New Beads for Ebay & Double Sided Cuff Links - 12/30/08

Atlantis - This is my favorite bead from the past few weeks. It has a lovely green core that glows through the transparent core. A few stripes of goldstone give a lovely accent and the clear encasing really makes this beads sparkle.
Burnt Starlight: A lovely organic bead in red roof tile with lots of silver & enamels. Dark silver plum shards on the surface.
Sapphire Jewels: A fun focal with a periwinkle base, blue "jewels" and goldstone lines. The encasing is thick and pressed into a loose gem cut facets. It's a very neat effect on the bead magnifying it at all angles.Tweed Double-Sided Cuff Links: This is the second pair of double-sided cuff links I've made as a custom order. I'll have to start adding them to my etsy shop. I'm very pleased with the way the turned out. The pieces are connected via a piece of thick silver-plated chain.

Eugene Snow of 2008

As my friends and family up North still suffer the turmoil of snow, I reflect on our brief winter wonderland. The snow was only here for a few days for us, long enough to enjoy it but short enough to not outstay its welcome.

During that time I enjoyed staying inside and avoiding everyday activities. Go to the gym? Oh no we can't possibly, look at all the snow. Go to the studio? Oh no it's 2 miles away and I can't get there by bike, car or bus in all that snow. By day three we broke down and walked for groceries, to the library and to the studio. I was sore for two days.



On Monday morning Zac lured me outside for a pleasant winter walk.On Monday morning Zac lured me outside for a pleasant winter walk.
"What's that honey you want me to come closer? Of course dear!"
"Wait, why are you reaching down to the grou...Wapt!"
A short snowball fight ensued. Of course I won and sent Zac heading for the hills:

That's right you better run!
Happy Holidays!

New Beads for Ebay! 12/2/08

Valley Sunset: Dark ivory meets cherry red in this lovely sunset. Hints of yellow and silver.
Green Maypole: A light green base with ribbons swirls of green and blue. This is a technique from Sarah Hornik. Dark silver plum shards on the surface.
Cosmic Scribbles: A rubino oro base with twisties in blues and golds. Finished with dark silver plum shards.

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sale!

Hi folks! I will be hosting a quick sale in my etsy shop:

20% off all ornaments!



Just put "Black Friday" in the comments box at check-out and I will send you a revised invoice.

This sale is valid from 12:01am PST Friday, November 28th to 12:01am Tuesday, December 2nd.

Happy Holidays!

Teague

Recycled God/Goddess Beads

Recycled Couple: Something different from me. A pair of torso beads in light olive green with silver fuming. The silver fuming really sets off the curves and muscles. These beauties were hand sculpted in the flame. Don't you just love how the silver fuming caught the male figure?

The glass comes from a wine bottle, I can make these custom from a special bottle for you. I have a few shades of green in my shop and a light blue from a Japanese soda bottle.

Rainbow Hoops: A black base bead with concentric rings in a rainbow series. Very striking. Dark silver plum shards on the surface, accenting the lines. I'll have a few more in this series up this week, bright colors in concentric rings on different shapes. They were lots of fun to make.
Red with Portal: A bright red bead with a black central portal. Blue concentric lines accented with dark silver plum webs. I think I only have one more Jen G. window bead that will go up on Thursday.

New Window Beads!

Tsunami Vision: An Amber bead featuring a Jen G. window with a tsunami motif. Dark Silver plum accents.
Oahu Wave: A lime green bead with a beautiful ocean scene. Aqua blue water, sandy beaches and spiral waves. DSP frame and twisted corners are the finishing touches.
Turbulent Planet: A wonderful bead with twists of blue, green and hints of black and yellow. Beautiful dark silver plum shards on the surface with hints of magenta and gold.

New Beads for Ebay - 11/11/08

Spirals & Shadows: An ivory base bead with silver ivory shards and blue/green spirals. Raised DSP caging finishes the look.

Gaia: Streams of blue and green pulsate under the surface of this complex bead. DSP adorns the surface in a wonderful range of magentas, golds and teals.

Atomic TV: A medium amethyst bead with a window in copper green, cranberry and copper blue raised dots. The cranberry zigzags across the surface of the bead creating a tumultuous scene.

New Beads!

Thermal Pools : A wonderful golden spotting with beautiful dark silver plum. The DSP really shines here in magenta and teal.

Caged Moon: I learned this technique from Jennifer Geldard at Glass Stock and threw my own twist on it. A silvered ivory scene with transparent gray and dark silver plum caging around the sides.

Amber Moon: A lovely amber colored bead with silver ivory shards and thin DSP shards. Very organic in style.

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In other news, my laptop is on the fritz and I may not be able to edit pictures for a little while. I managed to save all my data, but it's still acting funny. So if you don't hear from me right away, I'm working on it.

New Beads on Ebay!

