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I entered December's challenge over at The Glass Challenge and have just found out that this little monkee

[caption id="attachment_1296" align="alignnone" width="175" caption="2nd prize winner!"][/caption]

has won me second place in the Hobbyist's category!  The prize is a $75 gift certificate from the lovely folks at Burning Brass.  To say I'm excited is an understatement - ordinarily, brass tools are way beyond what our bank balance can afford, so this is going to seem like real luxury shopping!  I know I'm going to have a very hard time deciding, they have so many great  lampwork tools.

This looks like it would be wonderful for putting necks on animals, vessels and much more -

[caption id="attachment_1357" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Neck shaper from Burning Brass"][/caption]

But ohhh this looks like a dandy little knife -

[caption id="attachment_1358" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Shaping knife from Burning Brass"][/caption]

and I've always hankered after one of THESE -

[caption id="attachment_1359" align="alignnone" width="310" caption="Brass Shaper from Burning Brass"][/caption]

And this looks like it would be really nice for making captured bubbles -

[caption id="attachment_1360" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Round Push from Burning Brass"][/caption]

You can see, I have a hard choice ahead of me!  The nicest thing about the whole competition is this -

Burning Brass was proud to be the sponsor for the November / December Glass Challenge.  We would like to thank everyone who entered.  All of the entries were very creative and since judging so many great entries was difficult for any one person, we decided to make judging a company project.  We spent most of one morning casting votes to determine the winners.  Everyone here at Burning Brass had a chance to vote for their
favorite.

Thank you Jim and everyone else at Burning Brass!

It was a Teeny Tini, Micro Mini Monkee that she made for the first time today . .

Well, yesterday to be precise. I was feeling discouraged with the temporary loss of my oxycon and trying to think of ways around the problem.

• No Torching! - not really a possibilty


• Torch with Hot Head and 1lb cannisters - Yuk! Yuk! Yuk!


• Torch with Hot Head and bulk propane - requires change to current setup


• Try another option! - but what?

Then! Like a bolt of lightening from the blue I remembered the little torch I was gifted a while back. It only requires propane, and has the same hookup as my Mega Minor!
I pulled this little torch out and hooked it up, thinking this might be a good learning experience, making mini beads (for that's all it would do for sure!).

Without further ado, here's my first Micro Mini Monkee - I put it next to a regular sized one so that you can see the size difference. The neat thing about this is how tiny I can make details with this torch, combining this torch with my Mega Minor could yeild some very interesting results! It would also mean I'd need to rework my set up so that I could have two torches running at the same time, or in tandem at least.

I'll be a week or so without a concentrator, I've spoken to John at Artistry In Glass, he has been super helpful and is having a replacement shipped asap from the company in the States, and will have my dead one picked up next week. I am really happy with the service they have given and continue to give me - thank you John and Carri!

And The WINNERS Are......

Happy New Year to everyone!

I have the results from my Giveaway to share!

I thought it would be fun to have a little ceremony, so I gathered all the things I needed -

My list of email addresses



A nice box to put them in -



And a guest celebrity to do the drawing



Unfortunately Bono wasn't available...  nor were any of a number of other suitable guests that I had in mind.  I had to lower my sights just a little.

Fortunately (or not!), our own dear Ms. Monkeepenny agreed to step into the roll as Celebrity Guest and Draw Officiator.

[caption id="attachment_1252" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Ms. Monkeepenny"][/caption]

I had to give her a bribe gift of jewellery, but then she seemed quite happy to be the centre of attention.

What I hadn't counted on was her welcome speech...



"Dear friends, we are gathered here on this auspicious occasion of the very first Fireseed Giveaway.  I graciously conceded to perform the drawing of winners names in Bono's absence."

She went on... I'll spare you all the details,



"It gives me GREAT pleasure, or it will, once I'm at the party I've been promised afterwards with champagne, choklit and I heard a rumour about some good looking male chimp that might attend...  ...where was I..?  Yes, PLEASURE....   I am almost speechless with excitement to conclude this drawing"

It was at this point that I realised she'd been into the champers already, she began gesticulating with great relish -




And I cringed as she began to list to one side - this wasn't going at all the way I had planned --



Before I knew what was happening she was on her back!



