March 31, 2009

April Featured Member: Karen Klomparens of Fire-n-Sand Glass Art


Our April Featured member is Karen Klomparens of Fire-n-Sand Glass Art. We know her as giapet. We asked Karen to tell us about herself.


Karen, please give us a little background on yourself:

"Bet you could make this cool stuff!" That's what my husband said when he saw a beautiful Tiffany style lamp at my sister's house. At the time I was into fabric painting, airbrushing or some other creative endeavor as usual. My basement workroom soon became a glass studio with the equipment for doing stained glass. A couple years later I was introduced to glass fusing through an online glass group which met up for the Glass Expo in Las Vegas in 1994. What an adventure, meeting up with online friends for the first time and fusing pieces in a small kiln inside a motor-home out in the desert! From there it was a natural progression into working "hot" on a torch making lampworked beads. The husband now says he created a monster, lol.

What do you like best about what you do?

Using new ideas with the technical limits of the glass is what holds my interest the most. "What if I tried this, wonder what would happen if...?" The discovery of new color reactions and designs, the possibilities are endless and the surprises are often some of my best pieces. Being able to create glass art at home and actually have customers who admire it is the icing on the cake.

Is there a pattern in the way you select materials? In the way you use color, texture or light?

I work in what I like to call organized chaos, so usually what is spread all over my bench is where I start from unless I have special orders to do. Organics and textures are my personal favorites using silver foil combined with different frits (small chunks of glass) to get those fantastic reactions. I like earthy colors myself but try to work with brights and pastels too. Really I just want to try making it all! Doesn't matter, bead sets, focal beads, vessels, off mandrel work, sculptural pieces, fused pieces.


What inspires you? How are your inspirations expressed in your work?

I'm lucky to have so many glass friends here in Michigan and where we share ideas and techniques. They keep me inspired to try new things that I might not have on my own. Currently we are exploring incorporating metalwork with bead making. Being part of the EGA team has also been a wonderful experience too. We're surrounded by woods and wildlife here where the colors of nature and the peacefulness are always inspiring. I'm getting ready to start on a batch of 3-D hummingbird feeders for spring.


How much time is spent creating your pieces?

Kiln fused pieces take hours and sometimes days to complete. While the pieces are in the kiln I'm free to work on the torch. I tend to lose track of time in the studio, sometimes its 5 am before I realize it. I like to have long blocks of time to work unless I have a custom order to do, then an hour or two is fine. Often the idea for something is in my head for weeks before I get to trying it.



What are your techniques and style and how do these relate to the medium?

I don't think I have a certain style or maybe just haven't found it yet. I think of myself as a "Jill of all trades and master of none". I like to make up my own frit blends different than the ones you can find commercially. I tend to try a technique until I'm satisfied I can do it and then move on to something else. I really don't want to find myself in a position where I'm known for a certain design and then have to create the same thing over and over again. I like the freedom of working on whatever my heart desires at the moment.

What do you find most challenging about your work in the glass arts?

Being able to take a bead design that almost everyone does and make it my own is a real challenge! Let's face it, there is only so much you can do on a 3/4" glass canvas. Showing and selling my work is another area where I could do better too. If it wasn't for the Internet I'd have buckets of beads around our house. I'm just not a very good salesman type person in person. I also like to build equipment for my studio. I've built 2 kilns, adapted another into a bead annealer, put in my own ventilation system and rewired all my studio lights.

How did you find Etsy? What do you like most about it?

I had read about Etsy online months before signing up. My work seemed to get lost is the masses (or is that mass produced stuff) that was selling on ebay. The idea of a handmade site was perfect fit for my work. The best thing about Etsy is my pieces stay up for 4 months instead of just a week. I could never keep a constant presence up week to week where I can on Etsy. Etsy has provided a venue where I can feed my need to create, making it possible to buy the tools and glass I need continue doing what I love. I'll never be a famous bead maker and that's okay. I just love to cut or melt glass and am grateful some people like my work enough to purchase it.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Doing pretty much what I'm doing right now only in a bigger and better glass studio, spending endless hours playing with fire! And maybe, just maybe having the time, space, and funds to build a small furnace hot shop. After all a girl's gotta have her toys too!

More of Karen Klomparens work can be seen both in her shop, and on her flickr page.

