Here are pictures from the workshop that was held on December 5, 2009.  My apologies for these not being posted earlier, but I should have asked Santa for a new digital camera….more on that later.  

We had a lot of fun and the studio received very positive feedback from those who participated, thanks to all who took part in our short survey.  Those who took part in the survey will recieve a 10% off the regular price of any item or workshop. 

The Studio donated 10% of all proceeds from the workshop and sales that day to Honor Flight Birmingham and Honor Flight was delighted to receive the donation. 

Enjoy the pictures and let me hear your thoughts.  So….leave me a comment!

If you feel like leaving a comment, please do!  This was a good time!

 After the December 5 Holiday Ornament Studio Workshop, Claire Weyton, one of the participants in the workshop,  asked if I would share wassail recipe.  Thanks, Claire, I’m so glad you enjoyed it.  Thanks to Margie Satterwhite, we have it here:

Margie Satterwhite’s Wassail  Recipe

1 and 1/2 quarts cranberry juice

2 quarts apple juice

4-5 cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoon whole cloves

1 cup Captain Morgan’s Rum (optional)

Method:

Put juices (and rum, if you like) in a coffee percolator; place spices and brown sugar in the basket where you would normally place the coffee; perk until it turns off automatically. 

Because we are in the South, we serve this in a silver-handled glass carafe that has a tea light underneath to keep the it warm. 

Cheers!

Double recipe for large party.  It is delicious!

This is a glass “ikebana” choker/necklace/pin that is available from Tara Glass Art Studio.  The necklace features fine suede with sterling clasps and is adjustable.    It is approximately 16-17 inches long.  There is a pin bail on the back. The glass “ikebana” all vary in size, but usually are from 1 inch to 1.5 inches or so.  There are no two alike.  The piece is delivered in a black faux suede jewelry pouch so that it will not become chipped.   If you are interested in purchasing, please contact donnabranch@taraglassart.com  The ikebana is $35.

This is so easy!  All you have to do is go to Donna Branch Glass Studio Blog  and start a conversation with each other on the blog about buying handmade and taking the Handmade Pledge.  You do this by leaving your comments on the blog and bringing others to the blog to take part in the conversation.  You can send me examples of your own cool handmade items to donnabranch@taraglassart.com and I will post them as a conversation starter.  You could even post sources of  where others could find cool handmade items.  The person that serves as the biggest conversation starter on my blog, and brings other people into the conversation about the subject of buying handmade, sustainable lifestyle, slow design and taking the Handmade Pledge will receive one of my limited edition ornaments.  You can bring other people into the conversation by sharing my blog link and mentioning where you posted or forwarded my link.  I will be checking in on the blog at least once a day and taking part in the conversation.  This idea came to me as an offshoot of the Studio Workshop that will take place December 5 at the studio. 

Each time someone makes a thoughtful comment, (not one word, please), their name will be entered into the “hat”.  The contest will end December 18 at midnight and announcement of the winner will be December 19.  Those who entered will have to check the blog for the winning announcement and the winner will be ask to email their physical address to me so that the ornament can be shipped to them, so be sure to bookmark the blog page now or subscribe to the feed. This is a straightforward competition and all decisions regarding the winner will be final.  

The purpose of this competition is to engage the community conversation about buying handmade and doing our small part to change buying habits.  I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say! 

How can you change your buying habits and what products do you find to be the most compelling?  Go to the blog and tell us  now.

Here is a picture of some of the ornaments we will  create in the workshop, “How to Etch Glass”.

Just a reminder that the studio workshop will be held on December 5, 2009!  

Yes, I know that it is the SEC Championship Game. 

 Participants will be learning how to etch glass ornaments and it will be a lot of fun.  So far, both sessions have participants and we still have a few openings left.  Each session will be limited to 10 people.   So, I hope you will take the time to use the link below to register.

After the workshop, we will post pictures here of the workshop so everyone can see what we created. 

If you are really interested in registering (and kicking Christmas up a notch), you can get detailed information on the sessions here, or you can register  here.  Hope to see you at the workshop! 

10% of all proceeds will be donated  Birmingham Honor Flight. 

Would love to hear your comments

You are invited to our first Holiday Studio Workshops on December 5!  

There will be two sessions and each session will be limited to 10 people:  

Session 1      10:00a-12:00noon   

Session 2       1:00-3:00p   

You will learn how to create hand-etched glass ball ornaments.  The workshop fee is $30 and includes instruction and all materials to complete one ornament.  Each additional ornament is $9.  If you don’t have time to create as many as you need, we will have finished ornaments for sale.    

Ornaments make great gifts for teachers, co-workers, friends or anyone else on your list and are very reasonably priced.  Artful gift packaging  will be available for a small additional amount.   

There is a special event page for each session so be sure to visit the page for more information.    

In honor of our World War II Veterans, 10% of all  proceeds will be donated to Honor Flight Birmingham.  

Registration is required.  If you are interested in attending please use the links below for the registration pages.

Session One Registration

Session Two Registration

Hope to see you there!

Although there have been no posts here, this does not mean that I have not been busy. Indeed, I have. For the past several days, I have been searching and reviewing other blogging platforms (I hope to share that info for others). There have been other features that I have been wanting to use on my blog that are not possible with blogger (at least the free version). So, I went on a search and read and read and read. I think I’m ready to make a change, but sometimes it is what the techies don’t tell you that is most important. Anyway, I have to take the risky attitude of nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I hope you will take a leap over to the Tara GlassArt Studio blog. All things equal, I will start posting at the Tara GlassArt Studio blog tonight. This new blog also provides my own URL and more exposure for the blog. The blogger blogspot will be left up so that this link will be provided and hopefully we will have more people taking part in discussions.

Tara GlassArt Studio blog, I think will be more “real”. After all, isn’t blogging really “reality life” in writing. One thing that I hope will be enjoyed is that I have installed a blog casting feature and will be using that as often as I can. That freature will make it “real” and also provides us with more of what I call “texture” in our lives. If I can learn the technical part of the blogcast, I will provide a blogcast from the Alabama Folk School, the week of June 22, when I go there to teach and to learn from my students.

So, as they say down South, saunter on over to Tara GlassArt Studio blog and take a gander. It will be fun. And, please tell me what you think!