Handmade Halloween Hits!

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





Be back soon.

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

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.

Majestic Jewel

Just thought I'd chime in here for a minute to let you all know that I listed new beads in my Etsy shop http://www.airwynnglass.etsy.com

Hope you'll check 'em out!

After the Show

Hello all,
I'm back from the Oasis show and it was great! I was feeling well all weekend thank goodness. I wanted to thank those of you that came out the visit the show! Thank you for all the get-well wishes you've sent via email as well as those of you that stopped by my booth to chat, I greatly appreciate it!

For anyone who didn't get a chance to come to the show, or didn't get a chance to snag a certain bead that you might have had your eye on... I've listed some new beads available for sale in my Etsy shop! www.airwynnglass.etsy.com

On a slightly different subject... I also had quite a few questions at the show regarding the "Graphic Design" brochure I had available on my table. Many of you asked if I had a set price for logo design. The answer: No, I do not have a set price for designing an image or logo as all logo designs vary of course. I will work with you individually to discuss what you would like and I will provide you with a customized quote. I design logos, websites, brochures, posters, business cards, etc. If any of you would like me to mail you a brochure/flyer along with my business card, please just send me an email with your mailing address and I'd be more than happy to mail you information!

After every bead show, I seem to come home with a mind full of creative ideas and designs that I'm anxious to try at the torch! I'll be busy in the studio until my next show on May 2nd (Toronto Bead Society Spring Bead Fair information can be found on my website). Until then, enjoy the beginnings of Spring weather and let's all hope the snow is gone for good!

Take care everyone.

New Work in the Works!

Hi all! I just wanted to chime in here for a quick update... I wanted to let you all know that I just uploaded the last of the first (hope that makes sense) gallery page (I had only partially updated the photos on page 1). I've been really busy at the torch these last couple of weeks, working on some new techniques and new (or just different) styles than what you've seen from me in the past. I'm excited to debut them on a sixth gallery page soon enough, but none will be offered for sale on Etsy, eBay or otherwise until after the Canadian Bead Oasis Show in late March. If you're planning on coming to the show, take a peak at my new gallery pages in the next coming weeks, take a visual note of the beads you like and hurry into the show first thing on Friday morning to snag the ones you want ... many of my new beads will not be able to be closely reproduced due to some new reactive colours of glass I've been working with! You'll see what I mean when you take a look at my site! They have wonderful variations, changing colour hues, oilslick shimmer and dichroic sparkle! I will not be taking any custom orders from now until after the show, so hopefully you can make it out to see the beads in person!

I'm excited to announce that I am now a "MAC-User", well sort of. I'm getting the hang of it, slow but sure. I am amazed at how different a Mac is from a PC ... but I have to say even in the last three days I have come to the realization that I love it a whole lot more (also because I have a designer-brain and it seems more convenient design and graphic-wise!) But as I said, I'm still trying to get the hang of it, so if any of you out there reading this have any useful hints, tips or tricks for me, please leave a comment to share!

I better get back to my beads (they've been asking me to take photos of them for the last few days) so I shall take photos of them! Photographing beads is always a time consuming thing to do ... and that is why my next (6th) gallery page will be up in a week or two! I'll be sending out a long-overdue newsletter to my email list in the next couple of weeks as well so if you don't want to miss that, sign up for my emailing list on the home page of my website www.airwynnglass.com and make sure to keep an eye out for something from me!

A New Beginning

Even though I'm 16 days late, it's a new year and I'm making some changes, both creatively and personally. First off, you will now see that the primary location for my blog entries is right here on blogspot. A few months ago, I posted a poll for all of my site visitors asking where they preferred to read my blog; here on blogspot or continue to post directly on my website. Well, many of you said that you preferred a more interactive blog with the ability to "heart" and subscribe to your favourite entries, comment on what's been said, visit blog-related links and so on... So here it is, the new and improved location for all of my blog updates! Hope you like it!

Bear with me folks... the gallery update on my website is in sight, it's taken me a little longer than originally expected to take photos of all the beads, and post them. I promise it will be updated soon! As for the new beads on Etsy, I've decided that I don't want to reveal any new series of beads online until after the Canadian Bead Oasis show at the end of March. If you're in the Toronto area, be sure to come visit me for first dibs on my new styles! After the show, I'll take a few days to load new beads on Etsy, available for everyone!

Just a tidbit of news to share: One of my vessel pendant beads was featured in the current issue of Flow Magazine; the 4th Annual Women In Glass issue! You'll find me on page 10, along with many other talented gals from all parts of the world! Look for me in the next issue (Spring 2009) also!


Well I think I'll wrap up today's post, save some chat for the next coming days. Feel free to comment on my posts as you wish, even if it's just to say "hey" ... just because you can! hahaha

Thanks everyone for chiming in, talk soon.

