Review of Deda Studios: Fused Glass and Smelly Jellies!

DeDa Studios

http://www.dedastudios.com/

Have you ever heard of Fused glass or Smelly Jellies?
You are going to love Debbie and her daughter's artwork and Smelly Jellies!  I Do! 

About Deda Studios.
Deda Studios is a mom and daughter business, Debbie and her daughter Dawn (DeDa!).  Ever since they could remember they were truly "artists at heart".  I asked her a question about how her business got started, and no matter which way I try to piece it together, I think nothing can beat her orginal response.  So, here it is in her words! :)

Debbie:

My daughter and I have been crafting in all mediums since she could color as a small child. I have always been an artist at heart. I spent many years at a career and I am finally able to do what I truly love. I am a proud mother...when Dawn was in 7th grade her painting of David Bowie was  displayed at the Wisconsin Capital ... she received honors from the Governor Tommy Thompson!  I can still remember the entire day even though it was many years ago.  

I have always had a passion for glass...when I was younger I worked with stained glass.  Then I attended  two workshops and fell in love with fused glass.  I am basically self taught.  Many of my favorite pieces are total mistakes.

Being the stay at home mom of three children my daughter began making Smelly Jellies.  A very "GREEN" way to scent your home. Last summer she decided to start DeDa Studios...and started being active in art & craft fairs and farmers markets. This winter we began focusing on Etsy, Facebook, our blog, and our website.  Our "Guess the Bottle" Contest on our blog is a huge success.  Every Wednesday I post a slumped piece of Bottle Art and everyone tries to guess what type of bottle it is. 

Now for the Smelly Jellies.

I picked out Lily of the Valley (something I have never smelled before) and Jasmine.  When I received it, Oh did it smell like home.  I had a bush in our old house growing up, and it was a very fragrant jasmine bush.  Every evening when I got home I was greeted with this breeze lightly scented with jasmine!  I was excited that this Smelly Jelly had that same scent!  It was not over powering that it made me sick--it was like I was back home walking up the hill to get home!  I LOVE IT!  The Lily of the Valley has such a nice quality scent too.  I usually hate using febreeze or airwick because after a while it just gets me sick--but these two scents were perfect and I am absolutely happy with them.  :) 

These are long lasting scent jars. They last about 3-6 months.  Need I say they last better than candles?  I love candles, I light them in my home, but in about 2 weeks I have just about used 2 packages of my votives!  These Smelly Jellies are defintely not bad to have around to get your rooms smelling nice!  One or two are great for small spaces. I keep one in our bedroom and one in our bathroom.
She does refill the jars when you run out for half the price!

Did I mention what a great price they are set at?  They cost only $3.00 each! 

I did a bit of research, and these little air refresheners can be reused for years.  I guess you just got to know how to take care of them!  Hehe I did not do well, I kind of overfilled the jar with too much water and lost a tiny bit.  I think this is a great way to be a bit more Greener.  You can reuse the jars, and they really are a  greener way of scenting your house! 

Fused Glass and Bottle Art

I did a little bit of research on what fused glass was, and it is a beautiful art form of melting glass together in a kiln. With heat one can melt down and fuse together different pieces of glass to make some really unique and one of a kind piece of art. Debbie and her daughter ----started up a business because of their passion and love of art. They incorporate this method of fusing glass together to make very practical and lovely items. Items such as Bookmarks, Magnets, Hair Pins, Clips, and bracelets! They also sent me a "slumped" bottle that has been used already as a spatula holder and at the beginning, a little knick nack holder. I am using this "slumped" glass bottle right now in the kitchen, and am thinking about using it to hold some butter! I love its versatility and how it recycles and stretches out glass bottles. Is not this an awesome way to recycle and reuse glass?! I love the creativity!!

Debbie at Deda studios sent me a gorgeous bracelet!

 It caught my eye as I was browsing her website, and the beautiful colors jump out!  Pictures don't do it justice!  The fused glass baubles or beads are pretty tough, they are not too fragile as one may think. I LOVE the varigated colors! They have little glints of sparkles in some, others are clear and have a deep hue to it. I know that when she asked me to pick a color---I just could not choose! I am so happy with this multicolored bracelet! I think it’s just a FUN bracelet to wear anywhere!

I love this bookmark! It’s just perfect for me, it is big enough to keep the pages, and just something that kind of grabs my attention to remind me to "READ!". I just had fun with this one, you know?

Here are some pictures of my little one sporting the fused glass hair pins Deda Studios sent us! :)  I loved how the colors sort of illuminated and glistened in the sun.  The colored glass shone their colors magnificently when we went to church and the sun was out!  I loved it!  The contrast of colors were great.  I did not have my camera--sorry! :)  But I did kind of just took some pictures of Sophie using them.  The colors are something that I really like because glass seems just to have a whole other tone of hues and colors!