Bad New ~ Good News

Cobalt blue beach glass-inspired copper art wind chiime. Was $227.50 ~ Now $142.50.
Many other items will be featured on my new 'sale' page of my web site in upcoming days. Just Click here to see them, and be sure to check back often, as I get the images up. Save 40%

The bad news is that a small local gallery where I had some of my work just closed. (I never did think it was such a good idea to open it up three flights of stairs!). That's too bad; I know the owners had high hopes for it. I believe they will be moving to a new location in the summer~ hope they choose more wisely!

The good news is that since everything I had in that shop was out of my home, I decided not to sell it as brand new. Everything is on sale at 40% off! Well, that's good news for shoppers... not great news for me!

I have four items set right now, and will be adding more as I get the images taken, and as time permits. So be sure to check back often. I hope to have several more added tomorrow, or on the weekend, depending on how the weather here holds out for pictures.

Taking Time to Breathe

Don't you just love big rounded beach stones? And don't you just love copper? And how can you resist wind chimes? So what's keeping you? Why don't you check out my new web site and see more? Unique designs, top quality, reasonable prices. And for the month of January, if you email you can receive 50% off your first purchase when you buy a second of equal or greater value! Click here to see some really amazing creations!

After working almost all of yesterday on my new website, I decided to take a very long hike today with my pup. It was great! We walked up the mountain, and before long we were into some nice snow. Not enough to make walking a struggle, but enough to make everything look beautiful. Wish I had taken the camera along. Then again, sometimes it's best just to enjoy.

Tomorrow, back to working on some new creations. It's so cold out, it will probably be painful out there, working with glass and copper. The copper is particularly hard to handle, as it always seems to be several degrees colder than the air. That's not possible. But it feels like it!

Sale to Celebrate

I'm so happy to have managed to set up my own website, I've decided to have a January sale.

All the prices already include shipping (expedited mail and insurance) to the USA or Canada.

I've never offered such a huge discount before. Why not treat yourself (or a friend).

Just Click here, to see all the amazing things I have made for your home, office or garden. Enjoy~

Making a Web Site is not so Easy!

My first creation of '07. I wanted to start the New Year by making something amazing~ so here it is! The wood base section especially pleases me. It is hewn from an old tough cedar stump, left over from logging. Usually, people just yank these up and burn them. Well, it turns out the wood is just beautiful! And being from the very bottom of the tree, harder than most cedar. For more information, or to purchase this very large double art wind chime, Click Here.

Well, when I first sat down with nearly zero in the way of skills to make my website, I thought it was going to be tough. Maybe beyond me. Then, after fooling around a little, I thought it was easy. Ha! Wrong. It turns out that this is one of those things where the more you learn, the more you understand you have to learn. Still~ I have learned a lot, and the site is starting to look okay. If you haven't dropped by, why not check out what a fellow with zero skills can accomplish? Click Here to see my site~ and any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Web Site ~ I did it!

Kaleidoscope Beach Glass-inspired Art Wind Chime. For more information, or to buy, Click Here.

After years of putting it off, I resolved to make a web site. Knowing nothing about HTML etc., you probably can understand why I put it off! But, in the end, it was not too hard. It is still rough, in need of tuning, you might say (if your nice), but it only took one day, so far. Easier than I thought it would be. Any comments would be very much appreciated. You can visit my new site here: tsk Design Home & Garden Art

Thank You Notes

Large natural beach stone wind chime. The stones are smooth and rounded. The chimes are large and musical. For more information, or to buy this wind chime, Click Here.

I had a nice, busy time selling, packing and shipping before Christmas. Now several people who received my work as a gift have actually emailed a thank you note to me ~ How nice is that! My goodness, I have enough trouble getting my thank you notes off to those friends and relatives who were kind enough to give me something, without tracking down the person who made the gift.

That these people take the time, and care enough about the gift, to actually send me a note, now that is thoughtful! Now I find myself writing thank you notes for the thank you notes.... this may never end! Honestly, there are so many nice people. It's really great to know they enjoy my work.

Late Christmas Shopping Tip

Beach glass-inspired wind chimes, suncatchers, deluxe birdfeeders~ something for everyone!

Can't decide what to get for someone special? Sometimes it is really hard to choose. That's why this year I am offering gift certificates. And the code to use in a nice card can be emailed to you, so you never even have to leave home to do your shopping. Even better, you might get a discount. See the details by Clicking Here.

