Friday, April 30, 2010

Green Machine Etsy Teams!

Every since I found Etsy, an online venue selling handmade and vintage items, I have been ecstatic! I simply LOVE Etsy and communities that have developed within. I belong to several teams that have formed based on commonalities or focuses in life. We share the same ideas and thus support and help promote each other. I am very proud to be a member of all of my teams, but a few were mentioned most recently in a wonderfuly written Storque article. Please follow the link HERE to see the original article that features Eco Etsy, Trashion Team, and The Etsy Recycler's Guild.

The Etsy Recycler's Guild will be featured on Craftopolis begining May 2 - July 12!

To see some of our team blogs, just click on our logos below! :0)

http://clevelandrocksetsy.blogspot.com/



http://etsyrecyclersguild.blogspot.com/




http://blog.ecoetsy.com/

Friday, April 23, 2010

Custom Order Jewelry using YOUR OWN Beach Glass!

I have been doing custom orders for a very long time now and my most recent project involved using some of my customer's own finds. Making a piece of jewelry or art using the pieces you find can be very special and rewarding. It can however, be a challenge. Not all pieces of beach glass are well suited to specific styles of jewelry, like bezel setting.

The pieces that were used were a challenge due to the size of the pendant and the curved shapes and surfaces of the earrings. Most pieces that I choose to bezel are flat on the bottom, more uniform in shape, and with as little curves as possible. These aren't cabachon's that you would buy at a bead store or make with dichro or fused glass. Those forms seat very easily into a bezel cup or custom made bezel cup. The differing heights and slopes of beach glass make the custom bezel a challenge and a purchased bezel cup near impossible. So, here is the finished product and I hope my customer is happy with her pieces!





The third piece is wire wrapped in sterling silver and is much more accomodating to the random curves that natural beach glass developes. :0)



On a side note, I want to thank Justin Lazarz for doing an awesome job on redisigning my business cards! Justin is a Senior student at Edinboro University and is majoring in graphic design. He's also an excellant black belt in Tae Kwon Do at Park's Tae Kwon Do in Erie, Pa. Thanks again Justin!



Thursday, April 15, 2010

2009 Lake Erie Beach Glass Year In Review

Thank you, Jason for setting up this You Tube Video for me!

My son has been a tremendous help to me! My life seems to keep getting busier and busier and I haven't had time to complete some things, like my yearly you tube video. He has graciously taken on some of my roles. Here is the result...

Saturday, March 13, 2010

2010 Let's get back to Glassing!

Wow! It has been a REALLY long time since I've posted anything to the blog. I appologize! First, Let me say that the 2009 Sea Glass Festival was awesome but very exhausting. I found that I really needed to take a break for glassing for a little while, regroup, and then come back to it fresh minded. What better way for me to get back into creating then to be contacted by our Fairview Middle Schoolto contribute a piece to the yearly Adopt An Artist program.

The auction was held Friday March 5th at The Lake Shore Country club and featured the live performance of artist Molly Glover. Molly's performance captivated the audience as she painted the portrait of Albert Einstein on a 4 x 6 foot canvas in just under 3 minutes. Her piece sold for over $2,000.00 that night! Way to go Molly! For those of you who may be new to Molly's art, she is a beautiful young teenager who paints these beuatiful portraits usine her hands while listening to music!





My donated piece is the first in my spring line of Sea Flora. Although my piece did not auction for $2,000.00 I was pleased with its performance any way!


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Here is to a new year of happiness and plenty of glassing!

Friday, October 2, 2009

LAKE ERIE LIVING MAGAZINE, The Sea Glass Festival, and little ole me.


This year has been flying by and I've been feeling pulled in so many directions that my brain is just about to go on the fritz and over load. Whew! It is almost over! All though I am looking forward to the sea glass festival, I will be relieved when it is over and I'll be able to relax some more. I'm sure all the other glassers out there are feeling the same way. It's nerve racking but at the same time so very exciting to be pariticpating in this huge festival.

I was interviewed several months ago by Lake Erie Living Magazine and then photographed for the magazine at the beach in Geneva, Ohio. My hands seemed to be what made the article but the article turned out very well done. When I saw that the article had hit the stands, my anxiety level went up slightly as I am realizing that the festival will be here in TWO weekds! Yes! Two weeks! Ahhhh!

I have so much work to do! I still need to create more pieces for the festival and booth design? I have NO idea what I'm going to do for that yet. I suppose I need to set a mock up and tweak. My husband will be thrilled when he comes home to see the mock up all set in the family room. Oh well, it must be done!

