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!

The stretch bracelet edition

Here are some stretch bracelets i've made. Sorry for the poor picture quality. This was before i got a better camera. I'm noticing a green trend in my jewelry lately. Green is the new black..lol.

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Memory wire bracelet

OK this is a memory wire bracelet that I made. I used acrylic faceted beads and added a butterfly charm at the end. I like the way memory wire bracelets look when they're done, but the beading is tedious..lol especially if your using smaller beads. I like the sparkly look that it gives off, and i must say I'm pleased with the outcome.And don't forget all of these items can be purchased at my site on ecrater.

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Slump

It sure is hard for me to blog when I'm not feeling very creative. I feel like I am in a slump. It could be because I'm fighting a bad sinus infection, burnt my fingers pretty bad last time I torched, and trying to keep up with my real life job and family - who knows. So I'm giving myself permission to take a little break. I'll be back on the torch in a couple days for sure. I do have a request from a friend to make. Usually once I get on the torch the ideas will flow. I'm just not feeling it today. I think I'll tomorrow I'll have an inspirational day where I will pay attention to colors and patterns around me. Hopefully something will stick in my artistic subconscious.

In my last session I got stuck on organics. I've been seeing so many wonderful organic beads being made by some of my glass friends that their inspiration rubbed off on me. Here are a couple little focal and earring pair sets I made. The bead with the flower was made with transparent grey, ivory and silvered ivory with a raised flower on top. I etched this set for that soft matte finish. I absolutely love etched transparent grey! The green set is made with Jungle Twilight from Vetrofond. One of my favorite greens! I mixed in a bit of silvered ivory stringer, some random twistie I had sitting on my work tray, and a bit of frog pond green. Then I banged this set around on the graphite marver to give it an uneven square-ish like shape.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots of inspiring creativity!

Promotion promotion promotion......

I must say that trying to start a business requires a lot of hard work and dedication. There is no such thing as ...if you make it they will buy. So my mission is to get in gear and put myself out there. When your making a product you have to have faith in what your doing or no one else will have faith in you. There are always going to be people that will doubt you , but you should never let that get to you. We all have to start somewhere, and unfortunately that usually means the bottom.

I'm at the point where I'm comfortable with the jewelry i make. I feel i have much more to learn, but my chances of success are just as good as anyone else. Currently i have my items listed on artfire and ecrater. I just joined artfire so I'm not expecting anything miraculous over night. i know this requires patience. My experience with ecrater has been ...well i sold one item so far. I wasn't really promoting like i should have been and wasn't confident enough to push myself. So i cant really blame them. I'm sort of just learning the ropes of everything especially the marketing aspect of it all. You need to be included in all the major directories, and constantly socialize, and network with other people. I tend to be shy in that aspect but I'm learning to open up...for the sake of my business.

So whats a crafter to do. Sitting in my craft room with a bunch of jewelry in a plastic shoe containers(sigh)...any buyers out there?...lol I have so many beads in here i don't know where to start. Should I keep making more product if I'm not selling it? I mean I have people that buy from me personally but as far as the Internet aspect so far it's been a bust. But like i said I had some other things going on where i couldn't be totally committed to the business,but from this day forth its time to get it together.

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

My beaded hair combs

So this is a pair of hair combs that i made. I took me a while to do, but i think they came out nice. I used some glass pearls. This was actually one of my favorite things that i have made. I think they would be perfect for a wedding hair-do. What do you think?

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

HELLO!!!!

Hello my name is Fran and I am the Owner/Jewelry Designer for FAP Creations. I currently make and sell beaded jewelry. I make beaded bracelets,necklaces,and earrings, at the moment but I'm looking to venture into new ideas. I will be posting some of my creations and keeping you up to date on my progress. I hope you come back and see what i have in store.

Francine

Jewelry Designer/Owner

FAP Creations Beaded Jewelry

http://fapcreations.ecrater.com/

Happy New Year

This holiday season was sure a busy one. With visiting family, having company, spending time with friends, and celebrating my son's 7th birthday I have not had a lot of time to be torching. I have however torched the last two nights.

I'm trying to make some glass toggle clasps. I have on in my etsy shop now but I've just finished a couple made from boro. I want to design a necklace with one to test it out to make sure that the bar part is long enough. Here is a sneak peak at the loop part of the clasps:

I'm hoping by the end of the week to have some fun glass toggles in the etsy shop.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!