Here Little Birdie...

This is one my favorite special order pieces. They can be ordered in any color. These beautiful birdhouses are really meant to be enjoyed indoors; however, they can be used outdoors too. Please remember any stained glass pieces used outdoors will be subject to the weather; therefore, causing them to gradually corrode and deteriorate. So bringing in your precious pieces of stained glass during the winter months will always help them to last years longer.

Yes, Kokomo Opalescent Glass IS Still Alive and Well and thriving in Kokomo, Indiana!

I went to the Ft. Wayne, Indiana VA Hospital this morning and had a great visit with a great bunch of people there while getting a mole removed. When asked what I did for a living I told them I made stained glass and jewelry. After we all talked about how beautiful stained glass is, and what pretty pieces some of the ladies there have one of the ladies asked me if Kokomo Opalescent Glass was still in operation. Well that got me thinking, are there any other people out there that think Kokomo Opalescent Glass is no longer making stained glass anymore? I guess if there is just one then I might want to tell that one person, "hey! if you're interested, Kokomo Opalescent Glass is still open and has been since 1888."
As a matter of fact KOG is known around the world for its' glass. Those of us in the stained glass community already know this, but for those of you who aren't familiar with all the various art glass manufacturers then this may be of some interest to you. In fact, in the mid 1880's a huge pocket of natural gas was discovered in Kokomo. The City of Kokomo offered free gas to any business who would locate here and bring jobs. The gas was gone inside of ten years, and now, KOG is the last surviving Gas Boom business, and the oldest manufacturer of opalescent glass in the world. Check out their site sometime you might be surprised at the extensive history they do have. I hope this has helped to clear up any misconceptions about KOG still being in operation after all these years. So until next time remember don't sweat the small stuff!

OK, THE ELECTIONS OVER!

OK...Now that the election is over we can all get back to our stained glass and jewelry making as usual, right? Well, I hope so, but with the economy in such an up and down spin I know it's going to be hard. I try to keep a positive outlook on everything, after all that's really all you can do, your already surrounded by so much negativity. So here is what I suggest. Get back to the basics, or nature if you like. Open your eyes to everything and anything as a possibility for a piece of jewelry, or if it can take the heat of a soldering iron and you can wrap foil around it (or lead, zinc, copper or brass) then you could use it in a stained glass sun catcher or unique creation of your own. Be creative folks! They did it back in the great crash of 1929 with tin foil, sugar and you name it. So I know we can do it with what ever we come up with today. Granted I don't think sugar fits into stained glass or jewelry making, but you get the picture. Look at it like this, we've had since 1929 to prepare for the return of this type of money crunch time, so let's get down to business and show how creative we can be!

Shop Our New Location!

We are very excited about this new website we have just recently opened. Check it out and let us know what you think. We have a large selection of items, and plan on having a lot more, listed in the Gallery sections. Plus, we have about 50 items for sale in the Marketplace area as well. This is a new website and we are still in the beginning stages of setting it up, but with that in mind, there are still lots of great things to check out. Hope you enjoy it!

Falls Back!

Well falls back no matter if we like it or not! Frankly this is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to watch the leaves change colors, and the cooler temps don't bother me either. Well it never fails though when fall gets here I always get inspired to go back to those earthy, more natural colors. I do it in everything I do. The clothes I wear, the make-up I put on, and the glass and jewelry I create all seem to start having a more earth color to them. It's that "fall" side of me just falling out all over the place! Let's hope that's all that falls out:) Anyway, life always just feels better in the fall. I think it has something to do with going through the change (no, I mean the change for us women over 45!) and loving the cooler temps. It's that half way point between burning up and freezing to death. Ahh, just right! Well hopefully you get my point, it's just nice to have fall here. Because I know that in about a month and a half I'm going to be looking out my window and there's probably going to be about 3 to 4 feet of that white stuff on the ground. I'm going to be freezing to death and have my heat set on 68 degrees and be wrapped in every piece of extra clothing I can lay my hands on, because the gas and oil prices are going to be through the roof and I will need to conserve my heat! I know all this is going to happen because it always does happen, every winter, just like the winter before, without fail. There's not a lot I can do about that. But this morning it was a crisp cool 60 degree morning and it's been that way all day long. So that's why I'm loving it that fall's here. Because there's nothing I can do about it, and AT LEAST IT'S NOT SNOWING!

Just a Quick Catch Up

There are some great websites out there for all you want to be jewelry makers. I've found some really great ones over the years and have just recently found two more. BeadandButton.com and BeadUnique.com are both great sites, so if you've always dreamed of beads and jewelry making check them out.

