Glass of Sherry
I signed up for a booth at the N. Charleston Farmers Market in Park Circle again this year. I plan on being there only two weeks, however. I will be there May 7th and October 22nd, 2020. Hopefully the weather won’t be too hot those days. I may try to add a couple of additional dates, but for now this is the 2020 plan!
I signed up to have a booth at the Charleston Holiday Market again this year. It will be at the Charleston Area Convention Center in N. Charleston on November 20, 21 and 22. It was a tiring weekend last year, but I think it’s a great event! This year the parking garage is supposed to be finished, too.
Today is the last day of the Charleston Holiday Market, and it was a busy day. My Mermaid mosaic, Starfish Trio, and Here Comes the Sun mosaic windows all found loving new homes, along with numerous smaller pieces. I’ve made a *little* bit of room to make some new things, so hopefully I will have time to revisit the sunset mosaic I started a few weeks ago with dichroic glass.
To make these snowman, tree and leafy ornaments, I start with white and green glass and cut it down until it is close to the shape I want. I then grind the pieces to smooth them and make them look more like the desired item (snowball, holly, mistletoe). It will be interesting to see how the texture of the green glass looks after I pour the resin. Past experience has shown me that the texture will be mostly lost once the resin is applied, but I haven’t tried it with this glass yet.
Here is a snowball in the making on my glass grinder. Yes, I do slice my fingertips while I grind the glass – I try to do a quick once around all the edges to minimize the damage to my fingers, but they still get a bit of wear and tear.
Once I have the larger pieces of glass ready, I glue them to the clear glass ornament bases. I glued the ornament hooks on the bases yesterday.
I will pour the resin and add the detailed accents and some more small glass pieces for red berries at the same time. I like to add crushed glass “snow” under the snowmen and trees, and clear glass flakes to the backgrounds. I might cut some red berries for the holly from glass (like I did for the mistletoe), as the red balls of glass I have might be too small in proportion to the leaves I cut. I was hoping to pour the resin for these today, but I just ran out of time.
I’m trying to stock up on ornaments for my booth at the Charleston Holiday Market, which will be held at the North Charleston Convention Center November 8-10, 2019. I glued these winter scene glass ornaments yesterday and plan on pouring the resin and finishing the details today.
Here are a couple of snapshots after the resin was poured and decorated, but not yet cured. I have been making these with the rectangular background instead of the free shaped tree ornaments because the tree branches are pretty sharp. The rectangle keeps you from having to hold the pointy part of the tree glass. The one ornament with the blue background is an experiment – I’m trying to see if putting painters tape on the back is helpful in keeping the resin drips off the back. All of the others I have to keep wiping down the underside to keep drips from forming, and this is a very time consuming, sticky undertaking. I tried the tape once before and didn’t have much luck, but I thought I’d try again.
I also decided to make a couple of snowmen ornaments. I really love the trees, but variety is the spice of life, right?
The one on the left has its resin coating and glass chip decorations. The one on the right has to wait another day for its resin, as the glue that holds the hook in place is still drying.
I haven’t been posting much, mostly because the dichroic window I’ve been working on has now been rethought as a sunset and it’s taking me some time to plan it. At the same time, I haven’t been doing much that is new and different, until this weekend. I decided to sign up for the Charleston Holiday Market at the N. Charleston Convention Center. It’s a big three day craft fair, held November 8-10. I usually do most of my holiday shopping at this event. This year, I’ll be a vendor!
When I was talking with another vendor at the N. Charleston Farmers Market about it last week, she suggested that I make some seasonal coasters for the event. So I decided to see what I can do. I haven’t used any really perishable / organic materials other than shells and beachy things, so plants are an expansion of my repertoire. I headed out into my yard and snipped some cheerful berries and greenery from my plants, then coated them with resin spray.
I then set about inserting my harvest into some coaster molds with resin. Hopefully they will turn out well – I read a few stories online of others’ experiences with plant based embedding and there were a lot of woeful tales of things turning brown. Fingers crossed that the resin spray helps deter that from happening. I even read that some folks use plain old hair spray instead of resin spray, which I may try when my supply of resin spray is depleted. I have two types of berries on hand, one from I believe a Pyracantha and some others from some Asparagus Fern in my yard.
I like how the Boxwood looks, but it is very thick and difficult to keep small enough for the mold. I used some extra resin spray on the cypress greenery in the batches I did today to see if they hold their color any better.
I will have a booth at the North Charleston Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 19th from 4-7pm. Come check it out!
The City of North Charleston announces the 7th Annual Harvest Festival featuring live musical performances, an artist market, costume contests, trick-or-treat on the street, a pop-up pumpkin patch, children’s activities, and more. The fall festivities will take place in the Olde Village of North Charleston, located on East Montague Avenue near Park Circle, on Saturday, October 19, 2019, from 4:00-7:00pm. Admission and parking are free. East Montague Avenue will close to vehicular traffic from Jenkins Avenue to Virginia Avenue at 2:00pm and remain closed for the duration of the event.
The celebration includes live music by the delightfully eclectic V-Tones of Charleston and singer-songwriter Rene Russell. The Kid’s Zone offers a craft activity led by the City’s artist-in-residence Katherine Hester, carnival games, face painting, drumming with RBM African Drum and Dance, and a variety of inflatables. An artist market featuring local artists, crafters, and makers will line two blocks of East Montague Avenue, along with a few festive treat vendors. In addition, many of the restaurants in the Olde Village will offer food and drink specials.
Other highlights include trick-or-treating on the street with free treat bags for kids age 12 and under (4:00-6:00pm, while supplies last); a pop-up pumpkin patch with on-site decorating stations (cash only – prices of pumpkins vary); a mechanical bull, photo booths, and costume contests with categories for youth, groups, and pets. The contests are free to enter and prizes will be furnished by the City of North Charleston Recreation Department, merchants of the North Charleston Olde Village, and Park Pets. Participants for all contests should be prepared to line up for judging at 5:45pm for the contests to begin at 6:00pm.
The annual Harvest Festival is a rain or shine event produced by the City of North Charleston in collaboration with the North Charleston Olde Village merchants. For information on additional programs and events, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website at www.northcharleston.org.
I’ll be at the Farmers Market in Park Circle again tomorrow, Thursday September 19th from 3-7 pm. Come by and visit me! Mention the code “VisitTen” to receive 10% off any in stock window!
I’ll be at the N. Charleston Farmers Market every Thursday in September and October (weather permitting). Come check out my booth!
I will have a space at the N. Charleston Farmer’s Market in Park Circle every Thursday from 3-7 pm during September and October (including Halloween!!). Mark your calendar and plan to come out for a fun time!
