Updates coming soon

Thanks to all that have been visiting my blog. I really appreciate it. I will have some new posts very soon. Please check back during the week. Thanks for your continued support!




Francine
Jewelry Designer/Owner
FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry
http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Down Time

It's almost 2 am and I can't sleep so I thought I'd come ramble on here.

I've been having some fun with the glass beads and friends lately. On Saturday I was at the Bliss Beads bead shop/studio doing some demos at the torch. What a fun thing to do! I'm excited to go back during our local cornfest and do more demos in about a week.

Sunday my dear friend Sheila came over and we took turns torching. It was so great to try new things and learn from eachother!! We played with shardes, frit, CZ's, shaping, and implossions. She is so inspiring to me. I look to her as a mentor in glass.

I have been playing with organics and nautical type beads.. Here are some of my recent beads:

Happy glass dreams to you all!!! I'm heading off to bed!

Back to the Torch

I've been finding less and less time to torch these days. It's hard with the weather being so nice to not spend the time outside playing with the kids now that they are getting older. I did find some time this last week on some rainy days to get down to the studio and melt some glass. Here are a couple of the beads I made this week:

I hope you all are enjoying the summer weather! More glass to come =)

Relay For Life 2009

The fun never ends here. I've been keeping really busy. This year I'm participating in Relay for Life put on by the American Cancer Society. We started a team through my real life job and I'm even the team captain. The walk is this Saturday from 6 pm - 6 am on Sunday. If anyone wants more information you can click here for my donation page.

I created a necklace to go into the silent auction for this event:
That's not the best picture but you get the idea. It's made with my handmade lampworked beads, sterling silver, pink opal, quarts, and Swarovski crystals.

I hope all of you have a chance to do something good for someone else. It sure makes you feel good!!

Have a wonderful day!

Bead & Button Show 2009

What a wonderful bead show!!! I had a blast yesterday! First of all it was amazing to meet some of my wonderful co-artists in glass, better known as my glass friends. It is so great to be able to hug a friend after 3 years of communication over cyber space. That alone made my day.

Samma, Me, Mallory

But then I got to see so many amazing glass artists! These are big name people in the glass world. I have to say how impressed I was at how very friendly these people were. They are so full of knowledge. I wish I could have spent more time with each and every one of them.

I came home with some goodies! A boro dragon made by Louise Wilson (a.k.a. Dirty Louie), a bee-bug-bead by Sharon Peters, a fairy pendant by Diane Hawkey, A gorgeous gift bead from Samma Parcels. I also got beads that were in my B&B bag from Unicorne Beads, Inc, Along with a good heaping pile of gemstone, shell and seed beads.

Dragon by Dirty Louie

Bee-Bug Bead by Sharon Peters

Pendant by Diane Hawkey

Samma Parcels Bead

Catch up

Today I just want to take sometime to fill you in on what I've been up to since it seems like it's been so long since my last blog.

First I took a trip in May out to see my best friend out by Boston MASS. That was so fun. Then I took a train down to NYC and met up with four of my glass friends. We spent two days walking around and exploring Manhattan before heading to NJ where we all spent time torching together. That was great!! We each demonstrated different bead styles and techniques. What a learning experience!! If you are ever in a slump go work with someone else in your art. It is very inspiring.

Since returning home work and family have kept me hopping. As well as custom orders that I am very thankful for and an art show this past weekend.

This weekend coming up is the Bead and Button Show up in Madison WI. I can't wait to go to it! Not only will there be a massive amount of beads and glass supplies to shop, but many of my glass friends will be there!!! I can't wait to meet them in person!

Here is a little set of shells I recently made, inspired by my torching time with my friend Maggie and the beach on Cape Cod:

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Art Club Rocks!!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing a glass demonstration for the DeKalb High School Art Club. Talk about fun!!! We started with a small fusing demonstration and each student (and teachers too) put together a little 1 x 2 inch fused glass piece that they can either make into a pendant later or a magnet.

Next I fired up the old hot head torch and did a lampworking demonstration. I was super impressed at the students ambition of wanting to make the advanced sculptural beads like the ones I showed as some examples but we had to start with baby steps. Each student had a turn at making a bead. Above you see the beads that the students and teachers made. Pretty good for first timers!!!

It was a great opportunity. I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope to be back there next year for another demonstration!!

Art Goal

What is your goal in creating art? What drives you to create what you create?

I have recently had to send my camera in to be repaired so I had to dig out the old one and use it to take a few pictures of some of my recent work. Here are two focal beads that I was really happy with:

The reason I am so happy with these two beads is the motion that has been captured in this organic style. My goal in my art beads recently is to capture motion. The top bead reminds me of cherry blossoms. I really am drawn to nature in beads as well.

