Going to do a shop update real quick since we're leaving again next week to visit more family. Thinking of just leaving the shop open and shipping what sells when we return in Sept. I've got tons more beads to photograph (really wish the pictures would just take themselves, lol).
This first set will be going up on Etsy soon, I'll post an update when it goes in the shop. The two little clear beads are solid but they look so sharp capped and cored, the beadcaps are out of Copprclay that I made ages ago and found them in a container and picked some beads to fit- voila!
This trio will be getting shipped shortly to somewhere special and I'll list (or re-list in the case of the mustard bead) them on Etsy when I get them back.
Still playing w/ the Pixie Dust. 
And the Z99..
Apologies for the somewhat blurry photos, I really need to figure out the settings on hubby's little Nikon..or figure out which camera I need for the business.
Surely I'm not the only one who loves the colors together in this trio? *slurp* These will be slightly discounted since the two smaller ones were chipped due to my aggressive cleaning..d'oh! Doesn't affect the bead, just makes them less than perfect. Oh, oh- love the bead caps on this one and the crackling is superb. 
Had a hard time letting go of these capped and cored hollows, so luscious but hard to capture on camera.
I'm not sure how everyone else who sells online does it- when you take pics do you also think of how the layout will look on business cards, postcards, etc? Since Etsy uses square images for the products, that is the way my pics usually end up cropped. Or maybe you take one or two pics that is a little more..artsy? The plan is to try and take a couple different layout shots for the sets/focals that really set my heart aflutter and save them for business cards..after all, who doesn't like options?
The more I inspect them, the more imperfections I notice. Practice, practice, practice.
I finally decided, "what can it hurt?", and just jumped in w/ no planning. Turns out, for me at least, that every d'oh! moment eventually leads to improving my technique. The first d'oh! happened when I dropped one of my brass micro shapers on the concrete, and wouldn't you know it, it was the supa sharp pointy tip that hit the concrete and caused a slight kink on the end. Which worked great at raking the stringers today!
I rediscovered Picnik- the pic above is a before and after using that feature, it did improve it a little, there is a lot to explore and I just haven't had the time recently. Definitely something to put on my to-do list.
This shows my progression using the new press, the second and third beads are the only ones not on a white base. Seashell Swirl and then Yellow Ice over a core of clear are the 2nd and 3rd bead's base colors. The Yellow Ice reacted badly w/ the Dk. Raku powder which is that black color you see on the bead..live and learn.
The beads above are made w/ a hard to find glass- Z-99 Purple Rose Special. The Zimmerman family has stopped production and decided not to sell their glass recipes to the industry. It is a wonderful and reactive color, these beads were made on a base of Effetre White- yep, just white- w/ various frits and powders added.Not to worry, I'm still in love w/ making my organic hollows. Here is a set that hasn't been etched yet:
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and shared it with the ones you love. This gal knows better than to make any resolutions, but perhaps we'll be seeing each other a little more frequently at this space :)
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