Crystals

I had an order recently for a set of crystal-shaped beads, and it got me on a crystal bead kick. I used Zoozi's Crystal press for these.

This set is Luna 2, encased with Aether:
These have a Nyx base with a little Triton frit, encased with Aether:
These are original Terra, encased with Aether:Somehow the beads look better in person than they do in these photos. They're very sparkly and colorful in the sunlight! I have another set of Pale Emerald Green and Triton crystals I'm cleaning now. I will post a photo when they're done.
:-)

Psyche Leaves

This is a set of sculptural leaves made with Double Helix Psyche glass. They're available in my Etsy shop:

In Like a Lion?

The lamb has already arrived here in Sedona! We're seeing the first much-anticipated signs of Spring. There are two pairs of Robins that hang out at our bird bath, daffodils and fruit trees are blooming in the yard, and the temperature this week has been around 70. Lovin' it!

I just sent my daughter off to New York City on a trip with her 8th grade class. She's part of the Montessori Model United Nations project, where kids act as Ambassadors from different countries and debate international policy with each other at the U.N. in New York. She's an Ambassador from Australia! How cool! New York is supposed to get a ton of snow tomorrow so that should be fun for them. Oh, yeah, snow is actually a fun event when you're from Arizona!

I have a few beads to show. Here's a set of Pandora and Triton beads:And a set of Triton "Leaves of Lothlorien":
Life's busy-ness has taken me away from blogging lately, but I'll be back more often this month with more metallic bead porn for you :-)

Mojo and the Reducing Angels

These disks are made from Double Helix test batch M-232b "pinky purple luster":
I have had several days recently where I have lost my "reducing mojo." It's frustrating for me when this happens, since I use reducing silver glass in pretty much every bead I make. Sometimes, for some reason unknown to me, I cannot get silver glass like Triton or Kronos to reduce. It just turns to mud. I try using a different rod, a different glass, adjusting the flame, waving my hand differently, yet my silver glass mojo is just up and gone.

The other day I was working on a custom order for several sets of beads with Triton and M-232b in them. This was one of my days when my mojo was gone. After a set or two of Triton failures and mounting frustration, I decided to call upon the "Reduction Angels" to make the wind blow in the right direction or adjust the phase of the moon so I could get this darn glass to turn shiny!

So I took a deep breath and just set the frustrating custom order aside for a minute. I decided instead I would make what I felt like making - M-232b spiral disks. I was determined to regain my mojo. I waved the disks very close to the yellow reducing cones. I was gonna make that glass reduce! No tip-toeing around 6 inches from the torch face, I was gonna put the bead right into the reducing flame! To my surprise, the disks quickly turned a pretty rose gold color! My mojo had suddenly returned! Yay! Reducing Angels, thank you!

The next morning, when I opened the kiln and saw what I expected to be the Triton disasters for the custom order, I was pleasantly surprised! The beads had turned out with beautiful shiny colors:On these Triton disks I had used multiple reducing/oxidizing cycles, because it didn't look like the reduction was working at first. I kept erasing the reduction with oxygen, then reducing again. I did that so many times on each bead that they ended up looking like mud, totally over-reduced and over-struck. I put the muddy Triton beads into the kiln, "tomorrow's orphan beads" I figured. As it turned out, it must have been the multiple oxidizing and reducing cycles that brought out so many different colors.

So had I really lost my mojo that day after all, if the beads actually ended up okay? Why did they look so bad in the flame but came out shiny and pretty from the kiln? Silver glass can be really fickle. I sympathize with those who are trying to figure out its mysteries!

Also, one thing I've learned is never count your beads before they've hatched out of the kiln. What you think is gonna be bad turns out beautiful, what you're sure is your life's masterpiece turns out to be a muddy disaster, I've seen it a hundred times now!

Here's another set I made for the custom order, CiM "Blush" with M-232b scrolls. I love this combo:

Happy day to everyone!

Snow in Arizona?

A couple of times each winter in Sedona, we do get a little snow. We had an exceptionally heavy snow just a couple of days ago. A few white patches still linger under the bushes, but it's mostly melted now. Here are two photos, the first one looking out my front door:

And a sunset from later that day:

Focal Beads

I hope all of you had a loving Valentine's Day or simply a pleasant and peaceful February 14th!

I don't often make focal beads, but inspiration got hold of me recently and I made a few of them. The heart above is Medium Amber with Triton scrolls. The next two focals are Triton with some clear encasing and a little Nyx:
This focal has a swirled Triton and Pandora core, with clear encasing and Triton ends:The Triton focals are in my Etsy shop.
Have a nice weekend!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil, that "seer of seers, prognosticator of all prognosticators" has seen his shadow. Six more weeks of Winter, peeps! Hang in there!