bludawg designs

2011-10-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

I just finished an online class called "Gothic Dreams" by Ady Alamanza on Doll Dreams . She's a very talented artist and a great teacher. I had so much fun in her class. We painted some nice things just in time for Halloween. Doll Dreams is celebrating it's one year anniversary. You should check it out . . . it's so much fun!

This is a new style for me and I learned a lot. Here's some of my paintings from "Gothic Dreams":

2011-10-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

A new creation! I took an online digital art course by Shwe and here are a couple of my creations:

Halloween Witch

2011-09-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's getting closer!! Halloween is so much fun and I'm like a little kid, lol. Here's a multimedia painting I did recently. I've photographed it and turned it into a pendant that is for sale in an Etsy shop called Artist Peeps R Us, Witch Necklace:

La Catrina Bracelet

2011-07-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

I've listed a new bracelet in my etsy store called "La Catrina". She was so much fun and I can't wait to make more Catrina bracelets in the future. She was a challenge to put together and get the length right for a bracelet. My first attempt was about 9" long, lol, but she's ready to go on that special someone's wrist now!

Frida "Death is All Around" Necklaces

2011-03-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung!! And yet, last night we received a dusting of snow. Even though it's going to be in the mid 50's today . . . go figure. And the winds are ferocious, 50 mph, bringing on horrible allergies. Anyhoo, I have two new necklaces in my Etsy store. They are copies of my print that are attached to jeweler's crystal clear glass tiles.

I also have some new big hole beads that are great for those Pandora style bracelets:

"Love U to the Moon and Back"

2011-02-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

I recently learned how to enamel on copper. I've been wanting to add enameled charms and clasps to my necklaces and bracelets. Here'a a fun necklace with a lampwork moon and an enameled heart that says "Love U to the Moon and Back". It has already been sold, but if you'd like a similar piece, you can email me at debbiemerhege@bludawgdesigns.com:

Now offering Pandora/European Style Glass Beads!

2011-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am having so much fun making big hole beads, beads that fit Pandora, Biagi, Chamilia type chains and cords for bracelets. I've got supplies on order to line the cores with sterling silver, so they'll be even nicer. I hope to have some lined beads at the end of next week. Here's a sampling, but to see more go to http://www.bludawgdesigns.etsy.com/:

New beads in my etsy shop!

2011-02-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

The first bead is really colorful and cute. I call it silly trees:

The next set is made with the "Storm Technique" by AKDlampwork. I bought Amy's tutorial and it is really fun and addictive. The bubbles have swirling multicolored mini storms inside:

Ebay listing tonight 8:00 pm PST

2011-01-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

I am relisting this set on ebay tonight at a lower starting price, $49. This is a great set for you fish lovers. There are layers of blues, reds, yellows, handmade murrini and twisties that create a great 3D effect.

Frida Kahlo Boutique

2011-01-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! One of my New Year's resolutions is to step up my business and put myself out there. The first thing I've done in sticking to my resolution is I joined a group called the "Partner Shops" in the online Frida Kahlo Boutique . This is a great shop that offers all kinds of Frida things. For me, this means that I will be making more jewelry and beads with a Frida theme. So please stop by the boutique and see what we have to offer.

My logo:

Snowman Lampwork Necklace On Ebay right now!

2010-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

I have a new lampwork necklace up for bid on ebay: bludawg1234. It's an adorable snowman on a beaded necklace. I am making new beads now for the holiday season to get ready for a Christmas arts and crafts fair in December. I'm going to try and put up a few on ebay also as time permits.

Available on Ebay!

2010-08-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

This necklace will be available on Ebay tonight (8:00pm Pacific Time) at a starting price of $140. I will also be putting up some Halloween items for bid soon. Thanks for stopping by!

"Abandoned Warehouse" Lampwork Glass Necklace

2010-06-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

There is a new show at our local art gallery, the Fuller Lodge Art Center, titled "Tag" which is featuring art with a street theme. My necklace was one of the chosen. The show runs through July. The show opening had a great turnout and there were so many talented artists attending. This was a really fun theme to work with and I think the community agreed. Click on the word Tag up above to see some of the artist's work in the show.

