Are you a Good Witch, or a Bad Witch?

I've been having a great time coming up with ways to make the cast of The Wizard of Oz lately, and I thought I'd share my efforts. My latest is Glenda the Good Witch. The middle one in the picture was my first attempt. I didn't like the hat, so I tried again with the one on the right. I think I got it right that time; what do you think?

I'm working on the Tin Man next, and then the Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow will come along. Sorry Toto, no current plans for you, but I may develop a Fairy Princess out of the middle Glenda!

More Dichro!

After my test firing of my new-to-me kiln, I had to test out the advice so kindly given about the bubbles and pokey ends and such, so I decided to let my friend Shannon have a go at dichro. She did really, really well trying out different combinations of clear and opaque. Some turned out how she'd planned, and some turned out differently. Who knew that seemingly transparent glass would turn out nearly opaque when fired? Not me! So here is her take, wonky pieces and all. And look ma! Almost no bubbles!

I'm in a Treasury!

Coming home from my grandfather's funeral, I was cheered up a bit by having one of my Bindis included in a Treasury entitled ATaste of India by fellow Etsian YellowViolet. This is my first time in a treasury, and I'm so ecstatic to have been picked!

Without further adieu...

I present to you the first fused glass items that came out of my newly acquired kiln! The larger, dark one was the one where I was experimenting with copper foil....didn't work out so well. It just ended up with a couple of rust-colored spots and a lot of bubbles. The second, smaller one is a dichro piece. It actually turned out pretty perfect except for the bubbles. I kind of like the shape of the bubbles though, so I'll use it for something I'm sure. Eventually I would like to have bubble-free fused glass. Anybody have any suggestions?

Yay Creativity!

Today I acquired a new (to me) kiln, and I'm firing my first fused glass pieces right now! One is a black and green dichro, and the other is a black and copper foil piece. Not sure if the copper foil will hold up, but I thought I would give it a try to see. Yes, there are only 2 in there, because I'm only testing it out, but I'll make more soon once I get the bugs worked out. I'll post pics asap.
I have been blessed lately with a lot of new ideas for beadwork. Everything from peacock feather inspired earrings to cherry pies and Egyptian Broadcollars have run through my ridiculous brain. I hope to get some time soon to bring some of these ideas to life.

The madness is over....

Yesterday I sent out 7 class proposals for the Bead&Button Show next year. There was much rejoicing at having met the deadline, and I came home and crashed. This morning, I woke up (waaaaayyyyy earlier than usual, mind you), got dressed and got into my car to drive to Frisco, CO to teach an earring class. I got 35 minutes or so into my trip, hit I70, and promptly sat still for a full 30 minutes in traffic. After the next 30 minutes where I moved a scant .3 miles, and realizing that I would be 2 hours late for my class, I was forced to cancel. It's the first time I've ever done that. It felt bad to say the least, but I had little choice in the matter.

Upon arriving home, I realized that I was too tired to do anything, so I attempted to take a nap so that I could continue on with my day. It helped little, and perhaps made me feel worse. Friends called to invite me to dinner, and I went looking forward both to seeing my friends, and to the fact that I would be picking up my new (used) kiln in a couple hours. While at dinner, I received a call from the woman I was supposed to pick up the kiln from. She needed to cancel for family reasons until tomorrow. As a consolation prize, I went to HobbyLobby to purchase a few little pieces of dichroic glass in the hopes of using my kiln tomorrow. Today was almost a complete waste 'awake' time. I am now updating my Etsy site a bit, and going through some of my old photos trying to organize them, then I will pass out and, hopefully, sleep soundly. Wish me luck!