Crikey!!  It's been ages since I've posted here!  I have been quite busy with family and work, but I'm sure that's still no excuse.  I must be more diligent about posting here, altho I keep up to date for the most part through my FB page (facebook.com/JeansBeads) - - so if anyone is ever looking for me, I am usually there.
I have also been creating a lot of Youtube how-to videos and currently have videos scheduled to be released every few days to a week apart thru the end of November.  And I am currently working on more - - please check out my channel  https://www.youtube.com/user/jeannie291.
If you are at all curious on how these lovely beads and glass creations are created or if you are a current
lampworker/glass blower, you might find some of my how-to videos interesting and inspiring - - that is my goal 
at least!  😊

These guys are available through my FB page, Jean's Beads.  https://www.facebook.com/Jeans-Beads-143968095775/

Getting ready for Vegas!!

I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away already!  Been working away, but also experimenting (mostly unsuccessfully) with new glass, techniques and styles.  Needless to say, I have plenty of stock for Vegas, a bunch of new Dragon Eyes, vessels, hearts, etc., but there's still so much to do (isn't there always??)  Can't wait!
If you are in the area or planning to go already, please come by and say "Hi!".  March 26th - 30th - - Glass Craft & Bead Expo, South Point Hotel in Vegas (I will be at table D11 in the Bead Bazaar area, like usual - the exhibition floor is open Fri - Sunday, March 28th-30th).  It's a great venue for everything glass - - stained glass, mosaic glass, blown glass, lampwork glass, fused glass, cold-worked glass.  They have daily glass demos going on and there are classes available in all areas of glass as well as jewelry making, finishing, etc.  There are many glass suppliers there selling glass, equipment, tools, etc., and of course - - the amazing artists that sell ALL types of glassy things!  Come on by - it's a blast!

Keeping Busy . . .

I have been torching every day recently, keeping myself busy and doing what I love to do.  I have been working on inventory for my shows starting in early January and of course, I started with the hardest and most time-consuming pieces that I make (just to get them out of the way!).  These are my Dragon Eye pendants and they take several stages to make as well as 2-3 hours for each one.  Needless to say, I usually cannot make more than 2 per day, but sometimes I am extremely productive and make 3 or 4 (those are looooong torching days!).
I am running out of the clear and black I use for the bases of these guys, so I might have to move onto other things, at least for now - - but I have quite a few done, so I am happy (I have a few more that are not in this picture, too!)  :)

Tis the Season . . .

to get busy!!  YAY!
Been working on production pieces for my upcoming shows starting in early January, but got sidetracked with some orders (always welcome, especially this time of year!) and also was playing around with some boro tubing and making some ornaments for the holiday.
I have been taking a boro class at the Mesa Art Center here trying to learn a few things, mostly about tubing and blowing, which I don't have a lot of experience with (yet!), altho I do know the basic concepts.  It's nice to be able to work on tanked oxygen and really rage my torch.  I am limited at home by the oxy-con's pressure so I cannot go as big or as fast as the tanked oxygen.  It was still much fun making these ornaments at home, tho, and gave me a lot of experience with tubing, blowing and shaping.  These above are just a few of the many (probably over 30) ornaments I made.

Now, back to my production . . .

Not the Greatest Day . . . {{sigh}}

Well, yep - - at my title explains, I didn't have the greatest day today.   Tried doing a special, custom Dragon Eye for someone and it didn't quite work out.
I had high hopes, too, since the first eye I created for this year's shows turned out pretty dang good . . . (above picture).
So . . . I was confident and ready to go.  But, alas, the universe didn't feel the way I did.  My first DE cracked right at the end of an excruciating 2 hours at the torch.  Not to be deterred, I took a break and then tried again.  The second one came out alright, it's a keeper, but it didn't look "superb", which is what I really wanted the eye to be.  Oh well.  There is always tomorrow. . .

Production Season Begins . . .

Woohoo!  It's finally getting a little cooler here in AZ, so now is the time I start working my butt off in production for upcoming shows.
But, I haven't been just slacking here.  I have been torching almost daily, but not for full production days and not for specific pieces, mostly just making whatever comes to mind at the time, which is nice.
I have also updated my webpage with upcoming shows for 2014, and I also added a tutorial page which lists all my current YouTube tutorials with links to each one.  Here's a link to that specific page . . .
http://www.jeansbeads.com/tipstutorials.htm

I have started production for the 2014 year already, and decided to start with my most time-consuming and challenging pieces, my Dragon Eye pendants.  These are what the final pendants look like, in case you haven't seen them before.  They are large pendants, averaging about 2.5" long.

I make these pendants in a variety of background colors and with various eye colors, too.  I have been working on the eyes recently, which are made first and then later embedded in the pendants.  I am trying some new swirled and varied color backgrounds in some of them this year, so hopefully I will get some really unique-looking and enviable eyes this year.  Here are the eyes I have made so far . . .

Hopefully all, or at least most, of my pendants will come out well, and I hope to be posting some of the finished pendants in the coming days and weeks.  Right now, I am still focusing on the eye parts, but am hoping to start work on the pendants by this weekend.  Like I stated previously, these are very challenging and time consuming to make, so most days I can only complete one or two of these pendants, but hopefully they will be worth the wait!