 |
||||
|
||||
| Official
home of the original CGBeadroller. Graphite cavity marvers
for the lampwork industry. Don't settle for cheap knockoffs. Made with superior optical grade graphite. Machine finished with diamonds. I am also a self representing artist. All beads are hand made by me from soft (soda lime) glass, kiln annealed for strength and durability. |
||||
Home Catalog News [new items] ~CGBeadrollers~ tools & other lampwork stuff Jewelry Tools & Findings Jewelry & LampworkBeads Want to Know? tutorials information gift certificates misc other pages everything else |
TWO NEW
TOOLS AVAILABLE 5/20/13 CROSS-PROMO GIVEAWAY Lori Bergmann, Zoozii's and CGBeads are teaming up with a giveaway. Lori wrote a tutorial on the making of her awesome Zebra beads for Bead Style Magazine, April 2013 issue. In the article she explained using the Small Round beadroller to judge the size of glass needed to press a perfect lentil from a Zoozii's lentil presses. Each of us is having a
giveaway, so you have three chances to win. Here's how to enter:
1). For a chance to win a
Small Round CGBeadroller:
send me an email at donna@cgbeads.com with 'CROSS-PROMO GIVEAWAY' in the subject line. 2). For a chance to win the Bead Style Magazine containing the Zebra Bead Tutorial and the set of beads featured: goto Lori Bergmann's Blog for details. 3). For a chance to win your choice of either a Zoozii Straight Sided Lentil Trio Small or Large: goto to Zoozii's Blog for details. Giveaways will end Monday May 27th @ Midnigh-ish. I'll announce my winner here, Lori & Amy will announce their winners on their blogs.    5/8/13 I HATE DAYS LIKE TODAY!!! I had to put Bruce to sleep. He was injured so I rushed him to the closes vet. She said his back was broken, there was no apparent pain. He was my fluffy rag doll, and I miss him terribly. I'll close out his life with a little montage tribute.   
 
  4/15/13 We have this 'weed' in our lawn that flowers every year, then we mow the yard and I don't get to see it again till the next spring. When it comes to plants I'm as dumb as a box of rocks, so when I discovered last year that it was primrose I decided to try and transplant it this year. This is a picture of it in the lawn and one a week after I transplanted it and it flowered again. I am thrilled I didn't kill it! so I went and hunted down a couple more plants and transplanted them, too. I know it needs to go dormant, but I'm hoping to bring it in this winter to see if it will flower inside.
4/4/13 Kara & I have decided to do some shows this year so I launched into a project of making sample beads from every CGBeadroller cavity. I was a bit surprised, I estimate I used around 8-9 pounds of glass (not including the marble molds). Speaking of shows, our first one will be in Lynnwood WA on May 3-5. If you'd like to see a larger picture, just click on the image.          3/3/13 I've always thought there were enough marble molds on the market, that I wouldn't need to add anymore to the mix - apparently I was wrong. Over the past year I have gotten a lot of requests for smaller marble cavities, and it seems the 1mm cavity increment increases are very popular as well. Introducing the Marble Mold line of CGBeadrollers. Five paddles, with a total of 24 cavities, ranging from 8mm (1/3") up to 34mm (1-1/3"). I may be wrong, but I don't think there is a marble cavity that small on the market. I've also added a bundle package, buy all 5 and get a stringer tray bonus.  2/28/13 Stewey the chicken update: I got to hold him today! He was sitting in the corner of the shed with no where to run and I picked him up. Needless to say he's not happy with me right now, but he still comes running when I dump feed out for him. Fickle fellow. He's getting pretty big so we're guessing he was just a spring chicken when he got loose from the farmer coming through town. It was fun to hold him, can't wait to corner him again. Bwhaaaa  2/18/13 Went to a bead meeting Saturday night. I dropped out of attending for a while (while I was fighting my health), but now I'm ready to get back into the swing. I got to do the demo. A while back Tammy Whitham from Australia made a tutorial making tops with beadrollers and allowed me to post the pdf on my website, so that's what I demo'd. I forgot to take a baroque tool (BR-6901) with me, but that's another awesome top shape to do, and the ribbed tools give another dimension, too. Then I brought out the new beadcap beadroller. We played with it a bit then spent time 'thinking outside the box' with all the other things to do with the beadcaps. A dress for a little girl with her legs dangling out the bottom would be awesome, bells, earring tassels... Spinning Top Tutorial by Tammy Whitham  2/6/13 February is my Anniversary month, these first 4 years have really flown by. In the past I've made a special Anniversary tool, this year I'm doing something a little different. Check here for details. 