It's a major rant of an entry...you've been warned...

It's been one of those weeks I tell ya. Busy , Busy and I kept saying I'll be back for more of a real update but all I could really manage was some shorties and pics for ya. I've been planning Noah's baptism and there's still a lot to do but I've got about 3 week still I think and we're not even doing a big to do or anything but there's a bunch of stuff to do within the church with the scheduling and then there's the dinner and who's and what's and getting his outfit chosen and it's getting out of control I need to make a list is what it comes down to. So anyhow I've also been working on orders and trying to get new pics of certain bridal pieces since I'm trying to get all my pictures to look consistent so I'm redoing the bridal pics. Then I'm also redoing my Lampwork Gallery pics of my older sets because my skill level has increased greatly (I should hope so lol!) so I want to be able to remake the sets showing my skill level and I also made some changes to some of them also because I felt they called for a certain shape or what not so I'm working on that so we can get those up soon. In the mean time those sets that I remake for the retake picture will go up for sale on the Bead Specials. Then I'm also working on a new ebay auction set. My new thing is this, basically I've been feeling like I want to better express myself through my glass work. Then as if by a sign from above Marsha sent me this article she found about how to be successful and happy in all you do when you have your own business and basically it talked about how you shouldn't try to just make what you think people want you have to make what you like and sell the product to yourself if you can't do that then don't bother making it cause no one will enjoy it or buy it and it went on and on and I LOVED IT it was perfect cause I have been feeling like I need a change and I wanted to take my work in a new direction and try new things and I don't want to get stuck in a rut , I don't want to make beads just for the sake for of making beads, I don't ever want to sit down at my torch and create beads thinking about "I wonder how much money can I get for these?" I want to be able to make what I like, try new things, bring a variety of things to you and never dred or not look forward to going to work. When it's just not fun anymore there something wrong. I'm not at that point yet but I don't want it to get to that point ever so you'll see me switching out my gallery for custom orders so I don't ever have to get sick of making the same things over and over. If I don't feel I have anything worth making I don't mind sitting down and spending the day pulling stringers instead and lately if to avoid making the same thing over and over again if I feel like making beads but don't have anything inspiring going on in my brain to make the I'll make what I like to call my
"Comfort Beads" I think ever artist has them except I've been making them for myself for me to keep and enjoy and I really like it that way. My ebay sets from now on I want them to stand alone. If it's something that everyone loves and wants more of then I'll do mini's of it for specials if possible but other than that my ebay sets are going to be for a reason, sets that come from something, are inspired by something or someone. I don't wanna just list somthing just for the sake of listing it. My husband provides for us and supports me in all I do so that I am able to work from home, stay home with Noah and be able to do what I love. I'm not forced to make beads I don't have to do it it's what I LOVE to do and I never want that to change. I don't want to take away from that. I want to constantly be perfecting techniques and trying new things. And like that article said I wanna make what I like not what I think OTHERS will like. Of course if you email me with requests I'm always happy to work with you on those because it is a direct thing between me and my customer but I don't want to only make what is popular or what every other beadmaker is making or whatever. I want for there to be a constant improvement in my work and to not get stuck making the same stuff over and over again. To be able to call myself an artists to me means that I am able to let life and my surrounding inspire me and to listen to my muse and have fun in my expressions. So that's what I plan on always keeping in mind. Artistic integrity is important to me. I want my work to be one of kind I don't want you to ever go out and find the exact same thing somewhere else and I for sure don't want for you to see beads I made for you all over the place, even when I do take custom orders on gallery pieces know that I make them slightly different ever time for that reason. You may get an extra flower on a bead or more or less dots. There is definitly something to be said about working with glass and that is that every bead will always be different because they are handmade. I used to feel like I HAD to make certain things like for example I'm not into the cutesy stuff unless I'm just doing it for fun for like a cell phone charm or by someones request you will rarely see me do any sculptural work and NOT because I can't do it because I do do them for special request orders but I just don't show them on my site because it's not what I want to be about. I enjoy a good ol fashion pumpkin or ghost bead every once in a while or even a snowman and I have to admit I do love mickey beads but unless it's just something I'm messing around with or I'm experimenting with you won't see a whole lotta of it coming from me I'll leave it to the actual sculptural lampworkers who devote themselves to that sort of thing. I'd rather do an "interpretation" of something instead of the actual thing. I more enjoy using the themed colors for certain holidays rather than making the actual mascot for it, if that makes any sense. For me I like that better. You'll see that with one of the sets I'm working on right now. It may or may not be ready for ebay this weekend we'll see I"m not rushing it I'm in no hurry and I'm likeing it that way. It's my interpretation of something yummy but it's classy not cutesy I think you'll really like it and I'll show you and talk about where the inspiration for it came from. So anyhow I've been blabbering on and on but this is the rant I've been warning you about all week. It all started last weekend, me and carrie where talking about it and surfing the web and it just really got me going and we talked about it for hours so this is just the mini version of it otherwise there would be a whole lot more to read lol! If you made it this far into today entry pat yourself on the back and accept my appology for blabbing your eyes off and I will forward any hate mail to Carrie since she started it! LOL! alrighty so now I'm off to work on some more new pictures. Plus I may have a sneak peek or two for ya of some new pieces I've been working on. Have a great day! PS This isn't meant to be geared towards anyone so don't go thinking I'm talking about anyone in particular, this is simply more of a artist mission statement for me. Thanks!