Glass Beads Finding Good Homes!!

NOTE: This post was composed just before Mabel Lou passed away. I thought I would add a few more pics to it, but I have not had the ability to list since then. I was listing beads when she was trying to tell me how sick she was.... A dear glasser friend pointed out to me that I list beads to take care of Mabel and I and that forgiveness is in order. I'm working on it...

I am doing my level best to get used to my new normal. I've been working a lot...for which I'm so grateful. Income and being busy and not in my suddenly very empty home are all good things! But I made beads yesterday... Memorial beads with Mabel's cremains. I had her pics all around me and I truly felt her there. It was a nice way to say goodbye. My girl's funeral is today and all the important people and dogs in her life will be there.

I'll have more posts for you this week and I will be listing again within the week. Thanks for your patience!
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More glass bead placements to report! YAY! (Note: these were all the beads that sold the week Mabel passed... I just forgot to publish!)

No Muse; No Update

I haven't posted here in a while and felt I should. My muse, my co-worker, my love is gone. My beloved pup, Mabel Lou, passed away last week. My heart is broken. 

 She was always at my side as I made beads. Mabel had two beds in the studio, one beside the torch and one in front to the left (no flying hot glass there!) It hasn't felt right to be there - or anywhere - without her!

Add in that one of her favorite restaurants burned to the ground right after she passed...our neighborhood hangout... and it just feels like too much loss!

I took a job teaching grade school as a sub to guarantee I would have an income and yet not be gone til all hours like my work in the film industry. I just wanted to make sure I got my girl to her creek every single day while still keeping a roof over our heads. I hate this job and now, I'm free to look for something else.

But I've been getting calls almost daily...which I'm grateful for. I spent a fortune trying to save Mabel, then have her cremated. And had some car issues this week...all not cheap. Just very happy, I will have a little pay toward bills. And so very happy to not be home much!

In my efforts to avoid home, I'm also taking some glass classes this weekend. Very thrilled to get some skills from a master, see some glassy friends and get away from our 100+ temps!

So that's where I've been and what's going on... Keep me in your prayers if you will. I know some big changes are coming and it's all a bit much to contemplate!

Yet Another Reason Etsy Just Doesn't Get It!

The other day, I was searching for a cover bead for the  next day's issue of Glass Beads Daily. I do my best to feature all the "regulars" at least once a month.  This often involves me checking to see which of a particular artist's beads I've featured in the past few months. My fear is that I will love something so much and that it hasn't sold and I will feature it twice.

It was my real life friend's Donna's turn to be cover girl. Her studio is Prima Donna Beads. As I perused her last few features on the blog, I clicked on one of the featured beads as a quick way to get to her Etsy shop.  And this is what I found:

I can't tell you how angry this made me! Think about this from a seller's perspective: I leave links to MY work around the web;  I do the promoting of my shop; Someone clicks and if that item is sold out, there is NOT ONE photo of MY work but there are one DOZEN pics from the competition??? WTF ETSY???

Let me clearly state I have NOTHING against the artists who happen to be listed here. In fact, I "know" all of them through Glass Beads Daily as they all share their work over there. I deeply admire all of them and their mad skills. I guess kudos go to Etsy for not randomly choosing some of those mass produced Chinese glass beads and using actual artisan links.

But really, would it kill you to stuff a few pics from the artisan that brought the customer to the website. I knew Etsy was doing this if there was nothing in the shop that the customer clicked on. But Donna's shop had several dozen items... they could have filled that page with her beads and hers alone! Wouldn't that be the fair thing to do??? After all it was her link that got the customer to Etsy!

Between Etsy's policy of allowing contract work - which I read as "Bring your Chinese crap beads and sell them here! We don't care if they are mass produced garbage that's not annealed and likely to break as long as we (Etsy) make money!" Now this... I'm so done.

BTW, the artists listed in the pic are genuine handmade glass bead artists one and all and they all make lovely beads too! They're shops are: 

Beads by Stephanie | Heather Behrendt | Debbie of All My Beads | Lampwork by Amy

As so many of us are migrating to an interactive customer experience, if you truly enjoy artisan glass beads and quality lampwork, here are a few private Facebook pages to join:

Lampwork Beads for Sale
Lampwork Bead Market
Artisan Lampwork Beads for Sale

These are just a few... There are also groups specializing in wire wraps and pendants, lampwork jewelry, etc... Come join the fun!! It's a great place to hang out, be inspired, interact with other artists and...people who "get it!"

Auction Experiment

While I have been singing the praises of the sales groups springing up on Facebook, there are some things left to be desired.

All of the groups are ultra private... so there are NO share buttons on the auctions. You have to really WORK to share your listings... Copy the link, sign into your fan page, paste the link and upload the pic, sign in as yourself, go to your fan page and share. OY! I "think" this is fear of spam but how hard is it to just block and ban but allow the group to be seen??

And... the other downside is... I've seen some terrible hurt feelings when bidding gets heated. Additionally, portable devices can only view 20 listings and sometimes you get a notification that someone has commented (a bid!) but you can't SEE the comment. That is because the Facebook app SUCKS!  I always recommend people ditch the app and just surf over on an actual web browser.  And that app leads to bids not appearing fast enough and well, people get upset.

There HAS to be an easier way... so I've been searching. And searching. I stumbled upon the Buddy Bid App on Facebook. It's genuine auction software! It does ask you for a bit of info before allowing you to bid...but it only takes seconds and you can bid on an item!

So, I'm running an experiment on my glass bead fan page and listing an auction there. There is a low start on this silver laden heart glass bead focal. I hope you'll take a look and maybe even bid. Is this the future of Facebook??? Can we kill off FeeBay once and for all???

More Bead Adoptions!

Very happy to report more beads have been placed in very good homes this week!

If you are looking for quality lampwork glass beads where you can actually interact with the artisans who made them, check out Lampwork Bead Market and Artisan Lampwork Beads for Sale, both on Facebook. You can find my work by following my fan page (I link to my Facebook Auctions) or by going to one of the sale pages, click on the magnifying glass and search "Holly Dare."