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.  

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