Hi from South Africa!

[Elizabeth]

Hi there,
my name is Beth and I live with my Hubby, 2 dogs and my cat just outside a town called East London in South Africa. ( My two daughters are grown and have flown the nest - providing me with  a 'sin-outa-law '  each and 8 grand cats between them!)  I have been doing stained glass as a 'full time paid hobby'  for roughly 8 - 9 years now,  although I have always loved glass -any kind of glass! and was over the moon when I first found someone who was giving s.g. classes!   Yvonne was a wonderful teacher and gave me very good solid grounding on which to branch out and make my own path! 
 However!  my computer experience is MUCH more lacking!!  Thank you Nancy for all the prodding and help to get this far on AOG! 
I have always tended to be a 'lurker' whenever I come accross a forum - as I work only with small stuff - light catchers and 3-d things, like whirls etc.,  and I realize that most serious glass artists seem to consider this a waste of time. !  Also,  I seldom have much to offer  simply because my feild is so 'narrow' - although I have learned a great deal from 'lurking' - thank you everyone!
Now that I've eventually got here,  looking forward to a long stay -thank y'all for a great forum.
Beth

[nansea121]

Hiya Beth!!!!! Great to see you here!
You do lovely work. Soldering those 3-D whirls isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. I have a little surprise for you. There is a fella here by the name of Alan who is responsible for giving us some great smilies we like to insert with our messages.
How about this!!! Cool huh! All you do is click on '[more]' after the last smilie that looks like this -  Friends (where you write your message) and you'll come up with a big page full of lil' cuties you can use.


Have fun looking around!

Nancy 

[Lou Ann]

Beth,

Welcome!!! I'm glad you decided to join us and I hope you find this to be as wonderful a place as I think it is.

I can tell you from experience the people here are friendly and helpful when it comes to answering questions.

Lou Ann

[Elizabeth]

Thank you, Nancy & Lou Ann!   Think I will give the smaileys and stuff a miss for now - still trying to stumble my way around the site,  with out trying to get smart! Right now my computer seems to be on a go slow strike (like a lot of other South Africans) - so will check back later!
Beth

[Audrey]

Welcome Beth. Glad you found us. you will enjoy it here.

[Becki]

Welcome, Beth.  Glad you could join us!

[JoanFrances]

Welcome Beth.  Would love to see some of your work Dear.  I bought the whirl books about 5 years ago and have never even attempted one yet.  If you have a market for your pieces, then that is good not bad.  There are many customers who prefer getting some little bling rather than large panels.  

Welcome to the forum, hope to see you often.  Enjoy

[ct4mom]

  Beth, so happy your here with us. I to would love to see some of your work. I feel some of the little things can be more challenging than the larger pieces. Look forward to seeing you and Im sure you will have much to offer to our little place.

[Anne]

Hi Beth.  So happy you've joined us!  Feel free to ask questions at any time whether it be glass related or getting around in here.  I'm computer challenged too so if I can do it you can too.  It's just getting the familiarity with the site, it really is quite easy to navigate in.

I do a lot of the smaller things too and there are a lot of us here that do and I consider myself a serious glass artist so don't let anyone intimidate you into thinking that what you do doesn't have value! Just because you prefer small to humongous doesn't mean you don't have talent! And whirls are NOT easy to do!!

So, a BIG welcome!  Glad you're here! 

[Barbara]

Hi Beth, Glad you joined us here and welcome.
Barbara

[Alan]

  from land of cacti, tumbleweeds and coyotes

Pull up a comfy chair, grab your favorite beverage  or whatever and look around.

I have always tended to be a 'lurker' whenever I come accross a forum - as I work only with small stuff - light catchers and 3-d things, like whirls etc.,  and I realize that most serious glass artists seem to consider this a waste of time. !  Also,  I seldom have much to offer  simply because my feild is so 'narrow'

There is no such thing as being too narrow a field in glass as you become quite good at what you're doing - for the longest time all I did were 4"x4"x6" candle shelters - then I discovered there is a whole lot more to doing glass than candle shelters - still cold glassing, have not advanced into the warm or hot stuff - just yet - still having too much fun with the cold glass!

[PiscesGlass]

Welcome Beth!  Glad to have you come out of the lurking stage!  This is a fun (and funny) group, come on in the waters fine!

I'm one of those "didn't like to do anything except large panel" types..who is now making much smaller, less expensive items because in this economy that is what is selling.  And you know?  I'm having a lot of fun doing so.  It's all creativity and it's all good! 

So post some of your projects I'm sure that we'd all like to see them!  And again, Welcome!

De

[Tom]

Hi Beth, and welcome!!!!!  Glad to have you here. 

[Kev]

  &  to AOG

We are all so glad that you decided to join our family. We have a great diversified group here with many interests, talents, skills, and creative abilities. On top of all of that, they are great people! As we have gotten to know one another, friendships have been established. I look forward to adding your name to the list! No matter what your interest or talent is, it will be of interest to someone at some time. I know I'm all over the map with interests, but it all ties into glass in one way or another.

Please feel free to ask as many questions, or directions you need. We are a friendly bunch, and we look out for one another. So....enjoy what we have to offer, and come back often so we can get to know you friend!

Kev

[Elizabeth]

Thank you everyone for the fabulous, warm welcome!   I feel at home already!  I've just coaxed my little pc out of a fit of the sulks,  but hope to be a regular member from now on!   Will try to get some pics up soon!  Just don't hold your collective breath - as Nancy can attest - I'm a slow learner on all things computer related!

Beth

[nansea121]

..naaahhh:) You're doing great!