I didn't fall off the face of the earth...

I just entered another Galaxy.



To the Left: Me and Peggy Got my first ever trade bead from her. A little rabbit

This is Jackie and me. She is like the sweetest thing ever.

This is Martha and Mike Frantz with her winnings.

The Tall Girls Club. Martha, Me, Heather and Kristy. These ladies are awesome. Ever notice how tall women tend to flock together?

These are the Houston Hotties: Martha, me, Lisa and Michelle and Bonnie. Check out the blingage!!!

Seriously, I have been horrible about keeping up my blog. Fortunately or unfortunately I have been busy selling stuff, so I have been blasting and lamp working. I also just got back from my trip to Rochester, New York for the Gathering. It was fabulous. I got burned and fell and hurt my knee and toe. Was not a huge fan of my teacher, but the rest was AWESOME. The Houston Hotties took the place by storm. With our blinged out shirts and our flame bags. I got to rub elbows with some fantastic artist. Milon Townsend was probably the highlight of my whole trip. He is an amazing artist and a great guy. I went on a tour of his studio and got to watch him make the phenomenal paperweight with a frog on top. His wife cook some wonderful food. She is sooooooo sweet. They have a 3 month old puppy (and you know I can't resist puppies) I will never forget that day. Then that evening he came to open torch and demo'd his new torch "Mini Milon" Well, you know I had to buy one. Wowzers it was great. He made a lady curled up in a ball and attached it to a hand the Rob had made. It was so exciting.

I meet some fabulous people, Heather, Jackie, Kristy, Kim, Cynthia and Dan, Barry, Ross, Cody, Doug, Craig, Peggy, Wes, Cedi and so many more. Don't be hurt if I didn't list your name, I just am old and tired and couldn't remember everyone off the top of my head right now.

The bead exchange was scary at first but everyone loved my tiles and my beads. I traded for some fantastic pieces. I even traded for tiles to be mailed later (which go out Monday)

Martha and I shared a room and really had a good time. We laughed so much. She was one of the lucky big winners. She won the CIM glass from Frantz art Glass. She was so happy. I'd have loved to have won it, but was so glad if I didn't she did.

I really think this is something every lamp work artist should experience (without the burn, or fall) It is a whole new world and one you should be a part of.

I will do my best to post more. Thanks for looking!

Happy torching.

Lori

It's a Frogs life.

These little guys are my latest frog group. The top center is the Lilly Pad Baby, Left bottom is Tropical Sea Baby and the bottom right is Groovy Baby. I really love these little guys. They get their names from the frit I use to make the background part of the bead. I was working on one. His name was going to be Test Frit #1 but he didn't make it. My phone kept ringing so I finally answered it and forgot to flash him back and forth in the flame. He made a nice explosion though. I'll try again. It was a burial at sea. Well, in water anyway. What do you guys think? The backs also have flowers on them so your pendant will be double sided. These little guys are about the size of a quarter, maybe slightly bigger. They have been properly annealed and the bead release has been cleaned out. They will make a great focal bead for a necklace or just a great pendant. The hole runs top to bottom. I will be doing horizontal holes this week. They are priced at $15.00 each. They will be traveling to a craft fair this weekend at Saint Ambrose Catholic Church. I am hoping to create a few more before the show. If you are interested in purchasing one let me know.

Have a wonderful day.

Lori

Flowers

These are some flowers I have been working on. Some are okay, some (well you know). But I have to keep trying. The top right corner shows a bead that unfortunately was to hard to get off the mandrel and I broke it. Sad : ( Anyway, here are a few more to look at. I'll try to post a picture a day.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Lori