Fused Glass Art And Jewelry

 Been awhile since I have updated the blog with fused glass art and jewelry. We formed our own company, Appalachian Warm Glass LLC. The plaid plate is about seven inches square.

  A copper dragonfly on blue aventurine glass with a hematite bail would make a lovely pendant.

 My husband, Ray is the other glass artist in our family company. About 40 years ago, he started creating in stained glass. After retirement, he began creating in fused glass. All of his designs are originally created by him.

            New earrings for fall which are longer and use dichroic glass with sterling silver earwires.

 Ray has created four different Celtic crosses in fused glass. This is the most intricate of the four.

 I began creating these abstract pieces using a lot of scrap glass and a dichroic glass  for a focal point. The glass used is transparent and can be placed in a window so that the sun shines through. This piece is next to white paper.

 Copper birds on limbs that I have cut out of copper foil. This is the same bird on two different pieces                                                                        of glass.

ww.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Dichroic Beads and Imagine

 This large bead is a dichroic bead made from dichroic glass. Several of the beads on this necklace are fused glass beads. There are some interesting beads on this necklace that are iridescent on one side and black on the other. Being a creative collector, I have lots of different things in the studio including beads.

 An imagine gold plated charm on a crystal bracelet seems to shine.

The center bead is dichroic as well as the second bead to the right and the left. The 4th, 5th, and 6th beads are the glass iridescent beads. Finished with a vintaje finding. Waiting for a new home...

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Prehnite, Rose Quartz, Tourmaline Necklace & Lentil Soup

 I had some prehnite in the studio that seemed to be calling to me. I went to the gemstone book to see what gemstones harmonizes with prehnite. I found pink, green, and black tourmaline and quartz harmonize with prehnite. The prehnite is the green stone. Rose quartz is the pink stone. The small stones are tourmaline.

Here is a photo of the finished necklace.

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

While taking the photos this morning, there were rainbows in the studio. 

About the lentil soup...

While in the studio this morning doing a bit a drawing, I smelled the lentil soup. This is not a good sign. The vegetables had burned into the pan. Soaking, adding salt, and then lemon juice, I was able to use a lot of scrubbing to clean the pan. And started over. The smells are simply wonderful.

Here's the reciepe: Boil one cup of lentils in six cups of water  for twenty minutes. Set aside.

Saute one onion in olive oil for three minutes. Add shredded carrots to onions saute for three more minutes. Add two tablespoons of lemon juice, one teaspoon of tarragon, salt,and pepper for a few minutes. Add some sweet peppers. Add one can of tomatoes drained. Use the juice and add enough water to make one cup of liquid.Add to the vegetables bring to a boil and turn down the heat. Cook on low for 15 minutes. Add the lentils and cook for an additional ten minutes. Great soup for a winter's day.

Nuthatches, Holly, Gemstones, and Holidaze

 Right after Halloween and before Thanksgiving, I find myself very busy creating in the studio preparing for the Holidaze. Wanted to share with you some of the new jewelry and glass pieces I have been creating.

 Moonstone oval and moonstone cream stones are bordered by labradorite rondelles. According to the Book of Stones, labradorite is the gemstone of magic, our innate magic. Moonstone brings in emotional balance. Adding a sterling silver clasp for abundance.

Been using the glass kiln quite a bit to make angel tiles and earrings. The red, green, and white streaky glass is fused with holly. The other two pairs of earrings are dichroic glass shinning brightly.

Nuthatches, butterflies, and holly with sterling silver ear wires. I use either sterling silver or 14 carat gold filled ear wires on my gemstone and glass earrings.

For months, I had strands of agates on the bead board. I would look at them and ponder. Last week I found some large black agates. A friend gifted me with the moss agate. Almost finished then I discovered the copper discs when looking for something else. Sometimes waiting provides just what is needed when it is ready.

Nuthatches are frequent visitors to our bird feeders. In celebration of the birds, I have created a pendant with a pair of earrings to match. Some of my jewelry is available on the website, which is now live: http://www.carolingrammoore.com. I will be at the Big Stone Gap Holiday show on November 22 from 10 - 5. My studio is on the Artisan Trail and is open by appointment only. 

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Inspired by Spring

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

The first day of spring I was inspire by the colors of blues, purples, and  greens. This is the back of a fused glass dragonfly piece. It is actually standing up so you can see the soft lavender of the glass.  

A purple jewel tone thin iridescent Bullseye glass I placed against the dragonfly mold from Delphi Glass. I learned a lesson from this. Place the clear glass on top of the iridescent to enjoy the rainbow effect of all the purples. It is always fascinating to me to see what happens when glass comes our of the kiln.

