And I'm back and I'm open

I'm back from the frigid Door County Wisconsin, where it snowed the last two days we were there.  Ugh, the weather was not on our side.  But we had fun and lousy weather allowed us to not feel bad about being pent up in our hotel room watching tv and beading. 

What did I work on up there?  A little bit of everything.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures since I forgot my camera at home.  I feel like I started lots of projects/flowers and finished none of them.  I made petals to two single flowers, and enough additional flowers for another wreath.  Plus I made the beginnings of a pile of wine charms.  I went out in the snow and browsed a bunch of lovely art galleries full of color.  And I came out of them inspired by brand new color combos.  They might be a little out there but I'm excited to try them out.  And I found a little local bead shop up there and picked up a few new goodies for my stash.  I'm glad to be home.  I'm in major list mode.  I have less than two weeks until the first Artist on the Boardwalk show and I'm barely keeping my nerves in check. 

This week will be all about booth design and making a mock booth this weekend to figure out where my holes are in my inventory.  Then next week will be about filling in the holes.  That's the game plan right now. 

 French Beaded Copper and Lapis flower purchase info

 

And now for the even more exciting news.  Crymson Flower is back open and I've already listed a fresh new beaded flower.  Ok actually I made this one a few years back.  But it's always been one of my favorite flowers that I've done.  I have three all time faves from back then.  This is one.  It's the first flower that I started experimenting with copper wire accents.  It's the oxidized dark copper next to the peach and light peach petals that creates a rich look but the blue lapis lazuli center is what makes the flower pop.  It makes it memorable.  The leaf is attached to the flower. 

Christmas in April

Well we did have snow last week so I guess it also literally feels like Christmas here. But today the weather is warmer and the sun is out. It feels like a break for now. But the more exciting news is that my new box of wire that I ordered came yesterday. This is what 7 pounds of wire looks like. Honestly I would have thought it would have looked like more. Nevertheless I'm still super excited to get this shipment in. One because it's always fun to receive a package in the mail. And two because I've finally found a supplier of wire in one stop shop. It's an exciting relief and I'm going through a lot of wire these days. I have no idea how long this will last me. Suppose I'll find out soon enough.

So, what do we have here?  7 rolls of different colors of copper coated wire.  I'm just beginning to start to play with colored wires.  A few months back I ordered a sample roll of purple and silver and you've seen it in my wine charms here and here.  I want to expand on the roll copper wire plays in my stuff.  I really love the natural color of copper, but that's not everyone's thing.  And sometimes the copper elements need the bit of color...this can offer that. 
I also bought some copper and steel wire. I love having a stash. It makes me sad when I'm out or my stash is dwindling. So looking at these guys now makes me very happy.

The good and exciting news that I've received over the last couple days is that I've been juried into and accepted invitations into all the shows I've applied for so far this year.  EEK!  I'm excited.  Super excited.  I have lots of things I need to do.  I even have yet to start the list of things I need to do.  I think I'm sort of stunned or shocked I guess because panic and urgency has not hit me yet.  Hopefully it will soon because the first show is a mere 5 weeks away.  Expect lots of preparations posts in the next few weeks.  It'll be an exciting journey to share. 

sneak peek into a torch

Friday's I like to save for a sneak peak in what to expect in Crymson Flower next week.  This week took a little turn in my creating plans when I received a custom order. I had major flower plans, a new wreath that was started last weekend and some single flowers have been started.  A custom order for 21 wine charms kick started my need to make some headpins.

It's been years since I've played with a torch.  I've been meaning to make headpins for months but kept putting off setting up the torch equipment.  It's really not that big of a deal to set up it's more of a well I can set up and make headpins or I can sit down and bead a flower.  Flowers tend to win.

Since I had everything set up I made a ton of pins.  Little red balls on copper wire.  They're so cute and fun.  I managed to burn myself once, touching a copper ball when it was still much too hot.  Occupational hazard I suppose.

 

I'd forgotten how fun it is to melt copper.  It took me a little bit to get back into the hang of it.  But once I found a groove it was simple.  I also cut out some simple shapes from some sheet copper I found in the box.  I put each of the pieces through the flame a few times to get some heat color on it.  I'm not really sure what I'll do with those, but I have some preliminary ideas I want to explore.

Flower pics again soon I promise.  Have a good weekend.  Stay warm.  It snowed here today.  =(