1/20/13 I want to thank Double Helix for making the best clear glass on the market. I have been playing with their silvered glass since they first came out with. I could never get the intense colors everyone else could get. I did a bit better by encasing, but they would almost always break, so I caved and bought some their clear Zephyr. Now as if by magic, I have stunning color and confidence the bead will not break after it's sold. As you can see from the picture, it was consistent over and over, not just a one time fluke. Considering how many I've thrown away, at $40 a pound the price is saving me money - and time - and my hair. What the heck took me so long? Beads made with BR-8601 Graduated Drops and BR-5601 Chunky Donut Pandora Style   1/7/13 Random thoughts of my grandmother - I think she would be appalled at the amount of plastic bags I throw away. 12/26/12 We had our first snowfall of the year here. We're in north Texas so we don't get it often and it never stays long, but we do get it. The pickup was put into the back yard so Christmas Eve company could park in the driveway. Christmas day it was already raining before dawn so my son and I thought we would go to 'The Hobbit' early enough to miss the turn in weather predicted, but by the time we got out of the theater there was a full blown raging blizzard with all the cars already iced up. Back to the gist of the pickup: yep, it was stuck and needed to get out. I want to say a special thank you to the neighbor for watching out of his window to make sure the pickup didn't make it out of the back yard before I got home to help. We had snow on top of several inches of rain, that made for an interesting pre-dusk rescue mission. There's a couple of inch incline in the backyard, just enough for the pickup to slide sideways and away from the gate, we wound up using the motor home to pushing it in the right direction. Tore up the back yard pretty bad, I'll be spending a few days racking dirt back into place now. Next picture: my christmas present. Sometimes husbands can surprise you. I've been interested in astronomy since I was a kid, top that with all the science programs I watch, Well - you done good honey.   12/19/12 One last chicken entry for the year. I wanted to show off how comfortable Stewey is getting. I had the studio door open yesterday and he came in twice to help us package orders. Then later when I was in the living room I heard him outside the door again, or so I thought. He had come in and the door had blown shut so he hoped up on my table and was happily looking out the windows. Today was another nice 'open door' day and he decided he liked being on my table so in he came again. I wish I would have looked at the composition of the picture before I took it though, looks like he's about to sit on my coffee cup. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE, AND A HAPPY HEALTHY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.  d12/16/12 I don't know how you winterize your flower beds, but I turn mine into a chicken bed. You should have seen Stewey dig himself a nest and fluff his wings to settle into the fallen leaves. His tail feathers are almost grown back from his last brush with (more than likely) one of the cats. They actually become quit use to him now, even getting within a couple of feet of him and everyone being ok with it.  12/6/12 I have a teaser for you, I have some new beadrollers coming out for Christmas and these ovals are example beads from a few of the tools. The smallest one (purple) is 16x53mm, the largest one is 22x63mm (fyi: 63mm is the length of the Beadpen). There are a few different disc shapes and mixed cavities I need to get made, then I'll send out a newsletter announcing them. By the way, if you'd like to sign up for my email newsletter here's the link.  12/2/12 Finally catching up from my out of town excursion to see my dad and siblings. Here's a picture of us: Diane - Daryl - Dad - Dean - Donna (that's me of course) Happy 90th Birthday to my Dad ! !  11/21/12 No shipping from Wednesday Nov. 21 through Tuesday Nov. 27th (website will be open) Shipping resumes Wednesday November 28th. I'll be out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The website (as always) will be open, but shipping will be closed. My father turned 90 a few weeks ago, so my siblings and I are gathering for Thanksgiving to celebrate his milestone. 