2010-06-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Finally I finished my Bride's Bouquet Necklace! It took a while, but I think it came out pretty. This necklace was handmade for that special day. An elegant bouquet of white roses falls delicately along the neckline from a beaded choker made of spiral herringbone stitch. The five white roses are handmade glass lampwork beads: one large focal, two smaller, and two rose buds (all with a hint of green on the leaves of the roses) with numerous frosted white handmade glass lampwork leaves as well. This piece can be adjusted from 16" to 20" with the sterling silver chain.

This arrangement can be created in a similar way with different colors of your choosing to fit your personal bridal theme. Pieces can be created for your bridesmaids as well. All pieces are one of a kind and cannot be fully duplicated, although the overall look can be made to resemble this piece. Please email me for inquiries on custom orders.

Blue Hibiscus

2010-06-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

This necklace was a custom order for a friend. She has a blue hibiscus tattoo and she asked if I would make her a necklace with a blue hibiscus. This is the result:

I am still working on my bridal boquet necklace. The "real" job just gets in the way of my play time. :)

When I finish I will post pictures of it.

Flower Implosion Bead, Bride's Lampwork Roses Necklace

2010-05-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Things are finally warming up around here! We have reached the mid 70's. Woo hoo! And we may actually be done with the snow, but I'm not holding my breath because we have had snow in May in past years.

Here are some beads I made for a customer recently (front and back):

I am having fun trying to perfect the implosion flower bubble attached on the front side. I think these came out nice. It is a challenging bead to make, but fun. I'm anxious to try them in some other colors.

I am also working on a wedding piece. It is a labor of love, pun intended, :). I will be adding some rose buds and also a large focal rose, more leaves, along with some pearls and crystals. The foundation beaded rope is done in spiral herringbone stitch. The picture shows just the beginning of the necklace. When it's complete I'll post another picture. The glass is etched. I think etched glass roses are so beautiful. I am taking orders for custom bridal jewelry. Making my own glass beads makes it really nice to be able to customize a piece with just the right colors to make a truly unique piece for that special occasion. These pieces take quite a bit of time, so if you're interested, please contact me early for availability.

Frida, "Thinking About Death"

2010-04-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

It actually snowed here on and off the last couple of days. Crazy New Mexico weather! I'm glad it didn't stick though, except in the high mountains. I'm ready for spring, but we just keep getting teased, warm one day, cold the next.

This pendant is my interpretation of Frida Kahlo's "Thinking About Death". She is for sale in my Etsy shop. The pendant is made of glass with a fine silver bail. The paints have been fused to the glass, so are permanent. I have signed the back.

La Sirena, The Siren, Dia De Los Muertos Mermaid, Steampunk

2010-04-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

I have a new steampunk/Dia de los Muertos pendant in my etsy shop. A pretty little skeleton mermaid swims in the deep blue amidst her pearls. She is set in resin in a vintage pocket watch.

I am currently working a new "Frida"/Dia de los Muertos painted glass pendant, so keep an eye out in my etsy shop for her in the next few days.

Spring Rose, Lampwork bead necklace

2010-04-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have a new lampwork/beadwork necklace in my etsy shop. This necklace was so much fun to make. The leaves and the rose were made by me in my torch, then annealed in the kiln to cool slowly for eight hours. Then I strung the beads with freshwater pearls and seed beads. Then I added layers of seed beads in the "Twisted Sister" pattern. The "Twisted Sister" is my fav new beading pattern. It was designed by my good friend Sarah Maynard of www.bitchinbeadsonline.com. It accents my beads beautifully! Thank you Sarah!

Queen of Hearts Lampwork Bead, from Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

New in my Etsy shop is a Queen of Hearts lampwork bead. I can't wait to see the new Alice in Wonderland Disney movie in 3D. It's been out a week now, but I'm waiting till the crowds aren't so bad. I love creating art with the Alice theme. There's just so much inspiration to be had from the story.

