Tree!

My latest silver pendant design. I love the simplicity and sharp contrast of the dark patina against the silver.

Watcha think?

Vote for Purple Storm!

My Purple Rain challenge entry... all sparkly and shiny even after the mishap with the concrete floor. : ) I'm actually quite glad that happened; I love this new and improved pendant even better than the first one!

Please vote for me in the HandmadeMN team challenge!!


~Toni

And Now... Purple Tears

My Purple Rain piece turned out so cool. I was so pleased with it. That is, until I dropped it on my concrete floor. Sigh.




The nice thing about working with glass is that there really is no waste. I can reuse these shards in another piece, hopefully in the new "Purple Rain" pendant. At the very least they will go into the bin for my next pot melt.

Back to the drawing board.

~Toni

Purple Rain

So sorry for the long delay between posts! I should be back regularly now. At least until the next distraction. : )

My kiln is sloooowly heating up to 1460 degrees right now... with lots of "pretties" inside. And I am waiting anxiously to see how they all turn out. This past weekend I had a 'glass party' with a very good friend and her teen-aged niece. We spent several very fun hours cutting glass and making pretty pendants.

Here's one that I did.. my entry into my Etsy street team's next contest. This month's theme is "Purple Rain", in honor of Prince's hit song turning 25 years old. I had a great time playing with this one. We even listened to an awesome Prince album while we worked (well, while we played :)



Before firing it just looks like a mess of purple sparkles, doesn't it? I have no idea what it will look like after it's fired, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I'll let you know tomorrow. : )


~Toni

Unicycles on Parade

Une Petite Vie Tranquille by Eastmont

My husband and I frequently walk along the Mississippi River in Downtown St. Paul. We are never without something interesting to look at during our walks, whether that be the barges on the river, the myriad of dogs and their owners or the occasional bald eagle.

Handle Bar Mustache Man Tee by Spitting Image

This morning we were lucky enough to take our walk during a unicycle race. I've never seen so many people on unicycles, and it inspired me to search Etsy for some fun unicycle items.

Original Folk Art Painting by Wee~Mee Whimsies

Enjoy!

~Toni

HandmadeMN Team Giveaway !

The Etsy Street team that I belong to - HandmadeMN - just announced our first (of many!) team giveaways!

Head over to our blog to enter for your chance to win this awesome hand-painted silk scarf from Palettepassion.

Thanks for supporting handmade!

~Toni

Give me an opinion, win a prize!

So, I've been doing a little experimenting the last couple weeks. For quite a while I've wanted to try drilling holes in my glass pendants and then create wire bails for them. I think the look is a bit classier than the glue-on bails I've been using.

I have discovered that drilling holes in glass is not at all easy. It's definitely going to take me a bit of practice to perfect that. But I will get it perfected I'm sure. I'm almost there. :)

So what do I need opinions on? I've tried three different wire bail styles and I'd love some input on which you like best. I may use more than one style. Heck I may use all three. But it would be awesome to know if one is more visually appealing than the others.

So here they are. Please leave me a comment and let me know which number(s) you like and why. To make it more fun, everyone who leaves a comment will be eligible to win a $10 gift certificate to my shop, so make sure you leave a way to contact you (I'll do a random drawing July 1st).


Style 1. Side View

Style 1. Top View


Style 2. Side View.


Style 2. Top View.


Style 3. Side View

Style 3. Top View


Thanks for your help!

~Toni

Glass Spirals

I bought some glass from a guy on Craigslist this weekend and included were these very cool glass spirals. He made them by twisting different colored glass over a torch. I'm not sure how I'm going to use them yet, but I think they'd make some awesome pendants. What do you think?

Inspiring Creativity

My Etsy street team, HandmadeMN, has a monthly challenge to help inspire our creativity. May's theme was "Beaches" and the pendant above was my entry. As I was putting it together it so reminded me of a Beach Towel, with it's bright sunshiney colors. Don't you think?

