Bicone Madness!

Hey everyone. I'm not updating as much as I'd like, but it's been because I've been making so many beads, not just laziness. I've been experimenting with different shapes a lot this month. I still love using a bead press because of the consistency in size, but hand-shaping focals is so fun!

This week I've been making nothing but bicones. It's bicone madness week I guess. I'm very proud of these beads, because long bicones have always been a shape I struggled with. In the past they always would come out wonky and uneven. The ends would be sharp and poorly defined. Something must have finally clicked for me because they are coming out beautifully. Take a look and tell me what you think.

They're all up for sale on my Etsy. Take a peek. :)

Oilslick Sparkle on Ebay

I've actually been creating quite a few beads lately. It's like I finally got enough summertime fun and I can really FOCUS! Well there's always room for more summer of course, but either way I've been productive.

Recently I've been flirting with ebay a little bit. I'm still posting items Monday through Friday in my Etsy and Artfire store, but look out for a few Ebay auctions too. Here's what I've got so far.

These are very pretty. The base has shades of blue, purple, green and even a little bit of yellow in it. Each bead has a bit of an oilslick sheen to it. To make it even more sparkly, I've added scrolls of purple aventurine. I hope you all like it as much as I do. I'd love to hear what you think either way.

Monday's Mini-sets

a Here's a couple little bead sets that just got listed on Etsy and Artfire

The base of these beads are made with Aurae glass encased in clear to really bring out that opal-like luminescence. The pictures do not do these beads justice. Each bead is decorated with scrolls of sparkling goldstone.

I definitely want to make an entire set of these beads. You might be seeing a larger set of these up on Ebay later in the week. They are very pretty, but for the moment I just had time for this cute little earring pair.
The base is made with Psyche for that shiny oilslick look. Then I decorated the surface of these beads with sparkling purple goldstone.
That's all I have for the day, but I do have a couple more small sets like these that I'll be posting tomorrow. Yay!

Awaiting my new glass!

I just sent a decent sized order for more glass last night. I get way too excited. I'm already about to go downstairs and check the mail even though I only sent the order about 9 hours ago. It should be here now right? I ordered a few moretti staples (white, black etc), some new CIM colors, and lots of rods of silver glass.
I am in love with silver glass lately. There are so many things you can do with it! I love just making reactive silver scrolls over any pretty color. It's just the right amount of bling to me. Or you can be extravagant and make a base bead with silver glass and layers of clear to magnify the beauty of the glass and cover it with whatever decorations you want!
Have I mentioned that I'm loving silver glass?
I'm eagerly awaiting this new glass that was released on Thursday called Ekho. I've never actually purchased a glass right when it was released. I'm usually way behind on things. I'll definitely be showing off my new experiments. Just waiting for the stuff to arrive. I wish there was free overnight shipping on everything I buy just because I'm awesome. Oh well.

Gold Fuming!

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and shelled out 60 bucks to buy the smallest amount of 22k gold I could. After a week and a half it finally arrived. I was so excited! I knew I didn't purchase that much, but there was a decent sized box stuffed in my mailbox. I raced up the stairs with my package and tore it open. I fumbled through the packaging materials and the bill to find a tiny little two inch piece of gold. I looked again at the bill.......Ouch!
I knew in my head how much a pennyweight of gold was, but seeing it in my hand next to the bill was a little painful. It took me a while to gather the courage to use that gold, but I finally did, and I'm very happy with my results :)


Can you believe that base color on these beads is simply clear?


These ones have a base of black with red scrollwork. They make me think of chocolate. Maybe I'm just having a craving.
For those of you lampworkers who have the proper ventilation, you should give this a try. I know I balked at the price of gold, but a little goes a long way. Try it!

Graphics provided by MySpaceGraphicsandAnimations.org

Everyone have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Scrollwork!

Lately I've been going a little crazy with scrollwork. Scrollwork was always one of those things that I loved to look at, but sucked at when I was first starting out. I would have my stringer ready and positioned, I'd make a perfect scroll and then breathe out a sigh of relief. The force of my breath pushes the flame towards my perfect little scroll and melts it partway in. AAAAAH!

Since then I've gotten a lot better at it. I've learned to breathe softly and have a much better handle on my scrolls. Here's a little collection of recent stuff. It's all up on Etsy and Artfire :) Enjoy!