That Hollow Feeling!

I've just completed a custom order for a new customer who found me on Etsy, the web site where I keep my store, and I wanted to share with you the results.

The order was for a set of 30 hollow beads in light teal, light amber and fuchsia pink. While the teal and amber ones were done first, the fuchsia ones were a bit of a challenge.

Soft glass does not have a fuchsia that is reliable; that is to say, it tends to not want to be worked in the flame for long nor does it like starts and stops in its glass flow when making the beads. I tried several different manufacturers of the glass, but could not get the fuchsia to come out.

Hollow beads do not exactly come off the rod in a one piece, and it does take a while for the glass to melt, flow and inflate in order for the bead to take shape...this takes time which the pink glass abhors!

Fortunately, I had some wonderful fuchsia frit and used that to color transparent hollows to the nice fuchsia shade.

I'd made the last set of the beads on Sunday and cleaned them up last night. Tonight I strung the beads onto the leather cords by set and took the pictures.

I've forwarded the pictures to my customer, but thought you might like a look too.

I hope she likes her new beads!

Have a great night!

New Bracelets Loaded--Earrings Coming Soon!

This weekend has been all about jewelry.  I spent Saturday making 23 pairs of earrings and today creating new bracelets, and photographing all of the new jewelry.  This bracelet is entitled "Box Of Violets".

For more information on the new bracelets, and of course, more pictures, just check out my web site HERE.

The earrings will be added to the web site once all of the pictures have been sorted and edited.  Look for them in the next few days.

Have a great night!

Web Site Updated - More Purple Pix

Just a quick one tonight since its getting late, but I wanted to let you know that additional (and larger) photos of the "Purple Knight" and "Purple Squire" pieces have been added to my web site. 

Now you can see them in  more detail and even run them as a slide show, as you can with all of my pictures on the website.

For the whole scoop, click HERE.

Sleep Tight!

What Goes With A Knight?

A Squire of course!  

I was quite productive last night, completing the bracelet that matches the "Purple Knight" necklace, getting my beads cleaned from the weekend and finishing the last disk of Battlestar Galactica before the Friday night premiere.

The only thing I didn't get done was my blog entry, so I'm making up for that now.  

This charming bracelet, which I've titled "Purple Squire" keeping in theme with the necklace, features two of the "Deep Purple" hollow beads, sterling silver wire and toggle clasp, and a hand-woven Byzantine chain in aluminum.

The focal of the bracelet has been left straight, but can also be bent to curve around the wrist if the eventual owner prefers.

Since the chain is aluminum, which will not tarnish, and the beads are hollow, it a very light weight piece of jewelry and should be quite comfortable to wear.

This bracelet is designed to fit loosely on a 7.5 inch wrist, but, since it is chain mail, can be expanded or shortened easily to fit just about any wrist.

Driving Miss Daisy

Our evening out at the play was a lot of fun.  The First Folio production of "Driving Miss Daisy" was quite charming and warm and much more like the movie than I would have thought.

If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out.  It's sure to give you a wonderful evening of entertainment as it did for us.

Have a great day!

Do You Like Purple Knights?

I took my latest chain mail design, entitled "Purple Knights" to work today to get everyone's reaction to it and to see if it needed to be lengthened when the ladies tried it on.

As fate would have it, several of them were wearing purple or coordinating colors and it was great to see it on them.  They all seemed to really like it.

This necklace utilizes several of my "Deep Purple" hollow beads and disks in conjunction with a striking Byzantine weave chain which I designed around the beads.    A simple "S" clasp is used currently, but I will probably trade it up for a more ornate "S" clasp or a toggle when I get some more in stock.

I wasn't sure I could work beaded sections into a chain mail necklace and have it come out looking like I wanted, but I was apparently wrong.  I love how this necklace hangs and I hope this type of design will be very popular at upcoming shows.

I know I promised this would entail a matching bracelet, but I haven't finished it yet (its half done).  Actually, I will have three matching bracelets when all is said and done since the size of the beads and length of the beaded sections would have made one bracelet way too big once I started connecting them with chain mail.  While I could have worn the larger size, I'm not making bracelets for myself...it would look funny on me.

A Package Arrives

My latest glass order arrived today in a large box that I cannot wait to rip into.  With everything going on tonight, I just didn't have time to open it and inventory the glass.  It will happen soon I can assure you since I have several new colors and more colors that I've been out of for a while.  Lots of cool beads coming soon!

Tomorrow Night

I may not have a posting tomorrow evening since Robert and I going to see a new play at First Folio Shakespeare Festival in Oakbrook.  The play we're seeing is "Driving Miss Daisy", and I cannot wait.  Having seen the movie several times, I cannot imagine how it would be produced on the stage, but I guess I will find out tomorrow.

If we get home early enough, I will let you know how it was, but the update will probably need to wait until Wednesday night.

Have a great evening!

New Jewelry In The Works

Attention all you purple lovers out there...

I've got a new jewelry ensemble in the works, and it utilizes my first set of hollow beads that I ever made.  

The bead set being used, "Deep Purple",  has been rolled in a wonderful frit which gives thema  mottled and varied hue;  the set also includes coordinating disk beads.  I'm so anxious to show it off to you, but I've just started it tonight. 

The new ensemble will be a necklace and matching bracelet created in chain mail.

I've been thinking about taking this set of beads out of my shop for a while since I have been visualizing using it a new design, but I wasn't sure if the design in my head would come out looking right or not once it was put together.

I evaluated several different construction techniques and ruled out several of them until I settled on the chain mail design connecting beaded components on sterling silver wire.

I should have the two pieces done by the end of the weekend, and I can't wait to show it to you.

Until then, I hope you have a great Friday! 

New Hollows Coming Tomorrow

Did you think I wasn't going to tell you what was being added to my Etsy shop tonight after seeing that last post?

Well, I wouldn't do that to you.  Tomorrow morning, this bright and cheerful set of hollow beads will be loaded into the shop.

This set consists of six beads, three a deep aqua blue and three a rich Violet (actually it's Ink Blue, but it looks much more purple than blue).  Both colors are transparent and the darker ones in the picture are not as dark as they appear to be.

It's a fun set for Spring, and I hope you like them.  I had a lot of fun making them.

What are they called, you ask?  I haven't decided yet.  Check my Etsy shop tomorrow to find out!

Have a great night.

Class Dismissed! - Something Chunky For Dessert?

The class on Saturday went very well although we were off to a bit of rocky start with the torches.

For whatever reason, the oxygen concentrators, a machine the pulls oxygen from the air for use in a torch, are cursed in that store, and we just can't figure out why.  Maybe they're intimidated by the two large tanks of oxygen sitting next to them, or they're frustrated that they don't get used that often.  Whatever the case, it does seem that every time I need one for a class, they refuse to work.

Refuse to work, that is, until the class is over.  Then they run like a champs.  Go figure.

Once we got the torches running, which really only delayed us a few minutes but it seemed longer when you've got two anxious students waiting to start playing on the torch, we were off and running.

We practiced a number of techniques like stringer pulling, basic cane making, encasing using two different methods, and glass sculpting and shaping.  Beads were plentiful from these two students, more than I was expecting.  

I've taught this class before and while it's always different depending on the students' experience levels and interests, but I've had students that made 5 beads during the entire class and others that make a dozen.  This time around, there must have been close 30 beads in the kiln by the time we were done.  It was quite crowded, and we ran out of room in it!

They liked trying out the various techniques, many they had not tried before, and really seemed to enjoy themselves, which is always great to hear.  I'll be anxious to see some pictures of their beads after the class (hint hint) very soon.

Looking For A Decadent Dessert?

How about this chunky rendition of "Bananas Foster"?  Rich bananas drizzled in carmel and chocolate never looked this wearable (unless you've been out to dinner with me when  I've ordered it).

Using the delicious desert as my inspiration (I actually did have the title before making the beads, I swear), I coupled rich transparent ambers, dark brown and banana yellow to create this fun and funky bead set.

All of the beads in this set are hollow, whether they look like it or not.  Each decorated with a unique design, the set is punctuated with five transparent amber hollows to separate the many patterns and textures.

I hope you enjoy this set as much I did when I made it.  The hollow sets really seem to set me free from design preconceptions which is quite freeing.

This large set will be in my Etsy shop starting tomorrow morning.  Don't let this dessert go waste (or waist), dig in!

A Very Full Weekend

Well, it's Monday once again and almost time for me to get ready for work, but I wanted to give you a quick update since I haven't posted in a few days.

I've been very busy (and productive) over the past few days since I got two torching sessions in over the weekend.  Since I usually only get one, this is a bit of a novelty and has enabled me to create some really cool items for the Etsy shop.

During Saturday's torching session, while short, I was able to work on a couple of custom orders and a new experimental bead design that I'm anxious for your to see.  They're a type of sculptural flower that I thought up and was actually able to execute.  They're still on the rod, so I won't know how they look strung until later in the week.

Yesterday's torch time was all about doing whatever I felt like doing, so I came up with quite an eclectic array of beads and bead sets.  I've got a new hollow set, more of the sculptural flowers, a great new bicone focal in an organic design, and a large set of organic lentils, some of which will become earrings for upcoming shows.

I've got a lot of beads to clean and get photographed!

I do have re-listing in Etsy this morning of a hollow set that I've had up for a bit, but didn't sell. Please come check it out and see what you think.

More new stuff in the shop tomorrow!  Until next time, have a great day!

New Hollow Set - Fuchsia Splash - Coming Soon To Etsy

It's raining here today and is a bit dreary, but that does not mean there aren't great things happening here.  Tonight we're heading out to a Christmas Party with friends in Rockford that we don't get to see too often.

In addition, I've got four new sets that will be heading to my Etsy shop over the coming week.  Here's a preview of the first one that being listed--Fuchsia Splash!

