into the base bead and had not shaped it when it broke. The bead was so pretty that I put a silver core in it and kept it for myself. It became one of the beads I always reached for first when I redid my trollbeads bracelet.

And so that bead inspired my "Worry Stone" series. To these I added a second layer of dichroic glass, some encasing and a touch of enamel flecks on the surface to give the beads a stone like look. They are then shaped to be mostly round but slightly freeformed like worry stones.

The latest version of my "Worry Stone" beads is the color change version. These beads are made half one color and half another, so that the color changes as the bead turns on the bracelet. Using these in your bracelet designs will result in a bracelet that is never quite the same each time you glance at it.

Here are three photos of the same bead.

Learning to Live With Chaos

After I became a mom I became really interested in time management techniques out of necessity or maybe desperation. One tip I have heard over and over again is to not let the so called "urgent" things take up all your time so that you never get to what's really important. My son means everything to me and I realize that in order to be a happy person and therefore a good mom I need time for my art.  I was very lucky to be able to hire my parents to babysit so I could make beads since there is no multitasking when it comes to melting glass.

However, a massive chunk of my business and work time is spent on selling, shipping, photographing and all of that has to happen while I'm also watching my son. It's incredibly overwhelming and completely crazy making at times. I've learned to accept the fact that I can be a good mom and a good business owner only if I'm ok with being a TERRIBLE housekeeper. I actually love to clean and organize and I love living in a clean organized space. Tidying up my house seems like it needs to be an URGENT task when I'm overwhelmed but if I focused on it all the time I would never sell any beads. Then of course I would have to stop making them because I wouldn't be able to pay my parents for watching my kid while I make them.

So sometimes I have to just let my dishes pile up in the sink so that I can get my packages shipped with eBay's required shipping time. Sometimes when the art supplies strewn all over the table have already failed to entertain, I have to haul out a box of legos and helplessly watch them get spread out all over the floor to keep my three year old entertained while I answer messages.

Shortly after my son was born I got into paring down my possessions and the whole concept of minimalism and minimalist living fascinated me. I pared down my stuff a lot and though it helped somewhat it didn't keep dirty dishes from piling up in the sink.

Last year I got obsessed with The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. In the book the author says to focus on the things you really love and want to keep and to get rid of everything that does not "spark joy." I got rid of a TON of stuff, in fact it took over three trips to Goodwill with my car packed to get rid of it all. I don't miss any of it and I also learned how to fold and put away clothes without having my dresser be in the same chaotic state within a week. Though I would still really recommend the book I now realize that my obsession with it was due to the fact that I bought into a unrealistic fantasy.

Author Marie Kondo does not run a business from within her home that is currently undergoing renovations. She doesn't live with a pack rat husband and doesn't have a bratty toddler with daily irresistible impulses to the throw the few possessions that "spark joy" for her across the room. My expecting the same kind of perfect home that she so eloquently describes in her book was the same as when I was a little girl and wished I had the same natural blonde hair and proportions as my Barbie doll. My reality is slightly different.

My reality is accepting the possibility of experiencing the excruciating pain of stepping on a lego on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. My reality is having the beautiful things that "spark joy" occasionaly broken or having to pack them away in boxes unused and unloved until the day comes that my kids no longer need to hold my hand, snuggle multiple times a day and are also finally old enough to not break my crap.

Instead of wishing for that day to come sooner I choose to accept my beautiful chaotic mess of a life. I still get overwhelmed. Everyday I get overwhelmed. But I'm learning to take a deep breath and just let the mess and the chaos and all the urgent undone things be.

New Seascape Necklaces

 I've been so busy trying to keep my shop stocked with charm beads for months and haven't had a chance to make necklaces until now. I love making the beads for these because they are bigger and allow for more complicated designs. These beads are made by essentially painting in glass. I start with a white background like an artist starts with a blank canvas and add all the colors in layers. Of course unlike with a painting I have the benefit of being able to heat up my whole "painting" and manipulate the glass to get more flow or move around an area if I want to.

                                                    Moonlit Seas Bead in the making.

 After I'm happy with my seascape "painting" I shape the bead, and add the moon detail.

