Seahorse Tutorial Results

The sweet seahorse Doris made!

I'm always so excited to see the results when someone uses a tutorial that I wrote. Doris Stumpf makes a lot of wonderful sculptural beads- whimsical little people and such. I was pretty excited when she decided to splurge on my seahorse tutorial a few days ago- she made a wonderful seahorse and even wrote a blog about it! Thanks so much for sharing this, Doris!

And, if anyone should have a yen to try this tut themselves, you can buy it right here- I think it's actually a pretty good bargain. Lots of information, and it even tells you how to make the seahorse with the steps two different ways around. I naturally go in a certain order, even though the other way makes a bit more sense! You can pick your favorite.

Lampwork Glass Seahorse Bead Tutorial is Finally Here!

Whew- it's been a hectic few weeks. Lots of things happening, mostly in my mind, I think!
 I was interviewed for the Soda Lime Times this month. The article just came out a couple of days ago- they did a wonderful job! It's chock full of fun information about lampwork beads, beadmakers and tools with several nice tutorials. The April issue is all about beads and the ocean, and there's a lot of eye candy, including some of my fish, mermaids, a turtle and some seahorses.

So what better time to start work on a Seahorse Tutorial? I admit I had really big plans when I started this- why not seahorses and mermaids? I started out with seahorses and realized that I'd better just take it one step at a time. Good thing too, as I barely got it done in time. OK, so I finished it a couple of days after the article, but it was close!

So what, exactly is in this tut? You are taken- with a ton of pictures- through the making of two different seahorses with two different designs in two different orders. Why? Well, I find myself naturally gravitating towards doing it in a particular order, but I don't necessarily think it's the most logical way to do things. So I do it 'my' way the first time, and the 'right' way the second time. Oh, I almost forgot- I made a wee video that shows me doing all the 'hard' parts. And only folks who get the tut have access to the video. It's not a great movie, but I do think it helps.

What's the big deal? To me, there are three things about this tutorial that make it worthwhile.
One- the tail- the way I make the tails was a revelation to me in a lot of ways- how to make the stock as well as how to curl them up.
Two- shaping the mouth- just a little tricky for such a wee part of the creature, but little details can make a big difference.
Three- basic sculptural information- for those who aren't very familiar with sculptural beads, I really tried to explain how and why I do things the way I do them.

One other thing- I had a wonderful tester for this tutorial. Lynne of Islandgirl's Insights did an excellent job of reading, testing, and making suggestions to make this tutorial better. This is the second time she has done this for me- I can't imagine anyone doing a better job. Lynne Rocks!!!!!

Under the Sea

Well, I'm just bloggin' 'cause I'm sittin' here waitin' for an answer to an online question. Wanted to show a few underwater creatures, and wonder why folks like fish, turtles, frogs, shells, starfish, mermaids and other things so much. And what other underwater creatures can I make? I did make a squid once- well, twice really, because I didn't like the first one. Anyway, here are a few of my current favs.

Seahorses and frit

Wow, blogging once a week is a lot- I'm already overdue for this one. Too many events over the past week- I barely had time to finish out the special orders from last time and get a few bracelets made for market. But now it's time to get back to it, though I generally take Sundays off from the torch, 'cause Saturday market wears me out. I finished up those seahorse earrings; she sent the pics off to a friend, and he wanted a pair for his wife. So I might as well show you a picture. They are a little bit on the bigger side...

My wonderful library bought a book I requested! It's Val Cox's "Frit Secrets" I read the whole thing yesterday- lots of technical info, so I'll have to read it a lot of times to ingest it all. After I've kept the book for a bit and am ready to return it, I'll tell the local beadmakers it's there! I'm excited to try her full raku instructions, the boro-look beads and a couple of other things that I hadn't thought of. I have an old piece of brass from my daughter's college days, and it finally dawned on me that I could use it as a marver, so it's out and ready to go.

I have to admit, I haven't been big on frit beads in the past, except for raku and a bit of iris gold. So now I've got a little bit of a window on what I might be missing. It's always fun to try out new techniques and see how they fit into my 'style'- whatever that is! I have a few frits that have been lying around for years, so I'm ready to go kinda. But I think I'll be buying a few things from Val- she talks some of them up so much that I just HAVE to try!

Ok, I'll see if I have the energy to try a few things out today!

I actually won!

I actually won a contest! This is nothing short of a miracle. Of course, you can't win without entering, and I rarely enter contests, so.... Anyway it is a monthly contest put on by Artistry in Glass here: http://www.artistryinglass.on.ca/

It's a $75 gift certificate for my favorite thing- glass! And they have a GREAT selection of glass, so I'm pretty excited. I may even decide to treat myself to a tool!

I can't remember what pictures I sent them, but one of the seahorses was the winner, so here's a picture of my newest one. The pics of all the entrants will be up in their gallery soon.