Happy New Year!

To me New Years eve is a time of reflection to consider how my year went and how I can improve for the next year. This past year was pretty kind to me - my daughter gave me a new granddaughter, Quinn; Zoe is a kind and loving little girl; my bead business has improved although I could do much better.

Better you say - that is one of my resolves to continue to improve my bead business and keep open to new ideas. But a good one for me is to be a kinder, grateful, patient person. Patience is not a virtue I have. I have already used it this week when caught in bumper to bumper traffic even on the side streets - be patient, be patient I tell myself! When I'm on the freeway I am almost grateful for bumper to bumper traffic because I feel like a bad accident can't occur when you are only going 5 miles an hour!

I've improved alot this year so I feel proud of myself - I've developed a system for paying bills and being ready for tax season. That is a huge accomplishment. I've been on eBay consistently for more months than before and that has helped feed my creativity. I've gotten my blood sugar under control (slid this month but back on the wagon as of the 1st!).

Hope you all have a safe and happy New Years Eve. May 2008 be good to all of us!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thought I'd start this post with a picture of my favorite bead. A cute little Christmas tree. I usually put these on ebay in November but this year I didn't get pictures taken so no beads got put up. Anyway it still says Merry Christmas.

I have 2 new reasons to be exited about Christmas this year! Little Zoe pictured here with my daughter is 2-1/2 and knows who Santa is now. We're not sure she understands the concept, but she will after Christmas! She helped me celebrate my birthday by decorating my birthday cake with me. I think she ate more chocolate frosting then she got on the cake! We really had fun.

Then there is my new grandaughter little Quinn. She is almost 4 months old
and such a cutie! She just loves to sit in my lap and look around.

So needless to say not many beads got
made but a lot of family time was had by all.

I have to work tomorrow at least half of a day then I intend to go home and make a few beads. We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day so Christmas Eve I'm on my own. I have to be a my daughters at 7:30 Christmas morning if i want to see Zoe when she discovers Santa has been to her house. And, of course I want to see that!

I wish everyone a most happy Christmas. I hope it is filled with love and good cheer. Eat lots of cookies for me - I'm not suppose to eat sugar so although I love baking cookies and I think I'm pretty good at it I don't bake cookies anymore. I'll eat them if I make them and that's not good.

Speaking of sweets this year we got lots of fruit at the office - no candy, no baskets of muffins and cookies. Very different! I heard a co-worker mumble as they left the kitchen - How much fruit can a person eat! Yup I've had enough as well -- Good night everyone - merry, merry!

Christmas is Coming!

Wow Christmas is really coming! One more week 'til my birthday! I seem to be getting busier and busier. My financial situation is in the dumper though. I had to get a new furnace last week - I'm grateful I have a small house! And, to look on the bright side I am also grateful that I could pay for it without charging it. Now taxes are due - they've gone up by $400 for the year! That's alot at least to me! I need to get busy and make beads. Tucson will be here before I know it and I also need to get beads up on eBay. I've been working hard and trying to play at least a little. Last week I went to my professional organization's Christmas party at The Highlands. It was really nice. I got to visit with alot of old friends.

This Saturday I went to the ISGB So Cal party at Pacific Art Glass. Not as much fun as last year but ok. I arrived late and couldn't stay too long as I had to go to a printer to look at a proof. Sharon Peters did a demonstration. I couldn't see or hear so I decided it was time to leave. Funny how that happens.

Next weekend I'm going to my daughter's to celebrate my birthday with my beautiful granddaughters. I think we are going to try to make Christmas Cookies. At least Zoe, Cindy and I. Quinn will just have to watch since she is only 3 month old. I'll try to take some pictures.

Not a very exciting blog today. I should be making beads rather than sitting at the computer.

