Where are you located? TOP Do you have beginning lampworking (glass bead making) classes? TOP What Lampwork Supplies do you carry? TOP Glass Firenze's main focus is on soft glass work. I have an extensive supply of coe 104 and 90 glass rods from Effetre, Vetrofond, Creation is Messy, Lauscha, Double Helix, Precision, Reichenbach, and Bullseye. I generally don't carry stringer because we should pull our own ;-), but do have a variety of 96 to 104 frit mixes and single colors and 90 frit single colors. I also carry 104 and 90 dichroic strips. Most of my tools are not up to boro work but I do carry a small supply of Borosilicate glass rods (no tubing at this time), and have some boro dichro scrap glass. I also carry a variety of lampworking supplies and tools; a selective supply of lampworking books and booklets. Feel free to call to see if I have something in stock you are looking for... often times I can special order what I do not carry. If you are not a current customer of the studio but would like to purchase supplies please call 907-726-1080 or use the "contact page" to email me to set an appointment. Do you ship supplies? TOP I don't sell lampwork supplies online and am not supplied to meet large orders... in fact, you can buy in bulk from other retailers and receive discounts I can't meet... but I am happy to discuss an order over the phone and ship to you if you would like. Maybe I have a glass you're having a hard time locating elsewhere or maybe you live elsewhere in Alaska and need a small fast shipment. Where did you get your Liability Waiver? TOP I get asked this quite often and I remember the days when I was trying to find a cost effective way to protect myself and my studio also. And I can't help but have a little chuckle everytime I am asked and here is why... Being a working artist trying to open my own teaching studio finances were tight... I'd viewed several other waiver's from other sources and found most of them to be what I'd call "gentle." Mine is not. The reasoning for this is that I hold the opinion that a strongly worded waiver creates a level of respect for a flameworking environment. It is in class and through example that I am able to demonstrate working safely at the torch but until that time I want everyone who enters my studio to understand that no matter how hard I work at keeping everyone safe it is truly up to the individual to keep theirself safe and even then things happen when working with hot glass. With that said and with the simple fact that I couldn't afford to have an attorney draft a waiver for me... which I will tell you is the wisest choice and if you can afford to do so you should... I found my waiver online at... (here comes the chuckle)... U.S. LEGAL FORMS.com I chose U.S. Legal Forms because their legal forms are State specific and since each state has different laws I wanted to do the best I could with the money I had. The forms were very reasonable to purchase. I purchased the adult and minor forms and then made small edits to the forms to suit lampwork verbage. Please note: I have no way of knowing if their waivers will hold up in court as I've very fortunately never had to test those waters. I am not an attorney or legal advisor and am only sharing with you what I did. Please do your own research and if you find a better alternative I'd love to hear from you! :-) Who designed your web site? TOP My web designer is the wonderful Ginny at Design and Detail... I came to Ginny with my own flower graphic and a general idea of the colors and layout I was interested in achieving but it was Ginny's skill and imagination that translated my site into what it is today. I use Ginny for all my design template work; Web, Etsy Banner, Flashing Banners, Business Card Designs. Should I have a web site of my own? TOP Another question I'm often asked and the answer depends on what you want to do, but I find that to start you can open a Blog which is free to communicate to your customer base, and an Etsy shop to sell your work on. You can also open a Facebook or My Space accounts and you can sign up with Twitter to send fun daily "Tweets" about what's going on at your creation table. Blog, Facebook, My Space and Twitter are all great networking tools. With this set-up you won't have the monthly expense of hosting a web site. You may find that as your business grows a web site would be a wise upgrade for your business but with all the free community styled sites available if I didn't have a full studio to run I'd drop the web site and do this myself. What Online Info Resources are there for Lampworking? TOP There are a lot of great sites to visit dependent on your lampwork/flamework direction. Here are just a few: Lampwork Etc. - This is a great glass community forum and a place to find used equipment and supplies in the Garage Sale area. I will warn you that there are areas I don't visit like the Bathroom or Bedroom which probably sounds more omnious than it is but I just avoid those areas and have always had a great experience with the many kind and generous lampworkers that are members of this forum. If you sign up you "will not" be spamed and there are no member fees. I highly recommend visiting this site. Beadartists.org - This is a wonderful free online gallery where people post their work, they even sell work here. It is a wonderful place to find inspiration and discover artists. Glassartists.org - This site has a wider variety of glass artists who post their work. It is a part of the same group of online galleries as Beadartists.org. ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) - The ISGB is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the art of making hand-crafted glass beads. They also are the organizers of the annual "Gathering" which is in a different state each year. What Are Your Payment Options? Do You Take Credit Cards? TOP As always... if you have any questions please call Deborah at 907-726-1080 |