Lovin' the Lights

After a few electrical glitches and a wasted strand of lights, we're up and running with our Christmas lights outside (and a fuse hasn't blown yet!)  Living in a 75+ year old home, the electrical panel and fuse box isn't the greatest.  For years, every time we used the hair dryer in the bathroom, the Christmas lights would blow!  I think we solved that little issue by hooking the lights up to our pool pump outlet!

Mail out time!

Just thought I'd chime in here to display a little 'ol teaser for the holiday greeting I'm sending out! I have them all packaged up and ready to go in the mail tomorrow. So for those of you on my snail-mail list, look out for it in your mailboxes in the next week or so.

I'm anxious for Christmas early this year (only 22 days left!) and I'm going to head out shopping again tomorrow... always trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone!

Nothing else new these days... I have a few custom orders I have to make in the next week and then I think I'm going to take a break from the torch for a little while before the holidays, and start fresh in the new year prepping for the March Oasis show!

Be back soon though, no worries.

Holiday Gift!

Today, I'm starting to put together special little gift packages for all of my customers! Email me if you want to be added to my mailing list to receive this holiday gift!


Nothing else too terribly new and exciting going on here. Just making beads for the beadFX Lampworker's Trunk Show on November 28th! (See my website for details).

Hope the weather isn't too chilly where you are... although do I dare mention that there is only 38 days until Christmas?! I guess I better start my shopping!

Bye for now, be back soon.

To the Capital

I'm just packing up, getting ready to head off to the country's capital for the Ottawa Glass Bead Artist's Show! There's an astounding amount of talent that will be there so if you're in the area, you won't want to miss it! It's amazing that we all use the same medium, the same tools, etc and all of our work is so unique and entirely different from one another! It's all in the imagination of the artist!

Hope to see you there! It's free admission too! :)

What do you do with the beads you buy?

Happy November!
Please take a second to vote in the poll on the right-hand side of the screen. Please feel free to post comments here as well, explaining your reasoning (or defending your habit of buying hundreds of beads and doing nothing with them!) I know we ALL do that, we have projects in mind and we never seem to get to them! :)

Live From The Show

Brought to you by my indigent camera feature on my blackberry, LIVE from the Toronto Bead Society Show on Halloween!


P.S. I'm quite annoyed that I didn't manage to get a photo of myself with the other "witch" lampworkers. Aw well, there's always next year. BUT, I did get quite a few compliments on my partial costume! :)

Thanks to all who came out for Day #1! Back again tomorrow!

I've been featured!

Just wanted to pop in here for a few minutes to let you all know that I've been featured on the OGBA (Ottawa Glass Bead Artists) blog in preparation for the 2nd annual OGBA Show and Sale coming up next weekend! Click here to read the feature.

You will also see my work included on the OGBA Show postcard advertisement, which will be available for you at this weekend's Toronto Bead Society Show. If you can't attend the TBS show this weekend, but you'd like a postcard with all of the OGBA Show info, please just email me your mailing address and I'd be happy to send you one.


Well, I better get back to packing up for this weekend's show. It's in the CNIB Building on Bayview in Toronto this year. The show runs tomorrow October 31st 10 - 5 (you can shop for beads all day and still have enough time to get the kids ready for trick-or-treating after the show) and Sunday 11 - 5. Hope you all can make it!

Be back soon.

Stuffed!

Two turkey dinners, two nights in a row... left over turkey sandwiches and still looking forward to homemade turkey soup ~ but I'm stuffed! It was a great family gathering of 39 people, although we were still missing a good bunch of people that couldn't make it from out of town or had other dinner commitments.

42 pounds of turkey, 36 pounds of mashed potatoes (and I'm not sure who peeled and cut them all up but one of the aunts deserves a ribbon!) 8 homemade pies; apple crumble and pumpkin of course, homemade carrot cake with whipped cream AND vanilla ice cream! Sheesh...
lots to be thankful for!






Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends! Back to business tomorrow, after a long lazy-dazy day today (because we all know that turkey makes you tired?) Click here... A Myth apparently?

Either way, it's definitely worth it! Yummmm!

Be back soon with more beady-type news.

Handmade Halloween Hits!

Just thought I'd share some of my favourite handmade
Halloween finds on Etsy!





Be back soon.

Ah Crap!

Just did a number on my diamond bit bead cleaner! Lucky I didn't lose a finger or an eyeball when the poor little bead went flying! Good news: the bead survived!


