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.

Here’s your latest “Best of” list from the Lampworking Blogosphere!!

Some COLORFUL posts this time:

• Dogmaw’s been experimenting with Glass Alchemy’s Jamboree lately.
• Karolen’s playing with Double Helix’s new Pandora.
• Kandice finds plenty to love in new and old Creation is Messy colors.

We have two artist interviews:

• Lori Greenberg chats with Jill Symons, and
• Melissa Lee speaks with Sarah Moran.

In the miscellaneous category:

• Lisa Liddy compares her current studio and her ideal studio at Collective Creatives.
• Lori Greenberg’s bead designs continue to evolve at Watch Me Create.
• Luann Udell identifies her legacy in the midst of cleaning her attic.
• Finally an anonymous Etsy Bitch Auxiliary member shares a different perspective on Etsy’s “Quit Your Day Job” series.

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.

Okay, I admit it. I’ve been a slacker for a couple of weeks. My bad! First it was exams for summer term, then a week off when I was a total slug, then a week of meeting and advisement hell. So I am way, way behind on BotW, because people HAVE been posting good stuff!

• Mincot expanded on Rachel’s posting from last time about the costs behind artist-made lampwork beads.
• Lydia Muell shares a bit of the work behind the development of her first-ever lampwork tutorial. Look at the beads, then click over and get the tutorial itself — I highly recommend it!
• Need a quickie guide to the different types of lampworking glass?
• Michelle’s exploring mandalas in lampwork, and the results are fabulous!
• Want pink? Not sure how to get it? Lori Greenberg tells you the pros and cons of all the “pink” soft glass out there. Now if she’d just help me create a true pink in boro…
• Lori is also going back in time for a re-look at her creative process over at Watch Me Create.
• Cindy Gimbrone’s out there singing “I like big wire and I cannot lie…“
• Susan Sheehan recently discovered that doing a bead show isn’t as dreadful as she thought — in fact, it’s a pretty positive experience!
• For those of us who couldn’t make it to The Gathering, Andrea Guarino-Slemmons shares some pictures of Vittorio Constantini’s class.
• A lot of us lampworkers are introverted souls. We’d like to think we can torch all the time, but that’s really not feasible. So what can we do for fun without spending a lot of money OR dealing with those hated crowds of people? The Simple Dollar to the rescue!

I found out tonight that it is NOT a good idea to let crud accumulate under one’s torch table. My table is a converted utility shelving unit, with a particle board shelf on the bottom to hold my oxycon and act as a footrest. There is about a one-inch gap between the bottom of the metal support and the floor.

Tonight I burned through a mandrel as I was making a bead. The hot bead dropped onto the table, then bounced down onto the floor and UNDER the table through that one-inch gap. Did I mention that the bead was HOT as in GLOWING??? Well, needless to say, the accumulated crud under the table decided to flare up. So I had the beginnings of a little flambé going there in that little one-inch space.  Fortunately I was able to get the smouldering crud out and dunk it in the water before it could catch anything major on fire.  Yikes!!

I WILL be putting some kind of “skirt” piece there to block the gap so that hot glowing glass pieces won’t be rolling and bouncing under the table to catch stuff on fire any more!