Bead Hoarders Bog Hop

I always love this blog hop and I AM a huge bead hoarder. Lol.  I have a whole crowded room full of beads and lampwork bead making supplies. needless to say I love beads. :o)

This first bracelet is very special to me. First of all I love the celini spiral used to make the seed bead portion of it. I used rich matte brown and accented those with rosy light brown beads. But the most important part is the lampwork focal bead. It was made by another lampwork artist , Shawn, using boro glass which I don't work in. I bought them from her at a show here in town several years ago. I had  a 10 year old dog at the time that I was very close with. She was the love of my life. She had been sick and had surgery for cancer. I was hopeful that we would have more time together as she recovered and after a month I thought she would like an outing. We went to the craft show together where I bought these beautiful beads. She waited in the car as I viewed all the fab art at the Webb School Annual craft show where I bought a set of these beads. I got back out to my car and my Jasmine and I took a walk through a wooded area surrounding the school. We explored a stream and listened to animals rustle in the dry grass. She thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a big day and went home satisfied. That night turned out to be her last. These beads mark that wonderful day for me and I am forever grateful that she had such a wonderful last day. Don't be sad though. Three years later I  met and adopted another funny, sweet and wonderful doggie that has the same markings Jasmine had and my heart began to heal. So, now this bracelet is a sign of joy.

The next two pieces are made with lampwork beads that I made. They are probably around 18mm and were made before I had tools to help shape beads. So, they are hand shaped and I was pleased with the donut shape but they also have three layers to them. So, for me they were challenging. Encasing is tricky in itself and then I challenged myself to add ( woops)  surface decoration.  First a base layer of opaque glass, then they are encased in a corresponding color of transparent glass and then polka dots on the surface! I waited forever to decide to use them but finally did and now I want to make more of these polka dot beads! lol
Now off to blog hop and see all the pretties everyone one else has made.

I Am Offering Chains To Go With My Lampwork Beads

I have started offering chains to go with my lampwork beads as well as my etched copper components. So many people make their own jewelry now but they don't always carry a selection of chains. I will offer them in brass and copper - antiqued and shiny. Of course, if you like a chain that is not antiqued I can antique it for you.

This is my current selection of brass chains. They range from 5mm down to 2.5mm. I like to have a good selection of sizes for different size beads and pendants. I plan to do this in copper as well.

Moving On

Well, the Bead Soup Blog Hopping is finished although a few people are still visiting my blog post to see what creations I came up with  last month. It was a really fun time and now is only once a year rather than twice. So, next spring get ready to roam the internet again to see wonderful jewelry designs by over 500 artists.

I have been busy in the gardens as summer is in full bloom here and weeds and watering are a daily need especially since it has been exceedingly dry here in Tennessee.  I also have made three 4x4 raised beads to grow my veges in. The soil mix comes from the book Square Foot Gardening which simplifies the process.
This is the idea so you can mix your own soil and control the weeds better. I have 3 but they are square like the pic below. So far I have tomatoes, zucchini, onions, green and red peppers and cucumbers. I need to get more stuff to mix the soil for bed 2 and 3 into which I will put beets, beads and some others as the time of year allows. I can't believe I typed beads instead of beans! lolol
 In the third bed I am going to transplant a volunteer asparagus plant! I am psyched about that!

But since then I have also  been working on some new beads and new colors of past designs. I also have some new etched copper designs.
I also changed the design for my dragonfly earrings by adding a color choice for the dangle on the earrings.

Can you tell I like earthy organic beads and jewelry?  :o)

New Beads and 40% Off Winter Wonderland Disk Beads

I thought perhaps some peeps would prefer donut shaped beads to disk beads so I have made some sets of Winter Wonderland in donut shapes for you! First a set of fourteen 15mm size chunky donut lampwork beads. These are all 30% off to kick off the holiday season!

 And then I posted a smaller set that could be used for a bracelet with 7 beads.

And lastly I have reduced the big set of Winter Wonderland  lampwork disk beads to 40% off!  Come and see them here!

Then I listed some 'made to order' beads from the Winter Wonderland chunky donut sets so you can choose  which colors you want in sets of three. You can see them here. :o)

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope the weather is ok where you are. 

