It’s been a busy week and weekend working on glass.  I haven’t created anything new in about two years, I think.  Once I picked up my camera, with the goal to really learn it (and not just use it for taking photos of my glass for my website), I didn’t put it down.  I was admitedly a little rusty last weekend when I first started, at what used to be second nature, and I had to really think through the steps.  I actually forgot how to work my kiln, but once I heard the first click of the relays when it started up, I couldn’t help but smile.

Anyway, yesterday I spent a good portion of the day working on my wet tile saw.  I didn’t realize how much I missed my tile saw.  I love that thing!  Sheet glass (of the fusible variety) is 3 mm thick, or about an 1/8″.  It can easily be cut with a glass cutter and a pair of running pliers.  Anything much thicker than that gets a bit harder to cut, especially if it is an aperture pour (aka potmelt) like what I’m cutting in this photo – they pretty much require a tile saw to cut them.  Actually, this is an aperture pour that I put back in for a second firing with some strips on top.  This was cut into 1/4″ thick strips, which will  be turned on their sides, so the inside will be the top.  This is for project number two.  Project number one is still in the kiln, cooling off.

Today is my day to post at Vision and Verb.  Head on over and give me your opinion, if you would!

This is the last of my pivot series.  I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!  My goal for today is to finish my taxes. I know, I know!  The deadline is looming and I’m not done yet!  After that will be blog visits.  First up is a nap.

Today in the Netherlands there is a wedding.  Two people in love will be pledging their troth to each other – loyalty, faithfulness, and fidelity for all the days of their lives, in sickness and in health, until death do them part.

Ginnie and Astrid, I lift my glass to you in honor of this most important day as you begin this next chapter in your lives.  I wish for you an abiding, agape love, one for the other.  ”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Gelukkige huwelijken beginnen wanneer wij het een trouwen dat wij houden van en zij ontbloeien wanneer wij het een houden waarvan wij trouwden. {Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love, and they blossom when we love the one we married.}  May you have many happy days together!

You have no idea how hard it has been to keep this news from all of you!  I am so excited and proud to announce the launch of a new site called Vision and Verb – a collaboration of women of a certain age who have a passion for photography and writing, or a passion for one and a willingness to grow and develop the skills of the other. 

What exactly does “women of a certain age” mean?  It means that we are women in the prime of our lives, slightly older women whose children are grown or mostly grown.  We are also women who’ve never had children, single women, married women, women who live in the country or the city or a foreign land.  Above all, we are women who have had life experiences and the desire to share those experiences and our unique perspectives with you. 

How many women?  Fifteen wonderful and glorius women living in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Tanzania. 

We’ve never met each other in person.   We only know what the other looks like from their photo on the bio page.  The only thing we know is what information the other has decided to share.  BUT, we are all connected like the threads on the spider web.  Connected because we ARE women of a certain age.  Connected by our passions.  Connected through our blogs that were started because of our passions.  Connected.

Vision and Verb officially launches tomorrow, Monday, January 18th at midnight EST (early morning, not late night) with the first post by Marcie Scudder of Daily Practice.  The idea for Vision and Verb came about through a random question posed by Marcie to me in an email one day last month, almost as an afterthought.  The emails began flying back and forth, as one idea led to another and then another and then yet another.  And then even more emails went out as we began contacting our fellow collaborators to see if they wanted to join us.  The whole process of developing the idea, coming up with a name, creating the site, and reaching out to other like-minded women has been very exciting.  Tune in tomorrow to Vision and Verb for the first official post – I hope you’ll be as excited as we are.

If you’d like to help spread the word, there are various sized buttons and a banner on the site – all you have to do is copy the code (and replace the quotation marks with new ones) and paste it into your sidebar or footer.  Thanks!  See you there!!

I was sitting here this morning, thinking about random things that are totally uninteresting so I won’t bore you with them, when it dawns on me that I forgot to prepare my Friday post last night.  I totally forgot about the new schedule that I set for myself and I almost blew it, and so soon after creating it!

I’m going through my archives of images that I’ve been wanting to post and just haven’t gotten around to them, this being one of them.  This was taken at Urban Oasis in Seattle, the vacation rental that my family used during our stay for N and H’s wedding – my son and his wife.  They have an award winning garden that surrounds their house, which is truly beautiful and well thought out.  I highly recommend it if you need a place to stay in Seattle for a few days.

Come back Sunday for my big announcement!  I’m pretty excited about it and can’t wait to share the news!!