My kids recently discovered this cute little guy in our rose garden. A tiny, baby praying mantis.:)
They are fascinating creatures, but even more so when they’re this tiny. He was only about 1/2 to 3/4″ long and bright green in color with no markings yet. They really hop around a lot when they’re this small too, bouncing from one flower to another.
We hope he stays in our garden till he’s full grown! 😀
This summer is turning out to be much busier than I anticipated. From last minute business trips to guests visiting from out of town, to planning a vacation ourselves, kids’ events, etc. – my business-as-usual life has been turned upside down! It’s all fun stuff for the most part, but it makes time go by too fast and things like making beads gets put on the back burner.
Combine that with the temperatures really soaring lately, (and they haven’t even peaked yet!), and my time at the torch becomes even more limited. When I can I try to torch in the mornings when my studio is coolest, till about noon or so when it just becomes too uncomfortable. Between the heat from my torch, my rod warmer and my kiln – not to mention the heat from outside – summers where I live just aren’t the best for making beads.
So although you won’t see as much from me in the way of beads too often this summer – I’d still like to keep in touch and share what’s going on in my world this time of year.
I recently took a last minute business trip (for my ‘real’ job ;)) up north to beautiful Monterey Bay, CA. On the way up we drove along Pacific Coast Highway for a while and enjoyed this gorgeous view…
Then we turned inland and traveled through Central California which is normally lush and green, but this time of year the hills had already dried out from the heat and lack of rain, turning the rolling hills into what looked like sand dunes, (according to my youngest daughter).
When we arrived at our hotel we discovered this incredible ocean view from our room:
It was a very short trip but even so, it’s always nice to get away and venture out of town – I do enjoy road trips! 😀
The fun continues! I have spent the past few years creating lots of round beads so I’m still working my way through recreating many of those same bead designs, making them into my new Gazing Ball lampwork bead necklaces. And, as sometimes happens, inspiration hits and I end up creating new bead designs I hadn’t even thought of yet 😀
Here are this week’s ‘Gazing Ball’ lampwork glass bead pendant necklaces:
I am having a ball making these glass pendant necklaces (pun intended ;-))!
It’s amazing to me how something as simple as a dot can be transformed into so many different patterns and designs. Absolute perfect dot placement -when working with thin stringers- in glass is very difficult. So for me, I tend to gravitate toward designs that allow for a little more freedom such as flowers and other elements in nature.
This week I have another of my 3D encased dot flower focals along with something new, a dimensional encased dot fish!
CCGlassArt 