Cloud Beads

Hi, Hope you had a Wonderful Day.....Ginny Sycuro,

Cloud beads were the order of the day. Strange beads for me to make on a very cloudless day, but I had an order to fill and I am always happy to fill orders from my website! ( www.ginnydesignstudio.com)  I hopped up at a very early time (for me) 7:00 AM, and had a quick breakfast, then out to water the new plants that had survived the hungry deer and elk (they aren't hungry any more!) and then into the studio to make my cloud beads. I managed to snap a couple of quick photos of my progress as I made them to give you a visual of how they are made. These photos will give you a good idea of the mess that I work in, and a good idea of how the beads are made. First of all, the Moretti Glass, glass that is Italian (also known as Efettre, Morano, or, Italian Glass), is kept separated from any other type of glass. This to prevent me from accidentally  mixing glass types that are not compatable with each other. As I keep no less than 4 different kinds of glass in my studio it is important to keep them clearly labeled and separate from each other.

One reason my studio always looks so messy is that I am forever trying to use up scraps of glass. I use almost everything there is to the last scrap. Next week, I will enlist an unsuspecting friend to photograph some of my methods to use every last scrap. If you are a bead maker you will appreciate some of these methods as they will save you some money. Some of these methods will save you some time, all are guaranteed to save you glass! Glass is really expensive, and I suspect that making it is pretty tough on the environment (historically forests were de-forested to produce charcoal to produce glass) and mining produces the minerals that go into the glass, so being less wasteful and environmentally conscious should be a goal for all glass workers. Not to mention saving some money!

I use Thompson Enamels, mostly because these people are really nice, and they answer all of my questions whenever I have any! Their products are great, enamel colors are always consistent and clear-bright and pretty. Working with enamels is fun, and requires a little practice. I recommend getting a starter pack of an assortment of colors to play with. That way  you can get the feel of what the enamels can do and see if they are going to fit your expectations. I used to wear a paper face mask, and had my students were them as well, when working with enamels, as per all of the instructions I had read. Then I was politely pulled aside by a wonderful student who is a research lung doctor at NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) who told me the particles are too heavy to be of much danger and the paper masks were probably of no help anyway if there were any dangers.... please be your own judge do your own research, your health is your responsibility.

I slowly and carefully pour small amounts of enamels onto a graphite pad on small puddles. Then I spread the puddles out using a razor blade instrument (I make these by putting a single edged razor blade onto an old tool handle) and roll the hot bead onto the enamels.  At first you may feel you need 3-4 hands to do this, you will eventually develop a system so that you can actually do it with two hands! Prepare the enamels BEFORE you start making your beads! 

You may notice that my cloud beads are large, I wouldn't make large beads with enamels at first. Start small, then gradually go larger. You will find that it is easier to experience thermal shock with enamels than with many other methods because of the rolling and constant in and out of the flame nature of enamels. 

Now I have to clean some beads, get them ready to ship them out to some of my wonderful customers, and get some rest. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? 

Designing Coasters With Lazertran

Lazertran waterslide transfer paper (www.lazertran.com) allows you to make your own decals! This is what this grand idea is for the coasters that Carole and I have. We are going to print out several different trial pictures and then transfer them onto the tiles that have been collecting dust in my shed for several years. Once we have completed the trials we will decide on the right combination of tile/photo/finish/etc. then we will embark on finishing the project. It is so much more tempting to go out and buy all the stuff to complete a whole project and print all the stuff and then find out that it doesn't work. The best way to embark on a new project is to samples, weed out the disasters, and then pick the best results (if there are good ones, if not-back to the drawing board) and go from there. For me, an hour drive from the nearest craft/art store it is tempting to buy up everything in advance it is still best to get just the bare essentials and pick up more later. Or buy what I think I will use and if I don't open up the packages return the extras-but I really hate to do returns.

Lazertran stuff is expensive, so I will make small samples. Small samples are still cheaper than making ugly large non-samples. Keep that in mind when you are doing any new projects. I have boxes of samples that I have made for all kinds of art. Always label what you did when you made your samples, and always keep them. You will be surprised when years later you open a box and you can't remember how or what you did to make that gadget and you decide to recreate it. Then you have to go through the agony of recreating all of the  experiments all over again. That is why a lot of artists keep really good diaries as well as really good samples. Think like a scientist, document everything, then you can recreate anything.

Piecrust and Coasters

OK, Yesterday was a physical challenge. Today is recovery day (physical) and payback. As it is Sunday, I am using the day to prepare for the weeks creative endeavors, preparing some of the supplies and meetings of artists and meetings of minds, as well as a few other personal preps. It is a pretty autumn day so it is a perfect day to do some mental prep for the coming changes of season and the shortening of the days. 

I took a short walk up hill to bring a deserving neighbor a home-made peach pie. Is pie baking an art? Lora Hott, an old friend of mine in Virginia Beach, Virginia, once scolded me years ago when I made a pie that had messy untrimmed edges. She asked why I put so much effort in making delicious pies (peeling fresh fruit, getting the best ingredients, going through all the effort of making a good pie) and making an ugly crust? Her point, it is in the small details that we see the beauty of things. The Shaker societies saw this, and certainly computer programmers can understand this, as well as Haiku writers! 