Sale Item of the Day ~ Pandora Style Bead


Regular $10.00
Today only $8.00
Find it in my Etsy store - here.

This is a slider bead that will fit a pandora bracelet. It has an approx 5mm hole and measures 8mm x 20mm. It is a deep rich purple and white.

Bracelet is for photograph and comparison only. It is not included in the sale. Bead could also be strung onto a leather cord, ribbon or even a chain.

Beads are individually hand created by me. They have been properly kiln annealed for lasting durability and are each properly cleaned and inspected.

Thank you for looking!

March 25, 2009

Spring Challenge - Fused Glass Wall Vase

RWillisGlassArtist created this beautiful wall vase for this year's spring challenge. "I really stepped out of the box on this one, and it was quite a challenge for me. After two failures, I created this piece and love how it turned out. I was inspired by one of nature's beauties - dragonflies. Their vibrant colors are mesmerizing."

Leave a comment for Rhonda here on the blog and let her know what you think of her wall vase, and you will be entered into a contest to win some handmade glass goodness created by the members of our team. Be sure to view all the other glass creations of our Spring Challenge as they have been submitted throughout the month. We will have several winners! (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once for every time we have posted a new spring challenge creation!!!). And, be sure to check back on the blog on April 10th as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight April 9th.

March 24, 2009

Natural Elements - A Collaboration - Sale Item of the Day - 10 percent off today only


Regular $30.00 -Today $27.00
You will find it listed in my Etsy store

As anyone who knows my husband and I would know this was bound to happen eventually. We have created a collaboration of our talents. My husband does fabulous woodturning and so one day I said to him that he should try and make a bead. So he did and we lined it and I made some complementary glass lined beads and this is the end result. We hope to make many more in the future.

The wooden beads are created out of paduche which is a wonderful natural red color. They are lined in sterling silver. The glass bead is created by the process of lampworking and is a complimentary animal spot print on black and also lined in sterling silver.

The wooden beads measure approx. 10mm by 19mm. The glass bead measures approx 9mm x 17mm. The beads are designed to be worn on any of the euro bead systems. They could also be strung onto a leather cord, ribbon or even a chain.

Bracelet is for photograph and comparison only. It is not included in the sale.

The glass beads have been properly kiln annealed for lasting durability and are each properly cleaned and inspected.

Thank you for looking!

March 20, 2009

Spring Challenge ~ Easter Egg Vessel Pendants

Every Spring I get the itch to make cute little pastel beads, bunnies, and flowers. So here was my chance to make a few cute little lampwork glass Easter egg vessel pendants!

Leave a comment here for a chance to win an item from an EGA member!
Thanks for stopping by the EGA blog to take a peek!

March 18, 2009

"Spring trees" - This Month's FREE Giveaway!

EDIT: The winner is MICAELA! Congratulations!! I will be notifying you via email and sending you the spring trees necklace!
The Etsy Glass team has a monthly drawing of our creative glass goodies because its FUN!
It's a great way to share our talents and get everyone in on the action.
This month's prize has been donated by PoPkO!

Spring is on it's way! The prize this month is YOUR CHOICE. Sounds like fun! Everyone has different taste in jewelry, so I thought I would help you out. I've made a fused glass RING and NECKLACE with little trees tack-fused on top to celebrate the new season.

Please choose your favorite, and mark in the comment section which one you would like to be wearing! Winner will be awarded on April 17th.

HOW TO ENTER:
Leave your name and email address or some way to contact you (should you be the winner) in the comments section of this post. Be sure to write your choice - RING or NECKLACE!

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter on the left to be notified of any upcoming sales and events. Also use the egateam tag in the Etsy search box to locate all of our listings for sale.

March 17, 2009

"Fishy Swa" Winner!

I have chosen the winner of our monthly drawing for the "Fishy Swa" pendant - it is Coralie Cederna Johnson. I have notified her and hope to hear from her soon.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments and I hope that you will check back for our next monthly drawing entry in the next day or so.

Spring Challenge



Groovyglassgirl challenged herself this month with a spring suncatcher made with pale yellow glass circles. Those of you who play with glass know how difficult it is to get a nice circle, so that in itself was a challenge. The bird was borrowed from a cartoon character seen on television....Samurai Jack...I think. You can purchase the suncatcher in Groovyglassgirl's Etsy shop groovyglassgirl.etsy.com

March 16, 2009

Last chance for the monthly giveaway!

