October = felt?

This month I prepared my very first fascinator for use at a fancy tea party:



Turns out that they are really fun to make AND I now see fascinator possibilities everywhere I look! Which means I'll be hosting my own tea party in January or February just to have a reason to create (and wear!) another one (^_^) And since I made too many green felt "flowers", I then experimented with barrette possibilities:



I'm surprised at how much I actually liked how those barrettes turned out!

Starburst (3x3)

My very favorite piece made during that week of teaching:



Which looks like this when it's held up to the light:

Cement Mushroom

After all of that stuff got finished in one measely week, I decided it was high time to finish this cement mushroom project and get the darn thing OUT of my kitchen. so yeah. It's done now. I know how to make better ones, too, now. Maybe next summer....

Fused Flower

Here's what I *wanted* to make more of, but certain other instructors in charge of the kilns wouldn't let me .... blah blah ... incompatible glass ... blah blah blah .... pieces might explode or break off ... blah blah ... you're lucky this one didn't break yet ... blah blah blah ...




:D

Just teasing mom. I know you're right. But I still WANT to make more of these anyway.

Fused glass (3x3)

Every so often when we were firing the kilns for fused glass we'd have a little space on a shelf that could still fit another piece in. And since it's a shame to not use every spot you have when you're firing, I'd get the occasional chance to create a little something-or-other to fit in those spaces. Some of these are experimenting with some technique that my mother wanted to show people and we were making sure it worked before telling them to try it :) like using a candle to bend stringers for those crooked mouths.

Pattern Experiments (3x3)

4"x4" mosaiced tile

Blue Flower (3x3)

4"x4" mosaiced tile

Blue-Red Explodey Flower (3x3)

4"x4" mosaiced tile

Mosaic Owl (3x3)

4"x4" mosaiced tile

Almost an auseklis (3x3)

4"x4" mosaiced tile

A Brown Explodey Flower (3x3)

Hmmmm....... It's been a while - eh?

I spent a week in Michigan teaching glass stuff this summer. That was fun. Inbetween questions, instead of staring at the backs of people's heads or something, I decided to keep my hands busy. Also, I needed some glued glass to demonstrate "how to grout" without demo-ing on someone else's work. The next few posts are of the little things I finished while teaching.



4"x4" mosaiced tile

I'm not sure, yet, whether to turn these in to coasters or decorative wall hangings.

Sketching in lino, Part I

A couple of art nights ago I let myself just "sketch" in lino.... apparently I had bugs on the mind since both prints turned out to feature bugs. Here's the smaller of the two:



I can't figure out a consistent way to cut nice-looking circles in lino. I think I want to make friends with a dermatologist so I can appropriate one (or more) of those sharp little tools that punch out perfect circles from skin that's going to be biopsied. I bet those would work on lino.

My kitchen was busy last weekend...

This is what just over 4 hours of canning will yield in my house:



(14 pints of canned peaches plus a medium batch of peach jam [8 jars], a medium batch of cherry-rhubarb [8 jars], and a small batch of peach-cherry [5 jars].)

And then you get even better/faster at it :) I've since also canned 5 pints of elderflower cordial (yay urban foraging!), but that stuff isn't very photogenic.

Repurposing glass for garden art

Later this week these dishes will be in my garden as large(ish) garden flowers:



Very much a borrowed idea, but it was too neat not to try out on my own. The plan is to use epoxy and then use my oven to anneal/strengthen the bond. I have another box of glass still in my car from last weekend's flea market trip waiting to be made in to some more once I find some inexpensive and interesting colorful second hand glass dishes.

Stained glass progress

The other day I realized that in August I'll be helping to teach a stained glass/fused glass class and yet I haven't actually finished any stained glass in.....well, years. So. Back to this project started in 2008....

Over the course of about 5 hours (across two days) I finished grinding, washing, and copper foiling it to get it to fit in the frame (with a few design mods due to carelessness and limited glass to make up for mistakes. ooops.):



I've since also finished 80% of the soldering, too, but have yet to take a picture of that. I'm still working out how I want to finish the outer edge and what patina to use on the solder. This is intended for my bathroom window, but I don't think I want to permanently install it. So..... lead came? Or a wooden frame? I'm not sure yet.

Copper disk earrings

I finally started using this etched piece of copper that I made in a class some 8 or 9 years ago. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the metal sheet before beginning to cut it up. Sigh.

First, a pair of earrings:

Sushi plate experiment

Last week I visited my parents. You never know what kinds of adventures you might encounter while over there. This time, my mother turns to me and says, "I want you to make a sushi plate."

OK (^_^) of course! Here are the results. One worked, one did not.

Bails

Last week I practiced both basic soldering and mass production:



My mom asked for some bails for her glass work projects. The first 15 were kind of tough and rather annoying, but the next 20+ were easy peasy.

Sock monsters

I found an amusing book and decided to make sock monsters an activity for an art night. Here are the ones I made:



now what do I do with them?
I don't even really like stuffed animals...
Hmmmmmmm.

The Inspector

This is what I see every time I get in to my car and it makes me smile! I've had my car for just over 2 years and it's never had a name, but suddenly I'm inclined to call it "The Inspector".....