So what is your goal for your art?

Copper Leaf in Beads

I have been playing with copper leaf in my beads. The first on the left in the photo below was my first attempt. It is turquoise blue and ghee (cim) wrapped with the copper leaf and then super heated. The middle bead is turquoise with some white and transparent turquoise blobbed on. I did not heat the bead enough to fully cook in the copper so I ended up with some grey spots. I added the transparent raised dots to see what it would look like encased in parts - there was no difference under the encasing. I may etch this bead to see how that makes it look. The bead on the far right is bubblegum pink wrapped in copper leaf. I added a few scribbles of silvered ivory to see what would happen. I love the blue/gree color on this one. This bead is my favorite. I used a base of periwinkle and added a few swipes of opal yellow. I super heated this one very well. I just love the green color the copper made on the opal yellow! I squished the bead and added some flowers down the sides.

Copper leaf is fun to play with. I just suggest being cautious with breathing it in because it can be harmful. Also you want to really super heat it. It takes some time to really cook it in. It will spark in the flame which is kind of fun to watch.

That is it for now. I broke my camera and I have to send it in to get it fixed so I'm not sure when I'll have more pictures.

But for now, have a great weekend!!!!

April is sure flying by quickly!

Since Easter I have been trying to spend more time at the torch. I've been in a gravity swirl mixed with organics mood lately.

Here are a couple of my latest beads:

I've been so busy making beads to stock my display at the local bead shop that I have been neglecting my etsy and artfire shops. But rest assured that now I'm working on filling up my shops. I had a much needed photo shoot today and will be listing several items during the week.

I will be back soon to discuss my attempts at working with copper leaf.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!!

Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!!!

We have had a fun weekend so far. My 4 y/o daughter got to cheer at a Chicago Slaughter, indoor football game, at half-time tonight. So that was super fun. I was productive and got my website updated and all up-to-date info added to it. You can see it here if you'd like.

I've also been busy making some jewelry. I created this necklace around the focal bead I made:

Here is a close up of the focal bead: (I plan to make more like this next time I get to the torch)

Well, I think I hear the Easter Bunny thumping at the door, I better go let him in or the kids will not be happy. Have a great day!!!

Sunny Saturday

What a beautiful day here. Spent all day with the kids, doing Easter eggs, playing, went to the park, and did some shopping. I'm exhausted.

I've made some beads recently and thought I'd show some pictures. These two are a couple of large focal beads:

I also made a set of beads that match a pair of socks. I am hosting a fun sock/bead exchange with a group of friends from Wet Canvas and this is one of the pairs of socks and beads that will be in the exchange:

New news... I have updated my website and it now includes the ability to sign up for the classes I am teaching directly from the website. Check it out under classes at sundaisyglass.com

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!

What a crazy couple of weeks I've had!!

Started with a mammogram and ultrasound of the boobies and then finding out I had to get a biopsy. Good news is that the cyst they took out was benign!! - Happy Dance here!!

Then I got invited to be on the Oprah show and was on national TV yesterday on the show with Steve Harvey as her guest. That was so much fun!!!

I've been super busy at my real life job.

The kids are on spring break this week so it's a mad house here!! It's been raining for the last 2 days so it's not been much fun for spring break.

When it comes to glass work I seem to have lost my mo-jo. I'm not sure what to make right now and nothing is selling. It's a tough economy right now all over. The beads I make just seem to sit here and it is really sad to me. When I create beads I do so in the hopes that they will travel the world and see places I'll never get to go to. I love that I have beads in places like Africa, Russia, United Kingdom, Canada, and all over the US.

I welcome suggestion on what kind of beads I should make.. Really I want to know what you want to see. Please leave a comment with some ideas for me.

I do have one idea from a dear friend that made me giggle!! I'll have to share it after I make it. I want to see if I can pull it off first.

Enough babbling for now.. I'm off to bed in hopes of dreams of glass beads... Have a great one!!

Week of Good News

This has turned out to be a good week! I am now selling my beads at a bead shop called Bliss Beads in DeKalb Illinois. Super exciting!! The owner, Allison is really nice and has a wonderful bead shop going. I brought in two trays of beads and a display of goddess beads there on Monday. In just two short days I have already sold a couple.

Not only am I selling beads there, I am also going to be teaching some classes. My first class is going to be on April 16th or April 18th - 2 days so you get a variety of times to choose from. It will be on making goddess beads. I'm so excited. I've wanted to teach for a long time now so I feel like my art is coming together now and that it is a good time to expand. If you are interested the cost is only $75 for 3 hours of goddess instruction. I can get you the number to call and sign up, just drop me a note.

This is one of my older goddess beads. I call this one PMS.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!

