Fused Glass...How Hard Can It Be!

I have purchased fused glass from time to time. I have a dear friend, Michelle Black of Confusion Jewelry, makes the most beautiful jewelry by way of fusing glass and she sells it online and off. I always thought that it would be very difficult to create anything with fusing glass together. I was once again wrong! At Embellish It, we have started offering a few art classes and one of them is fused glass. My friend, as mentioned above, is the instructor. So although, the thought of learning how to fuse glass has never really interested me that much...of course I like to admire the art of it, I thought I would sit in on her class and see just how it is done. WOW...this stuff is really cool. Just be careful not to cut yourself, after all, you are working with glass. It looks so beautiful and inviting that you don't think that you could get cut with it. I realized quickly after I accidentally nicked my hand on a sharp pointed piece of the glass, that it does indeed cut the skin just like any other glass no matter how pretty it is.

There are some important things you must know about fusing glass. One is that you can't just stick any glass in a kiln and expect it to fuse together. You must have a certain kind of glass. If you are in Charleston, S.C. the best place to purchase your glass would be at The Blue Heron. I understand that they are extremly nice & helpful. I have a feeling I will be visiting them very shortly and can't wait for my first visit there. The next thing you must know about fused glass is that it must be fused in a kiln and they are not cheap. You can not fuse it in your oven. The tempature must be at 1500 degrees and it usually takes at least 6 hours to cook.

Back to the glass part. There a are million colors, textures and ornate pieces of glass you can use for fusing. Michelle explained to us how most of it is made and what it is made of. At my first class I felt a little intimidated with all the glass in front of me and did not know what to do with it. So many pieces and beautiful colors to choose from. But, once I got started...I could have sat for hours playing with it.

Our first class was creating magnets. Something small and a great introduction to the art and learning to feel out the glass and working with the special tools. There were three of in the class and each one of us had our own ideas of creation. I like alot of color and texture and so I created textured abstracts...just getting a feel for the colors and shapes. While my classmates were a bit more creative than I, they made flowers and cupcakes with their pieces of glass. Actually the cupcakes were such a cool idea, that we all, including Michelle, made a cupcake.

What I had never realized was just how simple fusing glass is. Of course, you must have a kiln or you can bring it to us at The Culture Vultures and Michelle will fire your work for a small fee. Aside from that, it is just a matter of having a creative mind, and gluing glass together with Elmers Glue. Ha...Who would have thought!

Here are some photos of what we created at our first class. I will post the fired results when Michelle brings them to me next week.

To learn more about Michelle Black and Confusion Jewelry, go to her website http://www.confusionjewelry.com/

To learn more about The Blue Heron check out their site http://blue-heron-glass.com/

Check out class times for Fused Glass here http://www.embellishchas.homestead.com/

I Am A Sucker For Vintage Enamel Jewelry

Is it just me or is there anybody else in this world that has a passion for vintage enemal jewelry? I think it might have something to do with the fact that I have a true love affair with God's great gift of flowers. I love gardening and looking at beautiful flowers either in the garden or in a beautiful arrangement. It seems that I have found that the enamel jewelry at The Culture Vultures is not a hot seller. However, I still continue to buy it without any concerns as to how quickly I can turn it over to, simply because it is such a beautiful sight to my own eyes.

My I suggest, as I have in the past to some of our customers, that if you have a friend in the hospital or that is home sick and you want to give this person something nice to cheer them up...before ordering a bouqet of flowers from your local florist, try giving them a floral brooch. You will spend about the same amount of money and the brooch with never die. Your friend will be able to wear it on her clothing, hat, handbag or display it someplace nice for many years. I hope that they too will appreciate the beauty of a enamel piece as much as I do.

I just recently went shopping and as always, I was looking for something else and ended up finding vintage jewelry instead. In the vintage world, you gotta grab it when you find it. Here are a few pieces of my finds. The blue flower at the top is a new piece as well.

Where do you find vintage enamel jewelry?

That is always a good question. I search thrift stores, yard sales, antique stores and flea markets. Sometimes you can find it on ebay but, you usually end up paying a good bit for it. I am always leary of ebay too, I have had some bad experiences with other sellers there. Vintage clothing stores, such as The Culture Vultures, will carry it too. Enamel jewelry was very popular in the 50's and 60's and still continues to make it's way into modern pieces of today. But the floral stuff was more popular back in the retro years. Personally, I think it is a better quality than what we have made today.