Carole (wonderful neighbor) and I are embarking on a little art project this week. We are also using up some of my junk. I have a lot of old tiles laying around here (kitchen, bathroom and hallway project extras, does this woman ever throw anything out?), pieces of cork left over from a map project Jesse (my son) made about 10 years ago that I couldn't throw away (it was just too useful looking) and some glass (that is new) and Carole will be donating wood pieces that come from Ray's workshop (I think woodworkers always save little precious treasure of pieces of wood that they will use someday) and Ray's labor (he doesn't know about this part yet) we will tell him later when we get to that part. Long story made short, on Wednesday we are experimenting with Lazertran Inkjet decal waterslide paper. This is cool new stuff and I, of course, bought the whole professional packet about 6 months ago and have never opened it. When Carole came back from Africa a couple of months ago (Ray and Carole's son is in the Peace Corp in Namibia) with awesome photographs she realized she just had to do something fabulous with them, hence our coaster project.  We will print, then transfer her photographs onto tiles, back them with cork, then have Ray make awesome coaster holders out of wood for them and she will have really great Christmas presents for her family ( I will have some too). One project down. One thousand more to go. And I have a great idea for the birch bark...maybe I can start on that this week as well......

Another Kind of Design

Garden design was the art of the day.  Fred and I had to do some work on the front of the house, to create a new driveway to allow an easier way for my mom to get in and out of the house so we simply removed half of a mountain and added a driveway then we added a double row of used railroad ties and back filled with some mulch and good top soil. So how does this work with the philosophy that I wrote about yesterday? Really well. I found the mulch by reading my local newspaper, the Canyon Courier, and noted that they give away mulch when they shred unwanted trees, you just have to wait until they have a job in your neighborhood  (I only waited 2 days), the used railroad ties were free from a friend who was having them replaced and they were going to be thrown away, and the mountain was removed professionally because I don't own any heavy equipment!

Some of what I had to do cost me a lot of money, but that is the nature of the game. This was a big job, a long driveway (over 200 feet) and to make it accessible for a 95 year old person means wide (think ambulance width) and flat. Permits, all that stuff. To make it attractive cost a lot less. By using recycled railroad ties, recycled rebar, free mulch,  and a little creativity it will look awesome! When we had the driveway dug out Fred dug up a lot of the small pine trees, today he replanted them. I am dividing a lot of my old plants and transplanting them, one of the most time honored gardener's ways of making a wonderful garden. The other way is dividing and sharing plants-which is what I want to do next. I really need some hen's and chicks... hint, hint! Now to take our tired bodies to bed and to much needed rest!

A Little and A Lot

For a designer of jewelry to create, it is always about the little details. For the bead maker in me it is about the excess! For the artist in me it is about everything! For those of you who know me I am all about the details, sometimes, actually all of the time, I can't see the forest for the trees. There is usually so much stuff around here that I can't get much done, I have to have it all out all of the time, out to visually assault me and remind me of what I want to do with it. 

An example: at least 10 years ago (I am lying to myself, it has to be more like 20 years ago) I collected some awesome bark from some downed birch trees in upstate N.Y. My friends Mary and Rick Bright have this great place on Schroon Lake and they let me strip the bark off of their fire wood one summer. Well, this stuff has been moved from N.Y to Colorado and many places in-between because I just couldn't bear to part with it. It must have some use, right? Well, it was in boxes so I forgot about it. Awesome, patient, husband Fred finally said, "Gin can we finally throw this garbage out?".....I replied, just wait, put it in the studio and I will think about it.

Anyway, as you know very well the stock market is tumbling, prices of gas are through the roof and now you are wondering if I need some new medication or something to help me focus! Well, it does all come together. Most of my friends are artists, and most of us suffer from the same disease called MAD (Multiple Artist's Disorder), the symptoms of MAD are that we collect cool things and fill our homes and caves with all kinds of stuff that may have some kind of art use some day. Like my birch bark. 

My goal is to use up a lot of this stuff and to tell you about it. Then to have you tell me about your stuff. We will inspire each other-and not spend a lot of money making our art. I have a studio full of beautiful glass (because I am mostly a glass artist), glass casting stuff (because I always wanted to do more glass casting), jewelry making stuff (mostly silver) and assorted stones (nothing like fine diamonds, but some interesting dinosaur bones and such, and I like to use scrabble tiles and odd stuff from the FIRST depression...)I live in an interesting state with some interesting dinosaur and stone hunting places, where you live may be near a mine, or an urban place with some neat junk someone else can use...

One more thing. Please be nice. I think the world is an awesome place and that there are some wonderful people in it. I would like to hear more about the good things. I will be blogging about some great things/people and charities I know about. I am a very lucky person, I live in beautiful Evergreen, Colorado, my 95 year old (artist/painter)mother lives with my husband and me, I have a great son and daughter in law who live in Washington State (Jesse is an engineer and she is a scientist who is working on a cure for stomach cancer, way to go Laura!), and I help a couple of charities you will learn about if you want to continue to read my blog.

Coming soon, making jewelry for the wild animal sanctuary!