It's Over Now | Back to Business

I feel like I can breathe again ... the Christmas holiday season has always been my favourite (with Halloween being a close second) but it is indeed a stressful time of year no matter how hard you try to make it easy-going. Realizing that it's been nearly a whole month since I last posted, I'm trying to think back to what kept me so darn busy. It did however, seem that I was out shopping almost every night even though I had thought I was successful in completing my Christmas shopping early. I had several issues with the gifts I had for a few people I had bought for early, which led to numerous trips to the same stores, countless phone calls to every Home Hardware in the province and an exchange or two due to shotty manufacturing of an expensive item! Anyway, it's all over now and everything turned out very nicely! The highlight for me was watching my parents open the gift I gave to them! I had been wanting to give them this gift for the last three years or so but it just never seemed to work out. I dug out the old video camera from the basement (which has been broken for about 11 years with a half-used tape stuck inside) and I got all of the home videos transferred to DVD's! It was so great to watch old family vacations and birthday parties, forgetting we ever looked the way we did back then! Needless to say the out-of-date video camera is no longer, in order for the tape that was in there to be removed without getting damaged, but it's the memories that were on those tapes that are important! I got some pretty nice gifts as well! I got a Hydroponic Herb Garden in which I was eager to plant the pods on Christmas Day and already I'm seeing sprouts come up! It holds seven "gourmet" herbs including Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Dill and Chives. It's really neat to see them sprout up without even being in dirt! My sister got me a lovely Lennox Disney Tinkerbell to add to my collection! She sits upon a minty green coloured thread spool and she has beautiful pearlescent wings! She's wearing a crystal necklace too! Keeping with my Disney-themed collection, I got a dish set that displays original black and white sketch images of Mickey Mouse in different positions using different expressions, with artist's notes and such from 1937. It's so unique, yet it doesn't scream out loud DISNEY, it has a more subtle, mature feel to it. Jay, my fiance, got me a beautiful handmade piece that I fell in love with three years ago! It's a hand-carved, hand-blasted and hand-painted piece of glass with a wooden base. It's a beautiful flowing mermaid painted in a Monet-sorta-style using my favourite colours; teal green that fades to celadon, fades to mint green... it's stunning! It has a light behind it so it gives off a nice soft light! He also got me a really nice tri-pod for our new camera! Not only will it make it easier to take photos of my beads, it will help in taking photos outside and in the dark, with a steady surface! Both Jay and I are excited to take up photography as a hobby, snapping interesting scenes while out for a walk or simply taking more photos at home of family and friends!

Perhaps it's because of all the holiday candy and chocolates, turkey dinners and desserts, along with quick fast-food meals while shopping in the malls all month long ... I've been feeling rather "sluggish" lately with very little energy and some days if I had of allowed myself, I would of stayed in bed 'til 1pm! Even with my late nights, going to bed at 2 or 3am, sleeping in past 10:30am bothers me, leaving me with a feeling that I wasted my entire day merely because I didn't get an early start at my day. I don't know. So beginning January 2nd (after one last New Years Day turkey dinner!) Jay and I have decided to do a 30-day detox! It may end up being a 21 day detox, or it may even end up being a 14-day detox, but gawsh'darn it I am going to try my best at it! I'm not setting myself up for failure by thinking I won't succeed, I'm just being realistic ... detox systems are hard to stick to! I'm really looking forward to the fresh, energetic feeling I'm hoping I'll get from it!

Back to business: I want to thank all of you for all of the Christmas custom orders, it is greatly appreciated! Those orders that were not Christmas gifts and for those of you that said it was ok to wait until January, I will be working on your beads again starting tomorrow and hopefully have them all shipped out by the end of the weekend. Thanks for your patience! Also, I'm still working on creating new images for my gallery pages and Etsy so stay tuned for that too!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season, no matter what and how you chose to celebrate it! I'll be back in the new year with the last FREE Bead Giveaway for voting for my site! Good luck everyone and thanks for chiming in!

'Tis the season to be cheery!

Happy December! I love this time of year... to me, December means it is officially the "Christmas Holiday Season"! I'm even anxious to wrap some of the gifts I've bought already! (and it doesn't help that I seem to have this uncontrollable urge to buy Christmas wrapping paper every time I see it for fear I won't ever see that same design again!) Unlike other years, I didn't just wander around the malls aimlessly with no ideas for anyone. This year, I've been successful in buying something for at least one person every time I've been out shopping, and it feels nice to know that I won't have to trek through ridiculously irritable crowds in a mall that feels more like a sauna, feeling hopeless as I run out of shopping days before Christmas Eve! Aside from shopping, I've also been working on some new things in my studio! My first attempt at this new technique didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to, but I'll try again tomorrow!

