Heya, Happy Crafters! I have just sipped my first sip of coffee in Days; I am finally on the mend from being ill (not the rona, just good old fashioned sick) and while I am still weak and wobbly, I am at least able to shuffle around the house a bit and get some work done :p Randy surprised me with a bouquet of flowers since I was too sick to go outside and enjoy a bit of nature, and I thought I'd share them with yall as they mega brightened my day, hopefully they'll brighten yours, too!

Being stuck in bed wasn't all bad: I had this sweet feller to keep me company <3 Sam dog is doing pretty good; his lump seems to have stopped growing and other than limping around due to his bad hip, he is still behaving like an overgrown puppy. The other critters are being their typical selves, though I can't speak for the chickens; I haven't seen them in days as Randy has been taking good care of them for me.

In work news, we have a Ton of new stuff in the works but only a few things that are ready to be shared: I want to invite yall to download or print out our newest coloring page; the line art is in our Color Page Collection Here is what mine looks like colored in Procreate, but I am working on printing it out, transferring it to watercolor paper, and making a big ol painting of it (also, possibly a polyclay sculpture?) We're even trying out making some of our artwork into stickers!

We have been experimenting with decals on our fused glass, and while I still have some things to tweak in our firing schedule so the black designs don't fade as much in the kiln, I am still really pleased with how they are coming along!

We want to thank yall so much for your support, especially in these interesting times we live in! We are excited to be bringing more to our Craft Crate Subscriptions and Craft Along Kits on our website. In the coming weeks you can expect new video tours of our Craft Crate Subscription Boxes; we are increasing the number of handmade cabochons in our Subscription Boxes as well as adding in some interesting freebees! Our larger kits are even getting gemstone cabochons added in with the fused glass cabs <3 We are also bringing back our Members Only Exclusive Streams in the form of Craft Along Athon After Parties, taking place on scheduled Fridays from 7:30 pm CST until the cows come home :p The streaming link for these After Parties will be emailed to our Craft Along Club members as well as posted in our Members Only Page and will be available to watch at your leisure indefinitely.

I want to take this opportunity to let yall know that if you have any questions about any changes to please send us an email or contact us through our contact form here on the website. A lot of folks are needing to cancel or reduce their subscription amount and I want yall to know the best way you can be helpful and supportive to us is to take care of You first! You know your budget better than anyone, and we are as nonessential as it gets, so please know we don't take it personally at all if our kits aren't a good fit for your taste or your budget, and we will do our best to be helpful to you in any way we can!  

This month's schedule is up on the website, but I've posted it here as well (hopefully we don't have any more unexpected illness or unforeseen adventures to cause any more cancellations! We look forward to seeing yall in our next video, so until then Happy Crafting!!!

Hey, Happy Crafters! I am so excited to introduce this week's featured artisan, Tyler, with Celestial Reach! Keep scrolling to read his artisan bio and see his amazing work; check out his youtube and etsy shop and show some love!

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/CelestialReach
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCHPrx6DAn0LUzH856CsRXzQ

"My name is Tyler, and I use Allilujah for my handle online. I am somebody who puts my everything into something, and so when going back to school for physics hadn’t been taking up enough of my time, I needed to find something to keep me out of trouble, especially during the lock down. So I learned from several wire wrapping sages, who have helped to same me. I have a real love for steam punk, and thus while I do many different styles, steam punk is my favorite, and I will often put 15-20 hours into those pieces to make sure they look perfect."

Hey, yall! Check out this week's featured artisan: Linda with Linders Creations!
Artisan Bio: "I have been making jewelry for about 10 years. I am so very lucky I have a husband Mark that helps at the venues and supports my habit. I started wire wrapping a year ago but it took me forever to get it to where I thought it was saleable."

I have to say, her work is fantastic! *especially* after only wrapping for a year! Keep scrolling to see her lovely work, and stop by her shop and facebook to show some love!
Linderscreations.etsy.com
https://www.facebook.com/linderscreations

We are very excited to introduce yall to this week's featured artisan: Jen DeCicco of Ravenscraft Jewelry!