And a strange squeal emanated from her mouth as she toppled backwards off the podium --



I tried really hard to stifle a howl of laughter and went to her aid - this was not the time to upset the Guest of Honour!

Ms. Monkeepenny managed to collect herself together and with the promise of a few more perks after the event, prepared to continue -



With all the entrants in the box




Celebrity Guest Ms. Monkeepenny dipped in her hand to select the winner....   *** Big Drumroll***



She fumbled around for a while and brought forth.... (it was right about now that the camera battery died..)

THE WINNER!!

And right about now that the flash batteries died, and Raff jumped on the table and tried to disassemble my whole awards show!

Never the less we managed to proceed -

[caption id="attachment_1001" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="Stanley Starpuck, Space Monkee!"][/caption]

And the Winner of Stanley Starpuck is:

[caption id="attachment_1273" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Valentina Miletic!"][/caption]

Since I had such a great response, and since Monkeepenny was costing me a fortune, I decided to add a couple of runner up prizes to the draw

Second Prize, one of my Cold Monkee beads goes to:

[caption id="attachment_1274" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Diane Hart!"][/caption]

Here she is Diane -


And finally Third Prize, another Monkee bead to:

[caption id="attachment_1275" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Karin Wilcox!"][/caption]

Here he is Karin! - Karin, I've emailed you but haven't received a reply yet - I'm wondering if it's an address you don't use much, or if my email has gone into the spam bucket. If you read this, can you email my your mailing address ;o)

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone else who entered! I have another idea for some fun but need to think on it a bit more - maybe I'll have it ready for my next newsletter!

Some new little monkees

I've just added a few items to my Artfire shop - a Space Monkee and two Cold Monkees.
I have tried etching these beads for an experiment and I have to say I do like the way it makes them look. I could almost pinch their little pink monkee cheeks!

[caption id="attachment_1179" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Glass Space Monkee Bead"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="One little Cold Monkee!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1177" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="This little Cold Monkee has a fur trimmed hood!"][/caption]

A bracelet from Samma's Tutorial

One of the really wonderful things about my lampworking journey is the number of friends I am making along the way.

Samma is a regular on 'our' not so little Newbie thread over at the Wet Canvas forum.  It's a place where we share ideas, praise each others achievements and offer support when things aren't going quite as well.  I don't think a cross word has ever been posted in that thread, which is really something to be amazed about.  Don't even try and read it from the start!  If you visit, jump in at the end!

I noticed that Samma had published a tutorial over at Beaders Showcase for a fun bracelet made with seed beads.  Since it's been cold and I haven't been able to torch as much as I'd like I figured I'd give this tutorial a try.

I have a habit of not following things to the letter, which can sometimes get me into trouble, but this time I think it worked out quite well!

Here's my Monkees in The Jungle bracelet that is the result of Samma's Tutorial!  Thanks Samma!

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Two By Two Bracelet - Monkees in The Jungle"][/caption]

At the moment Bob is wearing it, because he thinks he's Lord of the Monkees!

[caption id="attachment_1131" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Bob, Lord of the Monkees"][/caption]

A little Monkee YouTube show!

Two items in my Artfire shop!

Yesterday I worked at getting my Artfire shop up and running. At the moment I have just two items there, but am planning on adding more today. I have to say, I do like the fact that when you add a listing all the information is on one page. Listing on Etsy involves several pages of info and often I'll have to skip back and forth between them as I remember something I'd like to add. Seeing everything on one page made the process much more streamlined.

Here's who's up there!
Baker Bill - Cake Tester Extraordinaire - (sounds better than Chef on a stick right?!)

Isn't he a happy looking fellah!

And a Monkee on a stick the Primary Primate Tester!



Up next I have a Kitchen Cat who always loves to make things from 'Scratch' - this one will be going on Artfire today (that's the plan at least!)



I was happy with the way this cat turned out.  My first one had no ears, because I figured they were inside the hat.  Well, it looked a little odd, a cat with no ears, so I like this design MUCH better.  She promises she will NOT lick the cake batter!

As Artfire are still in beta at the moment this is the link for my shop front

Etsy Treasury and news on a GIVEAWAY!!

I made it into an Etsy Treasury and I'm pretty pleased because it's beads that I consider nothing special, so it's nice to see them get a bit of exposure. Now if only someone would snap them up!
Thanks to Paisleybaby for including me!  Click the picture to visit the Treasury.

