Long time, no beads!
It has been one long, hot summer here in L.A. – and unfortunately, for us, it’s not over yet. In fact, we’ll get many more 100+ degree days until October or so.
Because of the heat, and because I just needed a break, I have been on a beadmaking hiatus. But, I have been inspired to get back to the torch lately so I was very lucky to catch a tolerably warm morning and make some new beads!
Here is the start of a new series of beads in a lovely new shape, a rounded bicone.
Something brand new this week! Handmade lampwork glass cabochons bezel set into pendants 😀
The most wonderful thing about cabochons – as I have come to learn – is that you get all the beauty of a lampwork glass bead but in a shape that lies completely flat against the skin. They’re also a bit more lightweight than round glass beads of the same size so they’re very comfortable to wear.
It is a new way of thinking designing these cabochons because you only have 1 side to play with. So it becomes a bit of a challenge in some ways. But the end result is so worth it I think. Once they’re set in the pendant they look so beautiful! I hope you agree 😉
These two necklaces were just posted on Etsy.
Something new for me lately is the combination of metal components with my lampwork beads.
I have been exploring making my own bead caps, experimenting with different metals and different techniques, and finally developed a way to stamp and finish them that works well with my bead designs.
So far I’ve been working mainly in brass and copper as I love the rich coloring of these metals, and the way they look when antiqued.
I recently bought a new silver glass that not only has fun and unique reactive properties, but also produces some of the most vivid and intense deep shades of cobalt, plum, teal and turquoise I have ever seen in glass.
I had so much fun using this glass in most of this week’s beads…
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!
CCGlassArt 