Happy Wednesday! Torching did not happen last night as I had hoped. I got distracted by a movie that my husband was watching and ended up watching it with him until almost 11 pm. I did however write some notes in my beading journal after taking a good hard look at my cat.

If you find that you seem to have all kinds of ideas during the day but when you sit down to create your art you have forgotten what you wanted to make, seem to have miss placed your muse, or just don't feel the motivation then you need to keep a journal. It can be a simple notebook that you keep with you just about all the time. You never know when the inspiration bug will bite! I write down things such as color combinations I find, textures, shapes that intrigue me, things I want to make from glass. Even if you don't use what you write down right away you can go back to it at any time and find some inspiration.

So last night as I looked at my cat I realized what wonderful colors she is made of. Her colors will be soon seen in a glass bead of some type. I can't wait!

I did say I'd post photos from my torching play date with Sheila. This is a picture she took of some of the beads we made that day.

I hope everyone of you has a wonderful day full of inspiration. If you can't create your ideas right away - write them down!!

Playing With Fire and a Good Friend!

Having a play date with a good friend is one of life's simple pleasures for me. Yesterday I spent the day with my friend and fellow glass artist, Sheila. We had a wonderful time torching together. I feel so inspired and motivated. Sheila taught me so much. I'm still amazed how much you can learn from watching a fellow artist at the torch. We took turns teaching each other little tips and tricks. We oohed and aahed over each other's beads. It was a really great day!

So moral of the story, if you are ever in a slump, get together with a like minded friend. You'll be inspired and feed off each other's positive energy.

I'll share some pictures after Sheila takes some since the beads are coming out of her kiln.

Have a wonderful day!

One World One Heart - Winner..

Thank you to everyone that posted comments on my give away! What a fun event. I'm looking forward to next year already!

The winner of this year was comment #104

Andee from andeesigns! Check out her great blog. She makes gorgeous jewelry!!

http://andeesigns.blogspot.com/

My 1st Wire Wrapped Ring...not too shabby

In my quest to conquer all things creative i decided to try my hand at a wire wrapped ring. I absolutely love the way this looks. I actually surprised myself because i wasnt sure i was gonna do a good job. I did this without a ring mandrel so it came out about a size too big for me. I plan on purchasing one so i can make some more. Tell me what you think.

Beginning To Look A Lot Like Love

Love is in the air! I've been getting ready for Valentines day. These Boro hearts recently emerged from my kiln.

I have been slacking on my blog for a good reason! I have been busy working on my new website.

A while ago I was debating what to do about my website. I liked having one but I did not like paying so much money for one. So it must have been my lucky day the other day when I got an offer from Microsoft small office and learned that I could have a free website. So I bought a new domain name and made a new website and canceled my old one. The new domain name is great because for a while now I have been wanting to change my business name from Sun Daisy Gems to Sun Daisy Glass. - It's just more fitting. I still will own sundaisygems.com until 2010 sometime, but it's not costing me anything. In today's economy that is defiantly for the better!!

So, if you get a chance take a peek at the new website: Sundaisyglass.com

Happy Saturday!

As I recover from last nights' outing with my girl friends I'm excited to show you my progression in glass fusing.

I started with a single sheet of black glass and added a single flower to it. I made the flower pieces with glass at the torch. This is what I came up with first:

Then I decided that it was just too boring. I had to add more to it. So during my next torch session I made a variety of other components for more flowers. This is what I came up with next:

I do have to note here that it is really hard to photograph black glass! I will next slump this into a sushi plate mold. I have to plan to do it on a day that I am not going to make beads since I only have one kiln. Maybe I'll get it done on Tuesday.

Doing this project has given me a ton of ideas! I love the swirly pieces of stringer that I pulled and have in mind more designs using just swirls. I guess I'm pretty happy for this being my first.

Another happy thing to report is that I'm inspired to make more beads. My mojo is back! Here are a couple of my newer beads:

I really just realized that I have been making a bunch of floral beads. I think it's my inner child craving spring!

I hope you all have a great day! I'm going to be making boro hearts today, that's the plan anyways.

Who is that man in my necklace?

I was taking pictures of my jewelry. When i uploaded my pictures this man decided to appear. I was scared...lol. Who is this man and what is he doing in my necklace...get outta heerrreee!!! LOL Can you spot him?It's a mystery.....

Polymer Clay Part II...not that great..lol

Ok so here we go again with this polymer clay thing..lol. So these are just some pendants i made. None of which are for sale because i'm trying to perfect this thing here..lol. I glossed them up real nice ...so here they go.

New Day

I'm excited because I think my glass mojo is coming back! I have at least three things to photograph and get listed in my new art fire shop. I've decided to keep up with both art fire and etsy for now to see how it goes. Once I get the art fire shop filled with beads then I'll just alternate listing things in each while I figure out what shop fits me better.

