New Year, New Gallery

I decided to start the year out by switching over to the new gallery format. It's so much nicer and it makes it easy to shop from and find images. Frankly I got sick of looking at the old format. I still have seven galleries left to remodel but the majority are done. You can see the main gallery page here:
http://beeswaxrubberstamps.com/artgallery.htm

The top three rows are completed. The bottom two rows (except for the Anne Sagor Gallery) still need to be worked on. I hope to be finished in the next couple of weeks. Most of the remodeled galleries now have new artwork in them as well. I can't believe the number of cards I found on my computer. I know I lost quite a few when our hard drive died a few years back. Which reminds me that I need to do a back up...

Upside Down Hummingbirds

I'm not sure what the benefit is but we have some hummingbirds that like to hang upside down or kinda sideways instead of leaving the feeder. Somewhat dangerous for the ones right above them feeding...

Pecan Pie Torte

I'm not a fan of pecan pie at all because of all the gooeyness. I can't even watch anyone eat a piece. However, this recipe sounded so good and non-gooey that I had to try it. You can find it here:
Pecan Pie Torte
It was REALLY good. My only problem was that the filling came up to the very edge of the pan which caused it to leak between the pan and the crust. That made it extremely hard to get it out of the pan. I'll be making it again for Christmas so I think I'll decrease the light corn syrup to a 1/2 cup and make sure I only fill the pan up to about 1/3" from the top.

ATC Gallery

I've spent a couple of days working on the Beeswax Gallery and I've finished the ATC Gallery. It's a huge amount of work but really worth it in the long run. The new ATC Gallery isn't officially part of the website yet but you can go to it and check it out:
http://beeswaxrubberstamps.com/atcgallery.html

All the image names and numbers are bookmarked to the online catalog. Clicking on the image name will take you directly to that stamp. This will make shopping from the gallery so much easier! One gallery down and only nineteen more to do....

Beeswax December POTM

The December POTM is up and it's some polymer clay ornaments. This is a fun project to do yourself, with a group of stampers (think party and cocktails) or with your kids or grandchildren. They make great gifts or you can use them as stocking stuffers or as the decoration for the top of a gift. You can also use the heart shape for Valentines Day too.

I can't believe it's been a year since I redesigned the website so I guess my little break is over. I'm going to start working on remodeling the galleries. I'm going to make it so that the stamp names and numbers under each card will at least link to the page that stamp is sold on. Should make it much easier to shop from the gallery.

Hummingbird Closeups

Here are a couple of pictures that Wally took of the hummingbirds. We have so many here, even in the winter, that they often share a "flower".

Beeswax Sketch Challenge

Beeswax is hosting the November Sketch Challenge over at RSC. Here's the sample card that I did for the challenge. There are two prizes that will be picked by random drawing. The grand prize is a $30 gift certificate to Beeswax and the first prize is a $20 gift certificate. If any of the two winners use only Beeswax stamps in their card then I'll add another $10 on to their certificate. You can see the original sketch and all the details here:
November Sketch Challenge. Entries must be posted in that thread on RSC.

Winter Tomatoes?

Well we're giving it a try. We have one cherry tomato plant in a tub that's in our glass enclosed front porch. It stays pretty warm in there in the winter and we also have a grow light on it. If this does well I'm filling the entire porch up with plants next winter. LOL!

RSC Virtual Convention!

The Virtual Convention just started over at RSC. We already have 26 rubber stamp companies participating with specials and sales. We also have a ton of prizes to give away. There's a Scavenger Hunt, a room to tell ghost stories and a room to share Halloween decorations and costumes. All for PRIZES! Come on over, don't miss out! Our convention runs through Monday.

Skink

Nature gives us so much color inspiration for art. I just love the markings and color combination of the skinks here. Yes, I like critters. We have a lot of them here too, unlike where we used to live. I guess that's why we're so taken with all the different creatures here. There's always something interesting if you just look around a little. Unfortunately most everything moves too fast to get a picture of.

New Olympia Rain

For those of you that are storming, I thought you might like to see what the new version of Olympia Rain can also do. The new version of OR tends to start turning translucent when worked in the flame for a period of time. It can also go opaque when worked longer. You can stop this from happening by covering it with clear like I do in the Taking Reduction Glass by Storm Tutorial. The layer of clear acts as an insulater. But you can also take that little quirk and use it to your advantage. These two sets use lightly stormed OR and they were not topped with clear. I left the OR slightly raised. The top set is lightly stormed OR over ASK Silver Cinnamon and the bottom set is lightly stormed OR over reduced Nyx. The time it takes to add the Dark Ivory accent dots is just enough time to let the OR turn translucent. And the beads were worked in a neutral flame the entire time....except of course when I reduced the Nyx. The OR also color shifts and has a shimmery sheen to it which doesn't show well in photos. These dots have a very opalesque look to them that I really love. Of course there is no storm showing, but lightly storming the OR just helps to start the shift to translucency.

Violent Sex or "Bug Porn"

Wally got this picture yesterday and he's pretty proud of it. I hesitated in posting it because there's just something wrong about putting a picture up of anything "headless". I'm not sure what else to say...

Big Fat Frog

Wally found this guy while he was out fishing at night. Big fat frog pretty much sums it up.

(I had to edit my post because I called this poor frog a toad. Is that an insult to the frog? Thanks for the correction Steve.)

King Snake Rescue

Hopefully this little guy will be ok. Wally had to rescue it from Sissy and you can see he has a couple of small gashes on him. This is the only king snake we saw all year. I just love the patterns on their body and head.

Halloween Tag Book

This is the fantastic tag book that Linn of AK sent me. She was inspired by the Beeswax September POTM. I was only going to show a couple of pages but it's just too cool not to show the entire thing! I don't have stamp credits but I did want to point out that only the sun used is a Beeswax stamp. I didn't want people running over to our site trying to find all of these stamps. LOL!

October POTM

The Beeswax Project of the Month is up for October. I did a pretty simple holiday window card. Only four stamps and minimal coloring in which makes this an easy but very nice project to do. You can find it here:
http://beeswaxrubberstamps.com/potmoct2009.html

Remember that all the stamps are offered at a discount during October.

Speaking of the POTM, I got the coolest thing in the mail today! It's something that was inspired by last month's POTM. I'll take some pictures of it and post it in a day or two.

Project Trellis

This is one of the many projects Wally has been working on. It's a very cool trellis with an interesting architectural element. He picked up these columns almost 10 years ago when he traveled across the US doing rubber stamp shows. He finally figured out a use for them and I think it really gives this a lot more visual interest. Once he's done I'd like to get some trumpet vine to grow up and over the trellis.

Storm Technique Tutorial

Well it's done! I think I need a Valium or something. I swear I've been dreaming about this tutorial every night since I started and it was kinda driving me crazy....LOL! Maybe I can get some sleep now. You can find all the details HERE.

Creepy Crawlies

Wally spotted this tarantula when he was out at the lake fishing. I'm a bit jealous because I've been wanting to see one since we moved here. I think they're super cool.

Except for a couple of rattlesnake encounters, we haven't really seen very many snakes this year. This is a little gopher snake that kindly posed for me.

September POTM

The Beeswax Project of the Month is up and it's a Thought of the Day Tag Journal by Susan Quinn. All stamps used in the project are offered at a discount through the month of September and you can find it here.

Trevor vs Praying Mantis

Trevor had a blast trying to get this huge praying mantis on the other side of the window. It kinda drove him crazy. Oh...and the windows were just washed a week ago but the hummingbird feeders are directly above. You figure out what's on the windows...

Storm Technique Tutorial Coming!

After over a year of debating with myself and going back and forth, I've decided to finally do a tutorial on my storm technique. I have over 30 sample beads to make for it because it's going to include a layering color chart as well. I've only got half the beads made so far so I foresee this being ready in two or three weeks.

More Chalcedony

Here's another focal made with Chalcedony called Byzantium. This time I made a barrel with the glass and heated and shaped it. Then I blobbed on dots and squiggles and lines of more glass, super heated it by sections and gravity swirled the additional glass into the bead. This gave me a more mottled and striated look. I've found that it's pretty easy to get color out of this glass by super heating in sections an inch away from the cones and then marvering. Sometimes it takes a few cycles for the color to come out but the time spent on this glass is well worth the outcome.

Some Customer Appreciation

I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful customers. I get fabulous feedback on Etsy and eBay from my bead customers. I get really nice thank you emails from my rubber stamp customers. I just wanted to take a moment to say "Thank you" myself. I'm usually not able to respond to each and every email but this post is to let all of you know that I truly appreciate your business and your kind words.

Which brings me to the Thank You card I received from Evelyn in Germany. Sometimes customers do a little something extra special. Evelyn sent me this fabulous card with a very nice note inside....thank you Evelyn! I just loved how she combined our stamps in this scene. She used our Bridge Scene 1188R, Ducks 437J, Oak Branch 1279M and the Hanging Lamp 1337K. She stamped everything on glossy card stock and it looks like it was colored in with markers. This also reminds me that I still have to work on the galleries on our website.....ick.