Since it's December, it also means that it's time for another bead giveaway for all the voters out there! Congratulations to Loretta V. of Tampa Florida this month! Check out the home page to see what she's won! Thanks again to everyone that votes! Starting January 1st, I will no longer be having a Voting Giveaway Contest. I am finding that the two sites in which you vote on are experiencing technical difficulty more and more each month. It is becoming harder for me to track the votes, therefore the ranking of my site seems to go up and down drastically each and every day. By all means, you may still vote for my site if you wish ;) ... but just please know that December will be the last month for a free bead giveaway. I will be announcing the winner in early January (most likely not Januray 1st, as I will be busy with family on New Years Day). Thank you again to all those that have voted for my site day after day, I truly appreciate it! I'm sure I will have some other kind of free bead contest in the near future, I just have to think of something! haha

Well, I should get to bed so I can have an early start at the torch tomorrow! Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season (I'll be back in a week or two I'm sure but I just wanted to spread some holiday cheer tonight). Thanks for stopping by ...and remember to keep a watch out for some new beads in the gallery and on Etsy soon!

Back to normal.

Well I'm back from my shows and I'm ready to head back into the studio full-force this weekend, getting busy creating some new beads and working on some new designs and a little something else that's new for me as well! I'm still in the experimenting mode, so it'll be a little while before I can debut this new upcoming line of work. The Ottawa show was fantastic and a huge success! Congrats to Grace for organizing such a great show! I am positive that it will be expanding for next year, so look forward to that!

I hope to list some new things in my Etsy shop in the next little while as well. As for site maintenance, I'll be adding new eye-candy to my gallery! Now that things are getting back to normal, I'll be able to start taking custom orders again after this weekend as well. Those of you that are thinking of Christmas presents, you may want to get your orders in soon to ensure delivery before the holiday mayhem begins!

Nothing much else to share tonight. I'll be back again soon, hopefully with those gallery additions as promised! :)

Unbelievable!

Needless to say, my weekend was absolutely amazing!!! Sunday was indeed a dream come true. In fact, I'm going through post-concert depression right now! hahaha It will be a day that I will never forget!

Thanks to my mom and Jay for working my booth for me on the Sunday at the TBS. The show was great. Thanks to all those that came out to visit! The winner of the $25.00 gift certificate is Carol W. of Toronto. Congrats Carol, I'll be emailing you. I'll be pretty busy this week, preparing for my Ottawa show this weekend! If you're in the area, you should check it out!

Gotta cut this short tonight ... lots to do! I'll be back after the Ottawa show. After this weekend, I'm not scheduled for another show until March, so hopefully I'll be able to be present a little more often on here, adding to the gallery and adding more beads on Etsy and whatnot.

Take care.

Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon

I found out that tomorrow is the day I find out if my dreams can come true! I'm feeling rather anxious, excited and edgy all at the same time. It is something that I have wanted and dreamed about for many years and to have it feel so close yet so far, so soon ... it's all I can think about right now! It may seem silly to some, but for those that have ever had a similar dream finally become attainable...

"I've been walking around inside a haze, between the lines of reason ...feels like I'm barely breathing."

Some of you may know what I'm talking about, some of you may not. Either way, root for it to happen for me! hee hee

On the beady side of things; I've listed a few new beads on Etsy (including some really cute itty-bitty bones!) So I hope you'll check em' out! I'm almost done adding another full page of gallery photos on my website so check back soon for that update! Lastly, if you live in the Toronto area and are familiar with beadFX, you can expect to see a whole bunch of new beads in the store in the next week! I mailed off a big ol' box o' new beads today so beadFX should receive it and have them out on display by the end of the week. Some of the beads are the last of what I have left in a particular design so you won't be able to find them available for sale at my shows in the near future. Bonus: beadFX is having a great sale on almost everything in the store up until October 5th, so hurry in!

I don't have much else to blab about today. I DO have a couple loads of laundry to do though. I guess I should get on that. :( I'll be back again in a day or two... hopefully so ecstatic and delirious I've lost all control and my ability to type!

Piccadilly Pods & Dirty Martini's

Just a quick note to let you all know that I just listed some new beads on Etsy! They're fun and funky and I hope you'll check 'em out! They're the first of I don't know how many, but I do know that I'll be listing more items in my shop when I have a bit more time.., right now I'm on my way out to dinner. Over the next little while while I ponder over how to recreate my blog on it's own site right here, I'll be posting updates on both this blog and the one on my website.

I'm liking this blogspot this so far. I've been playing around with some of the features... adding gadgets and photos and links, oh my! I just wish I could somehow transfer over all my past blog entires from my website and archive them all here accordingly (anyone? Bueller? anyone?) Post a comment if you please?!

I'm starving so I gotta run... so consider this your fair warning: awesome beads coming soon to an Etsy shop near you!

Ciao for now.