Can you help a girl out?

http://www.glassbysarah.com

Many of you probably know Sarah Hornik from Tel Aviv, Israel. She was invited to the Art In Action festival in the UK. She spent months preparing for it. She gets to the UK. And this is what happened. (it’s a long read, but please take the time):

Persona Non Grata by Sarah Hornik

The bad guys have ruined travel for everyone, and the “good guys” are really cracking down these days. Call me an alarmist, but when a young attractive woman traveling alone to a foreign country gets locked up in a room for several hours, for ANY reason, her risk of meeting with physical harm increases. It’s imperative for anyone who hosts a foreign guest to make sure all permits and other etceteras are in order, and that their guest is informed and prepared, so that they won’t have to endure such criminal treatment. Or worse. This ain’t 1999, people. Humanity is whacked. What happened to Sarah was bad enough, and I’m truly thankful it was no worse.

As far as I can tell, Sarah is still having a 25% off sale in her Etsy shops to recoup the income she lost. Please check out her Etsy shops and use the coupon code in her post.

Beads and Tutorials: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sarahhornik

Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sarahhornikjewelry

Thanks so much for reading…. please help if you are able.

Read Full Post »

Dang it!

I’ve been without my computer for a few days. I turned it on one morning last week and it didn’t work. It was actually very nice to be able to ignore it for an extended period of time and stay out of the heat of the computer room. (I’ve recently devised a floor fan system that has helped quite a bit, though.)  Turns out, the RAM needed to be re-seated, which is essentially taking it out and putting it back in. Sometimes it’s more complicated than that, but as far as computer problems go, it’s one of the easiest and least frustrating things to have to deal with. If I had to take it to the Geek Squad or something equally nightmarish, that probably would have cost me at least $200, plus they would have told me I had a computer virus and then proceeded to actually give me one.

It’s been really freaking hot, as you well know. It makes me really sleepy and you can likely imagine that doing what I do for a living is not very comfortable when it’s THIS HOT. That said, I’ve gotten a good amount of work done, even though I’ve been miserable all the way through it. I’ve been drinking plenty of water, of course, but for a couple of days there it was very difficult because the tap water smelled and tasted like a wet, dirty dog. In my fit of desperation, I went out and bought a case of Dasani and as soon as I got home with it, the water had improved. Around here, they say “the lake has turned” when it gets really bad. I never understood what that meant, but recently my stepmom told me that they switch back and forth between lakes Overholser and Hefner for various reasons, and Hefner’s is better by leaps and bounds, and that’s what we’re usually on. So when the water is literally undrinkable, we’re (not) drinking Overholser. Water mains are bursting all over the place – that can be helped by watering your lawn, but mandatory water rationing is in place and I can never remember when I can or can’t water. The downside of watering the lawn is that it causes grass to grow, and the last thing we want to do in this heat is go outside and push a lawn mower around.  (I hate this crap. The HAARP conspiracy theorists are probably all over this heat wave business, and I’d be almost inclined to agree. It just isn’t normal. It was already excessively hot in April, and besides a few days here and there, I’ve had my AC on nonstop since then.)

I’m getting to my point – I passed out at about 11PM one night, some night last week, and slept until about 6am. Having gone outside for more than 10 minutes earlier that day completely sapped my energy. I only meant to take a 30 minute nap, but my brain knew what was better for me. Now, for at least the next week, I’m screwed as far as working at night. I guess that’s ok, it’s as cool as it’s going to get by 6AM and if I can get started early enough in the morning and am very efficient, I can manage to avoid the hottest hours of the day inside my house. But it’s still unbearable with the kiln running. I suppose I’ll be focusing more on metalwork and other work that can be done without the kiln on (but for a few bead orders that absolutely must be done) until this garbage lets up a bit. I can’t imagine trying to have a Superstars sale in the midst of it all. So, I guess the good news is, there will be more Etsy listings in my shop over the coming weeks…

Just wanted to update you, and if you’re expecting an email from me, it’s coming! Thanks for checking in.

Read Full Post »

SURPRISE! Etsy.

