Once upon a time, in a land far up north, 2 desperately cold Canadians boarded a plane and traded in the snow for 2 weeks at a resort in Freeport, Bahamas. Every morning they wandered across the road to the…

For me, the best part of every day – after my morning latte – is firing up my torch and crafting dazzling, happy beads. But this is not a tiki-torch or the British for ‘flashlight’. It’s a small, stainless steel,…

Lampworking is a kind of hot glasswork where a torch is used to melt glass. Once the glass is molten, the worker forms it by blowing or shaping it with tools and movements. Lampwork is used to create glass beads,…

You know when you do something all the time how it becomes second nature to you? And you forget that not everyone knows what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. Glass is like that. I walk into my studio,…

Introducing…. Recently I had a couple of visitors into my studio and they were blown away by how much equipment I have to make beads. I forget sometimes that not everyone knows what the COE of my glass is or…

Done! Check! Finito! Oh boy, that was a LOT of work! And I enjoyed every minute of it! (I lie, there were a few minutes that I didn’t enjoy as much, and those were coming up with names towards the…

All righty now, it’s official, I am in my Christmas production mode. I haven’t reached the screaming panic stage yet but it’s close. Every day I have a quota of beads to make. Once the quota is done then I…

IT’S UP! IT’S UP! IT’S UP! Of course you already know that because you’re here reading this. Well, what do you think of my new virtual home? Send comments please! I’ve been meaning to get around to this for ages…

I get asked a lot, “where do you get your inspiration?” You’d be surprised where inspiration can strike. I think the trick is to always have your eyes open. One of my favourite places for inspiration is the veggie section of…

Did you know the Euro Cup is on? And did you know that today Greece is playing Poland? No? Well I guess your studio isn’t smack dab in the middle of Greektown, above the largest sports bar that is home…

Oh boy! A new year! And that means one thing, I get to start a new notebook!!! I’ve mentioned my notebook addiction before, I LOVE notebooks. I love them so much that I have quite the collection sitting on my…

This is Ganmyagmar Ayurzana. She’s a butcher in Mongolia and she is my latest Kiva loan. As a small business owner I am frequently asked for donations to help fundraise for various organizations or groups. Much as I’d like to I…

And the fortune cookie speaks. How did it know? I have big plans. Oh just you wait, I have HUGE plans.

Oh boy!!!! Isn’t this absolutely beautiful? I am SO excited about my new torch!!! This is a Midrange Plus meaning it’s a Midrange torch on the bottom with a Mega minor torch piggybacked on the top (made by Nortel Manufacturing)….