It's Official

Wow, I can now claim to be an Etsy Seller! Out of the blue came an e-mail from Etsy that I had sold a piece, my little sunflower sun-catcher. You see, I uploaded my three items to Etsy back in mid-September, and if you are familiar with how Etsy does it, when you first up-load, your pieces are at the beginning of the listings. Then as others upload pictures of their items, yours gets bumped further and further back into the lists. This was roughly three months ago that I had uploaded, so imagine how far back my little sunflower was! My buyer must have been specifically looking for a sunflower for her to find it.

Since it was my first sale, I was rather nervous to ensure that my pay-pal account had indeed received the funds. After double checking everything, including what I had stated under my terms of the sale, I proceeded to get it ready for shipping. It was to be a Christmas gift, so I did not want to delay.

OK, I do tend to be a perfectionist, I'll admit. Hmmm...that solder line could be a tad-bit smoother, and the copper-patina could be a bit brighter, so of course I had to do ALL that before it met with my satisfaction. Did the final polishing, had my husband snap a quick picture, and wrapped it so thoroughly an elephant could probably step on the package and have it hold up. :)

Even so, I sent it insured, just in case.

I tell you, when it was all said and done, I may have profited a whopping few bucks. But hey, that's really OK, because after all, I now have a "sale" on my Etsy page. Here's hoping to have much more time this coming new year to really work at this art that I absolutely love.

My Addiction

My love for stained glass began many years ago when my sister-in-law, Chris, began learning the craft. She offered to teach me many times throughout the years, but I was working and juggling so much with my three children's activities, I knew I didn't have the time to devote to it.


When we were building our new home, my grandmother insisted I take a monetary gift from her to put toward something we needed. I just couldn't see spending it on drywall, flooring, or paint, but I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. I asked grandma what her favorite flower was, and I commissioned Chris to make a window for our home, featuring her favorite, the Iris. That was back in 1991, and though grandma is sadly no longer with us, I think of her every day as I look at that window, still beautifully displayed in our dining room.


In August of 2002, I finally took Chris up on her offer for a lesson in stained-glass. I can not tell you the satisfaction I felt when I held that first finished piece in my hands and saw the light glimmering through it. It was like this fire just lit right under me, and Chris just knowingly smiled...... From there, I immediately enrolled in an adult-education class and attended for roughly four years! It was an open workshop, with a teacher around who could lend a hand and/or give advice along the way if needed. It was there that I ventured into leaded-glass and mosaics as well.

Yes, I freely and proudly admit, I became a glass-addict. Luckily my husband was as excited as me with my new-found addiction and became my biggest supporter and fan. What an amazing man he is, my Rey. He so willingly helped me collect the tools, and set up a space in the garage to work at. Need help framing something? "No problem," he’d say. “Let me get my tools.”



After a few years, we moved my studio into one of our spare bedrooms. I would've been happy just having my work-space indoors, but he insisted he paint it first and redo the floor...then we hung all the art work I had been saving for just such a space. I have to admit, it came out nice!


Having my studio has made my glass-working so much more enjoyable and productive, and I love being in my peaceful little space where I can dream, plan, and yes, feed my addiction.