Today's the Day- Or Tonight's Today

It's officially Friday November 9, so the Northern Virginia Christmas Market Show begins. Or it will in another 10 hours. We've just gotten back from setting up the booth. I'm nervous but have received a great bit of news!

I'm the featured blogger on the November newsletter from the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy. Stop and look at the newsletter at http://www.cgge.org/0004Newslette1107.htmThere's a couple of links there to some well written articles on glass cutting .



For those who do not know, Etsy is a crafters selling website where crafters sell their wares, network and generally schmooze. http://www.etsy.com/Great fun! I've met some great people online and through them, some really nice crafters local to the DC region.



Do stop by and see us at the show this weekend, http://www.emgshows.com/a_nvcm.htm. We're near the Cafe at booth 389. We'd really like to meet you.

Down to the Wire

Today's the day to check if we have enough electrical supplies, paper goods and other things for the show. Also have to fix 3 broken pieces- sigh, the results of outdoor shows and wind. And why do the inexpensive, easy to repair pieces never fall?
I'm determined to consider this an good omen. Heck I'm determined to consider everything a good omen!

A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Hearts

Here they are in all their multi-colored glory. Red, vermillion, scarlet, pink, yellow, caramel, green, forest, teal, azure, cobalt, navy, violet, and purple hearts. I'm still working on chocolate, brown and irridized hearts for the show.

I Heart Nothing

Hearts, hearts, hearts and more hearts. I'm up to 45 of them and am already sick of the things- and I've 55 to go to make goal.The freehand, eccentric hearts are out biggest seller- a small trifle that folk buy as Christmas ornaments, as small sun catchers and as little decorations. They are fun to make when I'm just fooling around. But when I feel I have to make so many for a show, they become like rabbits in the garden: charming in a few but a nuisance as a horde.
Not that I should complain. It's flattering that people like these. The hearts usually cover our booth fees and other show expenses. And they do have a wacky charm all their own.
I suspect I'm stressing over a really big show and need to quilt for the night.

Off the Road and Ready for the Next Show

Spent 2 days on I-95 visiting family, so not too much glass got done. Since I finished the Baltimore Winter panel, I took it to Di to frame. She , good camper that she is, had a number of new, completed designs to show me: a Celtic Knot, a pinwheel in an octagonal frame, a beveled coupe, a beveled ribbon and more. Between us, I'm confident we have enough for the show, but I always worry that there will not be enough to last the entire weekend.
For the rest of the week, I'll be gathering our displays, polishing glass, printing labels and generally going crazy. It's enough to make me hire a pro to man the show booth, but most good shows insist the artist be there to answer questions and to show off the wares.
I understand why this must be so, but it does cut into production time and requires craftsmen to have sales skills.

By Gosh Baltimore WInter Photo

I so wanted to finish the winter Baltimore block tonight. As you can see from the photo, it's shorter than the Glasgow Rose. The bird panel is 12" square and the Rose is about 16" tall.

I will probably add a branch in the next one I make. It will allow me to incorporate the gold color I used in the others. This time out I just forgot!

Winter Baltimore Square almost done!

All cut, ground and now to foiling!

Completed Mackintosh Piece

Ta Ta! Finished and done with, the 1920's inspired Glasgow Rose style panel is finished. It's tall and narrow, like a lot of Rennie Mackintosh's work. I finished this off with with one red square in the dark brown border. It just seemed to fit Mackintosh's sensibility- he often used squares and checkerboards in his designs, The off center square of bright red echos the red of the rose. It creates another diagonal line in the design as the eye travels from the square to the rose and to the upper right corner. The wavy clear glass in the background does the same thing, making a very simple , almost childish design have an internal rhythm . I don't claim Mackintosh's sure design sense, but I can borrow some of the elements he worked out in my tribute to his work.

Procratinating on the BAltimore Album, so making a Rennie Macintosh inspired piece

There is nothing like impending disaster to make you rearrange the sock drawer. I'm at that stage now, since I have to have 2 new pieces finished by tomorrow to mail to Di so she can frame them. So what did I do today?

I visited Eastern Market in DC to see if that might be a venue to sell our wares on weekends when I'm not elsewhere. I made a new piece inspired by Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow Rose.

And the unfinished Baltimore Winter piece that is due in the mail tomorrow? It's pretty much where I left it yesterday.

For more about Eastern Market in DC , go to .http://www.easternmarket.net/

For more Rennie Mackintosh Roses go to wikipedia or to this link

http://www.labellestudios.com/auctionimages/pink_mack_rose_web.jpg

Baltimore Album Quilt Inspired Piece Fall Version

Getting ready for the Dulles show, the Northern Virginia Christmas Market in 2 weeks and going crazy. To the left is my newest piece, the second in the Baltimore Album series-Fall. On the right is the closeup of the center. Since this is meant to be a companion piece to the Summer one with the molded red roses I already made, I had to have a 3-D element in this piece too. I made the grapes of glass globs that I ground so they'd fit into each other. I also used the same glass and rough shape for the basket. This insures continuity between the pieces. Unfortunately, the Winter square, currently under design does not lend itself to a basket in the center. So taking a cue from Baltimore quilts, with their wealth of design elements, I drafted a pattern of a wren in a holly spray. I can use the same greens, browns, reds and caramels as in the other pieces, but give the block its own focus.