I'm Sorry Blog

I promised myself I would be consistent and I haven't been. I wanted to put a picture everytime I post and didn't have pictures so I didn't post. Well now I'm not going to worry about pictures. My Thanksgiving was not so good - I have a very disfunctional family stemming from my mother. She's 86 and her body is giving out but up until now her brain was ok. Now she is starting to get confused. One of my brothers lives at home which is now a good thing as he can watch out for them. My stepfather (referred to as my Dad) is 87. So Bill takes care of the place for them. He's not the best about taking care of them though. Anyway we had Thanksgiving at their house and I planned to cook. I told my mother she could make the stuffing and mashed potatoes (thinking that gave her something to do and wasn't too hard). She didn't buy celery and didn't chop onions for the stuffing. I put the turkey in the oven at 11 am. It was ready at 2 pm. I told her I would take the turkey out to rest and put the stuffing and green bean casserole in the oven at that time. So she proceeds to heat the stuffing on the stove and burn it. She would not sit down was in the kitchen the whole time. I told her I would bring the pies and if I didn't bake from scratch I would get them at Marie Callendars. I baked 2 from scratch. So when I got there and took out the pies she said - Oh I bought a pie. Now I couldn't have been more clear. The worse part though is that by the end of the evening she was exhausted - 6 pm. She never sat down to enjoy the company and her great grandchildren. She complained about my brother the whole time. It was awful! So Christmas is coming my goal is to just enjoy being with my family just once in my lifetime! It doesn't look promising! So I've told my daughter no food we'll go over at 2pm stay to exchange presents and leave. My husband has passed away I have my parents, my brothers, my daughter, 2 granddaughters, son-in-law. So now my Christmas will be kind of bleak because I won't have a Christmas dinner. My daughter will go to her mother-in-laws who treats me with disdain so I don't want to go there for dinner. I'd rather just be with my dog! Oh well at least I have a family and they are in fairly good health. Sorry for the rant but I needed to get it out! The fun will be in the early morning. I will drive to my daughter's (an hours drive from my house). Watch my granddaughter open gifts. She's 2-1/2 and is a barrel of fun now. I think she might understand this year. They have a baby who will be 4 months old so she's too new to know what is going on.

BEADS - I'm going to take pictures today if it's the last thing I do. I wanted to make beads too. I put the propane tank outside the window finally and feel better about it although I haven't connected it yet. Hope to do that today. Something is blocking me from the studio lately. I think once I start I'll be fine.
stay tuned for more.

Tips Tuesday - Keeping Track of Colors

I use to keep track of colors on notecards in the hopes that I would keep a file. That didn't happen I just had notecards everywhere. I was reading a blog from a "Journaling" artist who talked about keeping a daily journal with ideas, scraps of interesting info, scraps of colors, etc. What a great idea. Mine is no where near as colorful or interesting as hers but all the same it is 1 journal for everything! My to do list, the list of what is in my display case (the suitcase that holds my bead display set up for shows), blog topics, bead names, color combinations, etc. I glue any note scrap down in this book so I don't have notes all over the place anymore. It's working so far - but I forgot it today and left it on my studio work bench! I even make a quick note in the margin for category - I think I should highlight the categories that would also help me find stuff. I am going to post this blog now but when I get home I'll try to take a picture and post it with this blog. Color is everywhere and so are ideas.

I don't know about your Muse but mine plays tricks on me and sends me down too many paths at once! I think I should make a muse bead - there I go and no journal in sight!

It's Sell it Sunday

At least I'm being consistent on Sunday! Have been kind of a slacker this week! I have 2 beads on eBay for sale. Nothing new on Etsy although I've got some pieces ready to photograph and ideas cooking on the bench. I've even got beads cooking in the kiln. A new twist on my dragonfly bead that I am very excited about . . .dichro wings and CZs. Wait til you see them! Any way two florals are now on eBay. One ends Tuesday and one ends Wednesday. Please take a look!

The Santa Ana winds are blowing like crazy. I went to Pasadena to meet up with my daughter's family yesterday and it was blowing alot but today is even worse. The gate to my backyard just swung open and made a loud clang - scared the heck out of me and the dog! Last night I could hear the patio furniture scooting around the back yard. I'm glad the gas barbecue is gone it is known to tip over when the winds blow. Have a good week everyone!

