Encased Silver Foil

Ooo - sparkles

These beads are fun to make - it's a simple technique that has infinite variations.

Each one started with a small barrel core of black glass which has a postage stamp sized piece of fine silver foil wrapped around it. Then the foil is encased in a colorful transparent glass and shaped. The trick is to not burn off the silver - which you can do by never letting the flame touch the foil while you're encasing it. Just let the molten glass flow down onto the bead which you keep under the flame.

They're great just made with clear and you can change up the core colors and encasing colors to make nearly endless beautiful beady combination. Just keep your transparent encasing colors pale or you can't see the silver that well.

Here's a bracelet made with light blue, green, grass green and aqua.

Hint: be sure that you use silver foil and not silver leaf, silver leaf is too fragile and won't give you the same watery sparkle.