An Inch Bigger Would Cost $300

Would you guess that an artist might be influenced by the post office? I can assure you, that is the case~ at least for me. Sometimes I do enjoy building big, but must always have a tape measure handy, and the table of maximum sizes for regular mail. This large freestanding driftwood wind chime is a case in point.

The driftwood section lifts right off the cedar plank. It had to be designed like that for ease of shipping. But the main thing is, one single inch longer and it would exceed the maximum for Expedited mail, and need to be ship Perolator; the postage jumps from $60 to $360. So when I get the urge to build big, I keep my tape measure handy.

I always feel great when something like this sells. And then I feel not so great, because I realize I need to pack it. A real challenge! It takes time, a lot of packing materials, and some skill and imagination. No, the jobs not done until it's on its way. Once it's shipped I feel great~ until I start to worry about all three packages arriving in good condition!

Last minute shopping tip: Gift certificate cards now available! Click here.

Got Snow? How about Helping Out the Birds?

Deluxe red cedar art bird feeder wind chime. No~ the birds are not in the least frightened by the chimes. The beach stone clapper produces a sweet sound, either from the wind, or often when birds land or take off. Treated with an exceptional foodsafe tung nut oil finish. For more information, or to buy this wind chime, Click here.

Not into feeders? Not to worry. A huge selection of unique, very well crafted creations for the home, office and garden. Quick shipping. Great gifts! To see an amazing selection, Click here.

But remember~ shipping can take a little longer from Canada, so don't wait.

Holiday Gifts ~ Unique, Well Crafted~ Special!

Wow~ Already December? Time Flies. Well, the good news is that there is still plenty of time to order a really special, unique gift. From small ornament suncatchers to giant freestanding wind chimes~ all unique, all well crafted, all special. From $20 delights to $400 WoWs, all sorts of treats for the home, garden or office. Why not check out my store? Click Here to find that perfect something ~ surprise someone this year!

Snow Days

Unusual weather here on the Sunshine Coast. We rarely get snow, especially this early in the year, and especially so much. Most often if we do get some, it starts raining within a day or so, but this stuff is sticking around. It's cold!

The kiddies and the dogs are having a ball. I felt bad, because I like to ship orders right away, and could not get out on Monday. Fortunately, there was a brief break in the weather yesterday, and I could dart out to the post office and also pick up a few groceries. Now we are back to... Snow!

Christmas Rush

Cobalt blue beach glass-inspired copper art wind chime with a beach stone clapper. Beautiful, and Very well made. For more information on this wind chime, or to see a wide assortment of art for the home, garden or office, Click Here.

Every year some people wait too long before ordering for Christmas. Shipping can take longer (sometimes much longer!) from Canada, and if you are thinking of ordering some unique tsk Design creations as Christmas gifts, you should order soon. I try to ship fast, but things can get hung up at the border, especially at this time of year. So shop now to assure timely delivery.

Free tsk Design earrings with sterling hooks update: I still have a few sets left. See my 'Me' page on eBay for a picture. Until I run out, every order ($75 or over) gets a pair for Free! These are Great, and would retail for around $25 easily.

So check out my great selection of home, garden and office gifts, and shop early. Thank you!

Reverse Painted Double-sided Art Wind Chime

A new series of double-sided reverse painted art wind chimes~ Colorful and very well made. The paint is all on the inside of extra-thick plate glass, well sealed against the elements. So you can hang these all year round out in the garden~ weatherproof! Or use them in the home or office as kinetic art~ for more information, or to buy, Click here.

I do so enjoy making these. It's very different from my usual glass work. I started out with paints, years ago, and to be able to go back to paints once in a while is refreshing. A customer down in Texas bought four painted glass works from me, and so I had to renew my stock. He just received his order, and I don't think I've ever had a customer write such an enthusiastic email. That sure helped to brighten a rather gloomy day!

Free Earrings ~ tskDesign, Sterling Hooks

To say thank you for a great year, I am giving my customers a pair of my tskDesign earrings with sterling silver hooks for all orders $75 and over. My wife is something of an earring fanatic collector, and of all the pairs she has, she says mine are the amongst those she enjoys the most, as they are pretty, unique, and very comfortable.

Colors are mossy green, light green, cobalt blue, light blue, champagne and frosty white. I used to sell these for $25 in a local store.

