Kaleidoscopes To You Blog

Need a little color magic to cure your Friday the 13th blues this January?

Here’s a kaleidoscope that has just the right magic and math background to chase away all those troubles!

Peek a Box in Blue

The Peek a Box in Blue is handcrafted by Marc Tickle who is inspired by his love of magic and his amazement of mathematics principles.

This scope is actually hidden under an interior panel of mirror that has half of a lampworked, sculpted glass dragonfly mounted onto the mirror.

Peek A Box Dragonfly

This is a magical kaleidoscope hidden under a lovely optical sculpture. Marc has combined his lampworking, Japanese printed papers and his reverse painted glass to create every part of this exquisite kaleidoscope. If this is still sounding like magic in motion, watch our YouTube demonstration video.
Peek A Box Kaleidoscope on YouTube

Another great kaleidoscope to chase away the January blues is a Mystic Rapture in Cobalt Blue. This Cobalt Blue glass statement is a timeless kaleidoscope with incredible interior images.

Kittleson Mystic Rapture Kaleidoscope in Cobalt Blue

Kittleson Cobalt Mystic Rapture Interior Image

Another Interior Image from Kittleson Cobalt Mystic Rapture

Steve Kittleson slumps the exterior glass and then uses traditional stained glass technique to create the barrel that holds the fabulous 2 mirror system. Peggy Kittleson lampworks the glass to create the incredible object cell that creates the color inside this kaleidoscope. Enjoy and chase away those January blues!

In working in this wonderful world of kaleidoscopes, fabulous and inspiring people have entered our lives. Judith Paul and Tom Durden are 2 such people for Karl and I.

Judith and Tom were an unlikely love story to start but they have built an incredible life full of color and love. Judith’s background is in color. Color preservation to be exact. She is a highly respected restoration artist and has restored paintings in many exclusive and famous art collections. Tom brings engineering and precision to match Judith’s color palettes. This combination implodes within their fabulous kaleidoscopes.

Exterior of Monet's Japanese Bridge Kaleidoscope

Interior Image with Iris from Monet's Japanese Bridge Kaleidoscope

Monet’s Japanese Garden is an lovely example of how this works.
Delicate lavendars, blues and pinks bloom inside the object cell with a unique arc for a mirror system.

Youtube Video of Monet\'s Japanese Bridge by Judith Paul

Judith has so much inspiration, she has plenty to share! Christine Feehan has been the latest person to be inspired by Judith. The most recent book is Spirit Bound

The main character is Judith Henderson, a painter and kaleidoscope artist whose main love interest is Thomas Vincent…..

Judith’s life is filled with color and love. This book is inspired by this and we are honored that Judith includes is in a corner of her vibrant life!

So much has happened this week.

In preparing for Thanksgiving, there’s always the turkey and how many places to set at the table.
At work, we are always gearing up form Black Monday being etailers.

But this year, my family is grateful. We will all be together. After a “surprise” open heart surgery, my father will be coming home tomorrow.

Here we are all together in the shop in 2007.

Jean and her Family

This Thanksgiving will have special meaning of family

Grateful prayers go out to the incredible teams at Mayo Clinic and Saint Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN. Special shout outs to Drs. Evans and Park and Michelle Squared. (His double team of RN’s in ICU named Michelle and Michelle!)

Oh, we’re in the holiday spirit here at Kaleidoscopes To You!

We decorated with trees last week and strung some holiday lights! I even changed my Facebook Job title to Chief Holiday Elf! Planning a relaxing dinner with staff and their spouses this Saturday. We have had a unique year with the remodel and starting new work patterns and habits. This YouTube link
Warehouse Remodel on YouTube
shows the warehouse complete, but the offices hadn’t been finished out. Looking forward to a chance to relax and fellowship with everyone to celebrate the end of the remodel and the beginning of the BIG season!

This past weekend with orders was humming along and we have huge amounts of inventory arriving this week from N & J Enterprises, Collier Studios and hopefully Deborah and Kevin Healy, Joanne Jacobs and maybe even Corki Weeks.

Here’s a kaleidoscope we just received from Corki last week!
Corki Weeks Bead Parlor Kaleidoscope Video on YouTube

The scope shown below is the Cathedral Windows Trio scope by Collier - an incredible kaleidoscope value for gift giving this season! And a brand new design this year, so if you need a gift for a collector, you haven’t given this one yet!

