Evil Eye

A great big heart with an 'eye of protection' on the front.

This type of amulet is one of the most ancient styles of beads and has been made by many, many different cultures for thousands of years.

A talisman like this can shield you from bad luck that is willed on you by others. Keeping your life in balance and deflecting any bad vibes that are sent your way.  Never fear the stink-eye again.

I placed my "eye" on a big heart.

The heart is made of 'dark special red' and 'carrot red' glass.

The eye started with a circle of dark ivory, then a spot of 'raku' on top of that. I plunged the center of the 'raku' dot to form a deep hole in the bead. The black ring is a chemical reaction line between the ivory glass and the metals in the 'raku' glass. Lastly, a big blob of 'super clear' was layered on top to make a domed lens that trapped an air bubble in the hole.

Fancy Finger Flowers

Expanding on the idea I had for the tulip rings.

Big, overblown florals.

Yes, I know, glass is kind of impractical for this sort of overblown cocktail ring.
You'll just have to be careful when you wear it, it will be worth it, they're so much fun.

A Dragon's Egg & Alien Planets

I've been busy at my jewelry bench this weekend.

Big beads with big, handmade bead caps.

I haven't made any of these pendants in awhile. Man I love hammering bead caps. It's a good thing that my old rock'n'roll husband is nearly deaf because I was banging away late into the night. Plink, plink, plink with my little hammer, dapping block and texture stamps.

A dragon's egg perhaps? With brass bead caps.

Next, an alien planet?

With copper findings.

And, another mysterious planet.
This one had nickle silver bead caps

They're all up in my etsy shop.

Pendant Party

I got in a groove at the torch and made a pile of off mandrel pendants.

Leaves, hearts and moons - all sorts of colors and decorations.
There up in my Belvedere etsy shop.

Even though it sort of chilly I have the window next to my desk wide open. Why? Because my husband is mowing the lawn for the first time this year and I love that smell. No, not my sweaty husband - the smell of freshly mown grass.

The Saddest Tulips

This freak snowstorm is a drag.

I am not amused that all my outside tulips are suffering.
They're all bent over, flat on the ground and weeping.

Inside, however, they are thriving.

These new glass flowers are about to become rings and a bracelet.

Swarming

I think for 4-20, here at Belvedere Beads, we'll get buzzed.

Bumble bee pendants and flowers for rings.

The swarm waiting to have their bails epoxied in.

Poppies for rings.

Vintage Venetians

A nice pair of vintage Murano glass beads - thought I would share a snapshot of them.
I like the combination of turquoise with goldstone (aventurine) - the sparkly bits.

If you click on the 'vintage venetians' tag you can see lots of older post with pics of Italian glass beads.

Mother of the Bride

It seems that every spring I make a necklace in these colors and deliver it to the museum gift shop, and every year they tell me they sold it to a "mother of the bride."

The glass is Cim's 'peacock' and sky blue opalino.

It's all put together with my hand hammered and coiled sterling silver links.

And, it's a miracle, I like the clasp.
I have this complete bitchy thing with clasps - I almost never like the way they look.

True story:
When I got married my soon to be mother-in-law told me not to wear white because she was planning on wearing white to my wedding. It was a tiny civil ceremony in our yard without any theme other than I asked for polka dots. All the gals wore polka dots dresses and the the guys polka dot ties - except for "Mother Dorothy" she wore all white.
I never did figure that woman out.

Tulip Garden

My crop of glass tulips is growing.

Glass flowers on hammered sterling silver rings.

I can't wait to make more!

New For Spring

I am ready to make a million of these!

Little tulips for your fingers.

Wear bunches of them for a spring bouquet on the back of your hand.

An Earring a Day...

Headpin earrings.

Black glass (with raku frit) on steel headpins, freshwater pearls, bronze wire wrapping and hand-hammered sterling silver earwires.