A Very Brisk October

My Halloween decor is covered in snow this morning.

 Wait, what?!! Sub zero temperatures and it's only October 29th?! Welcome to Idaho, the State where you never know what the weather gods are going to throw your way! This morning is no exception. Bone chilling temperatures probably means not many trick-or-treaters in a couple of days. Sigh....more candy for us I guess! (Not that I need it, oi! Maybe I'll dole it out to the grand kids.) 

Anyway, we are staying warm in the Studio (of course!) Fires are going non-stop. Even though we are a couple of "Old-Schoolers," the age of the Internet has kept us hopping all year, and this month is no exception. Internet orders continue to pile up. At the beginning of the month we created a couple of wildlife sculptures for the store in Jackson Hole. They are added to our other collections  at Wild West Designs, an amazing western-themed storefront. All kinds of hidden treasures can be found there. If you are ever up that way, pay them a visit, you'll be glad you did. 

Blown Glass Bugling Elk

Blown Glass Wolves

Before we got super swamped with ornament orders Russ had time to complete a personal project. He created a unique frame with some willow tree branches found on our property. It will be on display at the Beaux Cadeaux Artisan show next week.

Many hours were spent on the fox, using glass enamels which were fired on in the big kiln.

 The Fall-themed artistic piece below is still in the works, but will really stand out when it is completed. Russ enjoys creating when the time allows. Beats the heck out of making the same ornaments over and over. I keep thinking when he retires, his creativity will know no bounds. 

A Fall scene is in the works, using glass enamels and fused glass.

A new design of sledder ornaments were created this month.

 Speaking of ornaments, some new ideas were created for a customer this month, colorful glass sledders along with a preview in the kiln of what will end up being many hundreds of reindeer. These items are being shipped to Minnesota as soon as they are packaged up. (Haven't quite figured out the packaging process on the deer, as they have fragile antlers. There is a science to packing to avoid breakage of the glass while it is being shipped around the country. This one will be tricky.) 

A kiln full of annealed glass reindeer.

                Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go shovel snow so the little trick-or-treaters that DO                  show up at our door won't be slipping and sliding all over. Sheesh! Gotta love Idaho!