We've Moved!

Hello, I've moved to a different site (and I know it's been a while since I posted here, but I'm keeping the other one much more up to date). Check it out and come follow me there! I'd love to hear from you.

valkinman.com

Boro Sculpture!

Here's some pictures of my first two attempts at doing sculpture work with borosilicate glass (think Pyrex). This type of glass is Very different to work with than the soft/Bullseye glass I use to make little fusing bits. It's very slow to move and heat up, which can be both a blessing & a curse. Plus there's the fact that it doesn't want to shock as it cools down much (or at least not as much of a tendency to do so than soft glass does - found that out yesterday, yikes!)

Because it is such a hard, sturdy glass (and some of the other properties above) make it ideal for things such as bakeware, large items, and sculptural, multi-piece things. (Can we say wine glasses, wine corkers, etc?)To give some perspective, this vase-thing on a stand is 7.75" tall. The flower hits 4.5" tall.

Now, these two items I can't sell at all - they both developed some hairline cracks in their assembly/final cooling so their structural intregredity isn't the best. However, they're quite pretty to look at, and are a fun preview for the types of things that could be done with this material. :)

Oh, did I mention the colors?? Boro has such a larger range of colors and color effects that you can get with it than soft glass, it's just amazing and fun to play with. Take a look at the root-like base of this flower - that's all one color of glass, and it just happened to hit all those various colors.

Craft Mafia Show!

There's a show this Saturday evening at the Secret Society Ballroom, the Craft Mafia is hosting, consider yourself invited!
I will be there - come and check it out and celebrate the local craft scene - we have a mafia now!

Come one, come all, this Saturday evening at the Secret Society Ballroom from 5pm to 10pm

Sale!

So I had my first online sale this week, so to celebrate, for the rest of the month of August I'll be running a little sale, advertised here only, for 10% off any item in my Etsy store.

Use code at checkout of: 1stsale

Yes, you can pass this onto friends and family to use as well.
Sale good through midnight Pacific Standard Time, August 31st 2008.

Welcome!

Well, I'm just starting up this blog. The plan is to use this as a newsletter of sorts for my glass business and for notice of other related things of interest. This whole plan could change as things progress, but at least this is the initial intent. :) This means that here:

- You'll see photos of brand new items, before they even hit my Etsy store or are sold in shows I'll be attending. Yes, this means that you can message me and call "dibs" if you want something.

- Read about "behind the scenes" things as I work on my glass work and other things.

- I'll be giving dates of my various appearances, where I'll be selling my work, in person (aka other than my Etsy store). I hope to see some of you at these!

- I'll also be posting first (and sometimes only!) notice of sales and other events on this site.

- Other related events or news that I think you might find of interest.

- And other things that I'm not thinking of at the moment.

Most of all I plan to have fun here, and have a chance to geek out on all my crafty/glass interests, and be able to share some of that with others. :)

Please, let me know if you're watching, stop by, say "Hi", and hope you enjoy!