Oooo, Sweet Winter Wonderland Disk Bead SEt

I love this bead set! I know I shouldn't say that because I made them but sometimes things just come together with your supplies and the vision you have in your head. I had ordered some new frits from Val Cox the last couple months and they were exactly what I needed to make this set cook.  Or rather freeze. :o)
 I have 3 shades of cool blue, two different snowy whites and icy clear disk beads each having a different frit or powder finish on the edge.  Check them out. They are 30% off right now for a pre Black Friday sale!.

A Good Day Lampworking!

You know there can be days that you sit down at the torch and work all day to have nothing thrilling come out of the kiln. How that happens I can't say but it does!  lol   But I had a good day a few days ago.  I was pleased with a couple new beads I tried out. The first

was a new shape of an old color combo and I love it!  I should have made this shape all along.  I also used light ivory as  base instead of dark ivory on the top half of the bead. The base color for the second half is called lipstick red unique. It is one of my favorite colors ever - sort of a school house red. ( the photo is a bit light.) I then used terra frit melted in on the top and bottom then rings of olive green and Picasso blue silver glass melted in. The finishing touch is 99% pure silver wire wound around the base and melted gently. What do you think? I love this color combo!

My next new bead was born out of determination to use that damn! gold leaf that has been laying around for years because it is so expensive.  It was placed on a light ivory base, gently heated and then powdered glass in pinky peach and green was alternately added and melted in. Then blue silver glass accent stringer was added. I love the organic look of this combination!

I made a round donut bead to go along with it in the same colors. I want to use this combo again for more beads - perhaps on a different color base. What base color do you think it would be good on?

Another Lovely Autumn Walk

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since my last walk post. OK, I admit - I haven't taken that many walks this week. And I just realized it yesterday. I sort of scurry through my day  ( I have been tweaking things inside the house - nesting for the coming winter) accomplishing things and then the day is done and no walk.  I did go out yesterday and it was very pleasant to go to the little wood again. I took just one doggie Jessie - sorry her pretty brown eyes are all shined out. As you can see from the second pic she is very goofy and it makes me love her more.

 She ran through the little wood again like a puppy although she is almost 3 years old.
The weather here has been very mild - we had a little rain last night but for the most part it has been sunny and around 60 degrees.
I picked some pretty dried grasses I found  in the field in front of the wood. As a child I would  pick the round , tall grass pieces when they were still green and suck the sweet out of the bottom of the stem.
 I called the fluffy grasses fairy grass.  I saw a painting once where the fairies were dancing on the tips of these type of grasses.

I also found some fabulous grape vine that has died for the year. It is great to use in various art makings.  I like to use it on my velvet pumpkins. well, off for more coffee. <3

Oh, and the 20% off sale is still going on in my Etsy store. :o)

Frit Bead Review!

A fabulous artist Kimberly Roger of Numinosity Beads has written a great blog post about glass frit and it's various used in bead making. 
You can find her post here:

http://www.lovemyartjewelry.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-10-04T05:00:00-04:00&max-results=2

I love frit due to the variety of applications you can use it for. You can layer it on your bead and melt it in completely, leave it partially raised or even encase it with a transparent color or clear. It can be used a s a background like on my first bead shown in this post or as a main design element.You can even use it on metal! Frit can be used in a multicolor mix or a single color. There are also color changing frits.

 You must be careful when using frit as there is almost always some powdered glass in the bottom of the container. If it becomes airborne  you must leave the room as it never can be cleared out of your lungs once breathed in. A special mask is recommended to be used when working with frit  as well as a good ventilation system in your studio.

Here are some sets of my beads that  I use frit to create. There are so many various applications. It is one of my favorite bead decorations! Check out my beads in my Etsy shop where everything is 20% off right now!

New Fall Color Beads.

I have two new sets of squeezed flat beads made in the colors of fall leaves. I made a frit mix in the same color mix for these beads.  I love fall and part of it is because of the changing of the leaves. With beads we can wear the changing leaf colors on our wrists and necks! I made one set in transparent and one set in opaques.  I do take special orders if you want just one or two colors for your creations. Right now my whole shop is 20% off to celebrate Fall!

50% Coupon Sale Ending Tonight

Hi, I hope you have had a wonderful weekend so far. My best friend, Diane,  had her 60th birthday and retirement party yesterday so I have been busy helping here prepare. She had it at her house and in her backyard which is a beautiful garden area. She has lived there forever so it is all filled in and lovely.  I hope she is resting well today as it was a full day yesterday! Congrats, Diane!

And a heads up: my coupon sale in my Etsy store will end tonight so come on over and buy your coupon to get $150 of beads, components and jewelry for only $75!  I still have lots of new beads and jewelry listed this last week.

