If any of you have been looking for something new from me, you'll know it's been a while since I took the time to sit down & write. Things have been crazy here. Usually summer is our time to sit back and relax. We get caught up on commission orders, start planning for the Fall/Winter session of classes. We usually have time to experiment with new techniques so that we can offer them as new classes. But not this year! We were visited by the fire & building departments as part of a county-wide inspection of all "warehouses". We've been given all kinds of conflicting information as to what is actually required of us to bring our units up to code. My intuition tells me that my landlord wants us to leave (after 32 years) in order to get more rent from a new tenent. So, they're planning to bring in a contractor to demolish all of our loft areas. Other advisors have told us we just need to hire a contractor to upgrade what we have.
Whatever the case may be, we have been slowly bringing down all kinds of things - some of it is personal stuff that I've taken home, but a lot of it is old glass that we were saving for our own private work. There is even a whole stash of glass from Tiffany Studios that my brother Brian bought over 30 years ago. It's taking me some time to identify and mark it all, but since we're running out of room in the cases on the main floor, we've decided to put the small pieces on sale at scrap prices. Plus, we're featuring a different piece every week on a 50% off sale. As we've been finding other things of interest on the shelves, they're coming down too. So, if you're looking for something truly different, please come in a take a look - especially at the oval panels of Tiffany confetti and drapery glass.
In another attempt to make room, we're setting up a "closeout" corner for discontinued book and patterns, kits, lamp parts, ... whatever I find!
If you're planning to make you holiday gifts this year, why not get started now. We have a selection of stained glass pattern books, and a number of books on fusing and torch work (for those of you who want to make jewelry). We just received a shipment of glass, so stock is at a good level right now.
I hope to see you soon! And ... I'm still looking for photos of your work to post.