Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Saturday, March 09, 2019
Sunday, March 03, 2019
New Earrings - Nancy Valle Beads
Earrings with hammered sterling silver & ceramic art beads.
I made some things today just for myself.
That almost never happens.
Earrings with hammered sterling silver, ceramic art beads and found shell fragments.
I have a fantastic stash of ceramic art beads by Nancy Valle.
They're hoarded in a special jar. I pawed around in that jar today and made myself some earrings.
Her beads are just so gorgeous and wild, they're like fossils and ancient relics.
I love, love the ones below that she imprinted with little leaves of parsley.
Earrings with hammered sterling silver & ceramic art beads.
Earrings with hammered bronze, ceramic art beads and gold plated earring wires.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Donuts or Cherrios?
A new bead style - like the tiniest donut or the biggest Cherrio.
Made off mandrel with swirls of color and frit.
These are for a bracelet class at the local bead store Let's Bead.
Starting with a piece of 5mm round leather and a magnetic clasp these are for piling on with other fun components to create your unique bracelet.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Tricks With Shorts - or - How to Make Marbled Beads
Grab all your turquoise glass rod shorts and your nippers.
Light turquoise, dark, smurfy, atlantis, rainforest, copper green, opal, all of 'em and some sky blue too.
Chunk them up with your nippers.
I use a plastic colander to catch them, otherwise they go rocketing everywhere.
I keep them in a small, plastic frit jar.
To make the beads just pick up a chunky chip with the blob at the end of a rod of turquoise.
I carefully introduce them into the flame by sneaking the chip in around the backside of the blob.
After you've melted in a bunch of different hued chips, and have a nice size gather going, just wrap the whole mess on to your heated mandrel. The more you stretch out the gather to wind it the more marbled the bead will be.
Obviously this works great with all sorts of colors and mixes of colors.
I always have a jar of turquoise on hand, as well as a nice mix of corals. Greens are good, a mix of greys and browns, I'm thinking of making a mix of black, dark silver plum and ivories.
(some of these also have some frit too)
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Friday, January 11, 2019
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Sunday, January 06, 2019
Because I Needed Bead Release...
What glass beadmaker out there has not done this?
I needed bead release.
So I got all this beautiful, new glass because I wanted the free shipping deal.
The evil minimum order for free shipping.
But look at these amazing greens from Cims.
It's like spring in January, right?
And 'Spooky" might finally be the translucent white that won't disappear while working.
(Dr.) Who know what I need this fabulous new color for.
Friday, December 14, 2018
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