Rocks and pebbles

Well, I've gone all organic with this week's beads! I think I've mentioned before that I'm fascinated by rocks and I'm always inspired by nature, so I love to play around trying to recreate it in glass...often with some elements of fantasy thrown in, like these 'Lightning Pebbles'  - so called because they look like little flashes of lightning trapped in rocks.

This one is actually quite simple, just a gorgeous multi toned glass called Fossil, with lots and lots of silvered ivory. SIS, as it's known to lampworkers, is made by rolling a rod of ivory in fine silver foil, then pulling it into a stringer (a thin piece of glass). I love it because it is so effective when used on certain glasses, it spreads out and little particles of silver pop to the surface, giving a lovely organic effect.

Finally, another nature inspired set. I saw these berries...

I've no idea what they are, not being particularly green-fingered, but I was inspired by those interesting colours to make this set of beads.

I'm off to Dartmoor tomorrow and will probably come back with even more ideas and inspiration, so expect to see a lot more organic beads soon!

You can find these beads on Ebay now :o)

Fuglies

Fugly beads...otherwise known as 'ooops' or 'what on earth was I thinking'! Every beadmaker has them, because we all have our off days. A fugly often starts as a grand idea which somehow just doesn't work in reality; other times it is born from a bead that is going wrong and you decide to try to rescue it...'maybe if I add some dots here, a bit of silver foil...mmm I know, I think I'll encase it so it's even bigger and uglier' :( Before you know it, you've wasted precious time and a whole load of glass and you're staring in horror at the 'thing' on the end of the mandrel!

I now have a big fugly pot for the casualties and every now and then a friend or relative has a good root through and produces one or more of the beasts, exclaiming "oh, isn't it beautiful!"...which just goes to show that beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder!

Now I'm pretty sure that the beads I have listed on Ebay at the moment are NOT fuglies, so I'd recommend you pop over and have a look!

Me time!

Well, I have made a lot of beads recently...but most of them were for me! I decided that I 'needed' an aqua necklace, so set about making myself loads of aqua beads in different styles and colour combinations. And I'm very happy with the result! The joys of being a bead and jewellery maker :o)

 It is actually quite rare that I make beads just for me...not that I don't have any, it's just that the ones I do keep tend to either be seconds (bubbles, slightly wonky or scummy glass) or ones that I've been about to list on Ebay, but I then decide I can't let them go! They are known as 'keepers' to us lampworkers and we all get them every now and then!

Anyway, I do have some for sale at last, including this inky blue and gold focal bead - looks lovely and really strokable too. It's listed on Ebay now, so buy it quick before I decide to keep it!

Frit mania

OK, so I've been making beads now for around 5 years, give or take breaks for house moves and although I've spent time playing with frit, I've never really 'got' it. I just couldn't see what was so exciting about little pieces of smashed glass. I'd put it on my beads and it looked like, well, little pieces of smashed glass!

So I took my frit to the Flame Off last month and exchanged it for some glass...then promptly bought some more! Go figure. But I'm glad I did, because I've been playing some more and trying different things and I think I've been converted :) At least half the beads I've made in the last few weeks contain frit in some shape or form.

This moon bead has some metallic silver glass frit sprinkled across the sky;

This set is made with a blend of blue frit which has been gravity swirled and encased;

And finally a lentil bead with raku frit and a couple of Multicolour murrini.

All on Ebay now :)

In the Pink!

Well, despite working all through Easter, royal weddings and various bank holidays (the joys of working in retail!) I've managed to find some time to make beads. Although to be honest, I'll always manage to cram a bit of beadmaking time in somewhere :) The other day, I finished work at 4pm and drove home really quickly, spent an hour making beads and then jumped back in the car and went back to pick up Chris...obsessed, me?!

Anyway, I'm still playing with pretty colours, so I have this lovely hot pink focal bead;

 And the inevitable moon bead. This one is made with some of my murrini and frit purchases from the Flame Off. Aahh, a new obsession is born...expect to see a lot more frit and murrini in the future!

On Ebay now :o)