July Beauties and Babies

Trying to capture the natural beauty of various florals around our property with a version of  blown and sculpted glass.

This July was very full of family, flowers, and furry kittens. I'm sharing some of those pictures with you this month. Even though we are constantly working on new projects in the Studio, sometimes it's nice to take time to smell the flowers and enjoy a simple life now and then.  

Sculpted Rosebuds

A sampling of our wildlife sold in Yellowstone Park Stores

     We enjoyed the birth of our sixth grandchild and 2nd granddaughter at the beginning of the month.

Our brand new granddaughter born in July. 💖💖

The Kittens I talked about last month have kept us on our toes. So silly, naughty and cute, all wrapped up in little balls of fur. 

Our rescued kittens

The following pictures are my once-a-year share of  the flowers around our property, plus our garden and chickens. We like to quote Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit...."It is not such a bad thing to enjoy a simple life". This month of July we are doing just that, by enjoying family reunions, babies, kittens, working on our yard and gardening. We hope you can take the time to slow down and enjoy the simple things too this summer. 

One of many flowers in the yard.

Many blooms going on in July

Our glass flowers try to blend in with the lilies.

Beautiful colors!

More pops of color

Pink Daisy

Pretty purples

Our garden sign highlighted with fused glass pieces.

More Daisies

Sunflowers are one of my favorite!

Some of our chickens

Hollyhocks galore!

Until next time, take the time to enjoy a tall cold beverage in the hot summer sun.  

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"!

Wild West Creations

Manzanita Burlwood really accents our glass wildlife

July has proven to be yet another busy month in the Studio. Along with the usual Etsy orders shipped all over the country, we restocked the store in Jackson Hole with a new selection of wildlife this month. Pictured below was part of the selection of wildlife we sent up there, including some fun wildlife ornaments.

Blown Glass Fighting Elk Scenes are very popular

Blown Glass Moose with cattails

Our Bucking Bronco Ornament can either stand or hang

Moose Ornament with Gold Antlers

Glass Cowboy Boot Ornament

White Water Rafting Glass Ornament

Pouncing Fox Blown Glass Ornament

Bugling Elk Blown Glass Ornament

Cowboy/Bucking Bronco Glass Ornament

Blown glass Moose Ornament

Blown Glass Trout Ornament

Russ also created a Southwest themed slumped, sandblasted glass bowl this month.

Southwest themed float glass decorative bowl

While we do have a lot of success when shipping our glass, every now and then we endure the hassles of shipping mishandling. The Daisy pictured below was so beautiful, but when the postal service broke it not only once, but twice, both us and the customer were at our wit's end and we have decided that is one flower that can't endure shipping. Anyone wanting this particular flower will need to personally pick it up at the Studio. We're just like any business out there, can't seem to escape a little drama here and there. But overall, the rewards of glass far outweigh the mishaps. That's why we keep moving on.

A Fragile Blown Glass Daisy

May Project for the Garden

Is it the last day of May already? I'm beginning to wonder how time keeps slipping away from me, the older I get. Time has had a way of eluding me lately, and I'm not sure how it slips out of my grasp so easily. Well, one last day to get the monthly Blog in. I'll make it short and sweet. 

Our garden sign from a couple years ago looked new, but needed a face lift this year.

This month has been so busy around the yard, sprucing up the trees, bushes and lawns, and planting the seasonal flowers and garden. After Old Man Winter has had his way with our landscape, it takes a lot of determination and effort to stay on top of such a large piece of property and the work that comes with it. Russ was busy with his own projects this month, so I managed to create a glass project of my own to spruce up the garden blocks. I was tired of repainting the garden sign every year, because of sun damage, so I decided to go with glass this year to see if it would last a little longer. 

Sanding old paint off the wood block.

First I had to sand down the old paint on the wood blocks. Then I re-stained the wood blocks. Next, I used our glass cutters and cut letters out of pieces of glass scrap left over from previous projects. I fused the lettering in the kiln overnight.

Cutting lettering from glass scraps.

Then I coated the glass molds with MR 97, a mold release spray used to help the glass frit come out of the molds, once they are fused and slumped in the kiln.

Glass molds need to be sprayed before use.

Next, I used a variety of crushed glass frit to fill the molds. I used butterflies, dragonflies, ladybug and flower molds for this project. 

A selection of crushed glass frit was used to fill the molds.

 And the picture below is the final project. Kind of whimsical by design, and hopefully will stand up to the harsh high desert climate for more than a year this time. 

Completed whimsical Garden blocks made with glass.

Well, that's about it for this month's blog. Now I'm headed out the door to ship more orders we processed off the website this busy month of  May. Until next time, happy gardening!

Back to the Grind

Now that the two big events of the year for the Lewis Bunch have come and gone, (the last Lewis wedding, and the birth of our second grandson) it's time to get "back to the grind".  And to tell you the truth, there is nothing I would rather be doing. To be able to work with our garden harvest and yard work, also while ramping back up in the glass studio, brings a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Running a small business and setting the schedules between home and work is a privilege afforded to very few. I certainly don't take it for granted, and look forward to setting new goals with my partner Russ for continued success in our Studio in the coming months.

Our Fall Garden

September is already coming to an end, and of course it has continued to be one of the busiest months for us in the garden. Harvesting all the crops, cleaning, preparing, and canning take up a large amount of our time. Wouldn't have it any other way though. There isn't much that can compare to the satisfaction of a well stocked pantry full of food put there from our own labor. Everything looks fresh and delectable sitting there in the glass jars. This year I even made homemade soup to enjoy for the coming winter months. Nature gave us a beautiful array of color, both in the garden and around the yard. I thought I'd share some of that in this blog for you to enjoy.

Blooming Sweet Peas

The fish are always hungry in our pond.

Marigolds surround the perimeter of our garden

Oodles and oodles of fresh strawberries this year

We will have lots of sunflower seeds to roast from our giant sunflowers

Our apple tree produced apples for the first time this year. Yum!

Gladiolus bloom

Daisy blooms

Part of our new and improved back yard

Ariel shot of our garden area

Ripening Pumpkins

Holly Hocks have such a beautiful bloom

Our chickens are producing lots of eggs for us

Another Daisy bloom

The Arbor has been a nice addition to our garden this year

As I write this morning, a fresh rain is falling down. Nothing like a cloudy day to get in the mood to head into the studio. I've always believed that's why there are so many artists in the Northwest, as grey skies seem to bring about the creative juices. Below is our latest slumped and fused creation out of the kiln. 

Slumped and fused vase

And of course, the hunting season is upon us. For those who would like to accent their den with something other than what a taxidermist would offer, we have some artistic options to choose from. Or if the hunters out there come up empty handed, we can offer a consolation prize of some glass wildlife art. 

Moose on Manzanita Burlwood

Large bugling Elk

A large selection of playful fox pieces

Sandblasted deer on Manzanita burlwood

Large fighting Elk scene

 Thanks for taking the time to read my monthly blog. I hope there is something in here that speaks to you. Taking the time to sit back and reflect now and then as to where we are going in our Studio, proves to me we are on the right path of creativity. And I enjoy sharing some of those ideas with you through photos. Maybe in the least, it will inspire you to create your own zen, whether it be through art, music, or any other creative outlet you wish to pursue.