I also don't want to neglect my gallery owners and need to give them both a little love and attention. Kada gallery in Erie has an upcoming gallery night on October the 9th so I will focus on them first. Hopefully I can get some new desings in there of which I also plan on presenting at the festival. Kada is an awesome gallery for Erie. Joe and Kathy D'Angelo are some of the kindest people I've ever met and they really do care about their artists.

So, in retrospect I guess I need to get off the computer and start working on more jewelry! :0)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

I MADE ETSY'S ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY GUIDE!

I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am to find that I made the front page of today's (September 24th, 2009) Environmetally Friendly Guide on ETSY! I had just listed that ring only an hour prior to the guide's posting. Etsy is such a wonderful on-line venue for both artists AND for those who are just looking for handmade or vintage items. I have fallen in love with Etsy.

Maker's marks are the company stampings or logos that you would find underneath your china and pottery plates, cups, and saucers. They are amoung a favorite of mine to find when beach combing the shores of Lake Erie.

This particular piece was set in a sterling silver bezel with an adjustable band. It turned out awesome! I plan on taking it to KADA Gallery in Erie, Pa. where I have several pieces of my work on hand. I'm just wondering if Kathy, the gallery owner will become the new owner of this piece because if you know Kathy you know she has a soft spot for rings! :0)

Several other great items that are eco friendly also share the lime light! Go ahead and click on them if you find one of interest to you. :0)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Eco Friendly Way Of Obtaining "The Mother Load Of Envelopes!"


I woke up a little early today due to a nuisance of a cat meowing at the top of his lungs to be let out. There he was at 5am sitting at the window and again shortly after 6. We do not let our cat out of the house but he does try and can be very sneaky at times. He is a beautiful all black Siamese mix and well, that makes his meow quite loud. Any how, after sending him down to the basement and finally falling back asleep, my daughter's alarm went off at 7:00! Can I catch a break today at all? So, I'm up! I'm up I say!

I made myself some much needed coffee and sat down to read the threads in many of the on-line groups that I belong to. I came to one thread in particular in my Eco Etsy group that made me smile from ear to ear! I loved the ideas that my fellow Eco friends were posting that I thought I would share them here as well. Who would have thought about recycling envelopes in these ways?!

Idea No. 1:
"Recently, I've come to be the owner of a huge amount of used envelopes and bubble mailers and wanted to share how I got them, in case any of you also have this opportunity."

"My husband went to a local indie type of radio station here in town to do an interview last week. I told him to ask them for bubble mailers while he was there, because I've seen them post on freecycle that they save all envelopes they receive demo CD's in, which get mailed to them every day."

"Sure enough, they showed him boxes full of envelopes. All sizes, shapes, types, you name it. They gave him a garbage bag and told him to have at it. And like a good husband, he took them all and brought them home to me."

"Call your local radio station and ask them if they save their envelopes, and if you can come pick them up! Or better yet, tell your husband to do it for you! Who needs flowers and chocolate when you can have a garbage bag full of bubble mailers instead, right!?"

Jennifer
iwunder.etsy.com


Idea No. 2:

"We've been dumpster diving for a couple of years now at Home Goods. I spoke to the manager about bubble wrap because they throw out bag fulls each day. She said - anytime you want some - just go around to the back and have fun!
Joel and I have brought home SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much of it which we use to wrap all our clipboards, etc that go out.
But wow......... a radio station for bubblewrappers is such an awesome tip!
Thanks a million!"

Debby
Dinner Time Chimes
Buffalo Gal's Soap

Idea No.3:
"<> I also dumpster dive at the post office. I totally go to the trash can by the PO boxes and sift through the trash, people dump their junk mail (usually unopened) all the time. You know all those things you get in the mail asking you for money? They all have a return envelope inside. Yes, I take those. I cover the writing with stickers and whatnot and use them for mailing. And I give them to my husband to use to make his daily bank deposits. Why not, right?"

"And I sometimes find manila envelopes in that trash can as well, or boxes sitting beside the trash can. I try not to be too obvious about it but I am such an envelope fiend it is not even funny. I haven't bought envelopes of any sort in years."

Jennifer
iwunder.etsy.com

...And, ask at your local library! They get lots
of books in bubble mailers.

Eco Etsy is a wonderful group of artists and eco consciouse men and women who are full of awesome tips and merchanidise for sale with the intent on being eco friendly! Check out our Eco Etsy Blog here!