Heres a quick reminder to enter this months giveaway by Wildsage Lampwork. Click on the link below, make a comment to enter, and dont forget to join the mailing list!

"Fishy-Swa"lampwork glass pendant contest.

The winner will be announced March 17th.

March 15, 2009

Falling Leaves Stained Glass Panel




A colorful glass panel hand-crafted into the shape of two falling leaves.

Dark amber, yellow, red, orange and frosted glass make up this earth-toned panel.

Available for sale here.

March 12, 2009

Glass Mosaic Bear!

photo of the bears ready to be embellished

Hello! This is glass member PoPko here! I wanted to share my excitement about a public art project I was accepted to participate in. I'm hoping that this post (and future updates) inspire a few people to break out and try something new for themselves.

I applied to be an artist in the Easthampton, MA "Bearfest". This is a new venture for the town (nearby), where they will host a bunch of fun loving fiberglass bears, to be embellished by 35 different artists. These 'mama' and 'baby' bears will be placed on sidewalks and public spaces in the town for the summer months. Some of you may have heard of things like this, a popular one is "cows on parade", and some towns host moose, whales and other animals.

above, picking up MY baby bear from 'eastworks', and you can see the proposals sitting onthe floor in the background. a lot of people are painting them, some are adding things like wire and plaster. mine will be a mosaic.

What I had to to was submit an idea, in the form of a drawing, of what I wanted "to do" to my bear. I was chosen with my design using fused glass and glass tiles to be mosaiced all over the bear. The title will be 'hiding bear', and he should end up looking like he is hiding in (glass) bushes. I applied to mosaic two bears, but only got one, so I have to alter my design a little. No problem! Im crafty.

above, the large 'mama' bears waiting for their artists to bring them home

They will give each artist $250 to carry out their work (YAY!) and then have an auction in October, where each artist will get 25% of the selling price. This is one of the most artist-friendly competitions I've been a part of. I cant wait to buy some new glass and start fusing leaf shapes!

above, my dad helping me get some stumps that we found in a strangers yard. we explained the project and she was happy to get rid of the wood! my bear will be sitting on a log.

I will certainly keep you all updated on the progress. This is due at the end of May, so Ive got a little time.
Are YOU interested in trying something like this? I found the 'call for proposals' in the local paper. It wasn't a secret. Things like this are always happening, you just have to keep an eye out for them. The thing is, i didnt know if they would like my work, or choose me. The fact is, that I submitted it in the last five minutes that I could! It wasnt even typed out, and I wasnt sure I even had enough info on the application. Well, aparently it struck them or I got lucky. So go ahead, give it a shot!
Have any of YOU ever entered a competition or done any public art projects? I would love to hear about it, please comment below. Also, this might inspire others, so dont be shy!

March 12th-SALE item of the day-Drop of ocean-color splash enamel pendant

Today’s item is personal favorite of mine the drop of the ocean pendant! This little thing has gradation of colors, golden/yellow to dark teal green. Just like you’ll find in the real ocean! And you can shift pendant with light to enjoy texture on copper through the enamel. $20 plus free shipping at my Etsy shop today!!

March 11, 2009

Tokyo Spring - Etsy Glass Challenge Entry - Please Comment


Etsy Glass Artists team members decided to creatively challenge one another to come up with their interpretation of Spring and or Easter. Between now and Easter we will share some of these creations with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing to win some handmade glass goodness from several of our shops. We will have several winners too! (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on April 10th as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight April 9th.

As I grew up in Japan, I cannot think about spring time without blooming cherry blossom. Every year, when spring comes, the town in Japan is dyed to one cherry blossoms color. We have picnic and party under the cherry blossom tree! How cherry blossoms are blooming is on every news!! And this year, some reason I’m just drawn to yellow. So I picked yellow as base color. Then I stamped cherry blossom branch image and shift glass enamel & fired it. And I paint (in enamel term called “wet pack”) some white and pink for flower. Then I suspend it from fine silver circle. As spring will come every year. I embellished with single “sakura poppy” disk. Finally, this necklace has matching earrings that available in my Etsy shop!

March 10, 2009

Sale Item of the Day ~ Bubbles ~ March 10, 2009

Regular price $14.00 - Today only $12.60.