A sneak preview of Tuesday's offering:



Thermal Fissures: A lovely fall medley of browns and golds with a hint of blue and silver. This bead has a very calm, organic feel.

Aqua Frames: A technique taught by Jennifer Geldard, this bead features a coral picture surround by clear aqua and accented with a dark silver plum frame edging.
Blue Spirals over Coral: A lovely coral bead with bright blue spirals and silver ivory shards. This bead has a nice contrast and simple, coordinated design.

New Product - Cabachons

A new product for me, I'll start putting this up in etsy shop tomorrow. They're fairly large cabs, most are made from one-half of my regular 1 1/4" straight-sided lentil beads. Here are a few my favorites:

Monet Landscape

Another one that I fond of, copper green, coral and ocher with swirls.

Circuit Infestation!

I'm really excited about this set. This is one of my favorite combinations of some of my favorite colors. Copper green with cranberry and dark silver plum shards. I love the extra details the reaction creates. This set is going on ebay tomorrow.

New stuff on ebay!

Hey everyone, I'm especially proud of these beads that will go on ebay Tuesday:

And here's a new ornament on etsy:

Drinking Chocolate - Hot chocolate for die-hards.

Drinking chocolate is like hot chocolate times ten. Hot chocolate is made from pressed cocoa powder whereas drinking chocolate is generally made from real chocolate, including the cocoa solids that give it richness. I've been a long time connoisseur of hot chocolate and a more recent convert to drinking chocolates. Drinking chocolates should be smooth, rich, almost like a melted chocolate bar. Here are a few of my favorite chocolate beverages:


Schokinag Drinking Chocolates-These were some of the first I sampled. The Triple Chocolate and the Extreme Dark are both very good. The Triple Chocolate would probably appeal to a broader audience, it's decadent with out being overwhelming. The Extreme Dark is just that - extreme, wonderful for someone who really loves dark chocolate but not so great for your average dinner guest. I also tried their Dulce de Leche, which isn't chocolate at all. I found it way too sweet, but I don't have much experience with the drink so it may be authentic. Overall I really enjoyed the Schokinag products but if made to the supplied recipe they're a little thin to be a true drinking chocolate.

Dagoba Hot Cocoa



This one is also a hot chocolate, but mixed correctly, with 4 tablespoons of powder and 11 whisks clockwise and then 11 whisks counter-clockwise(I'm not making this up, it's on the tin), it's delightfully decadent. Dagoba is also available at my local grocery store which gives it high marks for convenience. $8 and change is not a bad price either, I've certainly paid more and been disappointed.

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At the Eugene Celebration I recently sampled Sipping Dreams drinking chocolate. It was rich and authentic. Perfect for a cool evening. Unfortunately they don't have any retail location sand aren't selling online yet. At the Eugene Celebration they were selling it in dixie cups for $3. They also bars to melt and cute demitasse cups.

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A year or so back I discovered Chantico by Starbucks. As a non-coffee drinker and a local business supporter, I don't keep tabs on Starbucks. I knew that they didn't have hot chocolate for me and that's all I needed to know. So I heard about the Chantico after it had been discontinued. Undeterred, I found a bag on ebay and whipped it up at home. I can't vouch for my methods as authentic to theirs. I found it rich but slightly chemically. If you are interested in recreated it, I recently stumbled upon this recipe for it, which may work well to recreate it.

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In closing, I think that someone should buy these for me:



Clearly I need a personal drinking chocolate mixer...Does it also do windows? And maybe dinner?

Also this one, because sometimes I feel like sharing my drinking chocolate with my sweetie (you know after he makes it for me a presents it on a silver platter):

New things on Ebay!

I've been having a little trouble taking pictures lately, due to inclement weather. But here are some new things on ebay this week:

Caged Bloom -

This piece was fun to make. It's been a while since I worked with the petal designs and I enjoyed combining it with the dark silver plum. Sort of a steampunk meets florals.





Moss Weave-

This one is a lovely medium green achieved by layering transparent blue glass over lime green glass. The effect makes the piece glow from within. The copper green on the surface gives a nice industrial appeal.

September Last Friday Artwalk

Cookies! Thumb print cookies made a comeback this month with this recipe from Gourmet magazine. These were actually a little easier and more fool-proof than the ones from July. Although rolling three little balls and pressing each one was very time consuming. I tried to skip pressing them flat before pressing the indentation in them, but the cookies came out too puffy and dumped their jam.

We were disappointed to miss out on Rochelle who was scheduled to play in out studio, perhaps she'll come back another time.

Christmas Ornaments are here!

These were so popular last year at the holiday sale that I wanted to get a head start on them. They're really fun to make, (except for today when I cracked three and gave up) and I'll be demoing them at Glass Stock. You can find these beauties in my etsy store:




I'm happy to give discounts for multiple orders and can take requests for custom color schemes, stock up early!

Teague