New Set of Organic Fall/Winter Color Disk Beads!

I am excited about this new set of disk beads.  Organic wintry shades for a sophisticated look!  Etched transparent, white, creamy beige and earthy silver glass color all edged with pure silver foil, silver wire, terra frit and shiny silver glass! I love them! On sale in my Etsy store.

Huge Markdown on Cellini Spiral Necklace!

If you love cellini spiral like I do you will be excited to hear that I have marked down the cellini spiral necklace in my Etsy shop ANOTHER $40 from the 20% off price which brings it down to $131.20!!
 It is a beautiful piece that is 22 inches long and the gorgeous handmade glass ammo-nite pendant is 1.75 inches.The glass focal bead is handmade with one side cut away and polished to reveal the colored spirals inside. It matches the colors in the necklace perfectly!  I used tiny size 15 seed beads as the smallest  and size 8 as the largest size with size 11 in the middle. That gives a deep indentation and keeps it from being too hefty which can happen when size 6 seed beads are used. It is delicate and beautiful in fabulous shades of green, blue and copper for the fall season!

New Lampwork Beads! And 20% Off!

I am so gearing up for Fall! I love Autumn and I need to make more beads with fall colors so that is what I am doing. I remade a made to order  focal that I had listed a year or so ago. It needed updating and I am so happy with the new bead. My whole store is 20% off right now so get some beads for your fall jewelry.

Here is Pond Flowers. It can be found in my Etsy store here.

I have a few more that I will list tonight as soon as I am done cropping the photos.

I love this focal frit bead. The bright orange id actually very pretty dark fuchsia. Impossible to photograph!

And with this organic focal size bead the murrini is not so bright actually burnt orange!

This 1 inch wide disk bead is a gorgeous silver glass deep pink!

And another Pond Flower focal. I love these colors.

New jewelry

I don't think I showed you this new necklace yet. I started with my etched copper pendant  with a  fish bone design on it. I love the tribal feel of it.  I added a dangle with one of my round lampwork beads done in earth tones  and one of my disk beads wired together.  It looked too long for the fullness of it so I made the copper oval which I hammered some texture into and patinaed then sanded to highlight. I wound ball end wires I had made around the oval like a vine growing on it then hung two earth tone beaded dangles from  that.  I patinaed a copper ball chain with liver of sulfur and brushed the tops of the balls to bring back copper highlights.  It is 20% off right now in my Etsy store!

Rain Anyone? New Boho Necklaces Anyway!

It has been raining here for three weeks! We have had a few short breaks - a whole day a week ago - so I have gotten the grass almost mowed. lol
The weeds are taking over the garden and I can't take any pictures because I use natural light and need to be outside to get the most accurate colors.  Well, that leaves me more time for creating beads and jewelry.  Except that the rain makes me very sleepy! Wow!

But I do have a few new pieces finished and more in the works. I have a new series using sea glass pieces - earring and necklaces! I love the boho look so I made dangly charms and used recycled sari silk along with some handmade lampwork beads. The charms have crystals, opal sticks, Czech glass flowers and more.  I love them and so does my daughter so that is a super vote of confidence from her! We did have a few hours of break in the rain so I got some quick photos of new pieces. My daughter was sweet enough to model for me.
I will share them with you even though I want to take more pictures to list them for sale.  If the rain ever stops.....Email me if you are interested in any of these pieces. I have earrings to match! The length of  these necklaces are adjustable at the clasp. 

This piece has a soft pink sea glass piece to which I added a beautiful lampwork glass flower made by a friend of mine. I used Czech glass flower beads to make the dangle which hangs on a dainty diamond cut copper chain.  handmade copper clasp.  $44

I love the humor of this piece. The aqua blue sea glass  circle has sari silk ribbons complimenting it in beautiful aqua, brown and cream colors. The dangle is a pewter fish chasing an orange Czech glass fish that is chasing a fisher man's hook which I wire worked for this piece! The second dangle is sea glass rounds and crazy lace agate! The orange fish is not neon - lol - it is just the lighting.  Handmade copper clasp.   $39

This pretty piece is an aqua blue rectangle that I wire wrapped using a clear etched sea glass pebble and a swarovski crystal. As dangles I used a Czech glass clam shell and aqua crystal. The other stick dangle is opalescent milk glass. Copper lobster claw clasp.  $28