March 1, 2008

Can you believe how fast this year is going? It's already March! I am working every day here in the store, and have been concentrating on advertising, re-vamping different areas of the store, implementing new systems to be more productive and organized. It's been working fairly well, thanks to a new rheumotologist putting me on Lyrica. If you have Fibromyalgia, I highly recommend looking into this. It's made a huge difference in my energy level and cut the fatigue by about 80%. Hooray!

We had a great Tucson Trunk show after we came back from Tucson with all the goodies. We also had an Open Torch the same day and had a lot of fun with all the local beadmakers. 

Now I am back on track and making new beads. I had 2 days this week where I hated everything I pulled out of the kiln. I know.. "Mama said there'd be days like this... " So I am going back at it and I'm going to concentrate on florals for a couple days. We will see what I can create that way.

January 27, 2008

Can't believe how the month is flying by!!! Right now we're hosting a Brent Graber workshop and so I'm all over the place. I can't wait to go back to the torch, I took the Thursday and Friday workshop and it's hard not to jump on a torch. I could just picture myself throwing one of these nice people to the floor just so I could torch. Ya, like that would ever happen. What do you think, am I ready for boro? I had a blast but I won't sell all my soft glass. I will be getting lots more boro though.

Once everyone goes home and it settles down around here I will have  3 days to get some work done at the torch before we go to Tucson to buy beads for the shop. Yippeeeee! I am so excited to go. We have a 2 bedroom timeshare condo all set up and Brent and Corri are staying with us. It should be great fun! Some of my work is going to be at Best Bead Show that week, so if you are in Tucson, look for my stuff at the Brent Graber Booth. He'll be in one of the tents just as you enter. I may even be there!

January 9, 2008

New beads are now appearing on the site. I'm hard at work photographing the new work, and creating more. I got some real inspiration from the silvered glasses I received over Christmas, plus some new glass that I purchased.

I'm also in the process of changing my layout so you can preview the beads on one page and then click and the enlarged view window pops up.

The new work is mostly focals, although I have some new sets which will be up later this afternoon or tomorrow. Lots of silver reflective glass which seems to glow.

In between photographing and listing these for sale, I'm at the torch working on an order for a dynamic duo in California. Big shout out to Don and Mec!

January 7, 2008

Hope your new year is wonderful! Things are busy at the bead store and in the studio! We are having Brent Graber in to teach 2 workshops at the end of January, which we are really excited about. If you think you might be interested, check out the details, including great pics of his awesome work at http://www.bluefirebeads.com/pages/workshops.php

I have a ton of new beads to put up but the bead store has had me busy as a bee. I will post them asap... tomorrow! Thanks for your patience!

December 30, 2007

Can't believe it but today was my 50th birthday! I have lots of new beads to put up on the website when I get back from my New Year's Day break. Wishing you a great and prosperous New Year!

November 15, 2007

New beads going up within the week. Took down the ones that sold and they are in the gallery. I'm still building the gallery page, I'm going to use thumbnails, but it requires time and patience to re-size and put up the photos. I'm concentrating on putting up new work. Last night I had creative flashes, and sketched several new beads. Back to the torch....

October 29, 2007

My website and store have been re-vamped. All new work is being posted, and these are all one-of-a-kind beads, so they will ship within 24 hours of your order. The only exception to the rule is the Starscape series. I continue to make these as they are ordered. They are my "signature" style of bead, and I never get tired of making them.

Other than the Starscapes, I will no longer offer the beads in the Gallery... only one of a kind sets and focals.  I have enjoyed making them in the past, but have now come to understand that this type of work left me no time to create new work, and I realized that it was stifling my creativity and I wasn't moving forward! After losing my Mom this year, and with the big 5-0- looming in December, I was able to give myself permission to take this step.

Hope you like the new beads!

 Testimonials

 Blue Fire Beads site

Classes are being updated daily, so check back often!

If you're in the Chicago area, check us out, we're about 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, and we're well worth the trip! We've got every color that Swarovski makes, tons of Bali silver, individual stones and strands of semi-precious stones, gorgeous turquoise in beads and cabochons, Japanese seed beads, tools, books, findings, etc., plus great classes!

I teach lampwork in my studio at Blue Fire, here's a link to the beadmaking class information. Our studio is outfitted with 8 torches, and a great ventilation system. We rent torch time at $10 per hour and anneal your beads overnight and send them to you or you may pick them up. We also host an Open Torch night, the first Friday of each month from 3 pm - 8pm, and many of us go to Chili's afterwards for dinner and drinks. Bring your favorite tools and glass and make new friends! $10 per person covers the cost of gas and electricity to anneal the beads. Check the Blue Fire Beads website for the current schedule. We appreciate a heads up if you're planning on attending, but it's not mandatory... it's a very friendly and laid back atmosphere. 815-462-4900

So, what is lampwork?

Making glass beads is called lampworking because hundreds of years ago, artisans heated glass using oil lamps. I use a propane/oxygen torch to heat imported glass rods to over 1700F. Then I wind the molten glass onto a "mandrel", which is a stainless steel rod, and using gravity, a variety of tools, color, form and design... create a small treasure that is wearable.

The beads for sale on this website are originals.. one-of-a-kind, you get the actual bead, and it will say Sold Out after you purchase it.

Refund Policy

I don't rent the beads out, I don't refund. My work lives up to the photos. If you're the kind of person who enjoys returning things, (with all due respect) don't buy my work.