Take a minute to go check out all the other great entries and cast a vote for your favorite. Of course I'd love it if you vote for mine, but I won't hold it against you if you don't. ; )

~Toni

Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall...

Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer.
Take One Down,
Pass it Around
Ninety...

Wait... take one down, pass it around?

That's all good, but then what?

Why, smash it of course! Then pick through the broken bits, smash some pieces a bit more.

Assemble into cool little treasures.

Fire in the kiln, and...

Voila! The coolest Beer Bottle Pendants!

This one has a tiny piece of green on top of a couple layers of brown.


And this one is all sparkly green!

So.... what do you think???

~Toni

Jewelry Porn

A few pieces from my 'favorites' to tempt you...

SUNSHINY DAY enameled ring by ChelleV2

Water Blue - Kiln Fired Enamel Pendant by DreamsandJewelry

orbit pendant by organikx

XOXO earrings by jewelrybynatsuko

New Pendant Design

I really love this new design! It started with an actual fern from my garden, crafted into a polymer clay mold. I used that mold to texture the metal clay before firing it in a 1650 degree kiln. A little sanding, a little patina, and lots of polishing... and I'm rewarded with a beautiful, organic pendant.

I almost don't want to part with it!

~Toni

Handmade Comfort

I recently purchased this great tee from Byrdcall's etsy shop for my husband not too long ago. He loves it so much he asked me to find him some more fun etsy t-shirts. I found several great ones and thought I'd share them with you.

Another winner from Byrdcall...



And one from Live Poultry (what a great name!)...



And this one from Monkeyfish Dezigns (another awesome name!)...


Hmmm, he should be very pleased with these choices. I'm guessing he'll want them all. What do you think? Have any others you'd recommend??

~Toni

Woot!

I've been waiting patiently (or not!) all week for my decal paper to arrive. It finally showed up on Friday, so I was able to experiment with a new fused glass technique yesterday. I only did two pieces, though, because I needed to test that my laser printer would work. Some laser toners don't have enough iron oxide in them for the decal image to adhere to the glass. Looks like mine will work. Woot!

I'm very pleased with the results; I think they turned out great. Whatcha think?

Now I'm on the hunt for some unique and creative images. Any ideas? They must be black and white; line drawings or silhouettes would work great. I'd love to feature some original artwork...

~Toni

A Great Big Thank You!

Thanks so much to all who entered my giveaway this week! Wow, I was overwhelmed by the response.

I have contacted the winner via email, so check your in-box! If you weren't Mr Random's pick, I'm so sorry. I will have other giveaways, I promise. :)

As a consolation prize I'm offering you all 25% off all purchases at my Etsy shop through March 15th. Just enter Save25 in the notes to seller at checkout (I'll issue you a revised paypal invoice or a paypal refund.) That's the best way I know to say thanks for your support!

You guys rock!!

~Toni

WCCO and A Giveaway

Breaking news... I just found out the WCCO story was bumped to Monday night at 10pm. Tune in then!

Through my Minnesota Etsy street team (teamMN) I've found out that a local TV Station, WCCO, is airing a news story this Friday night about Etsy and the handmade movement. We are all hoping they mention our team, but even if she doesn't this will be great exposure for Etsy and the handmade community in Minnesota.

If you are local to Minnesota, make sure you check out the story Friday night at 10pm on WCCO. You can also watch it on line after it airs at WCCO.com.

And to celebrate, I'm giving away this great fused glass pendant!

The winner will be picked by the random number generator at 12 noon on February 26th.

To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post. Make sure to leave a safe way for me to contact you. And now the fun part... How to get Bonus Entries! For doing each of these, you will get one extra entry...

1. Head over to my Etsy shop, pick your favorite piece then come back and let me know your favorite in a comment here. Your favorites will be considered for future giveaways!