Let me introduce you to Bubbles. She is a new little fishy I raised over the weekend and she is looking for a good home. I guarantee that she will make you smile. Bubbles measures approximately 35mm long, 26mm high, and 18mm thick. The hole runs vertical and is 3/32. She is a pretty purple, green, teal and blue.

Beads are individually hand created by me. They have been properly kiln annealed for lasting durability and are each properly cleaned and inspected.

Thank you for looking!

March 7, 2009

SALE item of the day-Enamel-SeaHorse-Pendant


This weekend, my sale item of the day is adorable seahorse! I have two colors for you to pick from. One is deep rich teal green that reminds me of Deep Ocean. And the other one is blush orange/pink that reminds me of coral reef. No matter witch ones you pick, I’m sure they will quickly become your favorite pendant! This weekend only, they are $30 plus free shipping in my Etsy shop!

March 5, 2009

Sweet Spring Beary - Etsy Glass Challenge Entry - Please Comment




Etsy Glass Artists team members decided to creatively challenge one another to come up with their interpretation of Spring and or Easter. Between now and Easter we will share some of these creations with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing to win some handmade glass goodness from several of our shops. We will have several winners too! (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on April 10th as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight April 9th.

Hi.. I would like to introduce you to my Sweet Spring Beary. She would like to think of herself as an adorable little spring bunny but she ended up being a beary instead.
I have tried to tell her that she is adorable regardless of her name. Maybe if you help me by leaving a comment she will start to believe that it is true. If you would like to adopt Beary please stop by my Etsy shop.

SALE item of the day -Cute little heart color splash earrings -spring yellow

Spring is right around a corner from us! Even though, it’s still little cold out (at lest here it is…) let’s wear sunny yellow to cerebrate upcoming spring! These earrings are so bright, cheery and stylish!! And for today (March 5th) only, it’s $5 off plus free shipping!! Check out my listing in my Etsy shop!!

March 4, 2009

GroovyGlassGirl's Deal of the Day



Today only you can get this pendant for $20...this is a $5 savings off of the original price of $25....and a super bonus is if you let me know how you found my shop, I'll refund your shipping charge! For more details or to buy the pendant click here.

March 3, 2009

Easter Owl by Marcy Lamberson of StudioMarcy -Please Comment


Easter is in the air at StudioMarcy and my whimsical owl lampwork glass focal bead is ready for it. Dressed in bunny ears and bunny slippers, this sleepy-eyed owl is hoping to find an Easter basket full of chocolate eggs.

I recently saw a little toddler wearing bunny slippers and that really made me smile. I thought it would look so amusing combined with bunny ears, (my daughter had some as a little girl), and placed on some of my quirky animals, birds and creatures. So now I have a variety of "critters" wearing them in my shop. I just finished a penguin as a customer's special order today.

For more fun beads, stop by my Etsy shop, StudioMarcy. I list three new beads every day.

Don't forget to comment on my bead, to enter into our Etsy Glass Artists Giveaway. And just so you know, I get a big smile every time I read a nice one. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Sale Item of the Day! March 3rd

Tristan - Big Hole Slider Bead Set - 20 percent off Today ONLY

Regular price $22.00
Sale price today only is $17.60

This is a slider bead set that will fit a euro bead bracelet. They have an approx 5mm hole and measure 5mm x 15mm and 6mm x 16mm. They have a pretty metallic swirl on the 2 green beads and the other three are a stunning metallic blue.
Bracelet is for photograph and comparison only. It is not included in the sale.
Beads could also be strung onto a leather cord, ribbon or even a chain.
Beads are individually hand created by me. They have been properly kiln annealed for lasting durability and are each properly cleaned and inspected.

Thank you for looking!

March 2, 2009

Spring and Easter Challenge Contest


Etsy Glass Artists team members decided to creatively challenge one another to come up with their interpretation of Spring and or Easter. Between now and Easter we will share some of these creations with you here on our blog. Let us know how you feel about our art by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing to win some handmade glass goodness from several of our shops. We will have several winners too! (one entry per person per post. In other words you can enter once every time we post a new product!!!) Be sure to check back on the blog on April 10th as we will announce the winner that day. Entries will be accepted until midnight April 9th.

