Just as with a cooking recipe, sometimes changing one ingredient gives a totally different result. This time, the background is more pink than purple – and the funny thing is that the background color was the one that was the same.

At least 2 years ago, my friend Linda gave me some kiln wash to do some fusing. I was fearful. Of what, I am not sure – maybe of breaking my kiln somehow.

So right now, I have some test pieces in the kiln and they are ramping up to slump. I was wondering how I would tell that I got full coverage with the kiln wash. The kiln wash is pink! It was easy.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, well, I hardly do too, but here is the general idea. First I had to prepare that kiln shelf by putting something on it so that the glass won’t stick to it (or worse yet – to the kiln.) I prepared some marble like glass pieces in my normal style, with the silvered ivory accents. Put those into the kiln and get them hot enough so that they spread out flat. Cool. (Temperature and hopefully aesthetically too!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We did a little of both. Our first loop on the Plateau Trail took us to Meadowedge Pond. You can see where the pond used to end – where the tall grasses are. Somebody (beavers, likely) built a new little dam, extending the pond a little. You can see just a little of the dam in the lower right corner of the photo.

Meadowedge Pond, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Although it is not a challenging trail, it has many beautiful passages – such as this little footbridge over a tiny ravine.

Footbridge on the Oak Hill Trail, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Check out this fallen tree – suspended in the air.

Good Catch

I am looking forward to going back and exploring more of the Plateau loops.

Here too, there were neutral backgrounds with bright splashes of attention getting color.

Random Museums

Metropolitan Museum of Art Glacier blue background, white nav box, Chestnut Brown and Black font

Smithsonian Background gray – green tint? Lots of bright pictures, blue nav tabs with white font.  Some Blue nav fonts also.

MoMa – Museum of Modern Art – white background, black navigation font, changing blocks with info – bright colors, with a orange sign in bar at the bottom.

The British Museum -  White background, black nav bar with white font.  Multi-column info area in center, white with black font – looks like a newspaper

Louvre – - White background, with peach fade to gray info area, black and brown fonts.

Vatican Museum – White background, Orange and deep red font

Well, it seems like the thing to do is design something very neutral.  That makes sense, since I wouldn’t want to detract from my glass items anyway.  Here’s where I want to argue with myself.  I want business cards with color – preferable matching my ArtFire and Etsy shops, but I don’t want a bunch of beads scattered about.

I decided to make a gradient, with just one set of beads.  It turned out much more colorful than I intended.  The orange was supposed to be muted!  Because the banner was so bright, I ended up setting the background of that to a brighter orange.  I think I still have work to do!

Header for Spawn of Flame Artfire Shop

I thought that this would be a good time to do some research to help me decide on the color scheme to use.  Currently, I have different colors in my different shops – not such a good idea for branding, right?

I got the idea to look at luxury brands and see what colors they use (because my beads are luxury brand, of course…) I found an article at Forbes that listed the top luxury brands.

Luxury Brands Websites

#1 Louis Vuitton / White background
#2 Hermès / White background, grayish font, orange logo
#3 Gucci Brown wood panel at bottom, gold band, images, gold lettering
#4 Chanel / Black and White with grayscale images
#5 Rolex / Black background, white lettering
#6 Hennessy / Black background, black to neutral brown side panel, gold and white lettering
#7 Cartier / Black background, white nav bar, neutral brown/gray font, splash band of deep red.
8 Moët & Chandon / Black background, gray t0 black splash band, gold and soft white lettering
9 Fendi / Steel gray/blue background, black nav bar, white lettering
10 Prada , a background image of a runway show area, popups of mostly black with white lettering.

OK.  I see the pattern – very little color to distract from the products.

But!! I’m an artist!  I want color!!  What to do??!!

Tomorrow, I’ll show you where else I looked.

Green and Aqua Nautilus bead

I’m getting a hankering to make more of these.  What do you think?  Should I add these back into my bead arsenal?

Short and sweet?  I handmake make these and I like to look at them.  See more at Etsy and ArtFire.

(End UPDATE.)

I am a member of a group called the Fire Divas.  We believe strongly in giving back whenever we can; here is a collection of gorgeous handmade lampwork beads that the talented artists of The Fire Divas team have contributed in honor of the Beads Of Courage program. All of the proceeds from this eBay auction HERE will go directly to Beads Of Courage and make it possible for the brave boys and girls battling cancer throughout the United States to enjoy the amazing outreach and cancer support that this wonderful program provides. Not only will you be helping to put a smile on their faces, but you will receive 19 handmade Collector beads that you will cherish for a lifetime!!!

The beads shown were donated by 13 different Fire Diva artisans, who also created a similar set that will be sent directly to Beads of Courage for the children to choose from and enjoy. This is your unique opportunity to pitch in and lend a helping hand to this amazing organization too!

Clockwise from top—Tribal heads: Barb (riversedgeglass); Yellow round: Sonja (SilverRiverGlassWorks); Magic Mice: Lori (ashlyndesign); Multicolor round: Judith (icarusbeads); Blue organic: Rosemarie (spawnofflame);  Shuttle: Lara (Lutrick); Blue nugget: Patrice (Shepherdcreations); Yellow car: Karen (giapet); Blue/brown organic: Susan (susanlambert); Critters: Sharon (rightturnartwerks); Blue cubes: Kathleen (uglyducklingbeads); Cupcake: Holly (HollysFollyGlass); Green inchworms: Abigail (abbielyn)

The beads you will be getting include:

     * Lovely free-form organics
     * A pair of Disney inspired “Magical Mouse” ears
     * A sporty roadster car 
     * A Space Shuttle with a monkey (a similar bead from the same artist went up on the last Shuttle!)
     * Fun and festive graphic designs
     * A sweet chocolate cupcake (calorie free, of course)
     * Happy “critter” face beads 
     * And the cutest pair of tiny green inchworms!

In addition to this special auction event, we would like to offer another opportunity to our customers and fans: for everyone who places a bid (whether you win or not), or donates directly during the auction week to Beads of Courage via their website, please leave a comment on the Fire Divas Blog after this post and let us know. You will be entered to win some great prizes from more of the Fire Diva members, chosen by a random drawing. How cool is that?!

Please help us spread the word about our first Annual Beads of Courage Auction and don’t forget that the bidding will end on Wednesday, June 1st at 6 pm PST. Thank you so much for your support! *Ü*

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Now, in the second week of May, there are more!  There are two in the picture below.  Can you find them both?

Jack-In-The-Pulpit

Seen in Hinckley Reservation.