Tea Balls

Also known as "tea steepers" or "infusers" this nifty little tea balls are a great way to brew loose leaf tea.

Especially when they're decorated with handmade lampwork beads! 

Cranberry Pink with Goldstone designs. Available on Etsy.

Metallic shades of gold blue and purple over a magenta base. Available soon.

Periwinkle blue swirled with grass green and encased in clear. Available soon.

Deep pink overlaid with metallic blues and purples. Available on Etsy.

Organic ivory yellow with shocks of purple and green. Available on Etsy.

Purple with mirrored silvers and golds. Available on Etsy.

Ivory and blue. Available on Etsy.

Faerie Market

Once upon a time there was a market in Faerie. In this market you could find almost anything, from keys to glitter to scraps of fabric fashioned into bits and bobs. Then there were the jewels, the broaches that could only have come from the highest royalty's clothes, and sometimes, if you were lucky you could find an item of true magic.

That market faded away with the changes of the tides of time, and I was sad to see it go... 

Missing it has spurred something new in me though; the possibility of creating a new market, one made of magic and whimsy. One that you could get the shiny bits of Faerie even in the mortal world.

I'm sure that I have enough baubles that I could easily start this market all on my own, from beaded bits to glass, to keys that I rescued from abuse in Faerie. It's going to be an interesting start, and I really really hope that all of my friends will take a gander and pass the magic on when it starts up!

With Love,

Rubiee

Distraction (Or, why Rubiee does many things)

Many of you have seen me go through stages. From jewelry design to lampwork, to singing and tea blogging to spinning yarn and everything in between. I am a creative soul, an artist with a desire for the new and exciting.

(Photo thanks to Broken Glass Photography)

Yes, I still make jewelry. (Mainly keys for the band table)

I still torch (less than I'd like,but it happens.)

and I still blog. 

I'm working on some super awesome things that have been in the works for over a month now. Things that I haven't talked about because I want to make sure that the time is right, that the energy is right, and that I'm doing it right.

Yes, more projects mean less time. But also along that same vein is the idea that I don't like having idle hands. So I find projects, new and exciting things that pique my interest. It's both a blessing and a curse. I can try new things almost constantly, but at the same time there is the constant spending of monies to try new things and the fear that I can't try to focus my art to a pinpoint.

There are some things that I have been able to focus on. Glass being one. I'm very happy for this, and won't ever question my changes in art interests. From here on out I have no idea where the Muse and the creative arts will take me, but I am so very much looking forward to it!

How it's done

If you've been following my blog you might have seen photos of glass beads and comments that I make glass beads.

This post is to show you a bit of the behind the scenes stuff. I took some photos while working yesterday, and I'm going to share them with you.

Let's get started, shall we?

This, is my workbench. Yep, where all the glassy magic happens. Its not usually any cleaner than what you see here.

And apparently I've started collecting cute things to go on top of my ventilation hood. I'm okay with this fact. Right now I have a turtle and two pirate duckies with an old fashioned coke bottle behind them. This collection may grow.

This is my kiln. This is really where all of the magic happens. When I'm done with a bead I pop it into the kiln (960 degrees! or 954 in this case, it'll get there.) and the kiln will control the cooling process at roughly 400 degrees an hour so the beads don't stress fracture.

This is my glass. I have a lot of colors, but I also have room for a lot more. I work with 104 coe glass, coe is the Coefficient of Expansion. It's pretty awesome but I won't bore you. :)

All of these things allow me to make works of art like:

New glass!

So some of you may or may not know that I melt glass. Yep. I make shiny, awesome things out of glass. (I just think they're shiny, but people like Kyra tell me they're awesome.)
Well since Dragon*Con I hadn't been torching much... and honestly it was just about killing me. I'd wander into my studio and stare longingly at my torch and kiln... and then I'd wander back out. Too much to do, too much to do.

But! I have stolen away bits and pieces of time! (and there was much rejoicing!)
Remember: You can find my glass beads for sale here. I also take commissions and offer bulk discounts for jewelry designers. Just e-mail me.

My Faerie Bubbles beads. Kyra has used them in her designs.

These are made of Clio. One of my most favorite glasses ever!

 Spacers! 

Something in the fall spirit. :)

Of shiny, dreams and insanity.

I'm a bad Pooka aren't I? It's been almost two months since I've posted here... I swear I'm not slacking off!

Instead I'm going to make a photo post of all of the things I've been making. Ready for it? :)

Yay photo spam! What else is going on? Well (in case you didn't know) this Pooka is crazy. I'm plotting something completely shiny-filled... It's going to be epic! Sadly it won't be done in time for Dragon*Con.

Speaking of Dragon*Con- less than a MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP!@!! @$#%^&%$%^%&*^ 

I'm not ready!!!!! I feel kind of like my brain is rattling around in my head as I try to but together countless keys, bottles, costumes, clothing.... Oh heavens.