2. Head over to the TeamMN blog, check out a shop (or several) and leave comment(s) about your favorite items.

3. Blog about my giveaway on your blog. Comment back here with the link to your blog
entry.

3. Follow TeamMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link.

4. Tweet about, stumble or digg this giveaway post and leave a comment(s) with your user name letting me know about it.

5. Follow my blog. Let me know in a separate comment that you are a subscriber. You can do this by adding my blog to your Google Reader or becoming a "follower" on my left side bar. If you are already a follower, leave me a comment letting me know.

Good luck, and don't forget to check out WCCO!

~Toni

Pot Melts...

What is a pot melt, you ask? Well, let me tell you. A melt is when fused glass is layered into a pot or onto a wire mesh, then fired at a high temp so that the glass melts. The melting glass drips down onto a flat, prepared surface, creating interesting color combos as it fuses back together.

I tried this for the very first time a couple weeks ago, and wanted to share my process and the results with you.

First, I applied kiln wash to the inside of a 6 inch terra cotta pot saucer, so the melted glass wouldn't stick to it. I also put a large piece of clear glass on the bottom of the saucer; I had read somewhere that this helps keep the kiln wash from peeling off and embedding in the glass.

Next, I strung wire between two 6 inch kiln posts and laid that on top of the terra cotta saucer. If you are trying this at home, make sure you use specially made wire that is safe at high temps. I got mine at a local glass company where I get my fusible glass.



Then I layered peices of fusible glass on the wire. A key here is not to use too many dark colors; they tend to overwhelm the finished piece and leave it muddy. Also use very little black for the same reason. I used a mixture of opaque and transparent glass.



And loaded up the kiln...



The finished melts, ready to carve up into some pendants...



You like?!



.

And The Winner Is...

Congratulations to Christine for winning my giveaway! Christine won this great pendant from my etsy shop...


Christine runs her own etsy shop, ChristineCecelia, where she sells great bags and accessories. I love the fabric colors in this little clutch.



Congratulations, Christine!

For everyone else, check back soon. I'm planning on another giveaway soon!

~Toni

The Science of Handmade

Coming 1.26.09

Timothy Adams is well known on Etsy for generously helping others in their quest to grow their on-line handmade businesses. His latest endeavor is Handmadeology, where he will be "teaching you the formula and science of selling handmade goods online".

I don't know about you, but I'm super excited for this site to launch! Timothy has been incredibly successful in selling his great modern metal jewelry on line. I think he has a lot to teach us!

Click here to check it out now!

Thanks Timothy for all that you do!

~Toni

My First Giveaway....

To celebrate a new year and a new chance for change, I'm giving away this great little fused glass pendant. It's a cute little blue and brown gem that measures just about an inch square, and comes with an 18" ball chain. What a great little gift for yourself or your sweetie!

The winner will be picked by the random number generator at 12 noon on January 24th.

To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post. Make sure to leave a safe way for me to contact you. And now the fun part... How to get Bonus Entries! For doing each of these, you will get one extra entry...

1. Head over to my Etsy shop, pick your favorite piece then come back and let me know your favorite in a comment here. Your favorites will be considered for future giveaways!

2. Blog about my giveaway on your blog. Comment back here with the link to your blog entry.

3. Tweet about, stumble or digg this giveaway post and leave a comment(s) with your user name letting me know about it.

4. Follow my blog. Let me know in a separate comment that you are a subscriber. You can do this by adding my blog to your Google Reader or becoming a "follower" on my left side bar.

Good Luck!

~Toni

I just love the artwork of Kelly Rae Roberts. Her whimsical style always makes me smile. One of my favorites is this print titled "Discovery".

Handspun Heaven

I came across this beautiful handspun yarn by Jennifer Tan of tlwoldc this morning while browsing through my Etsy favorites. Isn't it delicious? Makes me want to curl up with a nice soft blanket in front of a crackling fire. Throw in a hot peppermint patty and this is heaven. :)