Glass is pretty.

Crystals are pretty.

Boom!  A whole line of jewelry named after the respective beautiful planets in our solar system.

Pools of Pluto Earrings

My tribute to Pluto included a dark purple-ish swirl effect with green and blue notes.  These colors are achieved through the use of silvered glass that when exposed to a oxygen-deprived flame really makes the colors sing!  Clear glass is then melted over the entire bead to magnify the colors and pattern, and while the whole thing is still molten it is pressed into a diamond crystal shape. 

Caves of Venus Threader Earring

Venus, of course, deserves to be green, the color of envy.  This version is not on a typical earwire, but is linked to a threader made of sterling silver chain.  You put the solid sterling silver wire through your ear and let it hang from the chain.  I have field tested my beads on this type of threader earring before, so rest assured, the bead is not too heavy that it will fall out!

Rowwwr!

Hi!  My name is Skid, and my official title here at Boulder Glass Monkey is “Studio Manager”. Without me the whole operation would come to a screeching halt!   My main job here is more a  supervisory position, so I make sure that the quality of materials and craftsmanship is the best that can be found in the glass industry.   I sometimes even have a bit of creative control!

Mowwrr! I like the pink colors the best!

You may wonder, how…, in these economic times, … can a simple kitty like myself (who doesn’t have a degree or opposable thumbs) hold down such a high position in a successful company??  The answer lies in the agreement my mom… I mean… boss and I have.  I supervise all glass work and she gives me my due compensation:

I love payday!

My mom… I mean…  boss even dedicated a piece of jewelry to me for all my efforts to keep things running here in the studio!    I think I love her!   Off to get some cuddlez!

–Skid, Studio Manager of Boulder Glass Monkey

Even harder to figure out is what people like.

So I made an option for all you hard-to-figure out people out there.  It’s called “Design Your Own Pendant”.  

Here's five to choose from!

Basically, it means you (yes, YOU!) get to choose 3 to 5 colors of your own choosing.

It goes like this:

“My favorite colors are blue and green and brown. It would be great if Boulder Glass Monkey could make me a pendant with those colors that I could wear everyday and love every minute. Fame and fortune would come to me as a result.”

Said person e-mails Boulder Glass Monkey with the following request:

“Please make me a 1″ disk pendant with light opaque blue as the center, transparent mint green then brown as the last outer layer. I will pay you $$$$ for this fabulous treat.”

Boulder Glass Monkey makes said pendant resulting in amazing wealth and prosperity to the wearer.

This one is called Octopie because it’s purple and has dots (What?!?!).  Well, I guess  it does have 8 beads.

  Wanna know the recipe for a Cosmo?  You’d have to look at this item description.

  What’s the favoritest title in the whole Boulder Glass Monkey Catalog?  You guessed it right if you thought it was this fabulous green ring!

    This blue ring is actually named from a song of one of my favorite bands : The Aquabats!!  The Bat Commander would poop himself if he saw this. 

    Skid is my eleven year old studio manager.  She is about 13 inches  tall, gray and has black stripes.  Without her no work would get done around here!  This ring is a tribute to all her…ahem (cough)… hard work.   

 

Once upon a time, …wait, I still do have a fascination with all things nuclear.  I went as far as researching the nuclear tests conducted by the government in Nevada in the 1950′s and 60′s.  Turns out, they named every single explosion usually with some sort of ”Operation…” title.  I thought it fitting for this explosive ring! 

  Bonnie Blue was one of the first of the rings I made.  I sold a lot of them but decided to retire it for a while. Let me know if you’d like me to bring it back!

  Liquid hot magma is another of my wacky interests.  Plus, I love red! 

All my rings are made with my own glass beads and sterling silver beads and metal.  They come in whole sizes 5,6,7,8, and 9.

Enjoy! 

-Joy (a.k.a. The Monkey)

Fifth in the Snowbal series.

If you ever visited my Etsy shop you might have seen the ever present listing for a Snowball necklace.  Many have asked why I name all my jewelry weird, funky names and the basic reason is this:  I get bored.  Really bored.  Bored really easily.  I hate making the same things over and over again, so every piece gets a unique name.  When I created the first Snowball necklace I was just out to make something really cool for myself.  I wanted it to showcase what I could do with glass, be colorful, and have the ability to go with anything I wear.  One day, I sat at the torch and just made beads in colors and designs that I liked.   I relaxed and let randomness and my desire take over.  No two were alike or even the same color, and when I was done I strung them together and topped ‘em off with a cool toggle for a clasp.  Booyah!  The first Snowball was born, but sadly was not named. 

Fourth in the series.

Over the next few months I began wearing my beloved necklace nearly everyday.  It was so easy to throw it on and not have to think about if it matched my outfit for the day or if it clashed with my jacket or not.  I wore it to my first craft and art shows, to work, to school, all over.  And to my surprise, people loved it, wanted it, nearly choked me to the ground to get them to make one like it.   Problem was, I wanted something for myself that no one else had, something that no one else would ever have!  I didn’t want my funky cool choker to be worn by anybody, even if it was a replica.  Yet, requests kept coming in, people kept strangling me, and demand didn’t stop.

Sixth in the Snowball Series.

So I went back to the torch and summoned all my creative juices. I tapped into all the color combos and styles of beads I had ever made.  I asked the universe to please help me be as wonderfully inventive and artistic as I had been that day when I made what I so dearly wanted.  WAIT!  That was it!  To recreate a similar necklace with similar beads all I had to do was make beads that I liked!   So I sat at the torch and let my preference and randomness take over once again.  That is how every Snowball is made.

Tenth in the Snowball Series.

So when I had made another necklace like my own (but not too much like my own) I had to name it.  The name had to represent the uniqueness of the piece and have the ability to repeat it over and over again.  Snowflakes intrigued me, as everyone of them is different, but it just didn’t fit quite right.  So one night while watching “The Simpsons” I came up with the Snowball idea.  Snowball is Lisa’s cat, or actually a series of cats that she dearly loves and cherishes.  They all meet unfortunate ends and are replaced by subsequent Snowballs.  A lot like my necklaces. 

Third in the series.

I never enjoy selling them.  As each one is something I dearly love and cherish and has a bit of me melted into each one.  Snowball One is mine, but here are a few more if you care to meet them!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7314842

Second in a series of crazy colorful one of a kind necklaces.