Theming on Color

It's Tips Tuesday and the theme is more about color. What do I use for inspiration? I work in the graphics business and my job is to check and approve color for printed pieces. Many times matching color to product so I'm very sensitive to colors being just right. I use fabric for color combinations, linen catalogs are great inspiration, clothes catalogs (keeps you current with what's popular). And sometimes I get out the PMS book - that's something we use in the printing business - and start looking for combos. Then when I think I've got one, I have to interpret it in glass - that's not always easy. Is it transparent? Is it opaque? Is it metallic? Is it creamy? Is it etched? All of these things come into play when making a bead. What's really fun is sometimes I come up with something I really love and yet it's nothing like what inspired me - go figure! I love to use twisties and shards and then let them swirl and blend to make new colors and amazing one of a kind art. Right now this is one of my favorite things to do!

It is my intention to use my blog to challenge myself to be more creative and part of that is to use different color combinations, shapes and styles. . . To not be so realistic. I've been studying some of the scrapbooker and journaling artists. I may with their permission post some of their collages and then take off on a color/creative challenge. Want to join me?

I'll start with a beautiful photo I discovered. This weekend I'll make some beads using this photo as inspiration. You never know what's going to happen. I'll post what I make next week. This challenge is not just about making beads, it could be about a piece of jewelry, it just needs to be beady. If you come up with something please post a comment here and a link to your blog. I'd love to see what you come up with!

WHERE WAS I 10-20-30 YEARS AGO

I picked this up from Beadguiling Designs who is also a member of Flaming Hot. Where were you 10-20-30 years ago.

10 Years ago would be 1997. I was living in the same house I'm in now in the Santa Clarita Valley of Southern California. We bought the house about 15 years ago - what a great investment! My partner - Howard - was in good health and we were sharing a fairly good life. I was making beads and just beginning to venture out into the sales arena with some decent success. My daughter was just newly out of college and living in the South Bay. She had just recently started to date her now husband of 7 years. I had 2 dogs, both now deceased, whom I loved very much.

20 years ago I was living in Manhattan Beach with Howard. My daughter was in Middle School just about to go into high school. Save us all from those teen age years! We lived in a rented house and had 2 dogs because we had been burgalorized 1 too many times. My daughter need watching because she was sooooo boy crazy. I was making fabric crafts and hadn't learned about beadmaking at that time. I worked for an ad agency in West LA.

30 years ago I was still living in Los Angeles - working in Hermosa Beach I think. For an ad agency. My daughter was 7 years old. I hadn't met Howard yet so it was me and my daughter in a duplex. I don't remember those years too well. My daughter and I were very close and my time was devoted to her and to my work. I hadn't started any of my crafty businesses yet so life was pretty much about being a good mother.

What great reflections, how far we've come. Now I'm a grandmother with 2 beautiful grandchildren. A new dog and my partner Howard is now deceased. My daughter's education is paid for, the wedding is a distant memory and that is paid for. I always wondered how I'd do it and although it seemed unsurmountable at the time it was pretty easy. You do what you have to. I'm still working but I have a creative outlet that I've always needed. I love making lampwork beads and hope I live to see another 30 years! It's a good thing I don't mind change although it feels like it came on gradually. What a difference 10 years make!

www.jackiemixon.com

SELL IT SUNDAY!

Well it's Sunday - time to show you what's up on eBay and Etsy.

I've got 2 beads up on eBay. I should have 3 but I was just so tired this week I couldn't shoot any pictures. So I settled for 2. But I think they are both really nice beads in their own way.

Greg the frog closes on Tuesday at 7pm PDT. He is so very cute with big, buggy turquoise eyes and kiss me quick green lips. I once dated a guy named Greg!
This frog is on the big side, at least by my standards. He'd make a great focal or look so cute sitting on a desk. Just a reminder to be kind to all men - never know who will turn into a prince.

And I have a really pretty large lentil focal bead with 2 matching round beads. I really love this new style of bead and hope to make it my generic bead for a while. I am known for my hearts, florals, and whimsical sculptures (like Greg the frog). I've never really had a solid "generic" bead that looks good with everything and has DESIGNER written all over it. I think this style might be it. It's so earthy looking and takes on so many different colors. I really enjoy making them and hope you enjoy them as well. I can see them used in so many different ways. Since these are new they are being passed-over. My friends say it takes 3-6 months to get noticed so I'll hold out. Maybe it's because of the simplicity of presentation. I guess I see potential and designers haven't found it yet. What do you think?

