New Murrini!!

I am so excited!! I love sitting in my studio and looking at the glass colors I have surrounding me. I gather so much inspiration for murrini blends this way- sometimes a color combo will pop out at me and other times I will be sitting there and pick up rod after rod and after a while I will come back to certain colors that just seemed to call to me.

Murrini is very different from most other glass elements- for one, murrini blends unlike frit blends are not dependent on certain color reactions since most murrini is used individually on a bead so you could mix colors together that would other wise have some not so nice reactions. The next idea is that the layers of color in a single cane almost have a watercolor like effect depending on how you layer them this makes a sort of "painting" within a painting when used on glass beads.

                                                                               

I created this new blend to show off the rich and seductive colors that I love to use in my own beads. The main tone is purple but I have added splashes of handmixed colors including a salmon pink and a rich teal. There are some surprises including blue aventurine lines on the teal cane and a chip that has EDP (for non glass people that would be Evil Devitrifying Purple) as the color star!
So whether you are looking for a way to jewel up a bead or just love purple this is the blend for you! Stay tuned for another great blend that will have saying "It's a jungle out there!"

You can find more of my great murrini at Feng Frit Factory Etsy Store This blend will be listed soon so stay tuned and happy torching!!!

                                                                                 

New Tool!!!

So My Dear Daddy came for a visit and being an innovative and creative person he quickly solved a problem that I was having with making a particular type of bead. Now I knew that a similar tool existed for this purpose but I was taking it a step further to try and create the same look on a smaller scale (more information and pics on that coming in a future post!) So my Dad read my mind and grabbed some raw material and went to the garage! He came back with a tool that I was sure would work!

It did and I now have what I need to make what I would like I do not have any pictures up of the tool yet ( I would like to make sure this is what I will be using and then I will share the secret :D ) So I will leave you with some pictures of some new beads that I made for a custom order.

Stay tuned for some shots of the beads made with this "new tool" oh and remember Daddies make the best mandrel makers, tool inventors, and fans of glass goodies!!!!

New Custom Beads:

Tide Pool Challenge

It's time for the Fire Divas Monthly Themed Challenge! For the month of July the theme of this challenge will be "Tide Pool." The entries must have something to do with the ocean and it's changing tides. Look below to see these beautiful catches!

Please vote for your favorite entry on the right side of the Fire Divas blog and leave a comment there to be entered to win a $20 gift certificate from Patrice at Shepherd Creations! Please include your email address with your comment so that we are able to contact you about your prize.

***You can find the poll to the right and at the top of the page***

Heavy Heart

I have such a rough couple of days and it seems like today just took the emotional dial down to empty.
For 4 weeks I have watched a litter of feral kittens and their mama cat at my husband's office. The mother was very thin and mal nourished but seemed to be sweet and attentive. People had taken to feeding her but she never seemed to gain any weight. Well we thought the culprit was a slew of feral cats (the colony is about 50 large) stealing her rations. But there was another thief, raccoons, they came in the same way the cats were getting in.

Yesterday I went to check on the family and the mother cat was no where to be seen, I could hear her babies crying their eyes out and for about 25 minutes I waited and nothing. I had to be in the office for a couple hours and when I returned 4 raccoons came out from the place where the cat family had been. Still no sign of the mommy cat and the babies were crying louder than ever! I was then scared for them and not thinking about anything I took them home last night, they were hungry and my fear was that the raccoons had attacked the mother and worse killed her.

This morning I went back with the kittens and waited for another 20-30 mins and even in daylight the cry of her kittens did not bring her out if she was hiding. I had to make the tough decision on what I was going to do. I had called every rescue person I could think of and none of them could or would take them knowing they had been exposed to raccoons. I went to animal control where they told me that the 3 females had lung infections and that since the mother could not be found to test for rabies the babies would have to be put down. I offered to take them back home and nurse them with kitten formula but they would not let me since it posed a health risk.