Yep. Days like these, there’s no telling what I’m going to do until I’m doing it. I’m just as surprised as you are.

The first ring I’ve screwed up the courage to sell is on Etsy. I painted my nails all special (for the first time in maybe 5 years) for the occasion of being my own hand model. If I’m going to sell rings, I suppose I’d better start taking much better care of my hands. The constant exposure to heat, water, and nowadays, the bezel pushers, makes it difficult to keep my hands in pristine display condition.

I’m a little nervous about it, there’s some awfully good stuff in the jewelry category… but here goes, anyway:

night creature bullet ring - click me

Oh, and finally, the stuff left from the Superstars sale on June 30th is on Etsy now, too. About two weeks late, sorry. I told you this incessant heat has fried my brain, and I wasn’t kidding. It doesn’t help that I have no concept of how much time has passed.

forest floor - click me

 

glass brick barrels - click me

And one new set, Maple Glimmer Strips:

maple glimmer strips - click me

I’m really hot, you guys. And tired. I think I’m going to go rest for a while and let the house cool off a bit before I get to work. Thanks for checking in, I hope you enjoy the new stuff!

Read Full Post »

No end in sight.

kfor.com

I think we’re about to be at day number 12 of consecutive 100 degree+ temperatures, we’re looking forward to at least 7 more, and I think we’ve had 21 altogether so far. 1980 was the record – 50 days of temps over 100 degrees that year. It’s looking like it’s going to be another year like that one. Barf. This is the south after all, but it isn’t normal. Last summer was pretty mild with maybe one or two 100 degree days. Just a couple of days ago, it hit 108 in the metro area and the next day was only 100, and it felt considerably cooler. One area in southwest OK is consistently over 110 degrees, and got there long before we did earlier this summer. We’d all be relieved to see a 95 degree high. I’ll be even more relieved to see September. 

Even though I’m sweating through all of my clothes, I’m getting my work done. Over the last couple of weeks, I got orders done and made a few new glass cabochons to !BLING! and set into rings… keep your fingers crossed for me, I’m hoping they’ll turn out all right. I made a ring for The Spawn for her 16th birthday:

z-beads, late june 2011

  

z-beads, late june 2011

  

z-beads, late june 2011

I’m really proud of this one, I think it turned out fantastic. The stone is serpentine. I love this design so much that I think I’ll make one for myself – eventually. I had originally planned to make a more girly, flowery backplate, and sawed the edges off and decided that I liked it pretty much the way it was at that point, so I went with it. And contrary to John Cogswell’s insistence on a 24 gauge bezel, in my opinion, a 26 gauge bezel is a bit more suitable for a smaller, more delicate stone such as this, and better lends itself to a tighter fit and still retains a good bit of strength.

z-beads, late june 2011

 

And a necklace for my niece for her 13th birthday:

campy camera, z-beads, late june 2011

  

campy camera, z-beads, late june 2011

  

campy camera, z-beads, late june 2011

This started out as an idea for a ring, but it went somewhat awry, and ended up being an old timey (and campy) camera instead. Which is good, I wasn’t sure of my niece’s ring size and I like how it turned out. Except for the melted bail, I’ll be sure to use some sort of heat shield over that area or go at it at a different angle altogether next time I try such a thing. Anyway, it certainly seems to work as a camera – I showed it to my hunny and asked him what it looked like, even if it was only kinda-sorta, and his first guess was a camera. It even hangs somewhat askew, just as a camera might. I love the blue chalcedony, and it’s my new favorite stone.

Oh, and in case you’ve checked out my ebay seller account for any reason today, yes, the Magic The Gathering card auction is legit. Mr. Sarah decided that he’s done with that and is selling his entire collection and wanted to use the z-beads ebay account for the good feedback rating, old as it is. So, hey, if you play MTG or know someone who does, have a look:

http://shop.ebay.com/z-beads/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet lately… it’s dastardly hot in the computer room these days. I also need to update my website gallery at some point. So much to do, too hot to do anything but the absolute minimum in hopes of avoiding heat exhaustion. Thanks for checking in!

Read Full Post »