I'm amazed at all the comments from the One World One Heart give away. Thank you to all that have commented. I think this is such a cool event! I've really enjoyed going to all different blogs from all over the world. I find some of them so inspiring and artistic. I really should blog surf more often.

Another fun happening right now is that I have a piece in the kiln fusing. I made a bunch of components for flowers with the torch over the weekend and I have them laid out on a piece of black glass in the shape of three flowers. Right now that is tack fusing. Then on Thursday I will slump the piece into a sushi dish. I like that I can work with glass in the day with fusing since I can't torch when I'm home with the kids, just not safe.

I'm off to photograph some beads... Have a beautiful day!

One World One Heart 2009

A dear friend of mine shared a link with me to this One World One Heart event. I went and read all about it. WOW, what an awesome idea. What a great way to bring people together from all over the world. I'm really excited to be a part of it this year. You can click here to learn all about it.

What am I going to give away? Well, beads. Since I make handmade lampwork beads I will send some happy beads to one lucky winner. I'm thinking I'll send some like these:

I won't send this exact set since these are already listed in my etsy shop, but I'll be making some like it. These blue birds make me feel so happy. And of course I love making floral beads.

* Update, I have a new bird and nest made. I'll be making the flower beads during my next torch session and I'll post a photo of the exact ones I'll be sending out very soon =)

So, to win, you must leave a comment on this blog entry. That's it, pretty simple. I will draw a name on Febuary 12th. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you so I can do so if you are the winner.

This is a great opportunity to spread some joy and happiness and to make some new friends.

Have a wonderful day! I'm off to do some torching =)

I'm no polymer clay expert!!!! LOL

Ok ,so my curiosity got the best of me, and i decided to venture into the world of polymer clay. I know nothing about it, but I've been seeing so many pretty designs from it i wanted to try. So with minimal research(I'm still researching) I attempted my first clay pendant. This was the result..lol. I didn't polish or glaze it so its very imperfect. My take on it is it looks like a 2 week old fetus..LOL! I only made this since i was just trying it out. I must say I actually had fun with it, and I like that everything you make will be unique. I have been watching great tutorials and i'm going to give it another attempt. I will post the results soon.

Francine
Jewelry Designer/Owner
FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry
http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Inspiration

What a long and fun weekend. Celebrated my son's 7th birthday with his party on Sunday. Today met up with a friend from high school that I haven't seen since 1992! Way too long! It was a great day!

I've been doing a lot of thinking of where my inspiration comes from when I make my beads. Many times I'm inspired by a challenge. I love when someone asks me if I can make a certain type of bead and I always say I'll try it. One customer once asked if I could make a dragon head so I tried it and ended up enjoying making them. This dragon bead is in The Flow Winter 2008 Women of Glass edition.Other things that inspire me are natural things in nature. Such as the human body, weather, plants and animals. This bead was recently inspired by all the cold snowy weather we have been getting. I added a cardinal on the snowy branch because I was thinking about my grandmother at the time. She was a true bird lover.

I found myself being inspired while doing last minute grocery shopping for the party this weekend by the packaging of items at the store. Have you ever looked at all the inspiring patterns on the Kleenex boxes in that isle at the store? I was impressed. I wish I had my camera with me at walmart that day... well, someone may have thought I was crazy taking photos of Kleenex in the store, LOL!! But my point is that if we open ourselves to see the color and patterns around us we can find inspiration everywhere. It is like we have to make a conscious effort to see it though. I find I have to be in the right state of mind to notice the inspiration that is all around us.

I hope everyone takes some moments this week to look around. You will find inspiration where you least expect it. Have a great week!

Michaels Craft Store presents.... The Bead Corner

We love beads and apparently Michaels craft store does too. Michaels has a new section on their website called the bead corner. You can find some helpful tips and tricks,projects,reference charts,and they even have message boards so you can interact with other beaders. I think this is a great idea and just shows you how popular beading has become. Also you can sign up for coupons. You can get up to 40% off a regular priced item plus other bonus coupons. I must say I'm a Michaels addict..lol. When I'm in the bead section i completely lose track of time, and end up with a big dent in my pockets. I also have a soft spot for A.C. Moore. I can get lost in there too.I recently noticed that walmart has expanded their bead section. You can find some great findings at a lower cost there.I love a great bargain!

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Craft fairs/shows

Hey guys I'm thinking about trying to sell my items at a craft show. Not anything major just like a community event or something. I'm curious as to how many items i should have , and really how to set up my table. If anyone has any adivice please be sure to leave a comment. If you have sold anything at a craft show please let me know how it went.Thanks!