Quick Kiln Tour.....

Lots to do, but wanted to share the most recent firing.  I've been busy trying to catch up with the time that I've missed... 

... also starting to think "jewelry making" again ;o)

Thank so much for taking an interest in my blog......

MaryAnn

NEW FIRING and Summer SALE!!

Here's a quick pic of what just came out of the kiln.  I just had my sister and 3 nieces here for 5 days.  We had a little marathon glazing.  I'm not sure it was a marathon, but my body and brain were beginning to feel like it was ;o)

My nieces (ages 8-14)  love to make jewelry when they visit and this time wanted to make their own beads to make their own jewelry with....Just like our new website 'Love My Art Jewelry'...creating handmade jewelry with all handmade components! 

Also...I am going to start selling special orders through my own website Artisan Beads Plus along with handmade jewelry.  My very talented son is going to be creating the pendants which I will be glazing.  He will then turn them into simple, but very cool necklace designs.

Hopefully, I will have a little shop up and running soon.  I'm going to offer some favorites with a variety of colors to choose from.  Orders will take 2-3 weeks to depending on my inventory.  I'll post more when it is up and running.  In the meantime, if you are a jewelry designer and you use my beads, send me some pics.  I'd love to add them to my designer gallery. 

~Check out the website for some very cool designs from some incredible designers~

Got the Blues...

In the kiln, that is!  I think I will be repeating myself (I'm 50...so it's okay) when I say that I've been very busy working on a new group website called Love My Art Jewelry.  It's taken time away from blogging, but I think it will be worth it!  Stay tuned for the LMAJ blog that will be accompanying the website soon!  In the meantime, I went with a blue theme in this group.  Everyone seems to love blue...including me :O)

Some New Things to Ponder...

I've been so busy doing the beginning stages of our new "Art Jewelry/Components" website called LoveMyArtJewelry.  If anyone has had the experience of building one, you know how time consuming it can be.  It's worth checking out.  We're making plans for give aways, guest designer pages and more.  Stay tuned....

Just a quick indoor pic of my latest beads.  We just got home from Binghamton.  Bill and I went to MaryAnne's Studio (another MaryAnne) to get free bricks for Bill's Woodfire Kiln.  Came home to a cooled kiln....made a few buttons....Can't do tons of beads when I make buttons.  They often take up the space of two on my bead trees.  Also...not sure about this picture since I took in a cake pan.  Well....I wasn't in the cake pan.  The beads were ;o)  You might want to break out the sunglasses...

A BI-WEEK PEEK

Just a quick peek at what I have been sitting here patiently waiting to cool off. 

The top half are custom orders and the low will be listed over the next few days....

...More ready to be glazed and hopefully, another firing tomorrow.

I WAS A CHUBBY LITTLE GIRL...

whose favorite times were when my father used to take my sister Colleen and me to the Cigar Store ...(Hard to believe, I know) to get $1.00 worth of candy.  Back in the 60's and early 70's that meant 100 PIECES...Ye Ha!  It was like ectasy for the hour that I had alone with my "wax lips" and candy cigaretters (yes, I did say candy cigarettes ;o) before my dollars worth was all gone and I had to start sneaking into my sister's room to steal hers....Sorry Col!

 Where is this going...My kiln!  It's even better than $1.00's worth of candy and calorie free!

Rolled Out of Bed...Grabbed the Camera...

I forgot that I even took these yesterday at 6 am.  When I know that I have a kiln full of goodies waiting for me I can't go back to sleep once I wake up.  This is the most recent firing.  I just came across these pics while taking individual pics for my Etsy listings and for the beads-of clay website (Of which I am VERY psyched to be a part of).  The second pic is once the shelf was removed.  One of these days, I am going to make some new bead trees that stand up nice and straight....For now....these work!! Don't forget to check out yesterday's blog for my give away!!

Happy Heat

Another Happy Firing. I'm pretty tired after a marathon glazing on Saturday. I don't usually do that, but had an urge to get them all done and ready to be fired on Sunday. These will be gradually posted in my Etsy shop. Since I work full time besides making beads, my postings aren't done quickly. If you're interested in anything that you see here, feel free to convo me for more pics and or inquiries. Happy Beading!!! Mary Ann

A New Baby and My latest Firing..

Here's what just came out of the kiln.....One was my little doll kiln and the other straight from her Mommy's kiln ;o) It's so exciting when I come home from work and open the lid......What's even more exciting is our latest addition, Chloe Vaughn......Our new granddaughter weighed 7.0 lbs. even.....Now we have two little ones to spoil and hopefully, encourage to be bead or jewelry makers one day!!!

Hot Hot Hot

This is my little electric kiln. The other pic is an inside shot of Bill's woodfire kiln. Those were the turquoise beads that were grabbed shortly after listing them on Etsy. They were very cool. I have pics listed in an earlier post. Hopefully, we'll have another bead woodfiring in about a month or so.

For right now though I'm excited to see what this bead firing brings. I'm passing the time away before I can take them out. I'm usually happy.....

They're Glazed....

Here's a few pics of what it looks like once my beads are glazed and then put in the kiln. In this firing, I've added a couple of name signs that my nieces glazed when they were here this weekend. It's Thanksgiving and I'm passing the time away before we go out to eat. Tomorrow I should hopefully, be able to post how exciting it is to open the kiln. I LOVE it!!!