Well with all the hurricanes lately the weather hasn't been all that great around here lately, so it has been a great time to catch up on all those in door projects I have put off. The trouble is that everyone else seems to have a project or two in mind for me that I'm not aware of until right before I decide to start my own. So I'm feeling the need to sneak off and not tell anyone, and just maybe I might get one of my own glass or jewelry projects started and possibly completed with a little luck!

Hope all of you out there are having a great end to your September. The holidays are fast approaching and hopefully you have plenty of product completed for all those great sales your going to make during the holidays! Don't forget, we'd like to hear your comments on the jewelry and glass, let us know what you think of the websites and the blog. Do you have any suggestions or ideas? Well speaking of ideas, there's no one around asking me to do anything right now, so I guess I better attempt to make my getaway! Remember DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!

HAPPY CREATING!

This is "African Royalty". I used African trade beads when I made it, along with a lot of glass and gemstones, not to mention metal beads too. What do you think? Did I name it right?

Like I said before this is one beautiful stone! This time I set it with hematite. It just makes it stand out even more.

I just love the color of coral! The coral and copper on this necklace reminds me of warm night in that sexy dress with that great someone!

This was a joy to make! Since my husband and I both play guitar I used Elixir guitar strings (only the finest!) to do some of the wire wrapping. The stones are a mix of turquoise and deep purple crystals.

These adjustable Chinese tile bracelets are some that I made after I received one from a friend of mine who is Chinese. She gave me one that was from where she was born, so these are the American version of the one I received.

This is one necklace and earrings set I made with various gemstones and beads and a sterling silver bail that I think is gorgeous. The bail is holding one of the most beautiful turquoise donuts I have ever seen!

This is an adjustable cord necklace with a Chinese Zodiac coin suspended from it topped with a carved cinnabar bead. I loved making this necklace, because I love the Chinese culture so much. This just has a special feel to it. What do you think?

The color, that's the most important part to me when I look at a piece for the first time. It has to speak to me. If I get drawn to it because the color speaks to me, then that's a real good start!

These are just so easy to put on and adjust to any length. They are such versatile necklaces!

These adjustable gemstone necklaces are some of my favorite items to make, and some of my best sellers.

The iridized glass winged beads with the red jade in the middle on this one gives this guy a lot of weight. It really feels good on your wrist.

I've always loved copper and black together. There's just something about those two colors that always looks great!

I love the color combination in this one. The soft blue just glows surrounded by the black thread. The large red bead in the middle is a piece of red jade. I think the red jade really is the crowning piece, what do you think?

Now talk about vibrant! This beauty has all those fall colors just screaming at you. I just love the intense hues in this one. Don't forget, if you want to know where you can get any of these or have any questions just email us at crywnd@yahoo.com and we can assist you with anything you need there.

These three beautiful bronzite stones are all you need when you see this guy up close. The texture and detail in these stones is exquisite! This is a stone with intense brown, black and gold hues.

These unisex bracelets were popular in the 70's and their back in style! I always knew those days would come back! This was a time and a style near and dear to my heart, so you can imagine how I feel about all things hippie. I love making them! Let me know if you have any great ideas for new bracelets or necklaces. I would love to hear them!

My "Chi" bracelets have always been a fun and comfortable piece of jewelry to wear. They go with everything! And being loaded with all those gemstones, glass, metal and wood, they can't help but bring all the good chi in your direction when you wear them. What do you think?

The Winds Of Change!

Crystal Wand has gone through some big changes in the last couple years, and we plan on letting everyone in on all of our excitement. Things are gearing up in our glass studio and we are looking forward to having the new area open soon to start our new session of classes coming up. We will keep every one posted on our progress as the space gets nearer to completion.

The jewelry shop will be expanding its designs soon with the purchase of a kiln and has had many requests for classes. Since the space in that area is also limited we are working on a remedy to that situation and hope to provide classes with very limited seating, in the near future.

Don't forget we want to hear your comments, suggestions or ideas anytime you want to tell us. Just let us know how we're doing. So like we say in the shop, until next time we'll keep
"kick'n ass with glass!"

Yes! Crystal Wand Creations has changed their name!

Yes, Crystal Wand Creations has changed their name, but they have not changed the quality of the product they produce or the service they give. We still offer the same beautifully handcrafted and meticulously designed stained glass and jewelry as we always did. We invite you to give us your comments, suggestions and ideas on ways we can improve our websites, or ideas for new stained glass or jewelry pieces, or comments, suggestions and ideas on anything you feel necessary to talk about. Whatever it is, we would like to hear what you have to say! Do you like what you see? Can we do better? What would you like to see? What type of stained glass appeals to you the most? Do you like the jewelry? What style of jewelry appeals to you the most? You get the picture, now tell us what you think!