On a more cheerful note, a sneak peek at the Colour Contest bead ... nice colour palette Mary!

Another Success

Another show done... and it was another success! Thanks to all of you that came out to the show (even though it was pouring rain pretty much all day!) As expected, there were a lot of new faces and new contacts as well as familiar customers that attend all the bead shows in the Toronto area!

It was a nice venue with more than enough volunteers that did a wonderful job making sure the vendors' tummies were full of food and Tim Horton's coffee! :) They were all wonderful! I also donated one of my "Fairy Pod Pendants" to the silent auction, where the proceeds went to the Grand River Gallery. Congrats to the winner... if you're out there reading this! :)

I now have a couple of custom orders to make, so I'll get started on those first thing tomorrow! ...as well as Mary's bead, as winner of the Colour Contest! (see previous posts!)

Back at the torch tomorrow, right now I have to put all my show stuff away, until the end of the month for the Toronto Bead Society show!

Enjoy this crisp autumn air (if the rain holds up!)

Be back soon!

All Done

Now these babies are all cleaned and priced...
and ready for a home! :)
All packed up for the weekend too!
See you all at the show!

...And the WINNER is?

Thanks to those of you that commented here on my blog and on facebook... the overwhelming consensus is that this season's hottest colour is PURPLE with accents of teal and gray! Sounds really nice!

However, the winner of the Colour Contest is.....



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MARY MEREDITH of Georgetown, ON. and her fave colours are a mix of carnelian orange, pale turquoise and accents of bronze/brown ... perfect for autumn! Congrats Mary! Please email me your address and I will send you your bead! (I'll make it this weekend and post pics early next week so you all can see what I came up with!)


Furthermore, I cleaned about half of the beads I made yesterday... the others will have to wait until tomorrow! But these babies are strung and ready for their price tags!



I'll be busy the next few days with last minute stuff to do for my show this weekend in Guelph! If you're in the area, I hope you'll come check it out! Click here for more info on the show!

Be back next week!

To clean or not to clean?

Of course I have to clean them! All 204 of them! I'll get started on that tomorrow, right now my wrist is so sore from some of them being stubborn while taking them off the mandrels! Sheesh...

Made lots of spacer beads in purples, teals and some gray too! Apparently this season's hottest shades!

Be back again tomorrow with the winner of the Colour Contest! Keep the comments coming people!
(See previous post).

Ciao.

Colour Contest!

Ok, so I'm trying to broaden my colour palette while working on new beads in the studio today and I am struggling with what this season's hottest colours are! Some years the teals, blues and greens are my best sellers, other times it's yellows and golds, and sometimes it's classic black and white!


Let's play a little game, shall we?
Comment on this blog post or on my facebook fan page of what your current favourite colour is (what colours you'd like in a bead right now!) ... and on Tuesday September 29th I will gather all of the people's names/comments and one lucky winner will be randomly drawn to win a free lampwork bead (handmade by myself of course!) in their particular favourite colour(s)!

Spark my colour creativity! ;)

Good luck to all!

Grand River = Grand Beads

Just wanted to chime here for a few minutes to spread the word about my next show coming up (really soon actually!)...

I'll be selling at the Grand River Bead Society Show and Sale on October 3rd, in Guelph, Ontario. Check out my show page on my website for more info here, or my facebook fan page! It's my first time doing this particular show (but it's no new show, that's for sure) so I'm excited about it! I'm anxious to meet even more fun beady people out in that way of the province! (But I still love my Toronto bead pals too!)



Furthermore, that little birdie I mentioned in my last post flew back around here and told me that the next Lampworker's Trunk Show at beadFX will be November 28th, 10-5. I have a few more shows in the meantime to prep for, so I should get my butt back in the studio (after dinner!) hee hee

Talk soon.

A Fresh Start... Again!

Thanks to all who came out to the Canadian Bead Oasis Show on the weekend! Always nice to see many of the same faces with new inspirations, and to meet new people and inspire!
As usual, coming home from a three day show (four days including set up time) always takes a toll on me, poops me out! It doesn't end after tear-down either... my studio always looks as if it was hit by a hurricane after a show. The mess from last minute projects before the show and then the boxes of "stuff" everywhere from the show, leaving a mere pathway from the door to the torch.

Well, I spent literally ALL day yesterday, not only cleaning... but actually organizing too! I'm proud of myself, a studio clean-up was a long time coming and it's completely done and ready for me to start fresh again, (with the exception of a good vacuum job, I'll get to that later today!)