You'll find these auctions on eBay.

I've added 2 items to my Etsy Store. A really lovely floral pendant on a silky cord and a great pair of silvery blue earrings. Haven't had anything purchased off my etsy store yet. Again, it's the "discover" thing. Hope it happens soon. I need to get off my hands and do more and better marketing I guess.That's what's new this week! Lots going on! Be back again another day! I've got beads cookin' in the kiln now and need to make some more. Plus there are pictures to be takin' yipes!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I narrowly missed a horrible fate of being stuck in horrendous traffic! I was suppose to go to my parents' house yesterday and meet up with my daughter's family to show off the new granddaughter. Well Cindy (my daughter) was sick so it was postponed for a couple of weeks, thank goodness. Unbeknown to us there was a horrible accident on the freeway between my house and all parts known as Los Angeles and South! I didn't know about it until last night. I guess it was taking people 1-2 hours to get through a small little stretch of freeway. In these parts the inland access north becomes 1 freeway and when it is shut down you have to go miles out of the way to get around it. So, things do happen for a reason!

Presenting my finished Beads

The topic on Flaming Hot today is how do you present your finished beads. My beads are kind of like debutantes and need to be presented in the most gentile manner - just kidding! I actually sell my beads on eBay, off of my website as Catalogue, on Etsy (mostly as jewelry), and at a few major bead shows a year - there are a few local shows and trunk shows as well.

The beads for eBay are specifically made for eBay. I do better with focals then sets - I can't seem to sit at the torch long enough to make enough beads for even 1 measley set! You see I also work full time at a very time consuming, energy draining, stressful job. My need to be creative every day is expressed in my glasswork. So I make my eBay beads, clean them them with a dremel, stare at them on my table a while. Pull some out for Etsy because they would look better as jewelry. My newest design is a marbelized kind of bead that I'm naming after National Parks. I had full intention of selling them on eBay in sets - 1 large focal and some small lentil companion beads. That didn't happen because the companion beads came out so nice that they called to be made into earrings. Anyway then I set up my photo booth on my dining room table - I have a Table Top set up that I love, love, love. I mostly use the surface of a plexiglass square although sometimes I'll put down a sheet of white paper. I usually shoot straight down at the picture but lately I've been experimenting with shooting at a angle. I use earthquake clay (I live in So Cal that's why I have earthquake clay) to hold the beads in place. I have a Nikon camera that I can turn the lens to the bead and still look at the digital image. Works well that way! I think my pictures come out pretty nice. Then we are off to the Mac for a little photo retouching. I like to put different views of my image together into 1 layout so I only have to deal with the 1 photo upload when I go on to eBay.

For Etsy it's individual square pictures. My goal is to have pictures that well represent the piece as best as possible. Artsy doesn't work if that is not what you are getting. Or in some cases I've seen some very artsy nice photos that are then just plopped on the page one after another and they look terrible. The layout is important as well. I work in the graphic arts industry so I realize some of the dos and don'ts of layouts. The point of the layout is to show off the bead not the layout. Sometimes I think my pictures are good but my layout doesn't sell the product well enough because I keep it too plain.

Now for shows it's a whole different ball game. My beads are mostly shown individually and I have a tiered stand that I set up, cover it in white and then put small brass bead stands on it that show off my beads. These are wire wrapped stands that people often want to buy. That way the bead is facing the customer and sometimes draws them to my display. I also like to have varying heights for interest. I do sell some small beads which I put on mandrels in a tray by color - that seems to work best. Of course nothing stays the same and it is always changing! Don't have a picture but I promise to take one at my next show and I'll post it here!

A Beadie Weekend

The weekend is almost over. I didn't get near enough beads made this weekend but I'm happy with what I did. Mostly it was a computer weekend and I didn't end up on the torch until late afternoon each day. I have to go to work tomorrow so I can't push the envelope and work until I drop tonight or I'll end up being good for nothing tomorrow.
I scheduled 2 beads to go up on eBay starting Tuesday. I have decided to have beads up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Right now I've got 3 beads on eBay all very different.