Website: ravenscraftjewelry.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravenscraftjewelry/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravenscraftjewelry

Artisan Bio:

My name is Jen and I am the creator of Ravenscraft Jewelry. I am an American, currently living in Munich, Germany, and I have a home workshop for my creations. I am a self-taught jewelry designer. Previous to jewelry-making, I worked in the performing arts, organizing concerts, festivals, and other artistic events. It wasn't until 2018 that I became the artist instead of the organizer, and now I am hooked!  

My handmade jewelry is inspired by all that is magical and mystical, real and surreal, natural and supernatural. I work primarily with crystals, gemstones, and metals. Each piece is uniquely inspired by goddesses, witches, nature, and assorted enchanted characters from history, fantasy, film, music, books, and artwork. I also created a series of necklaces inspired by suffragists throughout history, in honor of the 19th Amendment centennial.  I absolutely love learning and working with new mediums, and I have learned so much from Yvonne's tutorials. My next project will be a series of enchanted pieces inspired by a recent trip to the Black Forest in Germany. 

Heya, Happy Crafters! Has it really been a week already? These past few days have Flown by! Its been a good but busy week; if you're interested, you can keep up with our daily antics over on the Vonster Vlog <3 I've been shooting daily videos of our behind the scenes and of my efforts on a 100lb weight loss journey!

We have shipped out all our Patreon packages and made the big announcement; it feels very scary to be shifting platforms, especially in these crazy times (who knows what 2020 will bring next!) but with so many things beyond our control, Randy and I are holding tight to our business and everyone who has been our rock; yall, our community! We cannot thank yall enough for being a part of our life!
We have only hit a ~few~ snags with the new website, mostly just user error as we juggle the transition, but it seems to be proving to be a Good Decision <3 We are very open to your feed back; if you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, we are here for you!

If you are a part of our Craft Along Club (any of our $1+ membership levels) be sure to pop by here later today; we'll be going live at 3pm CST. I'll be sending out another email to you about that specifically an hour before we go live as a reminder, and the link will also be posted to Patreon as it has in the past.

We have a new tutorial coming out on Sunday (we'll send out an email with the link!) and I wanted to let you know about our Premieres that we have been doing for a few weeks now; its just like a regular video tutorial but with the addition of live chat so Randy and I can answer questions and hang out as the video plays. We hang out in the "room" for up to an hour prior to the video starting (any time after you get the email notification we will be in live chat) and its a great deal of fun. If you aren't able to make it to the premiere, its no worries! The video can still be viewed as normal <3

Hey, Happy Crafters! I am really excited to share this week's shop update with yall, and Randy and I picked 5 of our favorite cabs to feature to you! This was difficult to do, because each one is so unique and stands out on its own <3 Each of the cabs discussed below, and many like them, are available for sale in our shop

Hey, Happy Crafters! This summer heat hasn't stopped us from running the kiln and keeping busy experimenting with some -new to us- frit colors. Here is what we have been up to!

The colors we are using, pictured above, are all medium size coe 96 frit and were purchased from www.delphi.com. We also included mosaic size clear and medium dichro frit in each of these experiments.

After it was eaten by a lawn mower I decided it was finally time to refurbish this much abused Gnome Home and give it another 3 years of testing in my garden. I will update this blog post with a link to the video of how I renovated this piece.

Randy and I went to our first class at Creative Escape Glass in Springfield, MO. We were excited about glass fusing, but not sure what to expect. We signed up for two projects on this first visit, frit fused cabs in a mold, and puddles. The artist that helped us make these projects was very fun and helpful, and I stalk her on Instagram where she shares her beautiful pottery! ( I gotta get me one of her cicada mugs!!!) The owner wasn't in the studio that day, but I felt we were in very good hands.

Our first project, pictured above, was frit layered into a mold for fusing. I didn't get pictures, but what we did is we layered the frit into a mold very similar to this one, that had been sprayed with 2 coats of ZYP Boron Nitride to keep the glass from sticking.

This blog post contains affiliate links; if you purchase items through these links our company receives a small amount at no additional cost to you. Please don't feel pressured to shop; while support of any kind is greatly appreciated, I provide links so you can get an idea of the products used if you are interested in recreating any of these projects for yourself. Please let us know if you have any questions!