New "Destash" Category in My Etsy Shop

I've created a new category in my Etsy shop: Destash! Time to do a little spring cleaning. At this moment I've got two destash listings, with more to come throughout the next few weeks.

First item up, a focal bead made with CiM Ginger, silver foil, and Pandora encased in clear. The clear/Pandora combo turned yellow, which sometimes happens when I work silver glass or silver foil and clear together for a long time in the flame. Still pretty cool I think:The second destash item is a set of etched beads made with ASK104 Bahia Blue, Violet Nights and Berry Creamy:
My 'destash' category will have everything from beads that are good seconds, to beads that have been hanging around the studio for a long time, beads that are extras from sets, as well as really special sets that I've been hoarding in my personal stash for a very long time because I liked them so much. Stay tuned!

Pandora and Luna Sets

These two sets went into my Etsy shop today. The first one has a Triton base with Pandora swirled over the top, the second set is a base of ASK Silver Cinnamon with swirls of Luna:In the Pandora set, four of the beads annealed for 3 hours and the other four annealed for 10 hours. There isn't any color difference between the two batches. It's like they struck to a certain point and then stayed there. A mystery!

Beads for Custom Orders

I sometimes take custom orders for beads and sets. Usually I'm asked if I could make something similar to beads I've made in the past.

Here are two sets I made for a customer this week which are variations on some of my earlier bead sets. This first set is made with Caramel Apple and Silver Cinnamon glass by ASK104 and Effetre Dark Silver Plum dots. The octagonal shape was made with Zoozi's Crystal press. Some of the beads were reduced for a slight metallic sheen:And this set is transparent Effetre brown with Psyche scroll designs:

Things You Missed....

Beads have been flying off the shelves of my Etsy shop so fast these days, I haven't had time to post pictures of them or ramble on about them in my blog!

Here are some sets you may have missed in my Etsy shop if you blinked. I hadn't even closed the pictures in Photoshop before they were in the mail to customers. I'm so thankful for the sales I've had this month!

Textured Silver Plum spacer beads:
Psyche swirled over Canyon de Chelly:
Luna2 over ASK Silver Cinnamon:
Back to the torch - doin' what I love to do!
:-)

More Spiral Disks

Some opaque ones this time:

These disks are for sale in my Etsy shop.
I've found that the stiffer transparent glasses are easier to make spiral disks with than the softer opaques. The transparents hold their shape longer in the flame. Heat control is really the key in making disks, so if you are learning this technique I recommend starting with a transparent or a stiff opaque. Now finally after a year of practice I've got my heat control down to the point where opaque spiral disks are possible, and I'm so happy! In fact I seem to be obsessed with spiral disks these days. That must be the natural result of finally getting something that has taken so many hours of blood sweat and tears!

Uh-oh...........
I just opened the cooled-down kiln to see yesterday's bead loot, and was met with utter disaster. OMG. I'll have to take a picture and write the next blog post about it.....
:(

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 on Etsy

I've got some more metallic disc beads up on Etsy. These are made with a Double Helix test batch called K-108. The metallic quality of this glass is the most mirror-like I've seen yet from Double Helix, reflecting silver, gold, green and blue:


This bead is called "Jovian Tempest" and it's the first in my series of Tempest beads. I have a few more that I've photographed and will post here soon. I love the glass reactions and swirls in this bead. It's a flat tabular shape. The glasses in the bead include Terra, Intense Black, K-102 and Silver Cinnamon:


You can click on the photos to go to the Etsy listings.

Psyche Experiments

Here are some test beads I've done with Psyche glass, trying it out on different base colors:


The base glasses are, from left to right:
Vetrofond Moss Agate, Opal Yellow, CiM Thai Orchid, Medium Topaz, Vetrofond Green Ochre, Dark Topaz, ASK104 Caramel Apple, CiM Hades.

There seems to be an endless variety of colors and styles to be gleaned from Psyche, depending on the base glass used. You can see the sets I made with the Moss Agate and Dark Topaz in my last post.

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!

Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

That's one of my favorite Sandy Denny songs from the 70's... a good song for this time of year:

Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time

For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?

I love to write in my blog as often as possible, every day if I can, but the past few weeks have flown by. I've had family visiting, I've been sick, I've gone out of town, all kinds of distractions to take me away from blogging! But I'm back, at least for today!

I have a favorite bead of late, made with Terranova glass. I've been wearing this one on a Bead Hitching Post pendant for the past week - I think it's a keeper! It's a landscape, with the Terranova at the top making the starry night sky. In addition to Terranova the bead has Vetrofond Odd Olive, Effetre, ASK Caramel Apple and Raku.

I love this new Terranova glass and I've gone and bought more of it already. I'm still practicing with Luna, too. Having a harder time getting a lot of color from Luna. This next bead has a Luna base with pure Terranova and Terranova/Luna stringers on top. The picture is a little low-res, but you get the general idea of what the bead looks like. I'm getting a lot of red and purple colors from these glasses.


I guess you could look at the Luna bead and say it does have good color, but I'm hoping to get more in the blue-green range and not just the orange. If it weren't for the addition of Terranova stringer on top, the bead would be mostly yellow/orange.

Etched Button Set on eBay

Besides the Terranova set I have listed this week, I also have this set of etched button beads listed. They are made with ASK104 glass. Here's a photo... click the image and it will take you to the auction page:

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!

More Beads

The past few days I've been posting new beads into my Etsy shop. I'm featured in the Etsy Storque Showcase today, and my shop has gotten a lot of views :) Here are some of the new beads I have up:


Hope you had a good weekend!

Purple!

Here are a few of the new beads I've been working on.
The eclectic set of pink and purple is not my usual style, but I love the way they turned out. I seem to be better at making sets of identical beads these days, so making each bead different was a challenge. I also rarely make beads this feminine. I thought I'd push my envelope a little and make something different. This is the set I was working on using the CIM glasses, including the Simply Berry. I really love this set and the experience of making it, so I'm going to make more!
The second set of blue and purple buttons is etched ASK104 glass.
Enjoy the photos!

New Set on eBay

I've got a new nugget set up on eBay tonight. Here is the main focal bead:


Click on the picture to go to the auction page.

It's been a beautiful, sunny and warm day here. I've been making beads today, and I'm just about to get back to the torch after I write this. I'm saving my Terra bead experiments until the end of the day, so they don't spend too long in the kiln and potentially have their color washed out. I'm thinking now, though, that washed-out color comes more from over-working the glass rather than my kiln temp or annealing length.

Back to the beads!

Freeform bead #3

The obsession with off-mandrel beads continues...
Here's one I made a couple of days ago. It's etched.

Computer day

I've spent most of today on the computer, doing more photoshopping and updating my Etsy store and website. I haven't had a lot of torch time these past few days... most of the family is down with the flu and I've been doing 'mom' stuff. It's been good to have this time that I can devote to much-needed computer work.

Being a self-representing artist who sells online means spending quite a bit of time at the computer! The actual making of the beads is just a small part of the process. Luckily I enjoy working on the computer so it's all fun for me. Here's a photo of a bead I just uploaded to Etsy.