These glass beads were lying on the beading board. I kept thinking about them. It took several hours and lots of trial and error to create this piece. I used silver wire for the larger beads to give the piece some strength. Then I used a beading wire for the nine strands of glass beads. I crimped and  crimp bead covered each of the nine strands using silver plated jump rings to connect the five pieces. It is finished with a hammered sterling silver clasp. I wore it for several days, something I learned to do before I sell a piece to see how it flows and to make sure all the jump rings are tightly closed.

 These beauties are all over the yard. I planted about six dozen in early March. They will come up in late May. These are in the front of the house, the first daffodils planted. All of these are the early spring variety. The smells are just amazing.

 Wild grape hyacinths roam down the side of  our mountain yard. They began popping up on Friday. We had a little bit of rain and they are beginning to flow. I try to be careful not to step on them as they are tiny.

                                                    Wild hyacinths popping up all over.

 It was a bit starling to find this lilac and one holly were the only plantings in our yard. It is now surrounded by iris, daffodils, and soon to be planted annuals.

 The same day the forysthia budded out, the wild violets showed their faces. These are all over the yard.

Between the two buildings on the property, Ray had put the compost. I created a garden in front of this stump. The garden lies next to the woods. The critters certainly have enjoyed digging under the space. One spring, a turtle laid her eggs here. They did not hatch,

For Valentines Day, we gave each other this garden bench. I had been looking for several years and found this on Overstock. Ray assembled it and set it into place yesterday at the back of the yard. It gives a new perspective to our gardens and a place to rest while gardening.

Rainbows on the Wall

It all started with the movie Pollyanna when she hung the crystal prisms to make rainbows. My parents had a furniture store and they didn't take too kindly to me taking off the crystals from the lamps. I did find my own prisms in various places. As an elementary teacher, they were always in the windows of the classroom.
This morning, while in the studio I looked up at a necklace and earrings and wondered why has that one not found a home? I put down a white paper background and there was a rainbow!

 It is cold in the mountains today: 23 degrees and temperature slowly rising. The sun is shinning so brightly. Here is a photo of a magnificent rainbow maker. It is an Egyptian crystal I found at a bead store in Asheville, North Carolina. I used silver plated 22 gauge artistic wire to string the crystal and the beads.  The end is simply large seed beads I turned into a hanger.

 Two rainbows on the tile kitchen floor from the rainbow maker. There are two of them in the kitchen window.

 Little bitty rainbows on the wooden cabinets made from the rainbow maker which also creates rainbows on the floor, walls, and all across the house.

 From red to violet, the rainbow across the velvet couch cushion. They are dancing all over the house. During the cold days of winter, hope you can create a few rainbow makers of your own!

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Charmsters Round Robin

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

 I am a member of a jewelry group called Charmsters. For the past three years, I have participated in a round robin charm swap. First you decide on your theme, then you create your necklace or bracelet adding your focal point, charm to the necklace. My necklace came home this week. I wanted to share with you all the incredible Nature necklace that arrived in my mailbox.
The first photo is of an envelope I created from some hand dyed cotton I bought at an art center in Amherst, Mass several years ago. Once I opened the box, I took out the envelope.

 Inside was a bag I created for the journal and the necklace. The bag is made out of muslin and lined with green cotton. Some old lace and a fused glass charm are on the front.

 I used a 7 Gyspies journal adding a bit of embellishment to the front and back. I also used the Paper Angel address stamp on the front. Inside the journal is the story of the necklace. I begin by sharing how I made the necklace and the charm. Then as a round robin, the necklace traveled from one artist to another artist until the necklace arrived home to me. The journal is filled with charm stories from each artist.

      Along the way, an artist added a box. I opened the box to find my Nature necklace.

 Susan created the nature journal which is a small handmade journal. See the photo following the necklace.

 Here is Nature adorned with charms from nine artists. There are even two teeth on the necklace. The small one is a deer's tooth created by Tracy. Linda added green sea glass and a tiny shell. Glenda added a stone and Nancy added a turquoise bead.

                    Just one of the pages in the nature journal, oh, I just love handmade books!

A close up of Carina's new skills using steel wire to wrap a tooth and an earring from New York. 

Not sure, but thinking Anne did the lovely bead work and the shell charm from Sannibel Island was created by Johanna. Julie created the round glass tile using a postage stamp of a bird from Tanzania. 

A very special thank you to each and everyone of the artists who filled Nature with their time and their art.