Notice the time on the clock?
It was indeed a full day and night of cleaning!



Cleaned and re-dipped a good amount of mandrels...
ready to start at the torch again!



Ready to experiment with some new glass colours!



Do you think maybe I put too many books on the shelf?
It appears to be struggling :)



...still have to do a few "book work" things from the show (and I wanna get in that episode of Survivor on my DVR before Thursday night comes around again and I get behind!)

Be back soon.
Thanks for chiming in.

Ciao.

P.S. A little birdie told me that there is another beadFX Lampwork Trunk show in the planning, so look out for news about that coming up!

Upcoming Show

It's been a really busy summer for me, and it has now come to an end... and I get to look forward to an even busier fall! Take a look at my show line up for the season on my website.

I've been busy in the studio creating new beads for the upcoming Bead Oasis show in Toronto next weekend! Also, I'll be displaying (and selling!) some beautiful glass art pieces hand painted by my good friend Emma Genovese, also from Burlington.

Check out her website: http://missemmadesigns.webs.com/

Hope to see all of you there!
:)

New (2nd) Etsy Shop!

Check out my NEW Etsy Shop ... here you'll find my photograpy art prints! I'll continue to list new items!

Etsy Buy Handmade airwynnimages

Some of my favourite things

Just thought I'd share... perhaps some of these things will spark your fancy as well? :)

Etsy Buy Handmade airwynnglass

I'm baaacck!!

I'm back from the cottage, relaxed and full of new ideas. I was inspired by a magnificent sunrise that I woke up for at 5:30am one morning! The colours fading into each other, the mottled appearance, the rolling orange-coloured fog along the surface of the lake... it was gorgeous! I think I just might make it a tradition of mine to get up that early at least once while up there on Manitoulin Island!





















I'll be back with some new beads on Etsy in the next few weeks.
Thanks for stopping by.

~Erin

Vacation Note

Hi all,
I just wanted to let you all know that I'll be away on vacation for one week, leaving tomorrow afternoon and returning on Sunday August 2nd. I'm going up to Manitoulin Island to the cottage! Cell phone reception is "iffy" where I am and internet access is a "no-go"! So of course, I won't have access to my email while I'm away so any inquires or purchase requests from the first-come-first-serve sale here on my blog will be answered as soon as I get back! If you see that one of the beads on my blog are not yet SOLD then still feel free to email me letting me know that you want it and the first email that came in will get it! You'll just have to be patient and wait to find out if you were the first to email, until I get back! Sorry, but I hope you find the beads are worth the wait! My favourite is the Starry Night focal, which took me a few weeks to decide if I wanted to let it go or not, hee hee!

All custom orders have been shipped today, so look for them in the mail in the next couple of days! All Etsy orders placed while I'm away will be made and shipped the first week when I return.

I best get back to laundry and packing, etc...
Wish me good weather please!! :)
Be back soon.

Getting Through This

Once again, I find myself apologizing for my long silence on here. It's been a whirlwind last few weeks for me actually. Some of you may know, but on June 30th, I lost my beloved dog Kita. He was nearly 14 years old, which is outright unusual for a pure bred German Shepherd. Losing a loving companion is never easy, but this hit me particularly hard as it was mine and my family's decision to let him go ... he was in too much pain and we feared that his quality of life was no longer acceptable. I keep telling myself that we did the right thing, and that it was a decision made out of love and loyalty, but feelings of guilt and remorse still keep coming back to me. I think it will take a long time before those feelings subside. But I don't really want to talk about it anymore right now...



Needless to say I haven't been in the studio much lately. I've also been preoccupied and a wee-bit overwhelmed with all this paperwork and legal stuff with buying our house! Although, I'm thinking it's almost over and to the point where we can sit back and watch our house being built... 8 months before we move in, yay! (sheesh that's a long time to wait!)

BUT, as promised eons ago, here are a few first-come-first-serve beads for you! As last time, be the first to send me an email at erin@airwynnglass.com letting me know which one you want by including the assigned code in the subject box. If you want, you can email me directly from my contact page on my website www.airwynnglass.com. I can send you a PayPal invoice or I also accept Visa and Mastercard. You can include your card info (in two separate emails for your own security!) or I can call you for your card info if you prefer.