11/6/12 Question: Who from your past has inspired you? For me, one of those persons was a woman named Marsha. Our daughters went to grade school together. She was a single mother and her hobby was building a house for her and her two children. (nope, no subcontractors) We loved going over to Marsha's house, you never knew what would be changed. If the shower would be on the left instead of the right, or if a wall would be moved 2 feet into the living room to make the kitchen bigger. Oh gesh, where did that fireplace come from? And you enclosed the porch? What? The upstairs is backwards? And you now have a stairway instead of a ladder, booyah. lol Loved it. It was a magical place to go. To take a walk with her in the woods on her property was a calming peaceful experience every time. She was a huge inspiration to me. Now for the bad news, Marsha's house caught fire last week when she wasn't at home, it's all gone and sadly no insurance. I'm asking all of my customers to give me a Christmas present this year by donating $5 to help Marsha. There's a link on this page, and please click on the "cool stuff my mom made" at the top of the page. This is a blog her daughter wrote about what they have learned about "What to do in the fist moments after losing your home". If nothing else, it's great info to put in the back of you brain. 10/19/12 I had some abdominal surgery last week, just had the staples removed today. Phew! I'm so ready to get over this anesthetic hangover and off the couch. I'm in DYI and FoodTV overload - I am confident I can now remodel my kitchen from the ground up, and I now know how to cook flambe without burning it back down. Of course these are two things that will never come to fruition anyway, but at least I have the knowledge to execute them. (Shipping will resume Monday) 10/2/12 This has turned into a 'chicken' blog lately, but how many people can say they have a feral rooster? I caught Stewey hanging out doing a one leg stand the other day. Thought someone might be able to use him as bead inspiration. On the the new house - he is feral and it's not like we can corral him to get him into a chicken coup at night, but winter is coming so we built him a house. We've put wood shavings on the floor and a bowl of food with his water next to it, hoping he will eventually hop on in and nestle into the shavings. Once he realizes it's a good place to get out of the weather, then we'll add some sort of front to shield against the winter winds.   9/19/12 Every once in a while someone will ask me how the rooster is doing. Funny, I'll bet he doesn't know he has fans. Stewey is doing fabulous! He almost has all his tail feathers back now, just needs those long ones that stick out the top and he'll be ready for the 'prettiest rooster in Sanger' beauty contest. I'm gonna have to try to get a picture of him on a better background so you can see what a pretty color he is. He's really settled in to our yard being his home, well, since that's where the food is, guess that's a brainer. Steve & I decided to even build him a coup. I'm kind of amazed at how the four cats and he have gotten use to each other, too. I love the second picture, not sure if I wish I could do that myself or not, think I'll stick to a wash cloth.   8/31/12 So I've been making lampwork beads for over 11 years now. I've burnt my finger several times by picking up the hot end of a rod of glass, and fisnished the bead. I've had hot glas land on my legs and arms, and finished the bead. I've even passed my hand through the flame, and finished the bead. Now I have my final trophy to add to the list, I flung a piece of hot glass onto my neck, yep, actually picked it off with my fingers then finished the bead. My career is complete.  8/12/2012 Trinity Brass and Glinter are back online. Quantity's of Glinter are still a bit low from The Gathering, but we are restocking, along with adding new items. We've also put the beadcaps and earrings in larger quantities. REFRESH your browser in case it doesn't load properly. And don't forget the DISCONTINUED SALE - 50% OFF 8/11/2012 I need to put up a few pictures from The Gathering in Seattle, but in the mean time, I love this video, it just makes you happy to watch. Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth 7/14/2012 I don't blog much about the business aspect of my website, I like to keep this as a "hay, there's a person behind that company", but I'm putting in a plug today. This week I've hit what I'm referring to as my first 'century milestone'. I've just finished running CGBeadroller tools #99 and #100. I'll release #99 in a newsletter in a day or two (sign up here), but #100 will be unveiled at our yearly lampwork convention (The Gathering) in Seattle in 2 weeks. I've gone from making a few cavity marvers for my own personal use, to shipping to every state in the union and over 30 countries world wide. Graphite cavity marvers are not a new concept, marble makers have used them for centuries, but no one has taken them to the level for lampwork beads that I have, and continue to do. They are innovative, and provide the user with efficient time saving tools for accurate consistent beads. I would like to thank my husband for all the help and support along the way, and his machinist friend who first started machining them for me, before we purchased our own cnc machine. I couldn't have done it without them. 7/2/2012 The other day I caught the feral chicken snoozing underneath the air conditioner condensation across the alley. He looked so peaceful, I had to take a picture.  This is what I woke up to yesterday. He was (again) sleeping peacefully on the outside of our fence in the alley.  Now - this is what I was unfortunate enough to wake up to this morning. I haven't seen him yet, and it's almost the end of the day. * sad face * We have a leash law, but we're a small town, and dogs do wonder past on a semi regular basis, so I'm imagining I've lost my feral rooster. Sad, I was getting use to hearing him crow throughout the day, coming out and finding him getting use to me enough to come in the yard for water. All there was was tail feathers, so I'm still holding out hope that he got away and will resurface, but... more than likely I'll have to go back to using my alarm clock.  (UPDATE) Well, look what I found in the yard not 20 minutes after I posted this blog entry? He's missing a few tail feathers (well, they're still in the alley), but at least he didn't become some dogs chew toy. I'm a happy camper now, I have my Stewey back. It's the little things in life that make my day.  7/1/2012 I'm a bit slow on blogging about this, but last week I have a couple of women come all the way from Houston just to have a CGBeadroller play day. What's the big deal? Well, that's a 350 mile drive, not just a hop in the car kind spur of the moment thing. I invited my best firend, and (obviously) we had a grat time. Fire, glass, tools, women gabbing, of course we did. This is what we played with.  Dorothy, Martha and her husband Ray (who came along, too) Ann and Dorothy again (my camera hog best friend)   6/14/2012 She just thinks she's a size 10, when she's really a size 11.  5/29/2012 In the continuing saga of the new ferel rooster in the neighborhood, he's getting use to me now. I caught him sitting on our side yard fence, that's where I feed him. He now knows that seeing me there means he's getting fed.  5/23/2012 Just when I thought the world was going to end in December, I find out the archeologists have been wrong. This recently discovered wall paintings with dates 7000 years in the future. Seems it's just the end of the calendar, much like our calendar ends on Dec 31, and a new one starts the next day. Drat, this means I'm gonna have to clean the house for Christmas after all. 4/23/2012 Our house is next to a strip shopping center, with the back lot next to our back yard. A couple of weeks ago there was a worker in the back lot, just standing around looking a bit suspicious. Then Steve noticed what he was watching - a rooster. Now mind you, we do live at the edge of a small town, and we are allowed to have a small amount of farm animals, but it's just a bit strange to have a rooster loose. Yep, he's still around, too. Guess with the feed store across the street, he's not going anywhere. We're on the main road going through town, so I'm surprised he hasn't been run over yet. I kind of like having a feral rouster around, and doesn't look like any of the neighbors have plans to call animal controll. So, every morning I get to hear the rooster crow, then the owls take over in the afternoon. I miss living in the country.  4/18/2012 First rose of this season off of the big rose bush. This is not the biggest one we've had, but it's close. 5 inches across. We've not had a stem with more than 2 roses on it, so I'm looking forward that one in the background blooming. The small rose bush has a stem with 13 buds on it, that's a record for that bush, too. I'll post a picture when they bloom.  3/23/2012 It's square flower time again. We have this weed in our yard that has one of the prettiest flowers I've ever seen. From the right angle, they are square. They measure about 1-1/2" to 2" square. Last year there were two plants, this year I see eight already. One of these years I think I'll dig some up and transplant them to pots or something. The leaves are similar to a dandelion. Sadly, they are a weed so the flower will be gone in a couple of days.  3/21/2012 Is this what they mean when you get 'pinned' on Pinterest?  