Inundated with Orders

November's Blog will be short and sweet, as we are inundated with orders, and I need to get back in the Studio asap! The Internet seems to have really discovered us this year....so hard to keep up with the incredible amount of orders, many of them large orders of wholesale ornaments, shipping around the country. We are trying to pace ourselves, and have had to shut down some of our web presence, just to keep up. Below are samples of some of the ornaments shipping out the door. 

Packaging and shipping, repeat, repeat, repeat!

Hundreds of reindeer are in the process of being made for a customer.

We take great care in packaging our glass so it arrives safely at it's destination.

Another variety of reindeer ornament.

 Meanwhile, our dogs are feeling neglected, so we thought we'd brighten them up with some festive accessories....(actually, they were not amused!) At least they are decorated, not sure when I will have the time to do the same to the house!  

Our Lab/Retriever Handsome Doggie!

Our Border Collie humors us for a minute.

Our oldest dog is all lit up! (And asking "Why?")

That's it for the blog this month. Wish me luck in getting all these orders shipped out to their destination! I'm going to need it!

November's Never-ending Orders

Blown Glass Musical Ornaments

 'Tis the season......our torches are in beast mode once again. With the advance of technology, the Internet has kept this little "Ma-Pa" business hopping!  I wanted to make the time for one more Blog entry before November slips away....

Glass Hot Air Balloons waiting to be packaged.

Blown Glass Hot Air Balloon

  Companies are purchasing large ornament orders to give as tokens of appreciation to their employees for the holidays. It's all the two of us can do to keep up with the requests. We try our best and hope the end result is worth it. Meanwhile, I give the USPS a lot of business this time of year, as I ship many packages on a daily basis. And they all need a fragile sticker, because well, GLASS! 😉

Shipping packages all month long

Orders lined up, ready to be sent out to customers.

 Every year Russ makes the time to create a new ornament, like the one pictured below. I'm afraid that will probably have to do it for this year. Not enough hours in the day! Hopefully next year we will make the time to create some more new ornaments.

A new red and white striped icicle ornament

 Our Etsy Store is doing really well lately. Customers are coming back for more, (We like our repeat customers.) like the variety of roses pictured below.

Customers are requesting large orders of a variety of  roses.

 Russ doesn't have much time to fill the creative niche' this time of year, too busy filling orders. But   he did manage to create a slumped and fused piece this month. He added a screen printed fox to the     glass art below. Can you find him hiding in the woods?  Well, gotta run...the orders are piling up! 'Til next time, I hope you enjoy the season of giving. 🎄

The latest slumped and fused "Seasons" 

So Long, Farewell, Goodbye 2016

Well, the end is near folks! To 2016 that is. 😏 What a year! We've had as many highs as we've had lows. I guess that is what you call a full life. We were tested to our limits in so many ways, but we're still here standing on two feet, so that is what I like to focus on. The end of the year is a time for us to reflect back and also look forward. Things happened this year that we could and couldn't control. No matter how hard we tried, some things just weren't meant to be, or we couldn't quite get right. As is said, "That's the way the cookie crumbles", "the ball bounces", "the way the wind blows," etc. We got through a lot of tough issues and experiences, but have much to be happy about too, as this was the busiest and most productive year to date in our Studio.

Merry Christmas Ornament

December was a busy month right up until the end. Filling orders, packaging them securely, and shipping them out in all types of weather, including intense snowstorms, were a priority. Tree ornaments were in highest demand. We used enamel decals on a variety of glass ornaments this year. We tried to have a wide selection of blown ball ornaments ready to go for this festive season.

A variety of commissioned glass fly ties

Specialty gifts were commissioned as well, like the glass fly ties on Manzanita wood pictured above, and blown ball ornaments with a sports theme, pictured below.

Commissioned Oregon Duck themed blown glass ornaments

Our enamel decals also added a festive look to our slumped bottles and fused kiln ornaments.

Slumped bottles for Holiday trivets, and Fused Santa Ornaments

Russ went above and beyond this month, behind the torches. We went through many tanks of oxygen and propane as we both did our part and worked to fill order after order. We actually had to shut down the business for a bit to enjoy the birth of our 4th grandchild and first granddaughter mid December.

