Andrea and I have finally come up with a name for our "handforged locking earrings": Captive Drops! What do you think? Also, I'm really happy with how the earring construction has continued to evolve from the first few sets!
The top two orange-coral swirl "Solar Flair" earrings are special orders. They look the same size in those photos but they really aren't! The earhooks and beadcaps as the same but one has tiny 7mm beads, and the other has 11mm beads. The photo below shows the real proportions:
I got the new compressor filter installed in my 2nd oxygen concentrator, so I'm back up to full power! On Thursday I made this floral. I'm happy with the striping (it's better in real life than in the photo - I seem to have captured the one area where it faded out!). And the pink floral is actually the pinkest and least mooshy I've made, though still rather scummy. Rubino Oro, you are a harsh mistress. (Yes, I used an oxidizing flame and worked slowly and far out... any other suggestions?) Luckily, in real life it is only about the size of a big marble, so you only see the micro-scum if you look very closely.
I also made a batch of forged earrings that I'm very happy with. I don't have any shows coming up so I think I'll actually post them on Etsy! My poor shop has been so neglected and I look forward to sprucing it up.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had as wonderful a celebration this year as we did. We couldn't manage to get home to either of our families this year because of a costly, unexpected and of course unavoidable furnace replacement. However, we were very blessed to be invited to join our good friends' family events (we're friends with the whole family, starting with our dear friend Rebecca whom we met in Guatemala). We got to spend time with kiddos and elders, out in the country, with lots of games and traditions and fun. For New Years we set off a ton of fireworks from Red Bomb on a frozen creek in perfect, clear windless -25 degree weather under a bright full moon. I'm not sure who was more excited - the kidlets or the "grownups!". Anyway, we all looked fabulous in our parkas and snowpants. :) "Molten Fury" fireworks (one of our favorites)
2009 was a great year for Hearts of Glass. We've been growing and improving every year and this year we set new new personal benchmarks for quality and design. We're still a relatively small hobby-business but when I think back to how far we've come over the past six years that we've been lampworking, it's really amazing! We didn't know anything when we started. We've still got a lot that we look forward to learning, but I am very proud of what we've accomplished together. Speaking of which, Andrea and I celebrated our 7th anniversary (of dating) on Dec. 30th 2009! We're supposed to mostly celebrate our wedding anniversary now (2.5 years) but I can't help celebrating both. That way we get one every 6 months! For 2010 we're planning to do more silversmithing and more online marketing. I'm getting the hang of striking double-amber-purple in boro and look forward to playing with more elaborate dragonfly designs. Andrea has challenged me to break out of my five-pointed floral "rut" and explore new petal shapes, which I've been meaning to do anyway, but now it's a matter of honour! ;) Our biggest change and challenge in 2010 will be our big move... We've decided to move away from Winnipeg to Ottawa, to be closer to my family.
View Larger Map It'll be a bittersweet and slightly scary move as we love Winnipeg so much and have been so well treated here. There are many decisions to make and many things up in the air! I'll continue to post News as it develops. However we'll be here until at least May 2010, possibly well into the summer, and we'll be working and selling here until then and hopefully returning for big shows and friend visits. So stay tuned! Best wishes - Heather and Andrea
Andrea Steinwand and Heather Stewart are the Winnipeg-trained, Ottawa-based couple who provide the heat behind Hearts of Glass. Using a blazing blue torch flame, the pair explore the ancient art of lampworking - shaping small wearable talismans out of molten glass.
