Blue and Green Beaded Bracelet

These blue and green lampwork bicones really caught my eye - what a fantastic shape! I love blues and greens together, and these beads matched some azurite-malachite beads in my stash, so I added lots of sterling silver, a dangle (I love dangles!) - and some peridot AB Swarovski bicones, and this is the result. Love it!

Lampwork Disc Earrings

These handmade lampwork discs are summery - pastel blue and green, with a splash of orange.

I added some green vintage glass beads, to make these fun earrings.

Black and White Lampwork Necklace

Who doesn't love black and white? Stark, graphic - dramatic! It is one of my favorite combinations to work with AND to wear!

This necklace was designed around 3 black and white lampwork glass beads, handmade by a talented Etsy glass artisan. I added sterling silver beadcaps, onyx rounds and chips, small white howlite rounds, and black seed beads, resulting in a simple, yet elegant, adjustable length necklace which goes well with so many different looks!

And it's available on Etsy! (This necklace is now on sale - listed price is 35% off!)

Blue Lampwork Cube Earrings

I really like the unexpected shape of these handmade lampwork cubes - you see lots of round, oval, lentil-shaped, etc. lampworks, but not so any cubes! And the colors - love!

I paired them with some Swarovski crystal dangles to make these whimsical earrings.

Follow-up, Beadwoven Bail

Questions posed by my Beadwoven Bail post a few days ago have prompted this follow-up.

As a reminder - here is the original lampwork bead, unadorned:

Gorgeous, right? I didn't hesitate for a second when I plopped down the $$ for this beauty. I love the colors, and their swirling richness!

The bead gave me issues, though, because I would hold it, and rub it, and ponder it, but couldn't figure out a way to string it! Those 2 asymmetrical holes at the top were mocking me! So, ultimately, I decided to sacrifice this bead to the bead shop, and offer it up for sale.

Where it proceeded to stump everyone, and it sat, unsold, for about 4 years. (Yeah, I've had this bead for a long time!)

I finally came to accept that it was never going to sell if I didn't make it more functional, and that is when I started playing around with different bail options, finally hitting upon the solution I blogged about a couple of days ago:

One of my customers actually saw me stitching this, almost finished, and purchased it before it was even done.

So, sorry ladies, but I can't show you the finished necklace! But I'm sure she made something gorgeous - all her creations are wonderful! And this beautiful bead went to a wonderful home!

A Golden Spiral

This handwoven spiral rope was created with gold freshwater pearls and various sizes of gold-colored seed beads, inspired by the gorgeous golden large-holed lampwork focal bead.

I purchased this bead over 5 years ago, and I wish I knew who made it, because I want more! I have no idea where I got it, and could kick myself - the colors are fabulous, but the shape is what I really love - it's like the artisan twisted the molten glass to get this lovely shape. If you think you recognize this bead, or even better, if you think you can make some, let me know!!

Bricks and Pearls

I call this necklace "Bricks and Pearls" because the handmade lampwork beads at the front of the necklace were called "Canyon Bricks" by the talented lampwork artisan who created them. They really do remind me of the walls of the Grand Canyon, too, with their beautiful colored horizontal striations, just like the various strata of rocks that line the Canyon walls.

I paired them with olive green keishe pearls, and am really happy with how this design turned out! It's available on Etsy, too...

Something new

One of my William Holland teachers showed me how to bead crochet (rope crochet) last summer when I was up there taking a totally different class. This particular teacher is a good friend (she is nice enough to put up (and put up with) Bailey and me whenever I go up there for school, and she teaches Beadweaving, Wire Wrapping, and Cold Connections. I was up there that week taking something else entirely, but she met with me one evening in the dining room and taught me how to bead crochet.




And after that night, I didn't pick it up again until about a week ago, and it is now my new current addiction.

This is the first bead crochet project that I actually did myself from start to finish, and I think it is pretty cool.'

When I get a little more adept at it, I may start teaching it in my bead shop.