Hippie Chick

I have this big, happy necklace in a show - but it better not sell.



I want to have it for myself.

It's made up of lots and lots of small stray beads - graduated in size from about 9mm to 12mm.
All of them are different and I put them together on hand hammered, spiral links of brass.
It took hours and hours of banging with my little hammer.

'Hippie Chick' is a continuous loop about  45" long.
I wore it for a few minutes just to check it out - it was so fun.

Of course, I can make myself another one if it sells.
But, you know how that goes, I would probable never get around to making another 72 individual wee glass beads.

P/S - Sorry for my absence from the blog this past week - my silly old laptop was in the shop. Turns out it was probably just dust that was making it wheeze and pass out. Guess you can guess how much time I devote to dusting this old house?

Bird Songs

Glass bird pendants.

Love Songs

Who doesn't love heart shaped beads?
I cannot even begin to tell you how many of these I have made since I began lampworking.

I always make at least one each session at the torch - as an end of the day bead.
Picking up and using all the popped off ends, short bits and glassy detritus, and bits of fine silver on my bench.

I don't fuss with them much, this season's have just a hand hammered spiral bail and a simple leather cord.

This one (above) has a black base encased in Sapphire Blue from Cims's with at bit of fine silver foil floating on the surface. One of my girlfriends nick-named it the evil bitch bead.

These heart necklaces are part of my everyday clothing uniform and sometimes I'll sell them right off my neck.
It can be really weird.

All of these are headed to More Fire Glass Holiday Sale.

A variation on the theme - one of my little seed pod beads dangling on the end.

This heart (above) is a great glass combo to try.
It's Cim's Olive wrapped up in silver foil and then dotted haphazardly with Double Helix Gaia. Melt it all together and reduce heavily and you get a glittering, iridescent moss covered rock.

They are all around two inches long.

My hearts are gravity shaped - which gives you lovely drooping swirls when when you make stripes on the bead before shaping the lobes of the heart.

There are even a few more - if you want to see them you can click here.

Since this post is called "Love Songs" tomorrow's blog post has to be called "Bird Songs."
Please stop by and see this season's flock of bird pendants.

Burning the Midnight Oil

Who has been staying up 'til all hours of the night and working like a woman possessed to get every last earring hammered, hat stitched, necklace strung and bead reamed and tagged before tomorrow afternoon's deadline? Me. That's when it all my loot has to be turned in for the More Fire Glass holiday show.

After that there will be pictures galore of all the treasure I have been working on the past week or two, and even a little tutorial on hammering coiled links. Banging and banging with my wee hammer is my new obsession...

And now for a moment of peace and quiet, from my front hall.
It's where the dogs have been napping to escape the endless plinking of my hammer.

I want a nap.

It's an Earring Riot Tonight

A giant pile of new earrings - 30 pairs.

These are some of my favorites. All of them with hand hammered earwires, some of them in sterling silver.

If you want to see them all - click here.

Indian Corn

A very simple, new necklace
























and its inspiration.

Made with hand hammered copper links of 20 gauge wire.

There are almost 60 small lampwork beads made from a variety of different rich, streaky glass colors.

Relish, light and dark silver plum, Canyon de Chelly, cosmic storm, special brown and other stuff that was in my bucket of short rods that looked about the right color.

Gloom & Doom

What a stinking cold, dreary, miserable day.

Why not just get it over with and start snowing already?

The last of the fall leaves shot through a rain drenched windshield.

Hopelessly Devo-ted To You

I am spending my day wiring that last batch of fancy lampwork headpins into earrings and doing some dreary, endless household chores. Nevertheless, I am taking the time to share this Halloween snapshot of my Devo-ted husband with you.

Really, he's not quite as weird as he looks in this photo.
We had a wonderful Halloween, hope you did too.