Change in tradition....keeping it simple..

This was the first Thanksgiving weekend in recent memory that my family was not together for turkey and stuffing. With my daughter relocated to Calgary for her Masters program and son working the overnight shift, my hubby and I decided to enjoy our Thanksgiving Sunday with my Dad traveling to a heritage orchard in Prince Edward Island picking apples.

The weather was crisp, the drive to the orchard was beautiful and I kick myself now that I didn't take a few snapshots for this posting.

So many types of apples without a Macintosh in site. Heritage apples are breeds of apples now longer commercially on a large scale basis. My dad recalls fond memories of his family's orchard with apples such as Wolf River and Alexander. We found the latter at this orchard. Alexander apples are great for cooking and are huge in size... larger than a softball.  I love the fact that 4 of these apples are enough for  big apple crisp. 

Wandering through the orchard, we sampled and picked Golden Spy, Spartan, and my favorite Honey Crisp! Yum Yum!!.. 

We ended up bringing home 96 POUNDS of apples... 

At 50 cents per pound, it is well worth the trip. Local grocers are charging $2.49\lb. for my favorites, so I am set for the next month in apple snacks!

I spent Monday working on a few items that I share with you below. 

Let me know what you think!

Smiles,

Darlene

Midnight Magic Big Beads

Reserved Special Order

Materials: CiM and Double Helix Glasses

I had a client request some of my Midnight Beads in a larger size for her client. I normally work on bead sizes of 7 to 12mm hole to hole. 

The challenge of working on a larger scale was fun and these beads are the result.

THe base glass is CiM Charcoal, a deep charcoal that when fumed with the silver glass shards and dots can vary from a deep black to midnight blue. 

The silver infused Aurae shards and dots make each of these beads really shine FULL ON BLING!

Organic Golden Aurae

Organic Silver

Materials: Effetre and Double Helix Glasses

Periodically, I like to keep things simple at the torch and pick two glasses and see the variety that can be created.

Effetre Dark Ivory and Double Helix Aurae simple in dots, swirls, and blossoms.

These beads demonstrate why we love these two glasses. Organic in the curdling of the ivory as well as shine of the silver infused glass.

Simple and stunning!

Fairy Spheres

Silver Droplets

Materials: Bullseye Glasses & 99% Fine Silver

I was in a pink and silver mood. I have been hoarding my Bullseye Special production rods of Aurora glasses.

Bullseye being a COE 90 glass cannot be combined with silver infused glasses such as Double Helix without the risk of compatibility issues.

Back in 2008, I was able to get my hands on a limited run of Bullseye Aurora and Aurora II. These high-silver-content glasses opalize and strike with striations of

yellows, greens, blues and violets with subtle transitions of color. I only have 2 rods remaining of each Aurora, and I think I will cry when it is all gone.

Unfortunately, it seems that Bullseye has not experimented with silver infused glasses over the past 2 years, so these beads are precious as a result.

These beads are Aurora II glass on a base of Light Fuschia wrapped in fine silver wire and encased in crystal clear glass.