New: Hanging Lolipop Vase

Check out these new hanging creations I have been making - now you can buy them in my Etsy shop! (they come with a 3M sticky bit that will hold up this vase just about anywhere indoors)

I make the little glass jars, using a torch I blow the glass. Each one is unique, small subtle eccentricities... but really they are all the same, small simple vases. I think they are just scrumptious! I wrap a bit of steel wire around the lip and attach a swivel so it will dance.

Round little spheres, with round openings... you can put plants in them (they are just the right size for a little starter plant or a small cactus or a lump of moss) or other living things (like a tiny snail in water!), or little trinkets, keepsakes and mementos... a button, a key, a coin, a feather...

Your imagination is the limit! I have them in my Etsy shop now, and I'll bring em' with me to the Portland Saturday Market as well...

Making Mobiles

Love...

I love this picture. Love. Something about the round bump of moss in the round hanging jar. While doing a photo shoot this afternoon I took this shot... I have been making more vessels, for terrariums and such things... simple forms, some don't even have a flat bottom, so they can only hang.
I've been thinking about making mobiles using these hanging vessels... I ordered some nano Marino balls to put in the vessels - I will tell you more about that when they come. Until then, check this mobile out! I put some preserved moss that is bright red in a little jar and made some glass panels and voila - a sweet little mobile! The most enchanting part about this mobile is that it is very interactive... if you touch the jar it spins so easily, and if you blow at the glass discs the whole mobile moves.
This last picture is just a bit more eye candy from taking photos today. I love these jars. Sitting or hanging, they are just the sweetest little things. So simple, so happy, so much potential.

Moss Ball Planters

Spring has sprung. I saw these plants in moss pots in a store recently (at Artemisia in SE Portland) and I was inspired!

Anything round and ball shaped seems to excite me, combined with moss and cute plants - I swooned upon sight.

These two moss ball planters I made myself. It was a fun DIY project. Tim's birthday is coming up soon - so far I have managed to hide these from him. Hope he likes em'!

Ingredients:

• a plant (or a clipping as seen in the first picture)
• some sheet moss (live moss, you can buy it this way, if you get it out of your yard it will have bugs. So just buy it and it'll be bug free. I happened to notice some animal pried up moss in my yard and ate all the bugs out of it, so I grabbed it the next day for this crafty project! How convenient eh?! If you'd like to buy some, they sell the moss at Artemisia and if you want to buy it online Im pretty sure you can on Ebay)
• potting soil
• twine
• nursery wire (smallest gauge possible), the green flexible wire for guiding plants

How to:

1. wet soil and compress into a ball
2. wrap the ball of dirt in twine to hold it together
3. wrap the ball of dirt in the sheet moss
4. use the wire to hold the moss onto the dirt, keep wrapping until the moss is secure
5. make a hole where you want to insert the plant (I used my fingers to do this)
6. put plant in the hole
7. sit the ball on some sort of plate as the moisture can seep thru the moss

Lets Make Buttons

My mother had a basket of buttons with her sewing supplies. I used to love looking at them all, savoring all the little details and differences between them. Did your Mother or Grandmother have a button collection? I have one of my own now, and my collection is made even more amazing by all the handmade glass buttons I have made. A couple summers ago I created a dress that used one of these buttons as a simple clasp on the back of the neckline. It made the dress even more impressive. I've also made some purses that used glass buttons... and a little sock monkey with handmade button eyes... I'm always looking for fun ways to use these buttons.

Want to make some glass buttons of your own? I'll teach you!

Do you make clothing or know a designer who would like to use handcrafted buttons? Do you want to take your craft to the next level with some handmade buttons? They could embellish a purse or a book cover or a handmade doll... They could be the perfect finishing touch on some clothing! Why use store bought mass manufactured buttons when you could make your own! The potential is endless.

There is no pre-requisite for the class.

No experience necessary.

Yes you will play with fire.

No you will not hurt yourself.

I promise you'll have a great time!

Call 503 240-9449 (the Aquila Glass School) to sign up for class

registration is required

May 9th 2011 . Glass Button Making Class . 6-8pm . $124

(all materials and tools provided)

my weekend...

I had a great weekend full of hikes and glass and spring flowers.

Friday Tim and I took off for Bagby Hotsprings and hiked out in the rain (it was really wet). I've been aching to get out into the woods - the rain couldn't stop me!

The primitive old site has received some serious renovations care of the Forest Service Job Corps Conservation Center. All the old rotting wood was removed and replaced; the bathhouses, the plumbing from the spring, the outhouses and the soaking tubs were all new. The place smelled of steaming hot cedar wood. Gorgeous.

There is nothing that I find more divine than soaking in natural hotsprings out in old growth forests with the pitter patter of cold rain on my face.
The next day I worked at home for a bit and found myself gazing out the window at my blooming flowers... so grabbed my camera and my ladder and went on a photoshoot.

My magnolia tree is in full form... the blossoms remind me of tea cups.

I got out my ceramic kid tea set to use as props in photos. Then I saw my next door neighbor's daughter playing out in the yard, so I invited her over for an impromptu tea party.

We drank imaginary tea, we ate the last few girlscout cookies that I had hidden in the freezer, and we made a mini mobile (she had one of my kits that she brought over to have me help her)

I had to take some pictures of this spontaneous fun. She thought it was pretty odd that we were drinking imaginary tea, but she totally approved when I busted out the thin mints. I really love how her mobile turned out! What a work of art! Its really fun to see how kids react to this kit and make such unique little sculptures.
Finally today, Sunday, I taught a bead making class to some happy ladies that all bought my Groupon coupon. Good stuff. We had a blast.

It was an early afternoon class, and good thing considering today it was full on beautiful outside. SUN! So I went home and sat under my magnolia tree with my computer and edited photos.

I took so many pictures in the last three days, I had to just put a slide-show here so you can see them if you'd like to... although I was a bit inept when making this slide-show, so it just goes on and on... stop it when you've had enough :)

A Little Video