2010-03-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

My, how time flies! I can't believe it's already March. We still continue to get snow here every other day, so it seems, but little by little it is melting away. I am definitely ready for Spring! I finally have 3 items listed on ebay, two lampwork beads and one painted pendant. I've been making lots of new lampwork jewelry which I have for sale at my family's restaurant (De Colores) and at the Fuller Lodge Gallery Shop. I've been concentrating on lampwork beads rather than painted pendants lately, because frankly, the sales on ebay just went down down down. :( I hope it's not as bad for bead sales. Here's a picture of a necklace I sold at the restaurant recently:

Happy 2010!

2010-01-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

It's snowing today! The first of three systems moving through our area is hitting us now, and this is supposed to be the weakest. Yikes! We got about 3 inches overnight and it's still coming down.

The house has been quiet for the last couple of weeks. My girls and their boyfriends and dogs went back to college. Since then, I have been knee deep in paperwork. My family has a restaurant here in town and I do all the payroll and associated reports for it. Right now I'm preparing W2's and getting ready to print them and get them out to all our current and past employees. It's so much fun, lol, not! But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and when I finish I will be free to get back to creating beads, pendants and jewelry. Yeah! Hopefully I will be done at the end of the week. I am very anxious to get back to being creative. It has been far too long. I have lots of new ideas that have been spinning around in my head so it will be great to put them into action and get them out of my head . . . there's only so much room in there. ; - ) In the meantime I still have a few things available in my etsy store bludawg designs.

2009-12-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My girls were home from college for a few days and we had a great time.

I listed 3 new painted glass pendants on ebay last night. These will be the only pendants I will be doing until after the holidays, so get them while you can. These were so fun to do and I think they came out great. My family loves "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", both the old and the new version. It was my daughter Dana's idea that I do some paintings of the Who girls and I think it was a great idea. Their wacky outfits make them so much fun to create with. I hope you enjoy them!

Cindy Lou Who:

Candy Cane Who:

Mindy May Who:

2009-11-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a while! I was very busy making jewelry for my first craft fair. It was fun. Sarah and I had a good time hanging out together. Now it's time to get busy with the holiday season. We've had such nice weather lately that it really hasn't felt like November, but little by little the temperature is dropping. Today my brother and I went mountain biking on our usual trail and I was adamant about wearing shorts . . . well on the way back I froze because if you're not in the direct sunshine, it's really cold. (It was probably in the 40's, but felt colder in the shade). Brrrr! So I guess I have to give up the shorts for now. I really don't want it to get cold, but I guess I don't have a choice. : (

I'm currently working on some custom orders. I also just listed some new items in my Etsy store bludawg designs. I will also be putting some new items at the gallery shop at Fuller Lodge for you locals. As time allows I hope to put a few painted glass pendants with a Christmas theme on Ebay as well.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Sarah of Bitchin' Beads asked me to join her in selling at a local craft fair (my first attempt at a craft fair) at NNMCC on November 14, so I am working like crazy to get up enough inventory. I am very excited to give this a try. I normally don't keep anything in stock. As soon as it's ready, it goes up for sale either on ebay, etsy or to the local art gallery. So, needless to say, I've got a long way to go to get ready for this event. They give you one table for $45, which isn't a whole lot of space, but it's a little less intimidating when you know you have zero stock built up at this point. In preparation for this event, it will probably be a month or so before I have time to list anything new on ebay, but I am going to relist 2 of my pendants that didn't sell last time. The new theme for NFAC (NibbleFest Art Contest) on ebay this month is "Halloween", so maybe I'll get some different people interested in them. That starts tomorrow. In the meantime, I though it might be fun to show some pictures of clouds that I took on a recent hiking trip on the Mount Wheeler Peak Trail in the Taos Ski Valley. I was up there hiking with my brother and the clouds were swirling and zooming by, creating some amazing effects. A lot of the clouds looked kind of Halloweenish.

New On Ebay Today!

2009-10-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have 3 new pendants listed on Ebay right now and 4 that I've re-listed at a lower price. The first is a great Halloween pendant made with dichroic glass that is full of great color . . . a witch, a Jack O' Lantern and a cat. The second is a lady with a spider web for a hat and a spider for a bow. The third is a "dark" angel on clear color shifting glass. These pendants would all be fun for the upcoming Halloween season!