Cathedral Windows Kaleidoscope by Collier

I just made a phone call to double check our box order is ready for pickup. We have kaleidoscopes waiting for the inner box so they can get labeled and go on the shelf and be ready for shipping out to customers and gift recipients

So if you need Hannukah or Christmas gifts, now is the time to browse and shop while the selection is phenomenal and the shipping is easy. So dial up some Bing Crosby on iTunes and get to it!

In early October, we had a wonderful afternoon on the Northeast Iowa Artists Tour. Our destination and purpose was the art glass and kaleidoscope studio of Peggy and Steve Kittleson.

We are always amazed by hot glass work. Peggy allowed us to take video which is hosted on YouTube.
Peggy Kittleson Lampworking Glass

On this gorgeous Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to learn the back story on Mystic Resolution and its full inspiration. Watch here.

This Mystic Resolution Parlor Kaleidoscope by Peggy and Steve Kittleson is a rare kaleidoscope limited to only 5 pieces. The one shown here is #4 in the series of 5.

We’ve all read the headlines. Markets are falling, then rising. Consumer confidence is down, consumer confidence is up!

It’s starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book.

In the meantime, here at Kaleidoscopes To You, we keep doing what most of the economy is doing. We’re showing up and working hard. We are stocking the shelves and preparing for the holiday sales season. We conservatively optimistic.

I’m starting to pick out Christmas carols. Thinking about where to put up a Christmas Tree in our new office space.

So here’s a few of my favorite picks for Christmas this season at Kaleidoscopes To You.

Trio series is back and even better by the Colliers! Trio Kaleidoscopes by the Colliers at Kaleidoscopes To You
This kaleidoscope is amazing on the exterior and the interior.

Trio in Cathedral Windows Pattern

Colliers offer an incredible value by incorporating 3 complete kaleidoscope into one tube with one object cell. This kaleidoscope also offers a rare circular or tubular mirror system which creates a vortex image.

Trio Circular Interior

For a holiday gift that makes them say “OMG how did they do that?!?!” , this is my favorite pick.
Dichro III by Charles Karadimos.

Dichro III by Karadimos

Dichro III Interior Image

This kaleidoscope has days of slumping, fusing and lampworking of glass to make it happen. Check out the YouTube video to get a sense of how incredible this scope is.
Dichro III by Karadimos on YouTube

OK, it’s fall. The leaves are just starting to turn here and I’m trying to see the bright side of the impending winter. At least I have the bright orange autumn colors with which to decorate!

I even had the happy occurrence of finding 2 boxes of orange and amber Viking glass dishes in my basement. (not happy that it was because of mandatory dishwasher repairs above) but it is a vibrant joy to have these colors in my dining room again.

Relish dish in Orange

Viking Glass in Orange

A few kaleidoscopes can be great additions to decorating too.
Cathedral Windows has a great terra cotta coloring to the exterior. This is part of the new Chrome series by the Colliers. The exterior is Paula Nadelstern quilt patterns printed onto fabric and then wrapped around the black chrome finish on the acrylic fittings.

Exterior of Cathedral Windows

This kaleidoscope offers a mirror system for any type of mood also. With 3 complete mirror systems, you can change interior images as fast as the season!

Another incredible piece to decorate for fall is Sunset by Judith Paul and Tom Durden.
This kaleidoscope brings the harvest sunset right into your living room on a cloudy day.

Sunset Kaleidoscope video from YouTube

sunset-exterior-by-judith-paul-and-tom-durden

Need something that doesn’t look like a kaleidoscope?

This whimsical sculptural kaleidoscope is an Acorn and Oak Leaf.

Coghill Acorn Kaleidoscope

This delightful Acorn is full of bright colors inside.

Definitely not a scope to squirrel away for too long. Like my Viking Glass. It needs light to be enjoyed.

Karl and I have shared a great history with Fenton Art Glass for over 25 years. Both of our family businesses had carried Fenton glass independently before we married and merged the stores and eventually became Kaleidoscopes To You. But that’s another chapter.

The chapter being written at Fenton currently is one of big change as they transition from major glass production into bead making.

Karl and I had a magical visit in 1999. We took the public tour and spent some time in the gift shop and then we introduced ourselves as a dealer. Then Scott Fenton spent some time showing us the new furnaces and sharing some of his history. He started out sweeping floors around the furnaces and then worked with hot glass during college.

We also were allowed to see the machinists at work as they create new moulds for glassmaking. Each mould was handtooled and crafted from solid steel to withstand the heat of the glass. A quiet secret is the basement. It is filled with vast amounts of steel moulds; not just crafted by Fenton craftsmen but also acquired from other glass factories that have closed along the Ohio River valley. Stacks and stacks of moulds all tagged and cataloged…..

