Merry Christmas to All!

I hope your holidays bring you much happiness, good times spent with family and friends, and the New Year brings health and good luck to you and yours!

Sailing Away in the Bay

We are closing in on the holidays! I’m working on a new oil and am adding finishing touches to a couple others. It’s always fun to complete a painting that was inspired by a trip to the coast. This latest series brings back many happy memories of my time at the Central Coast of California a few years ago.

My Newest Oil

The inspiration for this painting was a trip to the central coast of California. My husband, myself and our dog Jake went here several years ago for a nice relaxing few days in a nice hotel we found that was walking distance to the ocean.

While I am still working on finalizing this, I am also in the midst of several other similar projects!

What am I doing up this late? Blogging of course!

Ok I admit it, I've been working on multiple sites tonight, adding posts, pictures, and networking too! I have to say that as much time as I have been spending doing this, I'm finally developing a rhythm, so it's all getting to be quite enjoyable. I promise to answer any questions you may have on any aspect of my art, whether it be a technical, 'how do I do this'? or an 'hey how do I get this item in the color that matches my decor'?

Just ask and you shall receive!  

For instance, these business card holders were created for a very nice couple who were hunting for unique and useful gifts for their kids and kids-in-laws. Note the colors on this one below and you will guess  correctly that their daughter has just been lucky enough to score a job with google! They saw one card holder that I had on display and  inquired about custom orders. I said, well that just happens to be my passion! We spoke and I took notes on who they were buying for, what colors would suit them, and we came to an agreement on all of the details. Of course being the sweet, kind person I am (it's true), I gave them a discount for ordering multiple items (they ordered 5). They were happy, I was happy (I was able to do my custom designs) and life goes on. Happy Holidays!

Hi! Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far! I'm getting a list together so that I can shop for all of my Holiday cookie ingredients soon. I may be busy most of the day tomorrow so I wanted to post a few photos for you to see. This 1st tree is a display from my Sawdust Art Festival Winter Fantasy booth (a previous year). Its a fun way to spend an afternoon, with lots of hand made fine art and fine crafts on display and for sale, Santa Clause is there to talk to the little ones, there are delicious food and drinks, live entertainment in several areas, art classes, and more! This is the final day for this season so hurry on over!

Some of my favorite and best-selling ornaments include angels, hearts, trees, and animals!

This is an ornament I created based on a photo of a very special dog named Buster! I've made several in different colors

One of my best sellers, these 'peace' signs can hang in a sunny window or even on your holiday tree! 

Another holiday favorite! I made a dozen of these for a client, custom ordered with specific colors and different designs in the center. She wanted to have one for each of her guests at a holiday party. They are about 4" x 4". I made them in colors of blues, greens, red and even clear-textured glass. Some of the pieces in the centers included angels (shown), bells, tiny holiday tree, snowman or ornament!

I just wanted to share this link with you!

Hello All, It's late in the night and I have been working on my Etsy store! I have officially opened my shop and am busy adding new items for sale. I hope you will enjoy browsing around and will stop by often. 

click here to link in! 

 Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you soon. Please leave a comment and I will be in touch.

One of the reasons I love stained glass is because of the interaction and reflections of light through the glass. I've found that some of my favorite types of glass to work with are the more textured pieces, which tend to reflect light in a more interesting manner than the flat glass.

I like to play around with new ideas and designs, not only to keep growing as an artist, but to see what others like the most also. After all, as much as I'd love to have a home full of stained glass pieces, I do enjoy sharing my work with other people. I love making a new item that has been commissioned by someone who is looking for a special and unique gift for a loved one or for themselves.

Here are a few of those pieces that I have made:

 I used a milky-white glass called 'firelight', and added 2 colored glass rounds at the top corners as embellishment. These are approximately 2-1/2" square and 3' tall. The candle shines through this glass, and instead of seeing the white light that you would expect to see, you see the colors of firelight as the name implies. Quite beautiful and one of my favorite types of glass!

I created these for a nice man who wanted a special anniversary gift. His wife enjoyed the romance of candlelight!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

The Holiday decorations are going up this weekend. I don't necessarily have the goal of having the brightest house on the block, but I do enjoy putting up many, many strings of lights!

My Christmas tree is next on my list. Over the years I have created many different stained glass ornaments, most of which I have sold or given away as gifts, but also many of which find their place on our Christmas tree.

One of my personal faves, (and a customer favorite as well) is a 'Christmas Tree' ornament, like the ones pictured below. I have fun experimenting with different colors and styles. They look so lovely hanging in front of the sparkling lights on the tree, but I have also hung them in front of a window to catch the sunlight!

Thanks for spending some time here! Be sure to stop by tomorrow when I will add photos of more of my hand made ornaments. Don't hesitate to comment or email me for more information. There is plenty of time to order some of your own. The majority of my ornaments sell for between $15 and $25, but I do have some cute little angels priced $7 and up! They all come ready to hang of course.

It's Official! The Christmas Season is here!

As I was putting up our holiday decorations today, I was thinking how lucky we are to be in such a beautiful climate that allows us to work out in the sun, decorating the windows and shrubbery with twinkling lights, the weekend after Thanksgiving! 
I mention this because the warm weather also allows me to work, out in my studio, without having to bundle up. Making stained glass requires a very well ventilated area, to avoid breathing in harmful fumes. So, it's reassuring to have the garage doors open and cool air blowing through, while I am working on some new holiday ornaments! Hope you enjoy these photos. 

There are more on my brand new website

I have many more on my facebook page

Click on the link to join me on twitter

 

Thanks for visiting! Hope to have you stop by again tomorrow.

Mermaid

I have completed my newest mermaid, and she is ready to go to her new home. This was a custom order. I have posted a photo of a previously completed mermaid similar to this, but my customer preferred slightly different color hair, and the embellishments are new too.

Making a new piece, that has some special designs specific to a customer's wants or needs, is probably the most satisfying aspect of this business of making and selling stained glass items.

Like I said, this one is sold, but I am in the process of completing another with slightly different color hair and extras, and I do always welcome your custom orders! Anything you see here on these pages, or on my facebook pages, twitter, or website! If you have a good imagination you are welcome to sketch some ideas of your own and we can work together creating a custom design.

Thanks for reading and stop by again! Check out my other sites. My web store is in the works and is coming soon.