2009-09-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard lately and here are two new pendants, one with a Fall theme and the other with a sort of Goth/Halloween theme. The first one is titled "Fall" (that was a tough one to come up with, lol) and the second is titled "The Legend of the Crystal Skull". The second pendant has clear dichroic glass for the skull, so it has a bit of iridescence to it. These two are available on ebay right now. More will be coming shortly. Next to be listed will be 2 more pendants, one a witch with her cauldron making some kind of concoction in the moonlight and two, a Lady whose ready to go to a Day of the Dead Masquerade Ball. I am currently working on two more pendants, a lady with a spider web for a hat and a spider for a bow, and a Goth Angel or Dark Angel. These will be listed as people begin to get more excited about the Halloween season.

2009-09-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

The other thing I've been working on is my lampwork jewelry. These pieces will be available locally at Fuller Lodge Art Gallery, but for those of you who are not local, I can always make something similar if you were interested. My artwork is one-of-a-kind and while I can make something similar, they will never be exactly the same as my work is all handmade by me. I hope you like them!

2009-08-31T16:48:00.001-07:00

School has started and the temperatures have dropped a little bit. Fall is around the corner. Here's my first Witch Pendant for this season. She has orange leaves falling around her. The second Witch Pendant has her buddy Spooky on her hat and they are taking a midnight stroll. The painting on both of these pendants is done with glass paints that are fused to the glass at high temperatures in the kiln until they become one with the base glass.

2009-08-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it's been a while since I've posted anything here, but I have been working on some new pendants. They will go up for sale tonight on Ebay at 7:00 pm Pac. Time. I've been having some fun working with vintage watch parts, so I'll be listing a couple of Steampunk pendants. The theme is Alice in Wonderland, cuz time is so skewed in Wonderland. Also in the Alice in Wonderland theme I have a Queen of Hearts pendant whose base is color-shifting dichroic glass . . . really pretty. I also have a "Skeleton Key" pendant. I think old keys are really pretty and they make interesting jewelry. Also listed will be another Wednesday Addams pendant with a lampwork doll that dangles at the bottom of the pendant. Thanks for stopping by!

2009-07-10T06:40:00.001-07:00

I have a couple of new painted glass pendants for sale on ebay. The first is a mermaid and jelly fish. The jellyfish is made of dichroic glass. The second is another "Bee Girl" from "Ghost Whisperer". I love that show. The introduction is very strange and I like strange, so hence the "Bee Girl". The large bee is a piece of dichroic glass.

2009-07-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted last . . . too much going on! We had a great time in Durango. We went mountain biking and we hiked some of the trails at Mesa Verde. Durango is a great little town. We stayed at the Strater Hotel. It is a beautiful old Victorian hotel. Really cool!

2009-06-19T05:49:00.001-07:00

I will be away for a few days. Hubby and I are going on a short vacation. We will be back Tuesday evening. Have a great weekend! :)

2009-06-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Michele Lynch sent me the Byrum Spiritual Art Award. Thank you so much Michele, you're a sweetheart! Be sure to check out her art . . . it's wonderful!

New in my Etsy shop!

2009-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

The Key to a Broken Heart:

2009-05-29T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ahoy there! Tonight at 8:00 pm (PT) I am listing 2 more pendants on Ebay. The first is a pirate girl with her treasure chest full of jewels and the second is a beautiful mermaid swimming amongst the fish. Both pendants feature a handmade lampwork bead dangling from the bottom.

My first Steampunk Necklace

2009-05-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope everyone takes time today to remember or to thank the brave men and women who protect our country! I finally had time this weekend to work on some new things. I'm very excited to list my first Steampunk necklace on Ebay tonight at 9:00pm MST. This was so much fun and challenging to create. I'm also listing another "dark" painted glass pendant called "Searching".

2009-05-18T06:32:00.001-07:00

Yea! I received a first place award for the April Nibblefest Art Contest (on ebay) "Favorite Childhood Story" for my pendant "Croquette Anyone?". Also Congratulations to my fellow TGLAS artist's, Michele Lynch, Magenta Rivers and Jenn Emory who also won awards! We swept the April contest! ;)

2009-05-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have two more glass pendants ready to go on Ebay tonight, "Look What I Found!" and "A Little Red Wine". These pendants are a little "dark". :) Both will be available at 7:00 pm (Pac).