To purchase the enamel pieces pictured above and other pieces as well, visit our etsy store at :

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisamoorer

Vintage Clothing & Collectibles...Where To Find Them Online

I have been off the mainstream line of internet business for 4 years since I had opened my physical store. Prior to that I did just about all my business online from selling and some buying. My focus has always been vintage clothing and collectibles. The slow economy has forced me to take another look at selling again online. I came across Etsy. What is Etsy? Etsy is a place to buy and sell vintage collectibles and your handmade arts & crafts. That is right up my ally! The cost is very inexpensive but, you must work it just like you would if you owned a physical store. I think that for many that want to sell online, they believe if they just take a photo of the item and put it online, they can walk away and the sells will come right away. No, you must market your online business just like you would any other business. The key is figuring out how to work the internet market.

In the meantime, while I am trying to get back into the swing of things, I have found some really cool shops on Etsy that focus on vintage clothing and collectibles. One I found that carries pieces at good prices is a shop called "Me Oh My Treasures" you can find them by going to the following link http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohmermaidme?page=2

As for me, I am lisiting daily on Etsy. Another thing you must do to keep up. I have been focused on lisitng alot of jewelry but, handbags, clothing and other accessories are to come. To see my shop and what I have check it out http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisamoorer

What To Do With In This Tough Economy

Recently that was some talk between my husband, Rick, and myself as to what to do with The Culture Vultures. We had invested so much time and money into it to have to shut it down after just 4 years. Since the fall in our economy, we felt the pain just like so many other businesses. Before the recession, we had a good business. We had a few customers that came in monthly and spent alot of money on jewelry, they were the ones that were paying my mortgage, the other regulars were the bread and butter to the business and were paying the bills for the store. Suddenly it came to a holt over the summer months. I would have to say it started in August. Soon I saw our regulars coming in but, they were not spending money. New comers were coming in and I could sense that they wanted to buy but, they were afraid to spend money. Even putting on a big sale did not really change the parting with money much. My business that was once up in the air flying freely like an eagle in the sky began to spiral downward only to drown in a ocean like a plane crashing into the Atlantic. Rick and I knew that we needed to do something and quickly.

In December I asked Rick to pray with me and he did. We both are very artsy and enjoy seeing beautiful craftsmenship of others. One thing that I was hearing a good bit in the store was that our customers had experienced a change in their income. Some had lost their jobs, some had been moved to part-time rather than full-time and others that still had their jobs knew that it was only a matter of time before they too would be standing in the unemployment line. I could see the real reality of the fall in our economy.

There are not any real craft stores in Charleston, South Carolina. Of course you can go to the North area to Micheal's and A.C. Moore but they have the same stuff almost that you can find at Wal-Mart. And where in Charleston can you find a place that offers really cool art classes? There are alot of bead stores that offer jewelry classes. Although I can't flip my store into a craft store such as Micheal's or A.C. Moore, nor would I want to. I do however see a need to offer something for our community to help themselves. There are many talented artist here and in the world of arts & crafts, you can learn a skill and be really good at it, enough to make some extra income.

I will never forget the first time that someone actually bought my handbags. We were living on Johns Island and I was a stay at home mom/housewife and I was always looking for something to do. I created these cute little vintage inspired pouch bags and sold them to a boutique in Kiawah, South Carolina. The day that I took them to see the buyer, I brought home a check for $156.00. After that, there was no stopping me. Overtime I created the Shoo Bag...yes, a real shoe turned into a handbag. Pretty soon I had a rep in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas selling my bags to retail stores. I did pretty good with it and eventhough I no longer have reps selling my bags, I still sell them in my own store.

So after praying and thinking, Rick and I came up with a plan to help others and save our store. We would add a sister business to The Culture Vultures, Embellish It. We now offer arts & crafts classes to our customers and we carry pieces that an artist can infuse with their creations such as: Vintage beads, fabrics & trims, feathers, wood, gourds, leather and anything else we can find that we think would be really cool to recycle into a new creation.

When we decided on what we were going to do, we went to work right away to prepare to make 2010 a great year for us and our customers. Rick built a wall in the store to block off space for a classroom, I began getting in touch with some of our artist friends and other's whose art work we admired and ask them about teaching. Rick and I too will be teaching classes as well. For the month of January we are kicking off with our Polymer Clay and Fused Glass Classes. To know more about it, go to our website http://embellishchas.homestead.com

Classes to come in Febuary are Woodburning, Haute Handbag Designs, Paper Mache' and we will have a mystery class each month. Just a fun thing to learn. In Febuary our myster class will be lampshade covering. Check out our press release at http://charleston.thedigitel.com/arts-culture/culture-vulture-goes-diy-17009-0104

If you do not live in Charleston and would like to learn a skill in the arts, I would suggest that you check with your local craft store and art galleries.

Through the year 2010, I will be blogging about what many of our students are learning and doing at Embellish It. My hope for them is that whatever reason they are learning a new skill, that they have fun and find something that they are passionate about.