Off the beaten path...

Since I had nonrefundable hotel reservations, my family took a trip to Cary, NC this past weekend.

Knowing that Hurricane Irene wasn't supposed to be too bad in that area, we drove down on Friday night. We decided to leave I-85 at Charlotte and take the smaller back roads to get there. I really don't enjoy being small car sandwich meat between a semi truck and the cement wall of death. If you could see my little car, you'd understand.

So when time allows, I always like to take the road less traveled and see the small towns along the way. We saw a "Walmart Express" - looked like a cross between a Walgreens and a Walmart. I didn't even know those existed. We saw a convenience store chain called "Tank and Tummy" - their slogan: "fill both at the same time!"

I was really impressed with the Cary area. We stayed in a very nice Holiday Inn and Suites. There were lots of refuges from the coastal areas staying there too. Irene came ashore about 7:00 am on Saturday, and we were in the very outer band of the storm. The winds were fairly high, and it pretty much rained all day long,

Tim and I drove over to the actual downtown Cary area and found the streets where the festival would have been. It was pouring rain, and it made me grateful to the organizers for canceling it. I think it would have been a miserable day for everyone involved. I also imagine my tent would have been worse for the wear after enduring the high winds...if it survived at all.

We didn't really do much the rest of our time there. We visited a mall, had lunch at a Red Robin, hung out at the hotel, and just relaxed. It was good for my family to have a chance to ditch the routine and just hang out. So, even though I was disappointed that I didn't get to experience my first Festival there, it turned out to be a nice weekend after all.

New, New Things...

In my preparation for upcoming shows, I've been working like mad on pendants, larger pieces and even some earrings. Since Irene blew out the Cary show, I should be well prepared for fall shows and restocking my inventory in the various shops and galleries that carry my stuff, and I will probably put some of these on my Etsy and Yessy sites as well.

Here is a taste of some of new, new things...

Black glass hand painted with Glassline paint and fired without a clear glass cap.

This piece is stacked glass that has been tack fused.

A simple set of earrings - Glassline paint on black glass.

2 layers of black glass handpainted with Glassline paint and fused.

Dichroic pattern with clear cap.

Black glass with Glassline paint details.

Diagonal quilt-square inspired pendant in green, aqua, gray and black.

Since the festival isn't going this weekend, these are all still available. If you are looking for something in different colors, etc. Let me know, I probably have it.

Disappointed...

Hurricane Irene is barreling towards the north now.

The experts are expecting it to swipe the North Carolina coast, so today the town of Cary, NC decided to cancel their annual Lazy Daze Festival - the first cancellation in over 35 years of the festival.

I totally understand the decision. It's always best to err on the side of caution. But, I confess I am selfishly disappointed. I was really looking forward to my being there this year. I applied and was accepted in the spring, and it's been fun getting ready to go. My mom and I were all set to hit the road tomorrow.

I've heard from people who have done Lazy Daze that it is a great festival, in a great area. Cary is near Raleigh - not on the coast, but near enough to get wind and rain from a storm like this.

I have to commend the organizers with the City of Cary for the way they have handled this situation, and I hope to have the chance to be a part of Lazy Daze sometime in the future. Of course, in the big picture, a festival isn't a big deal, there will be other festivals and other years.

Having watched the forecasts all week, I know how unpredictable Irene has been. Maybe, she'll take a hard right and veer off to sea at the last minute. My prayers are with all of those in the path of this monster storm. It looks to be a long weekend for many.

Design Time

I really love designing logos. I enjoy staring at a blank screen, a blank scrap of paper, thinking, scribbling, interpreting, sketching. It is fun to begin to personify an idea, to bring out the personality, voice and feel of a person's company or hobby. There is such satisfaction in finding just the right image, just the perfect font, and color scheme that brings an idea to life.

I had a chance recently to work on an image for someone I met at the show in Pendleton, SC. She makes these fabulous, colorful, creative beads using a torch and glass rods. I just love her work! We sat down for an hour, looked at beads and talked about what she was thinking about her new image or logo.

She gave me a quick lesson and even allowed me to attempt to create a bead myself. She made it look so simple. Her work was graceful and lovely. My attempt was clumsy and required several restarts! You have to turn this rod continually while heating glass with a torch. Apparently, I can't do those 2 things consistently and simultaneously ( think pat your head and rub your tummy, or walk and chew gum). But with her patient tutoring, I ended up with a functional, although very basic bead.

After a few days of contemplation on our discussions, I began the process of creating her new look. I wanted to capture the creativity, the color, the elegance and vibrancy of her work. I tried various ideas, sketched this and that, and this is the final logo design.

Getting Ready for Lazy Dayz

I've had several requests for earrings since my initial batch sold out. It takes a little longer to do a pair of earrings, because I am hand cutting and painting them. The size, shape and image need to match fairly closely, so it just requires more precision than I am used to.

But, I finished my second batch, and have ordered the findings to make 48 more pairs. I would like to have enough to get through some of the big shows I have coming up this fall and winter.

Bravo Pantone!

This probably won't excite anyone that isn't a graphic artist who also enjoys dabbling in painting too. I was wandering through the near by Hobby Lobby (which is a hobby of mine), and I was surprised to see this display...

So cool! Maybe I've missed this, and it's been around awhile, but I'm guessing it's new. I've been specing Pantone colors for over 20 years in my real job, and now I can use them in my time off as well! Whoever at Pantone that figured out that this would be a good idea deserves a raise!

A Giveaway that Wasn't...

I have to admit that sometimes this whole blogging thing isn't easy.

I really enjoy writing, and I love working with glass and paint and metal. Sometimes, I have things that I really want to share, ideas I'm excited about, random thoughts, blessings, stuff like that. I don't worry so much that nobody may actually read what I'm throwing up on my blog, it's just kind of an outlet for me, a diary of sorts. I can refer back to posts to see the different shows we've gone to and people we've met. I can see what I've been working on at different times - keeping kind of a visual record.

I do try to find people out there who might be interested in fused glass, or enameling or painting, or CS Lewis, absolute truth, beauty, design, color and more. I link up with an occasional blog to share recipes and ideas.

I even linked up to a blog giveaway recently. I was a little disappointed that not a single person seemed interested in leaving a comment and being eligible to win a pendant. I'm not really sure why this happened. Maybe it was something about the way I phrased my give away. Maybe I wasn't giving away enough to make it worth the trouble. I will try it again soon and who knows, this time it might work.

There are times I wonder if a tree falls on a blog does it may any noise?