This is a custom hollow necklace made with 5 different colored glasses and sterling silver for a client. I am trying to get better about posting pictures so hopefully more to come :)

Actually it was daytime but jewellery from "Hot Piece of Glass" can now be purchased at the New Brunswick Museum's Gift Shop here in Saint John.

So it feels like it has taken forever to make the transition from one coast to the other but we have gotten most of it figured out and I finally have a working studio up and running in New Brunswick.....Now I just need to get it organized! 

The good news is that some of my jewellery is now for sale in "Jennifer's of Nova Scotia", a well known destination who features local artisans.

Here are a couple of new pieces for Summer 2014 that can now be found at The Old School House in Qualicum.

Many times at craft fairs I get asked if I ever burn myself. I imagine all lampworkers can answer yes to this in varying degrees (pun alert). Normally it's just a small burn from a glass rod shocking in the flame. Last month however, I was a little too focused on making my bead and as I was turning the bead to make the design, I ended up putting my hand into the flame. I really should know better but it was a quick 1 second mistake that is still healing over a month later.

To make matters worse the bandage (with the "non-stick" middle) stuck, and when I went to change it on day 2, it ripped the skin completely off. Fun times!

It\s the first day of Summer, which means I've been neglecting this site for too long. Not a single post for Spring 2014 which is sad really. We have been getting moved in and organized, and the new torch is hooked up. So the good news is that my studio is up and running, and I have some new creations. 

First we went over to the mainland in March and hit Ikea. Our poor little VW Golf was filled to the brim with goodies. We arrived at the BC Ferries terminal 4 minutes late and then had to wait 2 hours for the next sailing. I love living on an island, but getting on and off the island is a real pain in the ass. Anyways, I'll try not to go into a rant on that.

I wanted some shelving to store glass that would fit the alcove in my studio, and I couldn't be happier on how it turned out.
We spent a few evenings putting Ikea shelving together and in all honesty it went pretty well. No divorce papers being served!

I'm glad I did the measurements before we went to Ikea, as I knew exactly how much space I had to play with.
I went with two "Besta" cabinets for the base (which I'll probably store glass sheets for fusing), and three "Expedit" bookcases for my glass rods for lampworking.

While I would have changed the placement of the 3 light coloured tiles in the left front of the picture, I am happy with the tile job so far. The grout goes down on Tuesday, so I hope to be able to move everything back into the studio for next weekend. 

I chose tile so that I don’t have to worry if a hot piece of glass falls to the floor. When you are in the middle of a bead you don’t want to have to get on the floor and look for a piping hot ball of glass.

The new torch is so quiet. The oxygen concentrator is the loudest thing now (at least until I get some music) when I’m making beads, but I can actually have a conversations in a normal voice. It’s just another added bonus of the upgrade.

Last weekend I was able to successfully do a couple batches of beads. No more scum! I did have to turn the torch down to a smaller flame, but it’s still amazing. 

They started the floor today, so once that is done I will post a picture. I originally wanted some blues (surprise surprise) and greys, but decided to go with just 3 different shades of grey in the same size and tile family. My instructions for the tile guy were “I want it random, but not random”. These instructions make sense to me, but my husband just shakes his head.

I decided to use the kiln for a bit of fusing (might as well use it for fusing when I'm not making beads). I made a couple of sets of coasters (complete with silicone feet) and thought I'd throw them up for this post. I'm of course partial to the blue ones. :)

Sunday we hooked up the oxycon to the torch and low and behold we had flame! I made a few beads and was amazed by how quickly I could now melt the glass. I used some raku frit on a bead and it looked like I was getting color I had never seen before on the Hot Head torch. I was excited to see the beads Monday morning, but they all turned out "scummy". It seems I will have to play with the fuel/oxy ratios before I get good beads. That's okay though as I have already designated Febraury as play and experiment month. I bought a few rods of Double Helix Silvered Glass that I will play with once I have the new torch mastered.

Well, What can I say? It's been a month since I posted because I've been waiting for something good to happen.
Our gas fitter is awesome and came out just before Christmas and installed the shut off in the studio and got a hose made to hook up my new torch so I could use it over the holidays.

We had bought an oxygen concentrator in November so we opened it up and followed the instructions to do a power on test. Unfortunately, it sounded like it was leaking air, and the ball-bearing to show LPM (liters per minute) did not move. We discovered there was a broken part so my plans of holiday torching were not to be. But a big thanks to Jean and Paul at Nortel Manufacturing, we have a replacement regulator that we were able to install ourselves just this week. So the test will be this weekend, fingers crossed.

In addition to the oxycon troubles, we had to get our car repaired after being rear-ended in December, had to fix a broken dishwasher rack, our oven stopped working so we had to get that repaired, and three big money vet visits. So in January I've been putting out fires, rather than playing with fire.

There is nothing new on the studio front as the contractors have not been back, and we are apparently waiting on a tile guy to come and do the floor.

Here's hoping February will be a more productive month!