One of those days!

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed! Yesterday morning I got the kitchen cleaned, took some pictures, posted on my blog then headed to the studio. This was my first mistake. I should have just stayed in bed.

I had worked on a new bead style, using a cone mandrel I had purchased and was anxious to see how it turned out. It turned out great until I went to remove it from the mandrel. Grrr! I had inadvertently wound the glass on the bottom of the cone mandrel, so of course the bead wouldn't come off. Okay, lesson learned. I chipped the bead off and chalked it up as a stupid mistake. A mistake that I spent 30 minutes on.

The previous day I had made a set of beads using what I thought would be spring colors. Peach, violet and green. I've used the peach color before, several times, in fact and it has always yielded a very light peachy color. Well, I guess the moon and stars were not lined up in my favor because what came out of the kiln was not what I had hoped for. Not even close to what I expected. The same glass I have used countless times before came out of the kiln a deep, dark Orange! Really? Now, I know that different flame chemistry will produce different colors in some glass, but I hadn't done anything differently. Why now? Okay, so I don't have a spring set, I have a Halloween set. Whatever. At this point in my day, I'm really trying to be optimistic. So, I'll chalk another one up and be happy that I've got a jump on my Fall beads.

On to another task. I need to clean some beads. Yeah, well not going to happen, as my diamond bit decides to lose all of the diamond coating. I've used those same brand of bits for over 2 years now. Never had a problem before. To top it off, it was my last 1/16" bit too. Now I'll have to make a trip to the store to get some. I figure this will have to wait because quite frankly the way my day was going I was afraid to get behind the wheel.

I'll admit at this point my optimism is really starting to wain but I'll plow through it. I fire up the torch and make some beads. I'm in the zone, life is good again and I'm on a roll. About the time I finish my 9th bead and go to put it in the kiln, I realize I never turned the kiln on! Yep all 9 beads lost. No more optimism here. I'm calling it a day. The only silver lining on that day? I still had 1/2 a quart of Moollennium Crunch ice cream in the freezer.