NIght Song

2009-05-03T08:32:00.001-07:00

This was a fun necklace to put together. It has two of my lampwork glass beads and two boro glass beads by "Grace Beads". There are lots of Czech glass beads, and Vintaj brass charms and filigree elements. I have had many complements on this piece. It is for sale in my etsy store.

New Today on Ebay!

2009-04-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Do you watch "Ghost Whisperer"? I love this show. On the opening credits, they show a girl holding a flower and she is covered in bees. This is my version of the "Bee Girl". This is a glass pendant I fused and painted myself. I painted her in a simple folk art style. She took about a week to make. I hope you like her. I just listed her on ebay. One of the bees has a piece of dichroic glass in it's body that gives it some great sparkle.

2009-04-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC) "Croquet Anyone?" on ebay. It will be up for auction at 8:00 pm tonight. The theme for this month's contest is "Favorite Childhood Story", so I chose Alice in Wonderland for my entry. The auctions start at only 99 cents! You can search NFAC for other artist's entries. Enjoy!

Debbie :)

2009-04-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

I added a new painted pendant to my Esty Store. This one is simply titled "Frida". I think this one came out really well . . . I was very tempted to keep this one. :)

2009-04-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have another pendant listed to start tonight on ebay at 8:00pm PST titled "My Heart". This pendant has a piece of dichroic glass in the heart to give it some sparkle.

2009-04-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished Wednesday Addams pendant. She will be listed tonight on Ebay at 8:00 pm PST. I hope you like her!

2009-03-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

This is my first pendant in the "Courtship of Wednesday Addams" series. I am still working on her. There will be a black lampwork glass rose hanging at the bottom of the pendant. Many times when a couple goes on a first date, the man will be bring the lady a rose. This is what happens in this case, but . . . Wednesday doesn't like red roses, of course. She likes black roses and this guy she's supposed to go out with should have known this. I don't think it will be much of a date. In fact, if he had any sense at all, he'd get out of sight as fast as he can. After all, there have been rumors of people going missing at the Addams estate.

New on Ebay! Goth Alice in Wonderland Pendant

2009-03-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

I just listed this pendant tonight on Ebay. The Cheshire Cat is telling Alice which way the White Rabbit went, but of course his explanation is all mixed up, because "everyone's mad here". This pendant was made with 3 pieces of fused glass (the cat's smile is dichroic glass). It was painted with glass paints that were permanently fused in the kiln. It took a total of 5 firings in the kiln to make this pendant, not including painting time, so about a week's worth of time. I hope you enjoy Alice!

2009-03-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Currently I am working on some new pendants that are on the "dark" side. One is going to be an Alice in Wonderland and Cheshire Cat Goth piece. I am also working on a new Goth series of pendants I think I am going to call "The Courtship of Wednesday Addams". I have all kinds of fun ideas for this series. Another fav theme of mine is Day of the Dead, or Dia De Los Muertos, so I will also be doing some pendants and jewelry with this theme. If you don't know about Dia De Los Muertos just do a Google and you'll find all kinds of interesting links about this celebration. I am an avid collector of DDLM art and so I also like to include it in my work as well.

These pendants recently sold on Ebay: a Spring Witch, Mermaid and Pirate Girl

2009-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

First I cut out two or more pieces of glass and shape them with my glass grinder. Sometimes I add dichrioc glass which adds a nice sparkle to my pendants. I shape some fine silver links that will be used for bails and dangles. Then all these pieces are fused in my kiln at about 1500 degrees. About 8 hours later, I can remove them from the kiln.

Then I start the painting process. This takes a couple of days. The paints I used on these pendants have to be heated so that they adhere to the glass.

The glass lampwork beads are made in my torch. I use a mixture of propane and oxygen to melt the glass. Then when I have shaped my bead, it is inserted in my kiln to cool slowly for the next 8 hours. The slow cool down time ensures that my pendants and beads will anneal properly and strengthen so there is less chance of cracking in the future.

Needless to say, this process is very time consuming.

I really have fun creating these pieces. Working with glass never gets boring and the possibilities are endless. I hope you enjoy my artwork!