How To Drill Beach Glass

For the longest time, I resisted the urge to drill through beach glass. I'd like to say that it was because I couldn't stand the thought of defacing the frosty gloriousness of the pieces, but that's simply not the case.

I didn't have a good enough drill. Pretty lame, I know.
But recently, my older brother enlisted in the army, and he had to pretty much get rid of everything, including his drill, so it's mine now.

Aaaah, silly me, thinking I was just going to start drilling through hunks of glass with ease. Now, I had done enough research to know that I needed diamond tip drill bits, which I bought, and that the glass needed to be submersed in water. What I didnt know, was that as soon as I touched my drill to the glass, it would "skip" across the surface, leaving unsightly white scratches, rendering the glass useless for jewelry making.

Them my dear hubby came in and as usual, pointed out what I was doing wrong, and more importantly, how to do it right.

(1) Start at a 45 degree angle

(2) Use slight pressure and slow rpm's to start with

(3) Hold the glass steady with your forefinger of your non-drilling hand, while using your thumb on the same hand to "guide" the drill shaft. This keep it in place without having the bit skip all over the glass. It's important to note that I kept my thumb far enough up the shaft so that it wouldn't come near the diamond tip.

(4) Once you feel the drill bit "catch" the glass (you will feel it), you can move your thumb, and straightenthe drill bit out so that you drill straight through.

(5) Stop every ten seconds or so to allow water to cool the bit and the hole

Okay, a few last tips: Once you get going, maintain a steady, moderate, pressure. You don't need to push super hard. Also, for smaller pieces, you'll probably want a smaller diameter bit, and vice versa for larger pieces. The smaller pieces tend to break when using larger bits, unless you drill them in the center.

Hope this helps. It certainly helped me. I'd be happy to answer any questions if anyone has them.
The pics I've posted are of my first scratched up piece, and my subsequently better pieces that I managed to not break. They still look like they could use some perfecting, but that's what practice is for, right?

How To Unblock Your Creativity

Ever get "crafter's block"? It's the crafter's equivalent to writer's block, and I had a very bad case not too long ago. I went 2 whole weeks without so much as looking at my materials. But I eventually managed to overcome it.

Since I suspect that I'm not the only one who gets creatively stumped every once in a while, I thought I'd share my tips and tricks for getting "un-stumped".

When you have crafter's block, sometimes you just need to walk away for a little while. I know that writer's are supposed to sit and write when they are blocked, and there have been times, when forcing myself to create has worked, but not always. I think the key is walking away, but walking away to somewhere that's related, somehow, to what you do.

Some ideas:
(1) Go to your favorite craft store. You can do this online, but it's really much better to visit in person, because not only will you be getting some excercise, being able to touch things, feel their textures and weight, and see their true colors can be all you need to inspire creativity.

(2) Go to a book store, or even the library. Check out books on your craft or even explore completely new arts. Sometimes, when you are considering something new, the possibilities seem endless. You'll get all sorts of ideas for your "new" craft. This spark of creativity can carry over to your current projects, and you may even find a way to "marry" the two techniques or crafts into one new craft. Talk about possibilities!

(3) If all else fails, go to your nearest big box store, and browse whatever section your stuff would be in, if you were to mass-produce. Scoff, shake your head in disgust, and comment to others who are standing nearby about the lack of quality, care and thought put into the items, and the overall cheapness of them. After they run away from you, clutching their children tightly, give the items one last glance, pat yourself on the shoulder, and go home to do better.
I hope this helps anyone who may be "stuck" These methods work great for me. I'd love to hear from others as well. How do you get over creativity hurdles?

Facelift

I read some great tutorials on photos and tagging and so I decided to try my hand at taking better photos. This is what I came up with. New Photos

The necklace is still the same, but in my opinion, it is so much more appealing to look at than the previous photos I has of it in my shop.

That's all that's new for now, except that I've created a google group, and you can sign up to be notified of new happenings as I post them. The link is on the top of this page on the right side.

MyCraft

I have discovered a great new place that I may get addicted to more than facebook or myspace!

MyCraft is a great new social networking site for crafters, artists, and those who admire creativity.

What I like most about the site is the ease of which you can navigate around the pages. Maybe I've been on myspace for too long, but my biggest hurdle thus far had been navigating the terrifying new waters of(new) social networking sites and promoting my shop when I can't even find the link to add friends.

Let's face it, when you get used to one thing, it's harder to accept and get used to another. MyCraft was easy. Beautifully easy. I already have plenty of friends (not that I don't need anymore!), and it displays my photos of Beach Glass Jewelry amazingly well. Right in plain view of whoever visits my page. It's also ridiculously easy to add your etsy mini to any comment that you leave on another crafters page, further allowing you to shamelessly promote yourself.

Bottom line is this: If you're a fan of social networking as a promotional tool, I really encourage you to get over to MyCraft and give it a try. Go ahead and add me as a friend!

My First Sale

My "mild" frustration has turned into not-so-mild elation. I logged into my etsy account and didn't notice, but then when I checked my email, there it was: "Etsy Sale Payment Notification"

At first I didn't understand. I thought that I had mistakenly bought something on Etsy. Silly me!

Anyway, I'm just super excited and really motivated to make more. I really love what I'm doing and if I can make money doing what I love, then that's even better.

That said, even if I didn't make money, I'd still make the jewelry, because I love it that much. I'd just have to give it away!

The pic in this post is the necklace that I just sold.

Mild Frustration

I say "mild" because it really only is mild. I feel like I should be getting discouraged but I'm not.
Let's face it, the online selling market is saturated. I count myself lucky to have several views of my jewelry a day. And besides, all the research I did before I signed up with Etsy prepared me for this. Sort of.

Needless to say, I'm anxious to make a sale. I have lots of oohhs and aahhs, but no takers.

Just a little vent for today.

New Etsy Profile

Today, I created a new profile for my Etsy shop. This one says a lot more about WHO I am rather that just WHAT I am. I've copied it below.

Bio I've always lived near the beach, at least always within an hour of it. But I never really appreciated the beauty and splendor of the lake and all it had to offer.

A few years ago, my husband and I moved into the tiny little lake front village of Fairport Harbor, and my love of beach glass, beach pottery, sand, and sun was born.

There's something so calming when you hear the gentle waves playing tag with the shore, and it's so humbling when you see the mighty waves crashing over the breakwall during a furious storm. Or, I can unleash my inner daredevil and stand at the water's edge when a water spout is gathering strength.
Even in the bleakness of winter, I find beauty at the beach.

I attempt to capture the beauty of every moment at the beach with all of my beach glass jewelry. All of the pieces that I make are inspired by an experience I had while at the beach.

My love of beach glass jewelry developed into a love of all jewelry-creating, and so you'll see a variety in my shop, along with some crochet items from time to time.