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"!

Have a Heart

Lustered Rose bouquet

Another small bouquet with purple highlights

Valentines Month is also "Healthy Heart" month. From some personal experience, I can say I understand the importance of this focus. Normally February is a very busy time for us, teaching lessons for "Hot Date Night" and shipping out rose bouquets, both of which were accomplished. But this year I'd be lying if I said everything was smooth sailing for us. Production in the Studio kind of came to a screeching halt as we dealt with major health issues on both sides of our families.

If anything has been learned, we can say we have a fresh perspective on just how precious our health and hearts can be. Family is what captures our hearts the most, and we are thankful for having such strong family ties. Life has it's ups and downs, and in reality it's never the bed of roses we wish it could be. But how we deal with the lows is just as important as how we deal with the highs. Have to remember that one.

Teddy Bears with heart shape balloons are new this year.

As far as Valentine gifts, there was still time to get a little creative with some new blown glass creations like the ones pictured above and below (we're dealing with the personal stuff as best as we can.) Bottom line is when life gets tough, it's important to "have a heart" and give of yourself to those around you that might need the comfort of a helping hand. We're appreciative of the fact that our family is good at rallying when the going gets tough. 

"Heart of the Ocean" Blown glass Valentine gift

We shipped out a number of these bouquets this month

Upcycled bottles pictured with some of our heart pendants

February is coming to a close and the dark clouds of winter are lessening. A little sun is good for our overall outlook, and helps improve the mood. So as we adjust our attitude, we look forward to a little more sunshine and happiness as we welcome Spring next month. Until next time, remember how important it is to "have a heart", literally and figuratively. 

Love, Not Some 1/2 Baked Idea

February is just about ready to exit stage right, so I thought I'd write a quick entry about the month of affection. We didn't allow any "down time" after the Holidays, as we prepared our many unique and delicate heart felt gifts, rosebuds, and bouquets of glass flowers. We worked on these projects throughout the months of January and February. Below are samples of the variety of Valentine gifts we offered our customers. We are always happy when a customer likes to think outside the traditional route of fresh flowers. Every now and then it's good to go with a non traditional gift for your Valentine, keeps things fresh and new in any relationship. And unlike the fresh flowers, glass gifts also last longer than a week.

Cupid's arrow through a glass heart

A simple, yet elegant heart shape

Red hearts swirling

Sculpted Glass Yellow Rosebud

Sand Blasted and Pink Luster  Glass Rosebud

Etched White Rosebud

Amber Glass Rosebud

Pink Luster Glass Rosebud

Deep Red Glass Rosebud

 Not only did we have a variety of rosebuds and floral bouquets, but we also brought back "Hot Date Night", where couples could sign up to learn to make a rosebud together with instructions from our head glassblower, while they were at the torch. It was a lot of fun to see couples young and old alike, create their own rosebud from "scratch". We enjoyed packaging up their finished project which they were able to take home at the end of the session.

A Snowfire Rose a midst red roses

A lovely vase of sandblasted and pink luster roses

The highlight of February came from an unusual source, as we were commissioned to create a realistic heart shaped pizza for Papa Murphy's Corporate Offices. They are very sentimental as a company, when it comes to the season of love, as every Valentine's holiday they offer their customers delicious heart shaped pizzas. We were honored they commissioned the piece below to symbolize their expertise in this field. Yes, I'd say love is not some 1/2 baked idea. But you have to constantly strive to create news ways to show that emotion to those dear to your heart. Find the right ingredients, slowly bake up your idea, and cook up  your love to a golden perfection. Show love in ways that are unique to those closest to you, and the love will be reciprocated.

Corporate Gift Art Work

A New View

The January view from our glass studio signals a time of new and promising beginnings. (No photoshop here, just the real deal of one of many spectacular Idaho sunsets.) January has turned out to be quite a roller coaster of  new projects and events happening in our professional and personal lives. As we come to the end of the first month of 2014, we are ready to face the challenges. Priority will be given to a new web presence. Stay tuned next month as we display the latest  artistic glass pieces on our  updated website. Currently it's unavailable as it's under construction. Bear with us, we're working on it.

In the meantime, take a look at some of the projects we have either already created, or are in the process of making. The first slumped and fused piece was created as a birthday gift for a VIP person in our family. It represents a moment in time that we treasured, on a weekend getaway with family members last summer. For us, the piece takes on a whole new meaning,  as our sons continue to leave the Rocky Mountains and head for greener pastures. It is a mixture of emotions as we are happy yet sad saying farewell to them. Happy for their job promotions and new beginnings. Sad to see them move to a far away State. Needless to say it has been a whirlwind start to the year, with news of another move once again. This time it's our youngest son. This mother of four is learning to embrace the change, and looks forward to seeing many new parts of the country, while visiting my grown children and their families. Trying to stay positive and look on the bright side of things.

Slumped and fused glass gift titled "Swan Valley Pond"

The other pieces below are either commissions or requests for non profit organizations and local businesses and customers, all to be completed in the first month of  this year. Looking ahead, don't forget that Valentine's day is coming up. Keep in mind that our glass rosebuds are a nice alternative to fresh flowers, and you still have time to place an order by phone even though our website is under construction.

We're creating 500 teardrops for a Non-profit Organization

Glass rocks sculpted for a company called "Etched in Stone"

Colorful Glass Chili Peppers created for a customer

Finished Blown glass Chili Ristra

Commissioned Slumped and fused glass vase

Don't forget to sweep your Valentine off their feet this February with some of our Hand sculpted glass roses.

Blown glass Rosebuds in a variety of vivid colors