There are lots of good reasons to shop now, as, if past experience is anything to go on, things are going to get crazy in a couple of weeks. Prices may go up, and selection may go down. To see my amazing creations for the home, garden and office, Click here.

Great Wind Chime Store

Received an email from a fellow who had seen my work around on the Web. He asked if perhaps he could place some of my wind chimes on his website. It turns out he runs an online store dedicated to wind chimes~ Wow! Of course, I said yes.

What a wonderful job he did! I never imagined he would go to so much effort~ he did a super job! Others must like how he set things up, too— I've already had some sales. If you are at all interested in wind chimes, check out this great wind chime site (click here).

eBay Guide

Beach glass inspired artist-made glass, tung nut oiled red cedar, copper chimes with a beach stone clapper. To learn more about this wind chime, or to buy it, Click here.

There are wind chimes, and there is art, and then there is wind chime art. My thoughts? Why own just a wind chime, when you can enjoy wind chime art? I explore this further in my eBay Guide on wind chimes~ you can read it by clicking here.

Copper Wire

Price January 2006: $95.00



Price October 2006: $199.00

Price increases are expected. But the mega jump in copper prices (not just wire, but hard copper that I use lots of too), is a drag.

Glass

tsk Design Beach Glass Inspired Artist-made Glass with Copper Wind Chime
For more information on this and other glass art, or to buy, Click Here.

There is good glass, acceptable glass, and bad glass. Sometimes there is excellent glass. Even though I have been working with my glass for years, I still can never be one hundred percent sure what I am going to end up with. There are a lot of variables at play. Even now, with years of experience, truly exceptional glass is not an everyday occurrence.

The glass for this blue glass wind chime is excellent. I'm all the more happy, because blue and frosty white are by far the two most difficult types of glass to work with. They are thinner, and more brittle. To get the mat finish and smooth edges, I need to work the pieces long enough, but if they are worked too long, they become thin and fragile, and fracture easily.

When the pieces are just perfect, they have a nice mat finish front and back, and are still thick. Most often, I have to settle for a little more gloss than I would like. But this time, for this wind chime, the glass is perfect.

Yukon Holiday ~ Cool Paradise

Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada

The Yukon was just great. In the past, we'd driven back and forth across Canada, and explored Southern British Columbia extensively, and those trips had many special moments and places. But I had always wanted to visit the Yukon. I thought it would be 'my type of place', and it was. I love it up there.

For shear beauty, for wide open and uncrowded, for low stress and peace and quiet, you just can't beat it. The long days are a bonus, since even if you pull into a campsite at seven or eight, you still have lots of time to set up camp, relax, cook dinner, and relax some more. The government campgrounds were all clean, well designed, and inexpensive~ $12 including firewood. The firewood was much appreciated, as it was much cooler than we had thought it would be, often getting down to around 40 at night, and only hitting 65 even on a sunny day. That coolness, by the way, was one more thing I really liked-- I hate traveling, getting out of the air conditioned car, and melting!

Not infrequently, there were only a couple of other visitors at a large campsite, and once we were alone~ a little scary, but also a memorable experience. When camping elsewhere, our lively, young golden retriever usually would have to be restrained on a twenty foot leash at a campsite, but not often in the Yukon. First, there would most often be no one for him to annoy with his friendliness, and second, those few times when someone was nearby, they were dog lovers and invited his attention. The Yukon is truly dog paradise, especially for a water dog like a golden, as there is a lake or river always a stick's throw away. The cool air and cold water limited our own swims to very brief plunges.

The roads and highways were all excellent. The few towns are (mostly) adequate for supplies. No malls (wonderful!). Very little traffic (low stress). Very few bugs (nice surprise!).

Driving back south after an all too brief visit, how odd that Northern British Columbia, that before had seemed so sparsely populated, now looked developed and busy. Even a short visit to the Yukon can change the way you see the world.

A Really L-O-N-G Break

Why so long without a post? Well, a two week (wonderful!) holiday up to the Yukon (see the grizzly mom and cub) and a week to take it easy at home. I was all set to get back to work, and threw my back out~ Ouch!

It was all I could do to keep working and packing and shipping my art, so the ol' blog had to be put on the back burner. All is going much, much better, back-wise, now, and I hope to post more frequently. Thank you so much to those who continued to look in and check out my blog, and I am sorry it was always the same old thing. Stupid back.