See Anything You Like???

Only one person on my fan page has caught on that I've been holding out and hording beads! LOL! Gotta have something to sell until I can torch again!!

Have a gander... like anything in there??? Coming in December... or January. Prayers and good wishes on my surgery day Monday are much appreciated!!! Happy Thanksgiving and I'll be back as soon as I can!

Fresh Glass Beads 11/25

Productive day at the torch after shipping all morning! One long skinny, one bead pen focal, one Christmas gift for Mom (Shhhhh!), Two sets, One thimble and one butt ugly mistake! All in all, not bad!

Zephyr and Tibet - NOT BFFs!

I showed you my Arke and Zephyr beads and a couple of Tibet and Zephyr beads in my previous post. Upon cleaning the beads... I noticed the Zephyr / Tibet combos had tell tale cracks:

 This makes for one grumpy beadmaker! I guess I was pushing my luck using two boutique glasses over Effetre black. Sigh!  Well, the Arke over Effetre Ivory with a Zephyr topper are just fine...so I had a handful of keepers!

It's such a shame all the glasses can't just play nice! And more glass knowledge to cram in my chock-full brain... Keep Zephyr and Tibet in separate areas of the playground...they don't play nice!

Fresh Glass Beads Lampwork 11.22.14

I've been pondering bead making a lot lately. It's hard not to with so many stunning listings in the Facebook groups.  So many talented bead makers listing STUNNING bead after STUNNING bead. When does one get that good? Many of them have been torching far less than time than I have... but I still feel like a hack next to them.  I can produce a stunning bead from time to time. Decent beads most of the time...but I still produce a LOT of "eh - whatever" beads. This sessions is one of those... Two focals for bead pens. and a set of Arke and Tibet experiments. Eh...whatever!

Fresh Glass Lampwork Beads 11.21.14

Another fun session... playing with Arke again!

Fresh Glass 11.20.14

Another fun torch session! I tried a floral for the first time in years. I love them but they take so long to make and I never feel like they sell for what they are worth in terms of my time.  Sigh..  I've been OBSESSED with the shades of gray in glass (heh heh) lately and made some ribbed pieces for a set. There's also a huge Arke focal and... the beginnings of another! That clear bead was to be the core of a big bead and the bead realease broke. I've got a collections of these and will probably list them on one of the discounted lampwork pages.

Fresh Glass 11.17.14

OMG! What a fun torch sesh!

 Clio and Aurae over lavender... not what I expected but WOW!  DH glass over black on a bicone pair. Wasn't sure how it would work but again, wow!  A defunct purple glass. I seemed to be obsessed with that color lately!  A hollow... made from a defunct blue that ...is not that pretty in rod form! I would have chose a better color for flowers if I hand known.. I think I've forgotten how to make irises! UGH!  And a DH wonder bead...three different classes over ivory. STUNNING...it sparkles!

Fresh Glass 11.14.14

Still perfecting the bullet... ready to give up! Lost the orange again... UGH! Made a set of tiles I love! High metallic finish!  And found a ribbed round in the back of the kiln!

Fresh Glass 11.13.14

I haven't been posting much... you know what they say, when you can't say something nice... Well, it's been a rough month without much nice to say!  Getting ready to shut my life and business down is not easy. Especially when teaching part time, still trying to make and ship orders and...the rental unit catches on fire and I have no insurance. Yes, folks, I am that dumb. Actually, I had to make a brutal choice between an interior policy (knowing my Homeowner's Association carried an exterior policy) and my own health insurance. Clearly not the best decision...but it is what it is.

It's been a struggle to make beads between constant pain and...sales on Facebook have slowed. All the pages feel saturated with sellers and not enough buyers. One of the jewelry groups stopped taking on new sellers this week!  But I have been trying... Also working on smaller focals... SO HARD FOR ME!

I made some red, green and white ribbed bicones for the holidays.. I kept seeing a big purple ball necklace in my head... Not sure these are big enough for the dream I had. A pair of purple ribbed bicones that I hope to wear as earrings over the holidays. And I tried my hand at the bullet shape... and got a cone... Hate that! I have a customer that loves orange, pea and turquoise and I tried them over black... and lost the orange... hate that too! 

Earrings Galore

I was thinking I would show off some earrings I made from when I created a "Year of Earrings" ... colors of earring pairs for each month of the year. And Whaddya KNOW?? I never shared them here! Aiyiyi!!!   Oh well!

But here's some earrings from those sets: