Sunday, November 28, 2010

Week 5 of the Nine Weeks of Amy...win a $20 gift certificate from ahouston!

Hi all, it's “Lampwork by Amy”, aka ahouston, here. My name is Amy Hall (confusing, I know, because my shop is ahouston – but I got married last year and changed my name, and Etsy doesn't let you change your shop name). I make handmade glass beads.

I get a lot of questions about what I do, so I am going to use my week of our Amy promo here to share with you all exactly what I do, and how it is done!

The process is called Lampwork. It involves a torch that is specialized for melting glass. My torch uses a mix of oxygen and propane – the propane comes in a barbeque tank that you can buy anywhere, and the oxygen is pumped in from an oxygen concentrator. The concentrator is the kind used for medical purposes. In fact, I have two of them now, and they both run at once. The more oxygen you have, the hotter your flame can be, and I am an impatient person. I don't like to wait too long for my glass to melt.

I buy glass rods from a variety of sellers both online, and locally. I tend to buy locally when I can, but there is some stuff that my local shop doesn't carry. Most of the glass comes from Italy (Effetre, Moretti, and Vetrofond); there are a few American companies I buy from as well (Creation is Messy and Double Helix). Most of my clear glass comes from Germany, because the best clear (at least, my favorite), is Lauscha, a German company.

My studio is in my garage, at my home in Victoria, BC (Canada). I have a little table in the corner, with the torch mounted on it, and a small bead kiln right next to me. The beads have to be properly cooled in the kiln (called annealing), so they don't cool down too fast. This makes them much more durable and less prone to cracks. The beads are made on metal rods called mandrels. I dip the mandrels in a clay product called Bead Release. This allows me to remove the bead once I am done.

Other safety equipment I have is specialized glasses that allow me to see more clearly into the flame, and protect my eyes, and a range hood fan that draws any fumes away from me, and outside. There aren't a lot of fumes in lampwork, at least not for me since I don't work much with enamels. I do sometimes work with metals such as silver leaf, or glasses that are fumed with silver, and this does produce a small amount of fumes.

My usual process is, get the torch and kiln going, fire up my iPod with either some tunes, or an audiobook or podcast, and then lay out my color palette for whatever it is I plan to make first. The actual how-to of making a bead involves dipping the mandrel in bead release, drying it, and then melting a glass rod around the mandrel. The mandrel becomes the bead's hole. I start with a basic bead, and then decorate it with other colors. I love polka dots and stripes.

I make a lot of bead “sets” - these are matching sets of usually somewhere between 6-12 beads (sometimes more), that are intended for jewelry designers to buy. Sometimes I use these to make my own jewelry, especially if they sit around and don't sell for a while. I also make focal beads, which tend to be really organic and unique. I make large goddess beads. I also make buttons. Just recently I have been making the Pandora bracelet style beads.

All of the different types of beads I create require different tools or bits of equipment. So as I have learned new techniques, I have slowly acquired a LOT of stuff. When people ask me how much it costs to get started with lampwork, it's hard to find a good answer, since I slowly built all that I have up over so much time. I have been making beads since the beginning of 2006, so almost 5 years now.

I sell my beads primarily in my Etsy shop, but I also do some local craft shows at Christmas time, and a farmer's market every weekend all summer long. I don't do this full time, in fact it often gets just barely squeezed in when the rest of my life gets super busy. I work almost full time, and I go to school part time. I am in the healthcare field, working for a nursing program (I am not a nurse, I do clerical work there). I am working on a science degree currently, which I am almost finished (should be done by Christmas!) I am also a pre-med student, and hope to become a doctor one day – although I don't plan to even apply to medical school until I have taken at least a year off from school. I am too burnt out from my undergraduate degree to jump in to another full program right away. I hope to keep working with glass, no matter how busy my life gets, because I find it very relaxing and a wonderful way to wind down. Also, since I am a creative person, I feel like I need something creative in my life to balance out all of the other stuff.

So that is pretty much it! I do have a website that talks about lampwork a lot, and I even have tutorials for some of my bead styles – so if you want to see more pictures of the process in action, or just learn more about it, you can go check me out at http://www.twoglassyladies.ca/

Thanks for stopping by this blog, and I hope you enter this challenge. Again, the winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to my shop!

Here's how to enter... First, go browse through my shop (http://ahouston.etsy.com) Then come back here and leave a comment on this page telling me what your favorite item is from my shop.

You can also earn up to seven additional entries by:

- following @amysinthearts on Twitter

- sharing this giveaway on Twitter by tagging @amysinthearts in your tweet

- following the Amys In The Arts blog

- following Amy's Lampworkbyamy blog at http://lampworkbyamy.livejournal.com/

- becoming a fan of Amys in the Arts Facebook page

- posting a link to this giveaway on your blog (please copy the link to your blog post)

- adding the Amys In The Arts button to your blog (please copy the link where you've added it)
To get credit for your additional entries, please be sure to let us know what you’ve done (don't forget to copy your blog links!).

Friday, November 19, 2010

Week 4 of the Nine Weeks of Amy ... win a gift certificate from arjarvis

Be sure to come back every week through the rest of the year for another giveaway from another talented Amy!

Hello, I'm Amy. You've probably figured that out already, so I'll be a bit more specific; I'm the Amy behind arjarvis.etsy.com, which is where I list beautiful hand-beaded works of art and pieces of jewelry for sale.

My chosen beading technique is the square stitch, which is a tedious process by which one can create beaded cloth—something you can cut into and not have fall apart (although I'd appreciate it if you didn't). I've been doing this sort of beading on and off for close to a decade, and I can only say that my skills have improved over the years. It can be monotonous, but I really enjoy the things that I create, and I hope that others do, too.

I think my favorite part of beading is making patterns. I spend a lot of time on them, building the images, getting the shapes just right, picking colors that will work well. I love to make patterns of a fantastical or whimsical nature best of all—I have several patterns for dragons, a unicorn, a merman, pirate ships, phoenixes and even an airship. I'm currently most proud of and pleased with the airship, which ultimately turned out just the way I had envisioned it.

The prize for this week's giveaway is a $15 gift card for my shop, which you can put towards whatever you'd like to buy—pins, patterns, bracelets, mobius strips (endless one-sided fun) or tapestries. Give someone a beautiful work of beaded art or spoil yourself this holiday season!

To enter this giveaway, visit my shop (arjarvis.etsy.com), pick your favorite item and post a comment about it back here on this blog post. If you'd like to enter more than once, you may do any of the following:

1) Follow the Amys in the Arts blog (the one you're looking at now)
2) Follow @amysinthearts on Twitter
3) Follow my blog (amyville.blogspot.com)
4) Share this giveaway on Twitter by tagging @amysinthearts
5) Become a fan of the Amys in the Arts Facebook page
6) Post a link to this giveaway in your blog
7) Add the Amys in the Arts button to your blog

Make sure that you post a link back here for whichever of these you do—otherwise we won't know about it and your entry will be invalid. Also, if you've already done one of the above, please let us know by commenting on this post because it counts as an entry as well.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Week 3 of the Nine Weeks of Amy...Win 2 Pairs of Earrings from Alililly!

Hi, I am Ami with AliLilly. I'm so excited to be here and I'm even more excited for y'all, because I have an AWESOME give-a-way! I create jewelry and I do it with a lot of love. I never sell or finish a piece I don't LOVE myself. First, let me tell y'all just a bit about me and how AliLilly was born.


My husband and I had a bit of a struggle getting pregnant. After 5 years, I finally was pregnant. I was put on bed rest throughout out most of the pregnancy. Since I can't help but share my story of our blessing named Alice Marie please click here if you'd like to read more. Bored and out of TV shows to follow, my sweet husband bought me several hemp jewelry making kits. I loved them. I had so much fun learning. After the first couple pieces, I began adding my own influences instead of following the set directions. I must of made three pieces of jewelry for every family member and each friend I have.

I made this Princess Costume for Alice. I think I maybe adding clothing to my shop soon!!


My precious Alice Marie



Now a little more than two years later I've opened an etsy shop and have expanded my jewelry making skills. I recently began including hair accessories to my shop. I love making jewelry. It's calms me and brings me such joy to see what my hands and mind create.