This is a set of hollow transparent beads that have been wrapped in bright stripes of pink and voilet.  I used a copper green background on the frit to create a new and cool effect.  I love the interaction between this bright frit and the cool green background, and I hope you do too!

These beads will be stunning in a necklace, and the colors are really great for the upcoming spring season, but will also look fabulous throughout the winter too!  This set will be added to Etsy on Monday morning.

Also, I've just about completed my new Holiday Greeting message that will be going out to all of my customers.  It has a great stationery applied to it with pictures of beads and jewelry all ready to go.  Would you like to see it?  Just forward your e-mail address to Scentsation@dls.net, and I'll be happy to send it out to you.

The new Mac is living up to its promise of saving me lots of time.  I was able to import the pictures and have them all color-corrected and named in just a few short minutes.  It used to take hours to process all of the pictures on my PC and get them exported and ready for use.  I cannot wait to see how it will revolutionize my web site.

Don't forget to let me know what you think of my new blog by contacting me either here or through one of the following links:

www.LampOfLuxury.com

www.BurningScentsations.Etsy.com

Have a great evening folks!

New Hollow Set - Meadow Flora - In Etsy Shop

The holiday rush is in full swing here and life keeps interrupting my beading and blogging, but I'm pushing ahead as best I can at this time of year.

I had meant to get this notice out sooner to you, but later is better than never at all, I suppose. Just posted to my Etsy shop this week is Meadow Flora, a set of five hollow beads that consists of a larger focal bead and four smaller beads all in same great colors.

The frit on this set is my own blend of Iris Yellow and African Violets which react wonderfully together for a rich patina of amber and yellow shades with accents of deep violet. It's close to a tortoise shell appearance, and is very elegant.

I took this set into work and the ladies there just loved the colors, and hopefully you will too.

To see more information on this set, you can take a look at the shop listing by clicking here.

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Hope your evening is a merry one!

Striking While Iron Is Hot--Easter Festival I Sold!

Today has a been a great day for sales. I sold two sets of custom earrings at work, and I'm so pleased that the set I listed into Etsy this morning has sold! It's only the second time that an item that I've posted has sold the same day. I guess it's all a matter of having the right design at the right time. I'll be shipping out that set tomorrow. I hope you enjoy them Linda!

Since that set has sold, I've decided to put the second part of the set tomorrow morning into my Etsy shop. If you're reading this blog before tomorrow morning, you're a night own, and you're going to know what the second half looks like before it gets listed.

Meet Easter Festival II. This set is also comprised of five hollow lampwork beads that have been colored with a transparent frit. The colors in this set are all different from the last one--no duplicates. The colors in this set (L->R top picture) are Copper Blue, Saffron, Gold Ruby, Sour Apple, and Fuchsia. All very bright and beautiful springtime colors.

This sizes of the beads in this set are all pretty close the beads in the first half, and would look great as a necklace.

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/

http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Anyway, wish me luck and hopefully these too will be quite popular!

Flaming Success!

Saturday's torching session went very well and I am very pleased that I was able to complete a couple custom orders as well as create several new hollow sets in transparent spring colors for my Etsy shop.

The pictures are from the first set going into the shop in the morning, and as you can see, they are quite a colorful set.

This set is called Easter Festival I, and consists of 5 large hollow beads in the bright transparent colors of (L -> R) Tangerine, Blue Lagoon, African Violet, Apricot Sorbet and Tuscany Olive. The beads were created using clear glass, and then rolled in frits of various transparent colors, which gives them a great mottled texture.

Hollow beads are much lighter than beads of this size would normally, but do not let their delicate nature fool you. These beads are quite strong and can be used in a number of great jewelry designs.

As the set name implies, this is actually just Part I of the Easter Festival set, so stay tuned for part II later in the week!

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Have a great evening!

Holiday Crunch Time - Finding Inspiration

December is a busy month for us all, but for an artist who is also working two jobs (not including my glass business), it's especially problematic.

I haven't had any torch time in the last few weeks which is why I haven't been able to add anything new shop lately since I'm working a full-time day job and a retail job in the evenings and weekends. While I've been re-listing items, I really want to create some new beads and get back onto the torch.

How did this drought occur? Well, I had a couple of shows in November where I was able to sell some of the jewelry stock I have made over the past few months which is great. Getting ready for and doing the shows ate up my torch time for most of that month. Now that December is here, it is time to switch gears a bit and start getting ready for spring since jewelry designers need to make their items now in order to get their stock ready for the upcoming art and craft fairs.

Invariably, when I know a show is coming my inspiration disappears as the pressure rises. Likewise when the seasonal change for lampworking comes before the actual season itself. However, now that I've had my break from lampworking, I'm looking forward to getting back onto my torch tomorrow morning!

I've got a couple of custom orders that I will extend into bead sets for my shop, and I should have more hollow bead sets in bright spring colors also in the next week or so. I haven't made hollow beads since early October, so now it's time for new spring colors.

Anyway, send me happy thoughts tomorrow and hopefully there will be lots of new beads in the coming week!

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Have great Day!