Then we were escorted up to Bill Fenton’s office. Bill was serving as Chairman and Frank was Historian during 1999. Frank stopped in briefly, but we spent half an hour listening to Bill’s stories and learning about the major gift shows and their new efforts on QVC. Shelley Fenton Ash also poked in for a moment as she wanted to check on a prototype piece for QVC that she picked up off of the shelf.

Bill told us the story of selling a piece of cranberry glass to Avon for a Christmas catalog. Now Bill could have taken a dozen of these pieces home from the factory. But no, he orders 2 pieces from his local Avon lady! Talk about integrity and wanting to see his products succeed as well as everyone connected to Fenton!

Bill was also interested in kaleidoscopes. I took off my Dean Krause Oneness ring and handed it to him. Being delightfully old school, he exclaimed “What cute girls in bikinis!”

As we left Bill’s office, our main sales contact told us how impressed Bill must have been. It was 11:45. He always left at 11:15 so he could have lunch at home with his wife and watch the Young and the Restless!

We have always been proud to represent Fenton Art Glass here at Kaleidoscopes To You. It is with sadness and respect that we have received our last shipment of figurines from Fenton. We have adapted and changed our business through the years and we acknowledge and respect Fenton for having the strength and foresight to change and adapt. In fact, back in 1999, our website had a dancing telephone icon and our toll free number. We didn’t even have internet access at work yet!

At Kaleidoscopes To You, we are able to expand our glass paperwieght and figurine offerings with other glass studios. Feel free to browse Glass Eye Studio and Orient and Flume Art Glass on our website for lovely gift ideas.

Summertime may quiet and relaxing at times, but this August has been full of activity at Kaleidoscopes To You.

Each month we create a new section on our website that features new scopes or items that have arrived or been unearthed from a quiet corner here. This August, we have so much beautiful new items, it is hard to squeeze them into a short narrative here! Here’s a quick recap of 3 of the new pieces.

Most recent piece here is Cherry Blossom by Kittleson. We received #6 of the edition and it is absolutely extraordinary. The delicate sculpted Cherry Blossom inside. The fused and slumped Cherry Blossoms on the exterior barrel are so delicate and exquisite, I have writer’s block just trying to find words and adjectives to describe it. Thankfully, we have some YouTube video so you can watch and enjoy.

YouTube Video of Cherry Blossom Kaleidoscope by Kittlesons

Equally delicate and precise is the Bronze Hibiscus Kaleidoscope by Yasuko Nakazato. I hand picked a lovely kaleidoscope by Yasuko at the Brewster Kaleidoscope Convention and the image of it has been so popular, that we have reordered more than once this summer. Each kaleidoscope by Yasuko is just as spectacular as the one before it.

bronze-hibiscus-kaleidoscope-by-yasuko-nakazato

Wishes is a new kaleidoscope designed by Sue Rioux. Sue’s dichroic and fused glass creates all the components of a well engineered barrels. Then she adds the magic of dichroic glass into the mirror system. It’s as if you stuffed all of your Wishes inside this magical kaleidoscope.

Now, before you start thinking that all we do is play with kaleidoscopes, let me update you on our remodel! The warehouse is fabulous (especially with efficient insulation and central air conditioning!) and we are settling in and getting shelves organized and labeled. The old warehouse space is sealed, painted and getting scrubbed so the floor can be resealed. We are looking forward to having all of our workspaces within one collaboration space.

Karl and I are used to being at opposite ends of 2 joined buildings, so this could be interesting as I move about 20 feet away from his workspace.

Keep checking back to see the final offices as we have antique church stained glass windows that we are going to incorporate into this space.

And the summer temps have started to cool down and we are very dry here in North Iowa. School even started yesterday so autumn is right around the corner!

Here at Kaleidoscopes To You, we are constantly trying to find new scopes that are a great value for gift giving.

In working with N & J Enterprises, we are able to offer this delightful kaleidoscope as a $20 gift!

This great 6 inch pocket kaleidoscope is available in warm Padauk wood

Bead Chamber on the Padauk Pocket Kaleidoscope

as well as in warm, natural walnut.

Pocket Kaleidoscope in warm, Natural Walnut

Another section to keep an eye on is our What’s New section. We create one for each month and July 2011 has lots of new work by Judith Paul and Tom Durden, Durette Studios, Koji Yamami, Phil Coghill and Deborah and Kevin Healy.