First up, a "Starry Night" sort of Van Gogh inspired bead, with beautiful swirls of blue, teal and purple! Measures 51mm long, 14mm thick. Price = $32.00 Code: focal05



No. 2 is a cute little round pendant, classic black and white polka-dot design, complete with a silver bail loop, ready to hang on a chain and go! Approx. 20mm round. Price: $25.00 Code: focal06



Next, a whimsical trio I like to call "Thai Martini", a very muted lilac purple striped with a pale mint green. Rounds measure 16mm. Price: $27.00 Code: set07
SOLD - Thank you.



A beautiful pink and almond coloured flat tab focal bead with swirls of bright blue/teal dichroic sparkle! I call this "Painted Desert", or should I say "dessert"!? Yum! Measures approx. 50mm tall by 31mm wide and 14mm thick. Price: $45.00 Code: focal08
SOLD - Thank you.



and last up today... a striking barrel-shaped focal bead with olive green, antiqued ivory and hints of royal purple dichro! Measures 61mm tall by 15mm wide. Price: $34.00 Code: focal09
SOLD - Thank you.



Before I go, I also just wanted to let you all know that I just listed some new items in my Etsy shop. They are beautiful hand-dyed silk chiffon ribbons that would make a perfect quick and easy necklace by slipping a pendant on it and tying a cute bow! Check 'em out.



I'm off to make beads in the studio now... I gotta start thinking about Fall stock for all my shows too! Yikes!

Talk to you all later (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Ciao.

Oops!

Has it really been nearly TWO months since I last came on here? Oops! Sorry guys. Things have been so unbelievably hectic for me... my fiance and I are in the process of buying our first home! Between appointments with the home builder, the banks, the lawyer, our agent (my ever-so-helpful aunt!) things have just seemed to come together so quickly, yet the paperwork has not come to an end yet! As exciting as it all is.... I WILL be glad when all this stuff is over and then we sit back and watch our home being built! I AM super excited to go to the decor centre and pick out all of our options like hardwood floors, tile, cabinetry, carpet, etc!

With all this, I still have a few custom orders I need to get out... and THEN I will be listing more beads for sale on my blog here! Sheesh... taking photos of beads, pricing, and listing them takes more time than I thought. How long have I been doing this again? You'd think I would know by now, but I always underestimate time.

Speaking of underestimating time... I should get down to the studio to get started on some stuff before my day gets away from me!

Be back soon!

Up for Grabs!

As some of you may know, beadFX is running a "first-come-first-serve" style sale of handmade lampwork beads (mine of which are included) and I personally love the idea, so.... I'll offer some of my beads up for grabs on my own blog!

Below is a list of some of my personal favourites (am I allowed to say that of my own work? yeah!) If you want it, be the first to send me an email at erin@airwynnglass.com letting me know which one you want by including the assigned code in the subject box. If you want, you can email me directly from my contact page on my website www.airwynnglass.com. I can send you a PayPal invoice or I also accept Visa and Mastercard. You can include your card info (in two separate emails for your own security!) or I can call you for your card info if you prefer.

Enjoy!

First up, a really cool dichroic focal bead with loads of sparkle and depth! Measures 35mm round, 14mm thick. Price = $36.00 Code: focal01 SOLD - Thank you.


#2 - A long, smooth tapered barrel shape focal with a whimsical pattern in a really neat "reactive" glass that brings out lime green, celadon with hints of ivory. The pattern reminds me of abstract dancers, or maybe even the Disney character "Flubber" :) Bead measures 66mm long, 13mm thick in the centre. Price = $32.00 Code: focal02



#3 - A soft and feminine floral focal bead with raised purple and coral-coloured flowers, complete with wispy whirling vines on the base of the bead. Measures 43mm along the hole, 15mm wide. Price = $32.00 Code: focal03 SOLD - Thank you.



#4 - A bright and bold floral focal, chartreuse yellow/lime and dark teal. Complete with authentic cubic zirconias hiding in a couple of the flowers! Measures 51mm along the hole, 15mm thick. Price = $32.00 Code: focal04
SOLD - Thank you.



#5 - A sunny set of three spherical beads, shaped completely by hand. I call these ones "Fiesta" :) Measure 16mm round. Set of 3. Price = $27.00 Code: set05



#6 - A set of two spherical beads, shaped completely by hand. An antiqued ivory/caramel base with flashy ribbons of metallic silver/teal. A perfect combo of ancient and modern! Measure 16mm round. Set of 2. Price = $18.00 Code: set06



That's all for now, more later! I'll mark each item with "SOLD" as soon as possible after receiving the email.

Please note that shipping is extra, depending upon your location.