Our tireless Master Blaster, blowing glass until just about the last minute of the year

 One of the last orders to go out the door before we shut down for the year was the commissioned piece below, "Rabbits in the Garden".

Bunnies in the garden

 We were more than relieved when we could shut everything down in the Studio and just sit back and enjoy our kids and grand kids for the rest of the holiday season.

We were lucky to have everyone home for Christmas this year and enjoyed the company of our grown kids and grand kids. We don't take these precious moments for granted. Time spent with family is a gift in itself.

Our family continues to grow

 Russ and I have also grown to appreciate all that is offered to us from Nature's bounty, at our place of residence. The highlight of Christmas day was witnessing the mighty Buck pictured below, standing majestically on the front part of our property. It was as if he was giving us a simple but noble gift of his majesty. Simple gifts seem to be the most symbolic, like the gift of the little child wrapped in swaddling clothes thousands of years ago. Simplistic beauty is holy in many forms. For me, this gift from Nature was the height of the Christmas season this year. 

A majestic Buck on our property, Christmas Day

I hope that in the new year we can continue to strive for that kind of peace of mind and tranquility as we face new challenges in the coming year, both in our personal and professional lives. It is easy to lose sight of what matters, in this often turbulent world we live in. The new year always brings a fresh perspective, and we are hopeful we can continue to create new artistic beauty through new glass pieces and commissions. We want to wish our loyal customers the very best in the new year, and hope to welcome many new clients as well.  We are beyond thankful for all of you who continue to show us your support and business, throughout our many years of working with this wonderful medium of glass art. 

'Tis the Season

Slumped and Fused Art

Lately I've got a bad habit of waiting 'til the last possible moment to write my monthly blog, through no fault of my own. Hectic doesn't begin to accurately describe what this month has been like for us in the Studio. First we had to prepare new art pieces to participate in a local art show, then create custom commissions for clients, then stock and restock all our ornaments that we are shipping through our Etsy storefront. Not to mention create custom blown ball ornaments for clients both local and across the country. I'm getting that stress knot in my stomach that tends to inflame around this time of the year. I suppose I need to focus on the end results, which is, that we are constantly validated these days both in the art world, and our home grown business. Makes it easier to lose sleep over I suppose. 

Our large Ornament rack holds lots of unique ornaments.

Set up for a local art show in November

We created a fun fused coaster set out of different hues and shades of red.

Red glass fused coasters

Bigger and more unique wildlife pieces were sculpted in the lamp working flames, like the pieces shown below.

Blown glass Owl on Manzanita Burlwood

A crystal clear trout making a glass splash out of the water

Blown glass Moose in Cattails

Sandblasted Mountain Goat on a glass rock ledge

While our Wildlife scenes are always popular, Russ went outside his comfort zone with soft glass, and spent hours and hours creating the Aspen scene below. A nice, thick piece was created by added layer after layer of various colors. The real Aspen log set it off perfectly.  Definitely one of the more intense pieces created to date.

Slumped and Fused Aspen Art Work

A real piece of Aspen bark was also used to help create a mold for the unique slumped and fused piece below. A light adds a soft touch to it.

Another unique glass Aspen piece

Russ was really pushed to his creative limits on the piece below. A client wanted a type of Salvidor Dali inspired piece of art work. This piece really moved me, almost to tears, as he described his inspiration behind it. Hours and hours of intense kiln time and flame working time were spent on it. Both ourselves and our client were extremely pleased with the outcome. 

This piece has many interpretations and levels to it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Another couple of unique projects are wrapping up this month, as two different clients wanted us to create their logos on the inside of their custom blown balls. Inserting the logo inside the ornament gives it a kind of floating-in-air impression. Lots of time and effort is being spent to get it to look just right. Hoping they are both happy with the outcome. 

Custom made blown ball ornaments

And of course, what would this time of year be like without our trusty source of income, affordable Christmas ornaments. These happy snowmen are just about to be fired in the kiln.

Slumped and Fused Glass Snowman Ornaments

Now if you will excuse me, I've got to rush to the Post Office to ship yet another car load of glass goodies. I need 4 sets of hands to get it all done!

Many packages waiting to be shipped out all across the country.