I added a pair of earrings to my Etsy store so now I have 3 whole items on Etsy. Please make sure to check these out. Mostly it will be simple jewelry made from my beads - focals turned into pendants and pretty one-of-a-kind earrings.
So all-in-all I accomplished quite a bit this weekend. I even posted my auctions and Etsy Store on Flaming Hot, a new joint effort of a number of glass artists. This is a blog to watch for great work for sale and interesting tidbits from glass artists across the country and internationally.

Of course don't forget to look at my web page - www.jackiemixon.com. I invite you to join my newsletter to be the first to know as new items go up for sale.

NAME THAT BEAD!

During this last year I have decided to market my beads MORE. I've been making beads for 14 years and sell at 2 major national shows plus a few other local shows. I'm a member of the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) again. I was a member way back when but stopped my membership for a number of years. Since I'm serious about marketing my beads it's time to rejoin. I still work full time so I do have to sit on my hands and not volunteer for too much. Then when would I make beads?

Well I've already gotten off topic. Anyway, a lot of artists name their beads. It's a way to attract attention and get more "views" even maybe more sales. My mind goes blank when I have to name my bead so I come up with the most inane names. When I'm making beads I think of them in terms of style not name - Bet you can't guess which is which --- Floral Bouquet, Dog, Dragonfly

I guess I feel I should be descriptive rather than "zen". Recently while reading the blog Flaming Hot I was introduced to the idea that a name can evoke an emotion and helps the buyer understand what you might have been thinking while creating the bead. That's a much better approach. In my quest to be more creative with my beads I think I will look at what is capturing me within the bead while I make it. There are a few beads that do get named. I name my frogs - after men they remind me of - after all kiss a frog and make a prince, and when I posted the first of my swirling silver lentils I kind of named it, think I need to do better though.

Here's Hank and Petrified Forest.I am drawn to other artist's beads that have names so watch for my new beads - yup with new names!

Sunday Beadmaking Lesson

Sunday I gave a private lampwork bead making lesson to my friend and student Penny. We had a very good day playing with silver reactions. I showed Penny how to make frit with my handmade frit maker. Then we used it on our beads along with silver foil and some reactive glass. It was a very fun day. Penny makes beads for her jewelry and I think the techniques I showed her on Sunday will be perfect for her colorful bracelets. My little dog Jack played guard dog.

Open House at Pacific Art Glass

This past weekend was the Pacific Art Glass Open House and Sale. What a fun time! John Williams sure knows how to put on an event. The sale started on Thursday in the hopes that by Saturday and Sunday the people who wanted to hang out, watch demos and talk glass would come and visit. And they did! Cathy McNassar and myself demonstrated lampworking. Rich was making marbles with soft glass. There were a couple of glass blowers - glory hole and all! Plus some other demonstrations as well. All as related to glass. John served lunch and on-going soft drinks throughout the day. I really had a good time. Cathy and I split torch time and demonstrated some interesting techniques. John held a raffle both days. I won some great dichro frit from CBS which I gave to Cathy because she is the fuser and works with bullseye. My glass is usually effetre. After two days I was exhausted! I went to work today to recover! Oh and the best part sunday noight I went to my daughter's house to pick up my new lap top (really excited) and of course to kiss my two grandbabies.

WOW, I'm saved!

Happiness reigns - they couldn't find anything wrong with my car. Just cleaned out some parts, checked for vacuum leaks and I'm on the road again! Yeah! Considering I just bought a new lap top I was cringing at what my car was going to cost. Just the same I need to start thinking about a new car - hopefully in the Spring. Got to sell more beads. Need to open an etsy store soon. I'm researching and thinking about it now. Soon, soon soon. I've change my About Me paragraph and I like it much better. I think I need to start a challenge on Monday so stay tooned. I'm demonstrating my bead making this weekend at Pacific Art Glass's Open House and Sale. Should be a fun two days. Hope it's not too tiring as next week is going to be a very busy work week.

