As much as I love spending time creating an entire set of several coordinating beads it is also fun to make ‘mini sets’ which allows me to switch gears creatively more quickly.
These mini sets were so much fun to make!
It’s been weeks since we’ve enjoyed our traditionally sunny weather SoCal is so famous for. Instead, we’ve been under a dense and chilly cloud cover for much too long!
But, as usually happens, it helps me be inspired to create. So there is a plus side! 😀
When it’s overcast different colors are seen at the beach and in the ocean. All the hues are softened, and much more muted than when they’re under direct sunlight.
This glass bead set “Sea Jewels” captures the recent mood of the weather at the beach here in not-so-sunny SoCal. 😉
There are times when I think that a combination of colors will look great together but once made, pulled, cut, and tested I am sometimes disappointed to find that the end result did not turn out as well as I hoped it would.
I have spent many, many, (many!) hours making murrini cane that just end up getting stashed away in my ‘failed attempts’ jar – after all that time spent on them, I simply don’t have the heart to throw them away. 🙂
So when I make murrini that actually comes out beautifully you can imagine how excited I am!
Here are two recent lampwork glass murrini successes in new color combinations for Summer:
When my bougainvillea bloomed this year I was inspired to make this collection of beads using my favorite glass color of all time, Rubino Oro (‘pink gold’).
This glass gets it’s amazing fuchsia-raspberry color from the addition of real gold!
This week I followed a couple ‘creative rabbit-trails’ working in both organic and traditional floral design when making these lampwork glass beads.
I rediscovered my stash of glass frit which I used all the time when I first started lampworking a couple years ago. I had forgotten about how much variety and the unique color combinations you can achieve with it, especially when paired with fine silver foil. The reactions that happen in the flame are just magical to watch, as they appear right before your eyes – no waiting on the kiln fairies!
Glass frit and fine silver foil are abundant in this organic style bead collection:
After my frit fix, I had a floral design and a new color combination in my head I have been wanting to try. I made these 3D floral murrini but went back and forth trying to decide if I should encase the murrini or leave them dimensional on top.
That decision was made for me, however, as the base bead got a little too big to be fully encased again, so I added the murrini to the surface, partially melting them in, and loved the end result!
Sometimes the best beads come from happy accidents 😀
CCGlassArt 