Our first item to show you comes from the shop of Paula McDonough of The Venerable Bead. Paula is a borosilicate glass lampwork artist who enjoys making implosion pendants. Her item Tiger Lily uses this method for creating what looks like a real flower inside a dome of clear glass. But don't be fooled that bloom is all glass. Paula says of her item: "I took a class in January with Brent Graber in sunny Orlando Florida. He taught me how to make this style of flower. I am calling it a Lily. Coming back to freezing cold New England after my weekend getaway really gave me spring fever! Making these pretty colorful flowers is keeping my warm weekend alive. If I make enough lilies perhaps it will be warm soon? Seriously, flowers are Spring to me and are a big part of my lampworking. I want to learn how to make every imploded bloom in my garden and maybe even a few that only exist in my head."

Please leave a comment for Paula here on the blog letting her know what you think of her pendant and you will be entered into a contest to win some handmade glass goodness created by the members of our team. We will be posting new spring and Easter themed items every few days so please check back and comment. You can leave a new comment every time we post an item for multiple chances of winning! Good luck and thanks for playing.

March 1, 2009

March's Featured Artist: Carol Rasmussen Of Glass Cat


Featured this month is the beautiful stained glass and fused and dichroic jewelry shop of Carol Rasmussen of Glass Cat.

Please give us a little background on yourself:


My name is Carol Rasmussen and I live in the suburbs of Chicago, ILL. I have been married for the last 22 years to a wonderful man who puts up with my passion to create. We have three shelter cats, all males. I was lucky enough to retire early and focus on my glass work full time for the last 7 years.

When did you first become interested in glass?

I have always loved the color and sparkle of stained glass. I first became drawn to this medium 30+ years ago. Not many classes were available and it seemed to be a much guarded secret. 22 years ago, on my honeymoon, glass crossed my path again as I found my way into a stained glass shop and we purchased a couple of pieces for our new home. After settling into my new neighborhood, I found a stained glass shop right in town and signed up for classes. What started out as a hobby quickly grew into a passion and I found my happiest days were the ones I could spend creating.

What do you like best about what you do?

I don’t know if I could pick one thing. I really love all aspects of the creation process. I would have to say I love hearing from my customers, what they like about a piece, how it has brought them joy.

Is there a pattern in the way you select material? In the way you use color, texture and light?

I think this is something I struggled with early in my career but after years of experience I don’t really spend much time thinking about it. I have developed an eye for color and texture. Sometimes I feel the pieces choose themselves.

What inspires you?

Hmm, what inspires me? I love color and surround myself with it. You won’t find much black and white in my shop or home for that matter. I am always seeing color combos and patterns around me and trying to come up with new ways to use them in my work. There is seldom a moment when I am not thinking about glass.

How much time do you spend creating your pieces?

This is something I get asked at art fairs all the time. While holding a piece a customer will ask “how long did it take you to make this?” I used to struggle with the answer, trying to be precise. I think I now have the answer that is the most correct. It has taken me 22 years to create that piece as you see it. I have had many failures, pieces I would never put up for sale. I keep some of them to remind myself how far I have come. I do spend 40-60 hours a week on my business, creating, marketing, selling, packaging and I have to say—I love it all!

What are your techniques and style and how do these relate to the medium.

As far as style, I would say most of my stained glass work uses bright, contemporary colors and lines. I like cute and cuddly, so I try to reflect that in some of my work. My fused glass work is in its infancy and I feel I am still developing my own style.
What do you find the most challenging about your work in the glass arts?
Early on, I would say, believing in myself. Right now, focusing on one thing. I have so many ideas running through my head, so many projects I would love to tackle and new techniques to try. We, as glass artists, are lucky to be living in this time. New products are being developed at an astounding rate, and I want to try them all.

How did you find Etsy?

Believe it or not-Google. Friends and family kept telling me to sell on eBay. I did not like the look of it and did a search for craft malls, Etsy popped up. It took me about a year from my first look til I took the plunge. I used to sell in B&M craft malls, so it was a natural progression.

What do you like the most about it?

I love connecting with people from all over the world and knowing my artwork is spread across the continents. I love my Etsy Glass Street Team members. They inspire and teach me every day and I love the feeling of belonging to an art community. Etsy has made my dreams become reality and I know I can go as far as I want with the medium I have chosen to express myself-Glass.