I have 3 beads on eBay this week, no new bead until Sunday. I think this post is very scattered with thoughts but there's alot going on in my head right now!

JUST WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT???

Sometimes we get so caught up in getting through the day, doing what we have to do so we can grab a moment doing what we want to do. Then we have the eyeopener! I'm a new grandma, my second granddaughter was just born and I took a vacation day to go spend it bonding! Now that's what's important. My daughter just needed to get some sleep as all you new mothers can relate, so I gave her one of my vacation days and she gave me the best gift of all. I got to have little Quinn all to myself! We forget that all of us came into the world that small, that helpless, that innocent. My car broke down that night but I just kept remembering the glow of "Grandmotherhood".

See how I snuck in the car breaking down! That is one of the things that can send me into a total funk. I hate car issues! Luckily I have a good mechanic even if he was 45 miiles away! So I drove my daughter's car home last night, went back today and had my car towed, rented a car and went to work! My bead on eBay didn't sell! Don't know what's wrong with my car yet - I don't really care whats wrong with it. I just want to know in the terms of $$$$$ and how soon can I have it back. But I have a new granddaughter and that is the best! Look at that little face!

I think these two pictures came out so great considering how camera challenged I am. I might use one for my thank you cards. I've got some great ideas to work with from some other blogs I've been looking at. I'll post a picture when they are done. I guess I better hurry - I want them out before Quinn walks!

Another Day, Another Step Forward

I'm still trying to set up my blog to my liking. I've added my profile but I'm not real enthused with it so I'll probably change it. I've got 2 beads to go up on auction on eBay. A pretty blue teardrop floral and I'm following that the next day with one of my Still Life Flower focal beads. Both of these beads have so much design potential. EBay is kind of slow right now so we'll see what happens.

Are you wondering about Another Day, Another Step Forward? Well I'm trying to work on my bead business every day. Today was a good day - I reviewed a couple more merchant card companies, I set up 2 auctions, and played a little with my blog. I'm also thinking I need 1 day to rest but since I have a need to be creative every day I haven't come up with a solution yet.

ISGB SO CAL FLAME SURFERS MEETING

Although Saturday is but a distant memory I thought I'd share with you the ISGB So Cal Flame Surfers meeting held at Winship Designs in Torrance, CA. Winship is in an industrial center kind of like a big warehouse. They specialize mostly in boro glass. Meeting was interesting though. We always have business, then a fun raffle, a bead exchange, a buffet lunch and a guest demonstrator. I actually won the coffee mug pictured here! I never win anything and although I didn't win the pound of ASK glass the mug was a nice surprise. The bead exchange was based on a fall theme. I gave away a couple of my pumpkin beads. The girl that won them was happy with them which always makes you feel good. I won a very whimsical set of Halloween beads - candy corn, ghosts and a witch hat (sorry I forgot to take a picture. I'll try to take a picture soon and show them another time). Very cute though! We had a great turkey chili and lots of salad for lunch. Of course there were many dessert choices - since I can't have sugar none of them were for me! I did eat 2 grapes and boy did they taste great! The demonstration was done by Joe Rooks and his friend (never got his name, nor could I tell what he was making). Joe did some sort of implosion piece out of boro. He really never explained what he was doing and it was actually a little boring. Sorry boro boys! Our next meeting will be in December. The Christmas meeting is very fun. Lots of great raffles, good food, fun Christmas bead exchange and our guest demonstrator will be Sharon Peters who is always entertaining!

Welcome to My Blog

This is my first post on my new blog! Welcome everyone!

My intent is to use this blog as a journey in creativity. As a lampworker I am constantly searching out more creative ways to express myself in lampwork glass beads. I hope from time to time to show pictures of my work, offer tips and tricks and maybe some design challenges - not making beads necessarily but what can or have you done with my beads. I know I won't be able to resist putting in some personal stuff as well.

Currently you'll find my beads on my website, www.jackiemixon.com. I also have beads on eBay. Here's a picture of two auctions presently on eBay right now.
I hope that you will continue to come back to this blog to see what's new. I may be offering some specials exclusive to blog readers. - Jackie