February was Fierce

February started out nice enough....we had quite a few snowstorms this month and played outside in the white powder with our furry friends. We also celebrated a couple of birthdays in the family, including our youngest grandson turning 1 earlier this month. But midway through the month we both came down hard with the Crud! It hit us something fierce! It especially hit Russ hard, so our annual Valentine rosebud lessons had to be rearranged until he got to feeling better. Today is the last day of the month and he's still not quite 100 percent. This is the first year I can remember whole school districts shutting down because of that nasty bug spreading all throughout our valley. I'm glad we are on the mend now.

Our 5th grandchild turned 1 year old this month.

 Before Russ got sick, he had time to create a few new fused projects, including the wall art below...a callalily scene for our daughter-in-law, who celebrated the big 30 year mark this month. He used stand-offs to hang it in her home. It took multiple firings in the big kiln.

Fused Callalilies ready to fire again in the big kiln.

Finished art work

A large order of blown glass hearts and many roses were also worked on and shipped out this month, in between each of us dealing with fevers and coughs and sniffles.

Another fused scene (pictured below) completed this month represented the many chickadees that come to our property in winter in search of food. It can also be used as wall art and is for sale in our Studio. 

 We had a request at the end of the month for these medallions to go along with a book that a local author had written. We were barely able to squeeze this order in, after dealing with the sickies for weeks on end!

A custom order of Star and Heart blown glass medallions

 Now that we have just about conquered the Crud, we are really looking forward to warmer weather and Spring flowers blooming, akin to our glass tulips pictured below. Believe me, we are so done with "Cabin Fever"!

Creative Works in the Studio

 This month was spent going outside the box on many special requests generated from various customers. We started out the month by working on a design for a gift/award that was handcrafted for a prominent Company in our city, Melaleuca. They requested that their logo, a Melaleuca leaf and droplet, be created out of glass...along with an American and Chinese flag to symbolize a new business partnership for them.

Creating National Flags out of glass

Initially this project was a real puzzler, with countless hours put into the design, trying to get it just right. The glass leaf was hand sawed and carved and fire polished in the kiln. The droplet was fired with gold in the kiln, multiple times. Overall, I think the end result was what they were after.

Russ also had time to create an unusual glass water fountain for our own front patio area,  shown in the video below. 

We had fun creating the piece below with an Upcycled wine bottle that I hand engraved. It's accented with colorful blown glass flowers and a butterfly attached with copper wiring.

A pretty Upcycled piece of Wall Art

 A variety of  blown glass flowers were also created for an Etsy customer this month.

A variety of purple hues were used on these sculpted glass flowers.

 Another client wanted some Tinkerbell-like pixies created. The picture below is what we came up with. 

Pixies with Butterflies resting on glass flowers

 The flowers below are part of an unfinished order we are still working on. They were a challenge, but the end result is worth it.

The blown glass Dolphins were a special order from another Etsy customer. They will be woven into a handcrafted Japanese basket.

Cobalt blue glass Dolphins

 Pictured below is the beginning stage of our float glass water fountain. Russ hand cut each piece and it required multiple firings in the kiln. 

First stage ready to be fired in the kiln.

 The leaves were cut and sawed into, then laid on kaowool for the desired texture.

Glass leaves ready to be fired.

Another month full of new projects, it keeps us on our creative toes! Thanks for tuning in to what's new from our Glass Studio. Until next time, enjoy those summer days.

Finished project

Time Marches On

And just like that, the month of March is fleeting. It's easy to let time slip through our hands, as we dabble in a variety of projects, both in the Studio and around our Property. This month's posting is short and sweet, as we really haven't spent much time in the Studio. We're finishing up loose ends on projects around the property, while we wait on a large order from the Yellowstone Stores to come through at the end of the week. So for this month's blog I thought I'd post some pictures of past projects we worked on for previous customers, to show the diversity we are capable of creating with both blown glass and slumped and fused glass.

Blown Glass Balls with Slumped and Fused Decorative Plate

Fighting Elk Scene

This month repairs were made to some glass that was damaged and broken. Past customers brought them in to have updated, including the blown glass Elk above, and the fun green Gecko below. 

Whimsical Gecko

The Swordfish below was a bit of a challenge to create, as the blue colored glass can be tricky to work with, as it tends to crack easily if it's not annealed right away.

Swordfish leaping out of the Ocean Waves

 The artistic piece below was sculpted in the Lamp Work flames a while back, and is still one of our favorite pieces to this date.

Labrador on the hunt for Pheasant

The floral bouquet pictured below, of tulips and daffodils, was sculpted this month to welcome in Spring. The pastel colors are fun to work with in the flame. I'd compare it to pulling taffy. Arrangements like these help brighten the mood of the room they are in. And that's about it for this month. Next time I write an entry, I'm sure we will be knee-deep in our contract to create a multitude of blown glass wildlife figures. So, off to finish a few more projects in the yard, before we head to the Studio for hours and weeks worth of work. Until next time, enjoy the Spring weather.

Spring Blooms sculpted in our Lamp Work Flames

New Spring Colors and Projects

Colorful glass eggs accent a real bird's nest we found in our yard.

Bird's nest completes our birdhouse outside

Time for us to check in again with our monthly blog. I'll keep it short and sweet this month. We are both ready for Spring color, and ready for March to be over. The winds are howling outside right now and it can grate on one's nerves after days on end of the same windy weather patterns. Just like the predictable winds, March was no exception to our pattern of staying busy in the Studio. 

While we had plenty of orders to take care of, I had been wanting to do something with this bird's nest I found in our yard. It had fallen from one of our trees. Russ created some colorful eggs, and I spruced up one of our bird houses outside with the recycled bird's nest. A fun project to create on the side.

Below are projects completed in the Studio while the March winds were whipping. The glass is hand sculpted in our lamp work flame. Some of the glass, like the crosses, are made using slumping and fusing techniques. There tends to be a wider variety of color when working with soft glass, as compared to the hard blown glass.

We've added a customized label to some of our ornaments this year.

Colorful balls remind us of an Easter basket full of colorful Spring eggs.

Glass crosses and a variety of other ornaments created for a customer.

Flowers were still in demand this month, and we had a variety of special orders to finish, like the anemones and tulips pictured below.

Our first try at a new flower

A pretty bouquet of Anemones

Glass Tulips are a perfect gift this time of year.

A completed glass tulip arrangement

One of our new baby chicks tip-toeing through the tulips

 Now that March is coming to a close, we are pondering which project to complete next. Hmmm, April showers bring May flowers. Maybe it's time to start thinking about doing some wedding bouquets.