Let’s Talk About Glass

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Allow me to introduce myself. I’m a crazed bead maker. An avid glass enthusiast. I fuse it and melt it and will mosaic it if that needs to happen. I teach bead making and glass fusing and have been fortunate enough to have appeared on TV showing off some of my skills. I’ve tried different techniques and seen a variety of demos. I have learned technical information and tried out different types of glass. I make jewelry with glass beads. I macramé curtains with glass beads in them. I am your basic lover of glass. That’s why I’m here.

My plan with this blog is to help you love glass too. I want to show you what other glass lovers are doing, what new products are out there to be used to alter your glass, any new glass available on the market, all of the places to go to learn about glass. All things glass.

With all of the conferences and organizations related to glass in the world there is a vast body of information I plan to seek out and write about. I look at this blog as my venue for information on glass that other glass lovers need to know. I will always be looking for more information and ask that if there’s something I need to know please share it with me. If you have classes or shows or meetings that need to be posted I’ll post them for you. The more information the better.

In my over 15 years of glass experience I’ve been privileged with a variety of opportunities and lessons which I’ll share with my readers. But I’m always learning more and plan to share those lessons too. I’m planning on tutorials and projects from myself as well as those of you other glass lovers out in the world. This is all about sharing the love because I feel beads are love…glass is love and I sure do love glass. It’s all about the glass!

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?