Autumn Beaded Dangle Earrings


Autumn Orange Rosette Hair Clip


Blue Dangle Earrings


Candied Apple Earrings


Fall Braided Bracelet


Fall Earrings


I run a blog as well. It's becoming quite successful and I have made many many new and wonderful friends from it. It's exciting to see what everyone has created or just read someones thoughts for the day.


My etsy shop and blog are both named AliLilly. AliLilly, is a title my friend Christine gave a picture of Alie. Alie was wearing a flower dress and therefore was named, Alie-Lily!


I'm really excited to be a part of this wonderful Amy group. These ladies are some wonderful creators and wonderful women. I'm equally excited to be a part of this great giveaway promotion. I'm am giving away WINNERS CHOICE of ANY TWO pairs of earrings in my shop. Anyone participating in this giveaway will also receive a 30% off discount and all purchases within my shop. Just use the code AmysInArtsPromo in your buyers notes.


NOW, what do you have to do to win a pair of AliLilly handcrafted earrings?


First, visit my AliLilly Etsy Shop and come back here and leave a comment telling us what your favorite item is in my shop.


Additional entries, please leave a comment for each:


  • Follow the Amy's In Arts Blog and leave a comment here telling us you did. If you already follow just leave us a comment that you are a follower.
  • Follow the AliLilly Blog and leave a comment here telling us that you did. If you already follow just leave us a comment that you are a follower.
  • Follow Amy's In The Arts on twitter
  • Follow AliLilly on twitter
  • Tweet, blog, or post on your facebook page about this giveaway. Make sure to include the link of your post in your comment.
  • "Like" the Amy's In The Arts Facebook page.
  • "Like" the AliLilly Facebook page.
  • Add the Amy's In The Arts button to your blog page. Make sure to leave a link to your blog.
  • Added the AliLilly button to your blog page. Make sure you leave a link to your blog.
  • Subscribe to the Amy's In The Arts blog via rss.
  • Subscribe to the AliLilly blog via email or rss.
  • If you make a purchase from my shop during the week of this giveaway you will receive an extra 5 entries.


That's 17 chances to win!! Good luck everyone!! Make you stop by every week for a new Amy and her awesome giveaway! Thanks for stopping by!











~Ami

http://www.alililly.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/alililly

Friday, November 5, 2010

week 2 of the Nine Weeks of Amy ... win a gift certificate to Surburban Grafitti!

Hi! This is Amy G from Suburban Graffitti. If you would like to know more about my shop and my "creative process" (that sounded fancy!) you can read my introduction a couple of posts down. Today I'd like to give you a glimpse into a typical day in the Suburban G life. (I'll also be giving you a chance to win something from my shop, but that will come later.)

A Day in the Glamorous Life of an Amy

4:30 a.m.: Wake up in a panic, thinking morning has come. Contemplate if there a better feeling in all the world than realizing you don't have to get up yet while blissfully nodding off again.

6:15 a.m.: Wake up in a panic as heinously loud mariachi music blares from the radio. Every. Single. Morning. Dang those kids! They've been messing with the alarm again. Contemplate peeling myself out of bed as the Dad heads upstairs to wake the hooligans.

6:25 a.m.: The bladder speaks louder than the pillow. Get up.

6:30 a.m.: Slap together three peanut butter and honey sandwiches for the kids lunches whilst hollering at the kids upstairs who are now contemplating peeling themselves out of bed.

6:35 a.m.: Send the dog upstairs to get those kids out of bed. Why, WHY, pray tell, does she have more success than my husband and I together? Those parents in Peter Pan really had the right idea leaving the dog to watch the children while they went out for the evening. Contemplate the practicality of that idea for our family.

6:37 a.m.: Sit down at the table in a stupor as children begin to roll in and get breakfast. Contemplate the earliest possible time to go to Circle K and get a 44 oz.Coke without seeming "trashy". 9:00.

6:40 a.m.: Remind youngest that Halloween candy does not a breakfast make. Holler up at eldest to get in the shower. Kiss the Dad good bye.

6:50 a.m.: Give the boys the rundown -- pack your lunch, get your agenda signed, put on shoes and CLEAN socks. Arrrrgggggghhhhh!!! Why are there never enough clean socks that match in the drawers?!

