From Cosmic Storm To Bushfire

On August 5, 2009 By ccglassartIn What's Happening NowLeave a comment

Lately, I have been playing a lot with organic designs. I’ve also been drawn toward using sparkly cubic zirconia’s as well. Once I embedded the first one into a bead, I just couldn’t stop.

All these beads are available on eBay now! Just click on the name of each bead to be taken directly to their auction pages:

COSMIC STORM: This bead features transparent lilac glass covered with fine silver foil. Once melted the silver foil beads up creating hundreds of tiny little star-like droplets that shimmer on the surface of the glass. The bead is topped off with a reactive silver glass shard. Then the cubic zirconia is bezel set into the surface of the glass. The whole bead is etched to a matte finish really making the colors in the reactive glass pop!

MULHOLLAND DRIVE: In L.A. there is a narrow, winding street that leads to a popular hangout where you can view the city from high on a hill. Because it’s so high, and so dark there, on a clear night you can see many more stars than if you were on the streets below trying to look up through the bright city lights.

PINK IMPATIENS: This bead takes me back to my painting days. The effect of multiple layers of clear glass under and over powdered glass enamels and ground glass frit creates a unique watercolor effect. Of course, the bead would not be complete without embedding a larger size cubic zirconia stone so that it appears to float in the glass.

BUSHFIRE: Any B-52 fans out there? If so, you’ll recognize this name as that of one of their most popular songs. I took one look at this bead once it came out of the kiln and I knew any other name just would not do.

THISTLE: The reactions in this bead from the base glass and the reactive silver glass shards were a wonderful surprise. When heated, they caused this fantastic webbed pattern to appear! Because of the color, and because of the spiky lines, the name Thistle came to mind instantly.

Visit my auction page on eBay to view each of these beads. (Cosmic Storm ends tomorrow, 8/6 ;-))

Until next time,

Christie of CCGlassArt

http://www.ccglassart.com <– Links to my new Etsy store!

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

On July 10, 2009January 22, 2010 By ccglassartIn What's Happening Now1 Comment

Ocean Floor Bead I have wanted to make an ‘aquarium’ style bead for a long time now. But knowing the level of skill and the amount of work that goes into them, I was certainly intimidated and put off trying it. Until now!

This particular bead is most definitely a labor of love. So much work goes into this style bead, even before you begin to actually create the bead itself!

The lengthy process begins with preparing all the individual elements that together portray the whimsical aquarium scene.

In this particular piece, I first made a variegated green twisted cane representing seaweed. I also made a striped cane for kelp. I then created sea urchin and starfish murrini – both a challenge to shape into their given likenesses.

Finally, when it was time to begin the final piece, I made the base bead with pale aqua glass. I sprinkled the base with enamels, both transparent and opaque, in shades of blue, green for the water and pink for the ‘sand’.

I applied all the additional elements and only melted them in slightly so they were left a bit raised on the surface of the bead giving it much depth and texture.

With it’s asymmetrical shape and attention to detail, this bead is one that is hard to stop looking at! It’s available on eBay now – just click here to view…

Until next time,
CC
http://www.ccglassart.com

Two New Bead Series – Luna & English Garden

On June 24, 2009June 24, 2009 By ccglassartIn What's Happening NowLeave a comment

Luna Series Bead

LUNA SERIES BEAD

The technique used in this bead causes fantastic reactions when certain types of glass are layered with fine silver foil.

The top half of this bead shows the results with varying shades of bright blue, soft greens and teals and even light purple.

I also incorporated dark ivory glass which has its own unique reaction with fine silver. It becomes darker and takes on a natural stone-like appearance.

This bead is available now starting at just .99 cents! Click here to visit this eBay auction.

ENGLISH GARDEN SERIES BEAD

I enjoy creating flowers from glass whenever I can. Especially during this time of year when inspiration is plentiful.

I’ve been working more and more with enamels, which is a finely ground glass powder. This product is carefully applied for a wispy, watercolor effect and then heated to a high gloss finish.

Shades of teal blue and green enamel set the stage for the handpulled vine cane that I wrapped around the bead for a stem and background.

Tiny 3 petal dot flowers are slowly melted in flush with the surface, then I added a raised pansy flower on top of the bead in a transparent deep purple glass with a dark blue dot in the center.

The name for this bead series came easily. As the wistful colors and application of glass instantly reminded me of the random beauty you can see in a typical English-style garden setting.

Click here to see this English Garden series bead on eBay now, starting at just .99 cents.

Until next time,
CC
http://www.ccglassart.com

Garden Party Meets Organics

On June 17, 2009 By ccglassartIn What's Happening NowLeave a comment

I recently took an interest in making bead sets after purchasing some colored frit (crushed glass) to use in my usual bead focals.

This collection is called “Garden Party” as it just spoke to me of the colors now bursting in my own garden. Namely, my hydrangeas which are coming up bright pink this year!

This set is available for the next 2 hours on eBay (sorry for the late notice!). Click here to view now…

Another technique that has captured my attention is the Organic-style bead focal.

Organic beads are very different to make from florals and other whimsical beads. Besides the obvious differences in Organic Sun & Sand

color, there is a tone, a certain thought and attitude they have. It’s almost as if these beads tell a story with their earthy, fossil-like details.

With this particular bead below, I wanted to ‘tell the story’ from beginning to end on my own. So everything you see is handmade by me, including the twistie and the murrini. This causes the bead-making process to take quite a bit longer than it might look like it would. But the end result is certainly worth it, if I do say so myself. 😉

This Organic-style bead was just listed on eBay today! Starting price is 99 cents + FREE shipping. Click here to view this item on eBay now!

Until next time,

You may be surprised to learn that this bead only has 2 colors in it! A little bit of black and a large amount of Reactive Silver Glass…

Echo Reactive Silver Glass Reactive Silver Glass is an amazing medium to work with. It does remarkable things when worked in the heat of the flame.

When coaxed just right, reactive silver glass will produce the most beautiful varying shades of gold, green, teal and blue.

If you encase the glass in clear just after bringing these colors to the surface, they shimmer and glow even more!

When left exposed, they take on a slightly reflective quality with colors that shift in the light and change with the angle by which the bead is viewed.

This is such a beautiful bead in person – the colors that emerged are almost like an abalone shell. It is also very wearable because, in person the effect is subtle, not too bright or colorful – so it can be worn with many different colors and fashions. **Click here to view this item on eBay now**

Echo Animal Print

I’ve been working on a design for an animal print bead for a while now. Animal print is a fun, classic design that is attractive in small doses. It’s considered a fashion ‘no-no’ to wear animal print from head to toe.

So with this bead, I took that advice into consideration. Not wanting to overwhelm the bead with the animal print pattern.

So I added just a few layers of striping on top of the encased pattern and raked it once to not only balance out the bottom and the top halves of the design – but also to add a bit of subtlety to the overall look.

The results are a very pleasing look that anyone can wear, and that will go with many outfits. **Click here to view this item on eBay now**

The beads below are available now, but their auctions are ending soon…click here for more information.

Echo Teal & Rubino Perwinkle Green Beads Set