It is just hard to have to do something that seems so senseless and heartless but I surrendered them and left with a heavy heart. I was told that if I could find the mother cat and bring her in dead or alive they would wait for a rabies test to come back before putting the kittens down but I had to find her today and when I went back she was no where and there were dozens of raccoon tracks on the ground.

I know that they were happy for but a brief time with me and my Son and that even though it has ended so tragically I have to trust that it was for a reason- they may have been sick and made a person or child ill. I just hope that whatever they felt it wasn't pain and fear but love and peace. Here is a picture of the little furbabies that I got to love for a little while

Top 10 Challenge Prizes!

So as many of you know the Divas and I are participating in a challege for the best Etsy Street Team! We are asking all of our fans, friends and family and anyone else who would love to enter to win some great prizes to come out and show the Divas your love and support!

I will personally be offering 3 prizes to 3 of my lucky fans who click on the voting poll in my side bar and vote for the beads (not just mine but the whole teams!!) and then clicks the like button for facebook or tweets or adds the poll to their own social media page! Simply leave me a comment on SunDoorBeads Fan Page HERE If you do not "like" me yet on Facebook do that first then you can leave a comment to be included in the random drawing.

The prizes I will be offering will be handmade sterling silver earrings using my silver glass pebbles (1st & 2nd prize) and my frit pebbles (3rd prize). Here is a sampling of the beads that I will be using to make the earrings. They are not the ones listed on the list but are ones I thought my fans would enjoy having jewelry made out of!!

Thank you all again for your support and love for me and the Divas!!!

GO TEAM DIVAS!

So the Divas and I are in a really cool "race" this time competing for the spot of Handmadeology Top 10 Etsy Team Challenge!

The Fire Divas are off and running! For the next two weeks the members of the Divas will be in a sort of Handmade Marathon. We are competing in Handmadeology's Handmade Top 10 Etsy Team Challenge. The prize for the team with the most points in the judging categories will win $450.00 worth of marketing advertising! We love a good race and competition and showing all of our fans what the Divas are made of!

Starting today, we will be adding our creative works of glass art to our official "Fire Divas Team" Handmade Top 10 List HERE. We will continue to add listings every day until the end of the challenge period. So you the fans will serve as the Divas Cheerleaders! Your mission: vote, vote, vote! And in appreciation for your time and support, there will be special prizes awarded at the end of the two weeks to FIVE (5) of our lucky fans!!!! You can be entered in a random drawing for one of these prizes by:

1) Leaving one comment entry after this post for each day that you've voted for our team listings (only ONE comment PER day for voting, no matter how many times you've voted during that day), and

2) Leaving a separate comment for doing any of these functions to help spread the word: putting the Fire Divas Team List link (http://handmadetop10.com/#/Lists/66ofcjn94) on your blog, Facebook, fan page, Twitter, or website. Please make sure to include the link to your site to show where you helped promote our list in with your comment. For doing any of these things, you need to enter them as separate comments (and thus, increase your chances of winning!). But please only post ONE comment PER function, even if, for example, you've posted to your Facebook page several times during the competition.

You can vote as often as you like and even multiple times for the same items on the same day (using the "next" button to scroll through all our listings), and we hope you think all our entries are "10s"?! *Ü* And the more you vote and post about us through social media sites, the more chances you'll get to win some super prizes from the Fire Divas! Simply click on the orange title bar below to start voting.

This is the time to get out your Pom-Poms and show the Divas how much love you have for our awesome team of glass girls!!!!

Fantasy Shopping From Kathleen

I just love the Fantasy Shopping that our Diva Kathleen does. Here eye for style and detail is second to none!!! Here is the link to this great collection of beads she chose featuring the Diva's great glass work!
Fire Divas Fantasy Shopping!
While you are on the Divas Blog don't for get to vote for the monthly challenge "Fairy Tales" pick your favorite glass fairy tale rendition!!!