7:00 a.m.: Still looking for the socks in the baskets of clean laundry awaiting folding. Boys -- pack your lunches. Sis -- GET OUT of the shower!

7:05 a.m.: Boys, seriously! PACK YOUR LUNCHES!

7:06 a.m.: Miraculously boys are ready to catch the bus, only one minute late. Sis is out of the shower, too. Wow. We may actually have this school thing down. After only 8 years . . . Family prayer. Boys, run!! Don't miss the bus!

7:07 - 7:47 a.m.: Park it on the couch as Sis readies herself for school. Chatting all the while. Coke run may get bumped up to 8:30.

7:50 a.m.: Drive Sis to school so she can run into Circle K to get my Coke for me. This way I can go get another one later without seeming too sad and desperate.

8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Blessed silence. Punctuated by sips of Coke. Work, errands, chores.

3:05 p.m.: Boys are home. Chaos resumes. Who is cooking eggs? And why is the TV so loud?

3:40 p.m.: Sis is back. And so the conversation resumes. Phone begins ringing off the hook for her. Kids, eat your nachos at the table, not on the desk! Would anyone notice if I snuck out for another Coke? Contemplate resisting.

4:20 p.m.: Resistance is futile. I want that Coke. NOW!

4:30 p.m.: Now we're eating ramen. Seriously? And how did the entire contents of our pantry end up on the kitchen counter?! I was only gone 10 minutes . . .

5:00 p.m.: Kids, put the crackers and cheese away and start working on homework. I don't care if you don't have any homework. Read or something.

5:30 p.m.: The Dad is home. And making a peanut butter sandwich? Really?

6:00 p.m.: Dinner is served. And everyone is somehow famished. Again.

6:30 - 8:25p.m.: Bath, bath, Wii. Finish up homework. Watch TV. Idle chatter.

8:25 p.m.: Kids tuck into some peanut butter toast before being tucked into bed. Mental note to bake more bread tomorrow. And get more eggs.

8:30 p.m.: Family prayer, boys to bed. Hugs and kisses all around. The Dad runs out to get me an evening Coke. Contemplate "rewarding his kindness" while Sis squeezes the last few drops of chatter out of her day.

8:38 p.m.: Contemplate what could be taking those boys so long to brush their teeth. Holler up at them about it.

8:47 p.m.: Boys are finally in bed with lights out. Notice that Sis has made a mental note of how long it has taken the boys to get in bed. Brace myself for the fight that's sure to come.

9:03 p.m.: Yep. Cut Sis off mid story to tell her it's time for bed and she instantly melts into tears. It's not fair, etc.

9:07 p.m.: Kids ALL in bed. For now. Sit with the Dad on the couch, feet up, taking turns sipping the Coke. Bask in the glory of another *successful* day. Successful meaning all still alive and reasonably happy.

9:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.: Wrap up some work, maybe a few chores. Work on clearing out the DVR. Talk just enough. Laugh a lot. Say prayers and fall wearily into bed.

4:30 a.m.: Wake up in a panic, thinking morning has come. Contemplate if there a better feeling in all the world than realizing you don't have to get up yet while blissfully nodding off again.

And so it goes. I wouldn't trade all my family's frenzy for all the world.


Now, as we all begin to think about the holidays and gift giving and what not, wouldn't it be great to WIN SOME FREE STUFF?! This week's Giveaway is a $12 CREDIT IN MY SHOP, Suburban Graffiti. With everything from couture baby onesies to vintage book purses, there is sure to be something you'll love! We can even work together on a custom creation. It's totally up to you. Good Luck!


Here's how to enter... First, go browse through my shop. Then come back here and leave a comment on this page telling me what your favorite item is from my shop.


You can also earn up to seven additional entries by:

- following @amysinthearts on Twitter

- sharing this giveaway on Twitter by tagging @amysinthearts in your tweet

- following the Amys In The Arts blog

- following Amy's My 3 Monsters blog at amygregson.blogspot.com

- becoming a fan of Amys in the Arts Facebook page

- posting a link to this giveaway on your blog (please copy the link to your blog post)

- adding the Amys In The Arts button to your blog (please copy the link where you've added it)
To get credit for your additional entries, please be sure to let us know what you’ve done (don't forget to copy your blog links!).