And what else? Oh yes! Pandora Celtica got a new website. This new site includes new photos, songs that you can play, forums, and even bios for each of us! I'm very excited for this new addition. 

Q&A

So some time ago I posed the request on facebook: Ask me questions that I can answer in a q&a here on blogger. 

They answered the request, oh yes they did! So here it is: Your first Q&A blog post!

Grygori: I wanted you to tell us from your perspective what it means to be Pooka.  Give us your view on their characteristics physical/personality/supernatural, etc.  We've read some out of books, but now give us a personal account. :D
What it means to be a Pooka? Well, I know that a lot of the Myths say that all Pooka are shape shifters, or that they are horses with orange eyes and blah, blah, blah. They are said to be mysterious tricksters. Me? I must be a rarity. Yeah, I suppose I could change forms if I really really wanted to... But why waste the energy? I'm a friendly, energetic, flirty individual that loves to sing and dance (the second one only usually when no one is watching).

Also from Grygori: What do you look for in the male of the species?
Ah... I'm blushing here. You really really want to know this? Uhm... Well... I look for a male that is friendly, strong in personality, has a sense of humor, can handle my erratic schedule and crazy personality. A male that has their life well in focus.... Uhm... Yes.

Siren: What was your first experience with Pandora Celtica?
My very first experience with Pandora Celtica was actually long before I knew what I was hearing. A friend of mine took me to a Witches' Ball around Halloween one year. I heard Pandora Celtica and fell in love enough to purchase a CD and ask the band to sign it. Fast forward many years where I got ready to audition... and realized that I knew of the band!

Joseph S: Why do dogs have wet noses?
Dogs have wet noses because they have to have something to nudge you with to make you realize they're there. Otherwise how would you know to give them scritches???



William K: How did it feel when you joined PC and how long do you see yourself in the group?
It felt amazing to join Pandora Celtica. My new family opened me with open arms and since then I have had some of the most amazing experiences of my life. I see myself in the group for as long as they'll have me.

William K: Do you see yourself making it big with your jewelry or with PC?
I see myself making it big with Pandora Celtica. Jewelry is more of a relaxing fun thing for me, I much prefer to just create when it strikes me.

John H: What...is the air speed velocity of an unladen faerie?
Irish or Scottish? What's their wing pattern and magic of choice? :)


All of the following are from Miss Leora: 
What is your favorite mischief to cause?
Glitter bombing. Though, I'm a huge fan of dumping glitter into the shoes of visiting Courtiers... Mind you that Mab is NEVER amused by that.


3.) What is your favorite Pandora Celtica memory?
I've had a few of them and most of them involve me crying happy tears. Dragon*Con last year was a huge one... DarkCon was an amazing event within D*Con and I still hold very fond memories of that game.


4.) Out of all the songs the band performs, which one do you like performing most?
One that we haven't recorded yet? :) Okay, Okay... Out of the ones that we have... Either Smuggler's Song or.... Bedlam Boys. I think. Though to be honest, I really really really love singing 99.9% of all of our songs.


5.) Where do you find your inspiration for your glasswork?
The sun, the moon, the breeze... Everything and anything. Most recently it's been the glass itself. I was just able to start playing with this AMAZING glass called Clio. It's shiny and has some of the most amazing properties...


6.) Why do you like keys so much?
Have you SEEN them???? I mean... Well... Okay so in Faerie keys are a bit different... but that's another post entirely. I love keys because for me they symbolize freedom.


7.) In you opinion, what is the grossest thing in the world? 
Yams. Yams and roadkill and... other gross stuff.


8.) If you could change one thing about society, what would it be and why?
How closed minded people are. I can't even explain how much it honks me off that people as a whole can be such closed minded bigots.


9.) What is your favorite part about being a faerie?
I get to play!! It's fun to talk to people and make friends and it's just so much fun! That and the fact that the Mortal world is so... different than Faerie. So I get to discover new things about the Mortal world on a daily basis!

So here it was! My very FIRST Q&A ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Thank you all for coming to read, and if you have questions that you want added to the next Q&A please feel free to send them to rubiee.tallyn@gmail.com

Artwork

…Once upon a time there was a Pooka that really liked glass. She loved seeing what it could do, how others used it. So she started learning to work with glass, to manipulate it in flame and turn it into works of art. Months turned to years and before she knew it she was arriving at the two year anniversary of her start date at the torch…..

Yep. February 18 will be three years! I can hardly believe it! It seems like just yesterday that Melissa was sitting me down at her torch to melt glass. My first beads weren’t worth writing home about, but they were MINE!

These were the first ones:

Yep, those were in fact my first beads. Since then I have learned that glass can do amazing things. Two years later the explosion that comes from thrusting a rod of glass into the flame too quickly still scares the heck out of me!

Then came the first beads at my own torch.

Since then my skill has grown, there have been many times where I've been called away to another set of things to do but I've still been enjoying glass. I make all of the beads for the Key Pendants that are at most of our gigs even.

There are some of my newer pieces