ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

*joins in the AAAARRRGGGHH-ing* If only we hadn't just had to spend £200 to get the car through it's MOT... :S

Beautiful, swirling autumn dreams ..captured in glass.. Di

LOL! Well thanks, Mary! I should have really emphasized how HUGE it is.Prairieson likes it so much he took it to the museum today. My beads get out more than *I* do. LOL!

And for those folks who like lime green and black, I have one in those colors that is exactly like this one:

I'm having a wonderful time at the torch these days, and I think it shows!

Sarajane's Polymer Clay Gallery

What are we going to do with her?

> > mary

Sarajane, thank you SO much! I'm absolutely BEAMING here!!!

I originally whipped up this auction template in a text editor, then tweaked it with Turbo Lister, which is what I use to post my auctions. I track my auctions with Shooting Star, from FooDog Software, and I really like it a lot.

I think I have finally achieved the polished, clean look that I was striving for in my auctions. It's nice to have others appreciate it, too!

Heheheheh... I could make some suggestions...

Mary, make me shut up.

you sure its not just glow from the torch??? Either way, its justified--you are doing splendidly.

I'll check out Turbo Lister, since you say its good. Thanks! Sarajane

Sarajane's Polymer Clay Gallery

OMG....love that....the colours are to die for!!

You are a TART!

> > > > > > mary

Thank you! There's so much reflection and refraction going on that it was impossible to get an accurate picture of the colors and depth. It's a pretty special bead, and the largest I've ever made.

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 14:30:04 -0500, Tink wrote (in message ):

Tinkeroo,

Did you see those lampwork beads that were made on the huge mandrel, then lined with a silver tube? The tube was then hammered very carefully, to make a silver flange around the bead hole. Your Victorian Holly beads would be absolutely perfect for that technique.

On a slight tangent, I am asking you to make sure you don't burn yourself out. I was looking at all the gorgeous beads that were on Ebay, and I saw a couple of copies of the book. I wanted to cry, because I am afraid that the constant pressure from people wanting more, more, more might make you lose your love for your art. You're not the only artist here that I worry about, but the book just made it hit home today.

it's a tough balance, I know. Like you, I have a zillion ideas and only so much time in a day to complete any of them. But unlike you, I am strictly a hobbyist - no matter how much pressure people give me to start selling my work. I don't have any deadlines, and if my muse goes on a month long vacation, so be it. I don't want to see your muse cowering in fear from the mob of people wanting too much, too soon.

I'll go back to minding my own darned business, now.

Hugs,

Kathy N-V

I think it does show. Every time I look at one of your beads, not only do I drool but they always make me smile. I kid you not!

So you don't sell your jewelry?

Sweetie, I have a couple partly finished. LOL! That's what I needed the sterling tubing for recently. LOL! I have been working on perfecting that technique since a year ago August. I started out doing the "beadcap" type like Bronwen Heilman's, but then realized I didn't like my dapping block, which was wood. So then I started doing the "plain rivet" type, then a few months ago I started with the larger hole style.

There's a machine that will supposedly do this, the Beadliner:

...but it's $2000 Simoleans. LOL! I haven't been happy enough with the ones I've done yet to post any. I'm not a metalworker, and I'm having to figure out the polishing and stuff as I go. I finally got a cheap jeweler's saw last week so I could cut my tubing instead of using a tube cutter, which thickens the wall at the cut end and hardens it. Bleah.

Now... As for burnout: Believe me, I am VERY aware of the potential for burn out. However, I've been down that road before and can recognize the warning signals.

First of all, I don't do custom orders. THAT stresses me. Heck, I don't even make what I think people will like. I just do what I feel like doing. It's ALL play, and I wouldn't have it ANY other way!

Secondly, Prairieson drags me out of the studio on a regular basis. Last weekend, we had the most fabulous dinner out that I can ever recall having. Then we went to a movie. He takes good care of me. I did teach on Saturday, but Donna was there helping me.

Thirdly, I have Donna. She is completely fabulous. She cleans my studio, sands and dips my mandrels, cleans my beads, and is now handling shipping! It used to take me DAYS to do five or six packages. I always stress so much about making shipping mistakes that I have this obsessive compulsive need to re-open and re-pack each box several times. I trust Donna totally, so I'm able to let go of it. What a relief! She's amazingly smart, inventive, creative, artistic, funny, irreverent and so much more. And she's always riding the leading edge, just like I do. So actually, though I have more beads available for folks now, I'm actually working less. LOL! You gotta love it!

Thank you so much for being concerned about me. And my muse. Who, by the way, wears street gear, and has fuchsia-tinted hair. She says she won't be cowering any time soon. We don't care what people want. That sounds kind of horrid, doesn't it? But I can't, and won't, worry about it. Art comes from within. When it's driven by external forces (i.e. consumer demand) it may still be artistic, but I think it's more 'craft' than anything. I function best when I'm doing what I want.

I've never been happier, or healthier (mentally, at least).

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.comeatspam (Sjpolyclay) :

]

it's incredible. it looks like everything is "floating" inside the glass.

i'm still in love with the "Victorian Florals"

**SIGH**

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) ----------- It's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you; it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "starlia" :

]What are we going to do with her?

hoard what i already have, because i may never be able to afford another?

thank our lucky stars she is going to be rich and famous?

start watching for the "Touring Tink" show?

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) ----------- It's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you; it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Thank you, Vicki! When you touch it, you expect it to 'give'... Like jelly or something. There a whole other world inside that bead. I love it! Wish you could see it in person...

*chuckle*