3/15/2012 Don't ya just hate getting out of practice? I love working with raku glass, I just have a knack for getting the color to pop when I frit on black. However... I'm not so good at getting color out of a strictly raku glass bead. So I lit the torch the other day and played. Not to bad, more poo color than I would have hoped for, but I did get a few intense color patches. Here are some of the tips: *heat super hot *let the bead cool between heatings *if you see a haze around the bead when it's in the flame, good job *if the bead has a 'metallic' spot, toast the bead as if it were a marshmallow to remove the spot cause there's popped color underneath it *don't put it into the kiln real hot, let the glow go out of the bead *garage below 940 degrees, 890 to 910 works well. And of course, use graphite to quickly cool the bead between heatings. I'm not just saying this because I sell a line of graphite cavity marvers, but one of the reason I'm selling a line of graphite marvers is because I found how my custom made cavity marvers helped me get color from raku. These are from one of my latest addidtions to the CGBeadroller line. BR-9401 Small Chubby Chichi Bicone  BR-9501 Tube Beads  3/11/2012 Yesterday, we had our second playday at my house. We played with dicro, implossions, buttons, doorknobs, glow in the dark glass, a cupcape sculpture, and misc stuff.     3/8/2012 I took a picture of the first flower of the season, in my back yard. I'm so lame, I don't even know what kind it is.  2/12/2012 A side note first, doesn't today's date look like a binary code on steroids? I went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show last week. It was my first time going, and I met my daughter there. We found a new line of findings [called Glinter] for Kara to add to her 'tools & findings' category. I'm working on pictures for her, she's working on pricing, it will be up in a week or so. [fyi, if you would like to be on the NEWSLETTER to be notified about stuff, the link to sign up is on the contact page] We also found some Pandora style necklaces, some pewter [supplies are limited on those], other misc. stuff that you'll just have to look around for. We'll also be adding some big hole bead caps soon, we have a friend that has started making them, and we're excited to be able to get our hands on them. And the fun part of the Tucson trip? We took some time off to go to the Saguaro National Park, even have pictures an approx. 3000 year old cactus to prove we were there.   1/20/12 Had a wonderful surprise today, I'm shipping to my 30th country. Just added China to the list. Looking at her bio, she's quit an artist. Educated in EU and also lived in Canada, you can see the influence in her style. Have a look, she does pretty work. Yingni 1/13/12 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!! The CGBeadroller will be 3 years old on February 1st. Thanks to all my wonderful customers, I've come a long way. While the cost of materials has gone up this past year, the cost of production has gone down, and I want to pass that saving along. So, I'M REDUCING THE PRICE. This will be like getting free shipping every time. This is not a sale, this is my Anniversary present to everyone. Check the website, the new pricing is clearly stated on each item 1/11/12 I have no words for this video, I think she says it all..... YouTube video |
ETSY STORE eBay AUCTIONS MY CATS How To Arrange 5 Cats JOKES MISC BLOG ARCHIVES Bead Review 2005 The Wedding (Mr. & Mrs. Whitney) _____________________ Dancing at the Movies someone close my mouth for me, this pool trick shot left me speechless 360 degree panorama pix Paris by Night Evolution of Dance amazing, note the language fishy card trick Telemarketer Nightmare audio Chris Bliss the Beatles juggler The Godfather: scammer upsets the Mafia are you a Star Wars fan? Emperor Palpatine get a phone call from Vader This has been around a while, I just found it again How to Fold a T-Shirt David Hasselhoff's "Jump In My Car" German Coast Guard John Walshes Family Watchdog find registered sex offenders near you David Hasselhoff is hooked on a fealing this kid is too cute Fat Kid Gay Dance my husband found this (yes, it's clean) Men In Coats Vidio Tom Cruise Is Nuts John Titor time traveler click on 'John's story' left hand column Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii January 2006 short version - 32 pix long version - 337 pix my Seattle Sep/2005 trip my Seattle June/2008 trip _____________________  TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER My Aunt Ruth's poem If Tomorrow Starts Without Me |
||
