It’s a veritable plethora of bloggy goodness out there this week!!!

• At the new Glass Arts blog on CraftGossip.com, Lori Greenberg finds two bead artists inspired by American Gothic.
• Seraphim Flameworks tests out the latest Double Helix odd lots and test batches.
• Karolen’s still learning about Pandora as she tries restriking some unstruck beads in the kiln.
• Karolen didn’t spend ALL her time at the torch this week, though — she found a useful new tool for Etsy sellers on the Web.
• Can you make a living as a lampworker? Deanna Chase does it.
• That Marcy Lamberson is a busy, busy person! First she finds the perfect tool to help with the glassy details on your beads.
• Then she coaches Fiona in making a blackbird and a penguin at the torch.
• For the week’s Major Eye Candy, Hannah Rosner knocks our collective socks off with her latest necklaces using not just lampwork, but a plethora of seed beads and crystals as well.

Thanks to the holiday weekend, I forgot to post this last night. After all, TODAY is what felt like Sunday!

• Laura Sparling lets go of her control freak tendencies over at Watch Me Create.
• Also at Watch Me Create, Kerry Bogert shows off her studio re-do.
• I find out the hard way about letting flammable crud accumulate under my workbench. Eeek!!
• Rachel looks for inspiration in art, nature, and color, and shares her tips for having a successful show. Her fourth tip is especially worth paying attention to!
• Lori Greenberg desperately hunts for one more bead and finds everything but.
• Jelveh shares some eye candy along with her thoughts on copying.
• When Nina Bagley can’t find the lampwork beads she needs for one of her pieces, she calls on her sister Ellen to save the day.

It must be too hot to play with glass in many locales, because the blog posting has picked up. After all, it IS usually cooler sitting in front of a computer screen than in front of a torch!

The Carter Seibels feature article in Belle Armoire Jewelry’s Summer issue continues to generate reaction among the lampworkers:

• Susan Lambert takes offense at the characterization of middle-aged lampworkers and points out that the article was a put down of a very significant demographic among BAJ’s readership;
• Andrea’s scholarly analysis shows the flaws in the reasoning behind the ageist comments;
• I’m grumbling that it’s the hands, not the tools, that make the artist.

In other postings:

• Lori Greenberg has not only been busy interviewing Sarah Moran of Z-Beads, she’s been conducting more experiments of her own for Watch Me Create.
• Rachel of Inferno Glass Beads jumps into the blogosphere to try and explain the cost of artist-made lampwork beads to the rest of the world.
• Luann Udell is also blogging about the rise in prices of art along with everything else.
• At the Art Bead Scene, Jennifer Stumpf introduces us to Canary Islands artist Lina Khan.
• An anonymous Etsy Bitch reader shares why, in his opinion, having a sale in your Etsy shop is a Bad Idea (gasp!).
• Even complete flakes need to get things done. Sonia Simone has some ideas on how to make it happen for you.

Happy Father’s Day to all those fathers out there! I hope you enjoyed your new ties, power tools, golf balls, or whatever came out of the ingenious minds of your offspring.
For the rest of you, we have the Best Lampworking Posts of the Week . I know it’s not a new (butt-ugly) tie, but deal with it!

• Luann Udell continues her “How to Half Wholesale” series discussing the importance of networking.
• Lydia Muell shares some stream-of-consciousness insight into her creative process as she talks about her current “House of Vettii” bead series.
• The Etsy Storque’s Open Studio Tour visitsMatt Carrigan, a.k.a. workathomedad.
• On the distaff side, Midwest Creative Collective talks with Holly Cooper.
• Finally, at Collective Creatives, Susan Sheehan shares some thoughts about texture in glass.