Closet Glass

We had the Art Nuevo window we built in Nov/Dec in our front window. But now we're ready to put it in the space that we made it for. So we took it out of our front window and placed it in the window in our bedroom closet. It took awhile, we had to clear the area out and modify the window to fit. I took it and placed it in the window this evening. I still have to put in some hooks, but it's so good because it gives us a new level of privacy. And the window still lets in plenty of light.

More "Hope" Stars - the mini size

We decided that we needed to make some little "Hope" stars. These are so very cute and I'm glad because I was up till about 4 in the morning stacking them together so they could be fired. Hours later, we were able to look at them and most were successful. Now we plan to make some this size with clear glass behind them, to avoid edges, so they will be suitable for children.

There is something happy and whimsical about these little stars that fill you with hope and joy.

Katherines Cake Topper

Katherine is very original and Scott is a good sport. She wants a certain topper for her wedding cake, but hasn't seen one, so she's making her own. She made one yesterday out of playdough so she can model the one which will be made out of something more durable.

The "Hope" Fused Star Necklace -Mar 2009

This month, it took forever to get the newsletter out. This, because we needed to write a new article from scratch. Why? Because we really wanted to feature the "Hope" necklace.

To us, it seems like the country is filled with naysayers who are trying to convince us that bad times are here and they are only going to get worse. But we choose to believe in HOPE and we're sure that good times never really left and that better times are just around the corner. It's all a state of mind and we want to promote that sentiment with the HOPE necklace.

Click on the title above to go to the article. Click Here to go to our Etsy store and order one.

Cultured Sea Glass-Mostly Colored-On Etsy

We are proud of the "cultured sea glass" we make. We came on the idea when a student suggested it. A rock tumbler and a little experimenting later, we made our first batch. It's been for sale for a while in our glass store (click here)

Now we've added it to our Etsy store (click here) but it's strange because many folks seem to be doing a fine business on Etsy, but for us to date, we haven't yet sold anything and our grandson Landon who has been doing it longer, has yet to sell anything (click for his store).

Charm School

We taught Melanie how to make charms because she wanted to make them as a business. Now, that pays off for us, because she has offered us a chance to solder charms for her to keep up with orders! These are the same type of charms that we offer kits for (click here to see kits) Melanie has a flair for design and marketing that is world class. We hope that hanging with her and her organization will let some of that talent rub onto us!

So we went by the other day and the girls showed us how they make charms, just like we do. It's a little strange, first we teach Melanie how to make charms, then she creates a charm business and then, when I told her we were working on a video on how to make charms, she got a little upset. In her mind, she taught us how to make them not the other way around...weird

Having Fun Building Glass Panel

Working on this divider is great fun, you can see that Lynde and Jeanne are having a great time. Look at the window, it's coming right along. We finished cutting out all the clear Artique background and cut some pink for some of the flowers. We're going to hold off till Lynde's folks get a chance to look at it Saturday so they can have have input into the color palete of the panel.

We Went To The Big Business Fair

We went to the BIG Business Fair today. It will be held tommorrow as well. It's a yearly event sponsered by the Orem/Provo Chamber of Commerce. This year we didn't hear from as many of our small business friends about the fair and saw very few of them there.
We try to gather pens each year as a kind of game to force ourselves to visit every booth and I really do try to make connections with people that might be able to help our business grow. But, it's getting hard to find new faces and new companies. We find that we've attended so many that the fair is becoming predictable. Dexter & Dexter Attorneys will be handing out pizza at the entrance and we appreciate that.

But we really try to listen to each exhibitor, to get to what they really have to offer and hope to make one or two good contacts. All in all it was a valuable experience today and we did come home with a few pens!

Working On A Window For Lynde Mott

We are really having fun working on this divider panel for Lynde Mott. She is going to install it in her parents home between two rooms and then she will paint a beautiful mural which will extend out from the scene in the window.

Her Dad wonders if they deserve such a wonderful piece of art in their home. Lynde assures them that they're worth it!

Keepin On With The Work

Things have been slow recently. January and February have been slow at times in the past, but business has been more slow than usual.
So we've been taking this time to work on projects that we've wanted to do in the past and see if they might develop into something worthwhile. Jeanne has been working on her Mandala Pattern Book, the photo is a drawing of her "Tree of Life" mandala.
Our DVD is available on Amazon now and you can even order it from our website by clicking here and so we've done some preliminary work on another one. Why is it that everytime we try to work on another element of video instruction, we always seem to need another piece of equipment. Maybe we'll eventually have it all!

Etsy Store

A few weeks ago, there was an article about Etsy in the Daily Herald Sunday paper. They made it sound so easy and simple to sell your art, that we decieded we better advertise on Etsy.

Last summer, Landon and Christy started an Etsy store for him (click here to go to it) So we had some idea that it wasn't going to be an easy, overnight success that the newspaper article seemed to imply. But it does look really good and they have a little code that let me put the items we have for sale right on our website (click here to see it). So we're giving Etsy a try!