She's not a Memphis "Belle" - She plays with fire.

Connie is too humble to type this in 1st-person, so I am going to have to tell you all about her.  (Well, not ALL about her...)

You can make her blush with the right amount of praise, and she has had a lot of that lately after her first few festivals!  I'm so proud of her!

Her first foray into crafts began with the discovery of polymer clay.  She was intrigued by Millefiori canes and learning to make them.  Connie developed quite a following on EBay, selling original Millefiori canes and even clay scraps!.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that we once nearly bought-out the entire stock of Sculpey clay at Michael's, but Connie received an invitation to teach a polymer clay class at that store.  By then, it was too late!  After seeing someone make lampwork beads on TV, she started dropping hints that she wanted a lampwork starter kit. 

Me, being the loving fiance'; she didn't have to wait too long.  On Christmas, 2004, she found her first torch and glass kit under the tree.  Having nowhere to start except a few books and the internet, Connie began to experiment.  Before long, she was drawing ooooh's and aaah's from friends, family, and co-workers about her lampwork beads and jewelry.

As the Mapp-gas bottles piled up, and the $$$ for them drained away, she said "Honey, I need an upgrade!"  (Being glad she wasn't talking about ME...  I readily agreed!)  She now works her designs in a much hotter flame from a mini-Carlisle torch fueled by propane and an oxygen concentrator.  A Paragon kiln (kill, she says...) gives the beads strength and durability after they have been annealed.

She's always shopping for more supplies, most of which is 104 COE Italian glass.  Dichroic glass and gold aventurine find their way into some of her nicer pieces.  She puts her creations on sterling silver, leather, copper, and almost anything else she gets her hands on.

With encouragement from her co-workers and family, Connie presented her unique earrings, bracelets, watches, and necklaces at the Cooper-Young Festival in September, 2005 (to rave reviews no less!).  As an afterthought, she brought the polymer clay ornaments and couldn't keep them in the booth!  Since then, you've probably met Connie at the Farmers' Market at the Agricenter of Memphis or at the Gotta Have Park festival at Shelby Farms .

All this has kept me busy designing her workcenter and ventilation, storage, organizers, etc.  Connie keeps talking about -maybe- getting into borosilicate (harder) glass, and anything on blown-glass gets her immediate attention.  Hints of a pottery wheel  have been flying about, too, so who knows what else you'll find the next time you visit.

I -do- know this... 

I'm gonna lose my garage... I just know it...

T.S. - Connie's second, and soon to be fourth husband. 
(Getting married is another hobby of hers, but I'm making her give that up...)