Both of these piece are currently available here on eBay.

If you are a glass beadmaker I do have tutorial available on my seascape beads here.

Growing Up in a "Disadvantaged" Area

It's funny to think that I spend all most of my time making art and pretty things because I was raised to be VERY practical. My parents did not introduce me to art or teach me to appreciate beautiful things but they did make sure to teach me the value of hard work. My mother never wore jewelry, makeup or nice clothes. I grew up in a single wide trailer but there was never any feeling of shame or lack about that fact. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I learned that rural Maine and our home in particular were something many people would look down upon.

I'm very thankful for the people who did introduce me to art. My elementary school started an art program when I was about halfway through and the teacher we got was wonderful. I was lucky enough to take private sewing lesson from someone who creates the most artistic quilts I've ever seen and does other amazingly original fiber art projects. I then went on to high school where I had another excellent art teacher and was lucky enough to have art class everyday all four years of high school.

That said I don't regret that I wasn't raised in a city with lots of art museums and culture, or that my parents weren't highly cultured people or even artists themselves. They encouraged me and helped me to pursue my interests even if they knew nothing about them. Anything more than that would have been unnecessary.

My rural, practical upbringing was an amazing gift and though most would look at Washington County Maine and see a depressing place lacking in opportunities, I realize that it was the very thing that gave me such a valuable and unique opportunity.

How exactly? If my parents had had a perfect beautiful home they never would have let me set up a torch and kiln and melt glass in it as a teenager. Keep in mind I had taken no classes, watched no youtube videos on the subject because we had dial up internet at the time and I had no idea what I was doing. My closest previous experience was probably with 4th of July sparklers. Dad was willing to risk his old workshop/shed that he and mom built out of logs however.

If my parents had had high hopes for their honor roll student going to an ivy league college they never would have let me live with them while I figured out how and if I could make a glass bead/jewelry business grow straight out of highschool.

If as a teenager I had had activities and parties and a fantastic social life I never would have had the time to devote to learning lampwork.

And of course there are many more reasons just like this.

Today I don't live in a fancy home and I have to drive a long time just get groceries or go to the doctor. I don't own nice clothes not because I don't like them but because I work from home. Even when I do go out in public, everyone else is dressed in jeans and flannel for the most part anyway.

But in return for those small sacrifices I have a job not only doing what I love, but the very job that I dreamed of doing from the time I was a teenager. I live debt free in a half renovated 1860's farm house with unlevel floors so I can be sure to continue to do what I love. And I live in what I believe is one of the most beautiful places in the world so I am never lacking for inspiration.

This is what it looks like outside.

Beautiful yes, but the lack of color can get old quite fast. Not surprisingly I love making beads in the winter because I get to snuggle up (but not too close) to a warm (2000 degrees Fahrenheit) torch by a wood fire and dream up scenes like this...

Wearing Charm Beads in Unexpected Ways

 This is a necklace I wear all the time, and while it's very unique to me personally, I wanted to share it with you so it can give you an idea of how to wear my or other brands of charm beads without a Pandora, Trollbead or other brand bracelet.

The gold chain is antique from I think the late 1800's and it's a little longer than I like. It came on an antique locket I got lucky and won in an eBay auction. I thought about shortening it but because it's antique I didn't want to alter it. However with the beads added in this way it's the perfect length. The lion charm is a very sentimental piece that I've had since junior high. The two glass beads are beads I made and liked how they turned out so much couldn't bare to sell them. One is a simple encased dot bead and the other is one of my large focal flower garden beads. I SO adore teal with a little bit of purple. This necklace combines many things dear to me, gold AND silver, lions, flowers, luna moths, and antique things.

To make a piece similar like this, all you need is...

-A charm or pendant

-One of more charm beads

-A flexible chain, preferable in some kind of link style. Most chains sold as rollo, cable or link should work. Make sure to get a length longer than the length you like to wear. If the chains clasp is not simple or is too wide the beads may not fit but for the vast majority of chains this is not a problem.

Add your beads onto the chain  first, then add your charm and simply double the chain through the beads again. Center them out on the chain and you're done!