Fun With Terra2

I'm obsessed with Terra2! I've made many, many practice beads with it in the past week and managed to get a few colorful things.
Here's a set made with Terra2, Kronos frit, and Aether clear:

This is a sterling silver capped and cored bead made with Terra2, Ivory and Aether:
And here's a second one I made very similar to the first:
When I work this glass too much, the color washes out. That has been my biggest challenge. Otherwise I think the glass is similar to the original Terra, but slightly more translucent maybe, is easier to strike, with better colors.

Metallic Beads on Etsy

Here are two new sets I've got up on Etsy. This first set is encased Kronos rondelles with 3.5mm holes. The edges of the beads are left un-encased which produced a beautiful metallic deep green color that was hard to photograph:

This set has a base/center of Dark Silver Plum with an outside layer of Psyche:


Very metallic! :-)

Pandora Beads

I have a fun new project these days - making large-holed beads to fit on Pandora bracelets. Here is a link to a site where you can buy the Pandora bracelet, so you can see what all the hoopla is about: Click Here. This is the site where I bought mine.

There are other companies making charm bracelets like these, such as Biagi and Troll. Most of the beads for these bracelets have holes that are lined with silver. My goal this year is to learn how to silver-core my beads... I'm almost there, I just need $300 for the special tool!

Until that day arrives - very soon, I assure you - I have started making un-lined Pandora beads. I wear them on my own Pandora bracelet with no ill effects such as scratching of glass or silver.

In addition to the beads pictured above, here are some others I've made, pictured on a Pandora bracelet for visual reference. All of these beads are for sale in my Etsy shop:






I have a second new project going on, too. I can't wait to show you! New post with pics coming soon.... Stay tuned!
Happy day!

New Sets Listed on Etsy

I am emerging from the cave of my studio to present some new listings I have up on Etsy. Each one of these sets uses a different glass by CiM (Creation is Messy).

"Earth Gems III" ...these are made with Canyon de Chelly and Psyche stringers. They have large 3.5mm holes. My "Earth Gem" beads have been very popular and I love making them... thus, "Earth Gems III" !


"Green Metallic Spirals" ...a base of Hades with Psyche stringer design. Hades reacts in interesting ways with Psyche and other silver/metallic foils and glass:


"Misty Blue Rondelles" ...made with Halong Bay. This glass develops a misty translucency similar to moonstone, depending on how it is worked in the flame. To get the cloudy effects, repeatedly heat and cool the bead, making sure the bead gets VERY cool between heatings. I'm really loving the CiM glass these days!

I have also been working on large-hole beads for Pandora and Biagi bracelets. I have to photograph them today, and they'll be up on Etsy. I'll post photos of them here, too.

Enjoy your day everyone!

New on Etsy - Etched Terranova!

Here are three new sets I have up in my Etsy shop.
The first two are organic sets with large 3.5mm holes:

Silver Cinnamon, silver foil and Silver Plum "rivets"

Ivory with silver dots:

This third set has an Ivory base with silver foil and Terranova scrollwork. Like its cousin Terra, Terranova does not etch easily. So, I put this set into the etch bath and got a nice matte Ivory base with shiny, un-etched blue-green Terranova designs:

Click on any of the images to visit my Etsy shop!

Beads on Etsy

It's another beautiful day here in Sedona. This is the month to visit if you want the perfect temperatures and clear skies. It's hard to be on the computer when the weather is like this, but I have lots of new beads to upload to my Etsy shop.

I've also made the cutest pumpkin and ghost beads for Halloween, but I don't have a photo of those yet. Next post!

Here are some of the latest offerings in my Etst shop, come on by and check them out!

Gorgeous Day

It's a beautiful day here in Sedona, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The mornings have been crisp and cool, that perfect fall weather that always reminds me of going back to school no matter how old I am. Since moving away from New England five years ago, the thing I miss the most is the color of the leaves in October and the sound of them swishing underfoot as I walk in the woods. That's my reminiscing for today.

In current news, I have a few new sets up on Etsy. Thank you so very much to my faithful customers, who are making it difficult for me to keep my shop stocked!

Here is my favorite set for the day. It is similar to the olive green set in my last post, but this set is made with Ivory:

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Big Hole Bead

I've been making some big hole beads this week. This one has an Opal Yellow base and Kronos scrollwork. It was made on a 1/2" mandrel. I've been making a lot of others with 4 and 5 mm holes.

I can't get over the Kronos lately. I love the blue color! The Opal Yellow in these photos came out a lot more yellow than it really is. It's actually more brown. Maybe I have to work on that in Photoshop.