Becca and Rhiannon :) 

Rhiannon and Amy :) 

Rhiannon and Grammy :) 

Rhiannon and Papa. :) 

These are my two 'babies'.  

We had a graduation over the weekend!! Here's my little girl, all grown up! 

Soooo, Dubya made a surprise trip to Iraq today. I think he should stay over there until we bring all our troops home. Maybe that would light a fire under his ass.

I'm too young for my skirts.

This morning my daughter handed me the information about her senior banquet, which is this Friday night. It said that girls had to wear dresses/skirts and boys had to wear collared shirts and ties. She doesn't have ONE dress or skirt, so she'll have to go shopping for one. I pointed out a few skirts that I have that are too tight, so may fit her, but no way, my clothes are all 'old lady' clothes. I did resist my urge to strangle her.

Dubya needs to get a fucking life. Aren't there more important things to do in this world than legalize discrimination? What a waste of time and money.

I was asked in my last post, what kind of kiln, how did I get interested, what else do I need?

The kiln I got is a Jen-Ken Maxi Fuse. It's made for glass, and not only lampworking, but slumping and fusing. I wanted to buy a kiln that I wouldn't outgrow. I'm not doing slumping or fusing at this time, I don't really even know how to do it, but many glass artists make the move.

To lampwork, in the most basic form, all you really need is a torch. If you want to be good at it you need a bigger torch that uses propane and oxygen. I was nervous about using an oxygen tank and it gets very tedious getting it filled, so I opted for an oxygen concentrator. A concentrator uses electricty, and generates oxygen as it runs. You also need a propane tank. I have to have an exhaust hood custom made, as you really need ventilation to pull the gas out of the air. Then there are all the tools needed as well as the glass rods. It's not a cheap venture. (Hubster says that if I end up sick of it, I better sit out in my studio all day and do nothing.) The kiln is necessary to anneal the beads, to make them strong and not stressed so that they won't break easily.


I have always been in love with lampwork beads. They have always intrigued me, and I had absolutely NO idea how they were made. I always shrugged it off though, 'other people make those', it is beyond me. As you get older, you say 'screw that mentality' and you go for things that you think are out of your reach. My mother always says, if they can do it, I can do it. So I adopted that way of thinking. I searched and searched for someone in this area that taught lampworking and it took me a while, but I did find someone who was holding a class. I ended up being the only student so that was a big bonus and I got all the teacher's time. The moment I melted my first gather of glass I was hooked. It was like I should have been doing it all along. I found my bliss. I know it's a big risk to invest all this money into this love of mine, but I feel that it's the right thing. I am so blessed to have a husband that always encourages me to follow my dreams.

So, I wait patiently for my bliss to become reality. It's raining, so the wiring won't get done this weekend, but there are other things for us to do with my studio, so we'll get done what we can.

These are some beads made by Melanie Moertel. Her work amazes me and inspires me.

Studio update

Last weekend we laid the wire from the house to the studio. It took 2 days and it was no fun. The wire is "6 3", so for anyone who knows, it's almost impossible to work with. It's not hooked up to the juice yet, we hope to get that done on Saturday.

Tomorrow I go to Home Depot to buy sheets of R-10 to insulate the walls/ceiling.

My kiln arrived today. 80 pounds in a box. I can't wait to use it.