new moon pieces for december

The full moon in December is called the Cold Moon or the Long Nights Moon. It is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. To evoke the cold and dark month that we are entering into I've made these moon phases from mirrored glass, a clear stained glass with black wisps (reminding me of the cold winds blowing) and a teal/blue stained glass (a beautiful but chilly color). There are 4 moon phases available in various sizes and colors:

 

December Cold Moon Phase No.1

December Cold Moon Phase No.2

December Cold Moon Phase No.3

December Cold Moon Phase No.4

I have also added a smaller moon phase ornament to my shop for the holidays. A smaller version of my moon phase garlands, it is perfect for hanging on a tree or on a window or wall. Each ornament has three phases: full, half and crescent handmade in black, purple or white stained glass. 

Moon Phase Ornament in Black, Purple, White

As an extension of the holiday season I will also be making posts on some of my go-to baking this season, a primer on succulent propagating, as well as an introduction to the New Moon Gathering that I and a few close friends have been celebrating the past few months. Happy Holidays!

december eats

Happy New Year! I've been busy the past few months filling holiday orders and baking like there's no tomorrow. Out of the many recipes I tried in December I though I'd share some of the best. As a side note - I'm almost totally dairy free these days due to an allergy developed later in life, so
I use butter substitutes, which don't always work well, but all these recipes came out a peach!

Cardamom Coffee Bread Wreath :: via Sweet Paul

a pillowy bready treat perfect with a hot drink on a cold morning, like a croissant/bread hybrid

Holiday Spiced Pecans :: via A Beautiful Bite

pecan pie without the pie, YUM

Swedish Pepparkakor :: via All Recipes (my mom has our family recipe)

better than gingerbread cookies, perfectly crunchy and satisfyingly spicy, and decorated to the nines

Stollen :: via Bon Appetit

my grandfather used to make a stollen to have every Christmas morning and now I have taken the challenge. this recipe creates a very moist, fruity stollen but my family enjoys it the best

Hope you all had a wonderful start to the year and that 2014 is exactly as you wish!

 

Etsy Holiday Shop

So excited I can finally let you all in on a little secret... for this holiday season Etsy is doing a special pop-up shop in SoHo!  Imagine shopping online on Etsy turned into a real brick and mortar shop, where you can browse all the unique handmade and vintage items face-to-face.  I'm so thrilled to have some of my work included in the event (and my teardrop terrarium was curated by Ilona Smithkin!!).  It's not running for long, so check it out while you can!

Etsy Holiday Shop
131 Greene St,
SoHo, New York, NY
Nov 29 - Dec 8
daily 10am-10pm

p.s. and my friend Kimberly at chez-sucre-chez was curated by Martha Stewart, how cool is that!

2012 holiday ornaments

Happy holidays everyone! I developed three new ornaments for this holiday season (check out last year's here): hanging mistletoe, three etched glass ornaments, and agate ornaments.

The mistletoe is my favorite.  I made a mistletoe bunch in time for my family holiday last year and I knew I needed to make it available for everyone for holiday 2012.  I'm offering it either as a bunch or a sprig, both hung from a soft red ribbon.

I chose these three designs for my etched ornaments as reminders of my ancestor's holiday celebrations.  The candle represents the eight candles of Hanukkah, as well as the Victorian candles that people once decorated their trees with.  The figgy pudding is from my British ancestors, to this day we still make a figgy pudding for Christmas dinner.  And lastly, the dala horse silhouette is for my Swedish relatives.  To make these ornaments I cut out each design by hand and used etching fluid to make the opaque silhouettes.

And then the agates.  I really can't get enough of these.  Unwrapping a new package of them is like opening amazing presents every time!  I edged each of these agate pieces with silver alloy solder and hung them from metallic silver string.  Each one is unique, so you can see the ones I currently have here.  I'll have more selection at the two holiday shows I'm doing this December (at the DCCA in Wilmington Dec.6th and the Brooklyn Lyceym Dec.15/16th).

Happy Holidays!

back in a bit...

Hi friends, it's that time again.  Time to give my little fingertips a bit of a break from glass shards, foiling coils and hot soldering irons.  While I'm away I'll be leaving both shops open here and here.  Any orders placed will be made or sent once I return!

I may pop up on twitter or instagram (both @glassandsnacks) when I find free wifi, but otherwise, have a great week :)

* sadly I will not be visiting the stunning place pictured, I'll be back soon Wales...

terrarium table

 We always have a family gathering on Easter at my parents' house.  It's more an excuse for us all to get together, talk about everything you could possibly think of in very loud voices, and eat favorite foods.  This past Sunday I also got to show off my new terrariums alongside my Mom's moss garden that I grew up decorating year after year (including this year!).

Every Easter we also get out these little silver baskets that were passed down from my great-grandmother and fill them with locally made chocolates and peeps of course.  This year we had 11 people over so we had to improvise three other baskets.  Yay for unexpected craft projects!

We took inspiration from Martha Stewart and used the leftover egg dyes to color coffee filters.  I decided they looked quite like daffodils...

The terrariums really looked great as centerpieces.  I would do this in our apartment if our big table wasn't currently a mass of half-complete glass projects... Spring cleaning anyone?

And no family gathering is complete without a homemade cherry pie!

back on the radar

Hi friends! Sorry I was off the radar last week.  I took a break to somewhere a bit warmer.  But now I'm back in Philly and working on new ideas, including some little things for Valentine's Day (January has been flying by!)  I've already put a few of them in the shop, including some Lovebugs (imaginary flying hearts) and some Swan Partners. 

The Lovebugs that are in the shop are about 5 1/2" wide, but I'm going to be making some slightly smaller ones too.  I think they are going to look really neat when there are a bunch hanging together around my apartment.  However, my favorite new items are the swan partners.  Did you know that swans mate for life?  I actually saw some black swans on my trip, so that's probably where I got the idea to make them in glass.  My glass versions have curved wings and elongated necks, as though they have been captured mid-flight. 

In the coming weeks I'll be putting some new poetry sculptures in the shop, as well as Valentine-suitable items, so keep checking back over the next few weeks!