Back in Business

There has been much concern expressed about the state of the furnace (thank you!)

The furnace (the source of all the glass) at the studio had to be shut down for maintenance.

In November? Yes. The worst possible time of year to have it turned off. This was unscheduled maintenance.

(Unfortunately, turning it off, and back on is not so simple. As you might recall from this blog post, it operates at 2100. So, it takes about 4 days for it to cool down. And another 4 days for it to get hot. All total, including the maintenance days, it will have been unuseable for about 12 days.)

As of now, the furnace is just about Hot, and we will resume working on Tuesday.

The most obvious question I was asked was:

What will you do? Two weeks with no glass?

And here is my answer.......

A lot!

Just about everything I make involves some type of Cold Work. Which means, it has to have additional thing(s) done to it when it is cold.

Bottlestoppers, Sea Stones and Oil Lights have to be ground (a process used to make things level or flat). Sea Stones and (some) vases have to be sandblasted (a process that gives the glass an etched appearance).

Bottlestoppers have to be glued (to cork or chrome plated stoppers)

And then there are the finishing touches.......

Ornaments have to be strung with ribbon, Chrome Bottlestoppers are packaged, gift boxes are stamped, Pocket Coins are packaged. There's a lot to do.

And then, of course, there are the Magnets and Hooks. Last Xmas season I sold over 400 sets (that's SETS, not individual) Magnets/Push Pins. I'm certain I would have sold more if I had the inventory. And this year alone, I have sold over 200 Hooks.

So, I've been busy. And in reality, have enjoyed this "cold" time. For, soon enough (10 days to be exact), I will begin my run of Holiday Craft Shows.......and will be grateful for all the Hot, and Cold time I've had at the studio.