August POTM

The August Project of the Month is up on our website and you can find it here:
Beeswax POTM

On a different note, have you ever run out of coffee? It's not a pretty site...

Chalcedony

This is a bead made with the new glass Chalcedony. It's like Raku so I thought it would hate me too... :). Actually, I think it kinda likes me. To make this bead I did side by side spacer/donut beads on a mandrel. Then I did a strip of glass right down the middle of all the spacers in the center. Then I melted them in together using heat and gravity. After that I added strips of glass inbetween the lines and down the center of the wider lines. My goal was to get a really stripy bead. I then shaped it with a graphite marver, added a bit more glass down the area I wanted wider and then super heated the surface. I'm pretty happy with the colors I got. I really do like the reds Chalcedony gives. It's much prettier than that muddy red/brown that you get with Raku. This bead is named Mesopotamia and it's currently up on eBay.

Beating the Heat

It's hot here. It's been around 103 degrees for days and days. Baby birds are struggling to stay cool and failing....poor things. The bunny has it down though. He digs a bit in the cool dirt in the shade and relaxes. The bunny is fairing better than I am. I'm getting a little sick of this.

More Bird Babies

We have baby birds all over the place here. These have been identified from a photo of mom as Phoebes, also known as Flycatchers. The nest is on the top of a rolled up bamboo awning propped up against the house. Mom and Dad are both taking care of the babies and the flying back and forth is driving the 'dorables absolutely crazy. Now one of the parents has been landing on the nearby hummingbird feeder and driving the poor hummingbirds crazy as well.

Dots

I've been kind of obsessed with making intricate dot beads lately. Unfortunately it's made me admit that my vision has drastically changed lately. I'm going to give the stick on magnifiers a try first because it seems that I'm only having a problem with close work. It pretty much sucks.

This set Sea Baubles is up on eBay right now. The dots are just Olympia Rain over Triton...no clear topping. I love how Triton heavily fumes dark ivory and then the addition of Olympia Rain even takes it a step further so the ivory dot bases are a deep brown. I'm just not sure how well dot beads are sought after by jewelry artists no matter how cool I think they are.

Turkey Babies

Here's a Wild Turkey mama with her babies. I'm usually able to get some photographs when the babies are younger, but not this year. We didn't have as many turkeys hanging around either. We do seem to have a lot of skunks this year and I think some are living on our property. I've been going on skunk stake out at dusk trying to get a picture but haven't had any luck. They're just so darn cute. I love watching them.

Alligator Shoes

This is my current set of beads on eBay called Alligator Shoes. This set was made with Terranova 2.1. After complaining that I wasn't thrilled with this new version of Terranova, I came to really like it while making this set. I got a much wider range of colors so even though it's darker for me than 2.0, I'm liking all the different colors going on.

Gold Dragonfly

We get a lot of Dragonflies during the summer but they are usually blue. We get the occasional red one too and all of them are really BIG. This guy was different from the norm. A pretty gold or Silver Rattan color. (I just finished a set of Silver Rattan beads...can you tell? LOL!) While I was taking his picture there was a fly flying around the camera and this critter's eyes were following the fly all around. It was really cool to watch through the viewfinder.

Bunny Nest

This bunny is building a little nest smack dab in the middle of our tomato plants. I was able to get fairly close while it was gathering dried grass to pad the nest. You can see her mouth full of grass in one picture. Such a little cutie but that's not a good spot for a nest silly bunny!

Home Grown Garlic

Ahhhh.....garlic! I just love it. I go through garlic like crazy. This is some home grown garlic from our neighbor's garden. Isn't this baby HUGE? Should last me a week...lol! If you've never had fresh garlic, and I mean fresh from a garden, you are really missing out. It's fabulous. Totally worth adding it to your garden. Wally has planted some that the neighbor gave us but I think it's has a few more months to go before it's ready. Dinner tonight is BBQ'd salmon, home grown zuchinni with lots of garlic and risotto with mushrooms and garlic. No, you can't come over for dinner. :)

More Aurae Photography

This set Modern Metallics, gave me such a headache! I tried photographing it in my usual studio lighting and the beads just looked icky. I tried outdoor lighting in the shade....yuck. I then tried natural daylight but indoors. I went from room to room in our house photographing these beads and facing all different directions and I was ready to just drop it all together. Then I tried photographing them in the bathroom and...success! I think the diffuse lighting coming from the frosted privacy windows did the trick. The photograph looks just like the beads look in person. Only took me a couple hours...