From Jeffery's to Chic-fil-a

I made a bad groupon buy about 6 months ago. They were offering a $75 groupon for $35 at Jeffery's. I had heard of Jeffery's and the reviews I had heard said it was great. So, I bought it without looking at the menu. I won't do that again! I looked at the menu sometime last fall and realized there was practically nothing on the menu I would like. I don't do goose liver, or raw ground up beef, or brussel sprouts even if they are soaked in butter and garlic. So I tried to get my money back from groupon a couple months ago and they said they wouldn't refund me. So then I tried to sell it on craigslist. No one wanted it. So then I finally just called to make a reservation. Somewhere in all that I figured out it was for dine in only. I had thought maybe I could get it to go and get a bunch of desserts or something. So, called for a reservation but they were all booked through today when the groupon expires. They said they would honor the groupon for $50 (loss of $25) through the 7th, or I could eat at the bar, or I could ask groupon for a refund. So I emailed groupon again but they never responded. So I packed a empty Tupperware in my purse (was planning on sliding my extra dessert in there) and headed to the restaurant after work. Well, the bar was massively packed and would have been quite a long wait and I don't do well in crowds and small spaces AND I totally didn't want to be there. So I left. And went to chic-fil-a where I had a lovely meal of nuggets, fries, and a tea. And it was family night and the cow was there. That was much more my speed.

I talked to Rachel tonight and explained my pitiful story and she told me that Travis (my brother-in-law) has said that every year everyone will make a few purchases that don't turn out like we want or expect and yes, it is wasted money but it's ok and don't dwell on it. So, I think I better take his advice and put this experience behind me.

Funny sidenote. I thought that MAYBE I couldn't get rid of this groupon b/c I was suppose to meet my future husband at Jeffery's. I then decided that's not true b/c I am not marrying a guy who eats goose liver. :0)~

Rouge Ceiling Fan

I finally tackled my crazy ceiling fan in my bedroom tonight. My neighbor has the same fan and so she turns my light/fan on and off at random times with her remote. When she does this I can't turn it back on until she does. Sometimes it takes a week or so. This is not so cool. I've known for a while (like YEARS) that I just needed to switch the codes in the fans receiver and remote. Problem was I wasn't sure where the switchy thing was in the receiver and knew it would require a ladder and a screwdriver. So, I pulled out the tools and I now have a fan/light that I can control. This is quite awesome. :0)~

Kiln Gone Wild

I had been working on a new jewelry blank the past few months. I believe I started it around the 1st of November and have been slowing working on it since then. It started out sortof rough. After I made the components, I stacked the pile of glass as high as I usually do - almost 2 inches. Guess that was a little high as it broke in the firing. But I was able to press on and it wasn't a big deal as I was going to cut it up anyway.
It was super thick, a little more than 1/2"

here's a fun closeup. It had lots of depth and detail.
I thinned it out, cut it, shaped it, re-fired, shaped some more, sandblasted, and put it in for the final firing. I went to the studio tonight to pick the final pieces up and found out the kiln had gone wild and BOILED my pieces which totally ruined them. The kiln relay had gotten stuck in the on position so it didn't turn off and went to about 2400 degrees, about a 1000 too high for the firing. It's hard to tell from the picture how wrong it went. They totally flattened out and the bubbles in the glass floated to the top. The two pieces with the clear in the middle WERE donut pieces with a large hole in the middle. Not any more. Sadly because the glass boiled it is now unstable and can't be melted down and put into something else. This is pretty much the only time you just have to throw the glass out. Bummer. The good news is I only lost about half the jewelry blank. I hadn't started in the yellow and red side of the piece and still have a few small pieces of the purple side.

Walls

“Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.” - Anonymous

Glass Pendents

Even though I don't wear jewelry very often I really enjoy making glass pendents and especially "donuts." I've started making a few earrings too but that's a pretty new thing.

I realized I didn't take any pictures of the very beginning of this set of jewelry so this was from another jewelry blank (what we call the slab of glass we make to them cut up into jewelry). I usually start by making some components. Here are a bunch of glass stringers that will melt into rods that I'll cut up.

the method of making rods of stringers, once you cut them the cross-section looks pretty cool with points of color. I then usually fire some of those again to get little balls of glass.

I make the stringer rods (and then dots) and also some stacks of glass (that are called puddles) and cut those up and then add other pieces from other projects AND a lot of clear glass on a couple pieces of base glass to make a jewelry blank.

A REALLY liked the red side of this piece. Some of the purple side went too dark but it ended up working well in the end. Once the blank is fired and I like the composition I put a sheet of clear glass over it and fire it upside down. Firing it upside down helps the little air bubbles to go towards the bottom of the piece instead of rising to the top. Also since I stack the pile of glass so high I often end up with a piece that's almost a 1/2 inch thick and have to cut it up and fire it again to thin it out to about 1/4 inch to make my final jewelry pieces.

here's a close-up of the red side.

then I start cutting it up. I cut these 4 squares out to add to another piece later. Maybe a bowl or tray or something.

I really like doing "donuts" but the studio has taken away the drill press so I need to find another place to drill circles. Maybe David Brown will let me use his drill press. :0)

I then use a grinder to shape the edges a little bit and then sand blast the pieces and clean them before there final firing.

And here they are. Made quite a few earring sets in this series and 8 donuts.
And here's a closer view.
From start to finish it usually takes about 2 months for me to make a set and I get 20-40 pieces out depending on how I cut it and what the glass does. Every series is quite original so when I start a jewelry blank I am never quite sure what the end result will be. But that's part of the fun!