Big news brewing at Fireseed our FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!!

I don't have all the details yet, but stay tuned, over the next day or two all will be revealed, I can say it will involve Monkees In Space!

Tag I'm it and a Brooch to go APE over!

Well, I woke up this morning, and you were on my mind... you were on my mind...  Oh sorry, too little sleep has me starting the day off with a song!  Let me try again.

I woke up this morning to find I had been tagged by Rita's Rambles - Thank you Rita!

What does this mean you might ask?  Well I will tell you, here are the rules -

Here are the rules of tagging
1. Link to tagger and display these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself - some random, some WEIRD.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now I have to find SEVEN people to tag!  Bet you are all quaking in your boots!

Before I do the weird stuff and tagging, I want to quickly share this wonderful brooch that Meghann Gervais made for my right before my very eyes yesterday!  I love visiting Meghann because she's super talented and loves too bake, so there's always something yummy on the go as well!  Yesterday she sent me home with a whole half of her delicious bundt cake that was still warm and moist and crammed with cranberries.   Ooooh I felt so special :oD

The brooch?  Oh yes, here it is!

[caption id="attachment_856" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Marmite - Spread the World!"]

Go Ape over Monkees Brooch!

Monkey Treasury!

Tom Minor is being featured in an Etsy Treasury full of cute Monkey things, who can resist Monkeys on Etsy?

Click the image to visit this fun Treasury!

[caption id="attachment_846" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Primarily Primates"][/caption]

Alfy's had to make a quick return to Earth.

Alfy's a bit disgruntled that his first space walk was cut short, but excited to know that he's been hand picked for a top secret mission in New Mexico!

In his place is Space Cadet Tom Minor, of Ground Control to Monkee Tom fame!  Tom is now testing the Galactic regions of Etsy, here he is -

[caption id="attachment_842" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Ground Control to Monkee Tom!"][/caption]

First Space Monkee Heads For Etsy

Yes, that's right, Space Cadet Alfy  Centauri has made his inaugural space walk - right onto Etsy!

I'm not sure who's more excited - him or me!

[caption id="attachment_838" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Alfy Centauri, Space Cadet!  ***SOLD!**"][/caption]

A LONG Long long long time ago, in a Universe FAR Far far away....

Well now, on not QUITE such a dramatic scale but almost....
Avert your ears if you hear a bad word!



So anyway, these Monkees went again!

[caption id="attachment_809" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Monkees In SPACE!!"][/caption]

An Etsy a day

They (whoever they may be), do say, that to be successful on Etsy you need to list items often, daily if possible.  So, this is my new goal - to try and list daily, or at least every other day.

I spent the best part of yesterday cleaning, photographing, processing and creating listings for the coming week.  I'm beginning to think it takes longer to do all that than it does to make the beads!

Last night I listed one of my two faced monkees - I like this design because it doesn't matter which way the bead is facing, you have a silly monkee face staring out.  I was idly thinking that they could be used like the 'Magic 8 Balls' - you know the ones you ask a question to, shake and then look at the magic answer.

You could ask these monkees a question, and depending on which one is facing you the answer might be "I don't have a clue" or "Don't ask me! I'm only a monkee!" - Could prove to be a big selling feature don't you think ;o)

[caption id="attachment_793" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Magic Monkees!"][/caption]

Best Pet of The Year!!

Thanks to Marcy Lamberson of Studio Marcy for pointing out this exciting opportunity for my Monkees!

New Etsy Listings

I've got some new beads coming up on Etsy, I added this cute little guy today

It will be hard to see him go, he's pretty adorable!

I also listed these dotty beads, two of which are hollow - I've been hoarding too many beads for too long!  It's time to send some of them out into the wild world.



More monkees will go into my Etsy shop in the next few days along with some destash beads.  It's funny, I never considered myself a hoarder until I started making glass beads!

Now it's time for bead pictures!

I think it's time to brighten this place up with some bead pictures!
I've just created a signature stamp in Photoshop so that I can quickly add my signature to my images. This is another way to help people remember you and associate you with your art.  It's fun because I can change the colour of it depending on the photo.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Beads with waves"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_673" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_672" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Mass Monkees"][/caption]