Hello! I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

In my house it’s been a bit chaotic as we’re getting ready for the new school year. We even have one starting college this year!

It’s times like these when I’m so grateful for the time I get at the torch when I can clear my mind and just focus on melting glass.

I have four bead sets up for auction on eBay this week. I didn’t realize till later that I named each of these sets after different vacation spots. Maybe I’m subconsciously trying to tell myself something – lol!

ARCTIC DAWN
I have been wanting to use Opal Yellow and soft dove grey together for quite some time. The combination of these two shades is so soothing yet still vibrant since they contrast so well with each other.

HILO
Years ago my family visited the big island of Hawaii (Kona) and took a road trip to the opposite side of the island, Hilo, to tour the Botanical Gardens there. This place is well known for it’s unbelievably gorgeous flowers and foliage. That trip was the inspiration for this collection.

CABO SAN LUCAS
Though I’ve never been there, almost everyone I know has and the images I have in my head of Cabo were brought to mind once I saw this collection of beads all strung together. Even the silver spacers have a very latin feel to me.

NANTUCKET
The soft shades of light blue and pale avocado in this set just reminded me of a beach landscape. Especially with the way the striped Raku cane took on the appearance of seagrass blowing in the breeze.

Have a wonderful weekend –

Until next time,

Christie / CCGlassArt

Hello! I hope you are having a great week. 🙂

Though summer hasn’t officially started, you’d never know it here in SoCal – at least where I live. We’ve been hitting 100 degrees already!

Now is the time when kids are getting out of school, and families are planning elaborate vacations – as for me, I am pricing portable air conditioners expecting to spend many long (yet enjoyable) hours this summer in front of my torch trying new designs and playing with new glass colors!

This week on eBay I have added a set of smaller sized beads in breezy seasonal colors of aqua and coral called “Cabana”.

I originally envisioned “Cabana” being made into a matching bracelet and earring set. But these beads would also look beautiful all strung together into one necklace.

I also have a Pandora bead available in a new painterly floral design called “Pink Roses”. You will definitely see more rose designs from me as I absolutely adore making them. This auction ends later today (Wednesday, 6/16).

“Desert Wind” is another bead I listed this week which has a more rustic, organic design with lots of fine silver foil burnished into Dark Ivory glass. I blew my own shards in shades of turquoise and coral and applied them to this bead in a random pattern for splashes of color with a wistful look.

Finally, I just listed a bead called “Renaissance” that features an intricate old-world design with scrolls, olive branches and tons of silver glass. This is a new style bead for me which I hope you’ll like.

Sneak Peek: I will be listing a brand new collection of beads in another day or two featuring gorgeous, natural earth tones in shades of topaz, amber and pistachio from wonderfully reactive glass shards with opalescent pink-blue highlights from a brand new silver glass called Clio.

Thank you for looking!

Until next time,

Christie / CCGlassArt 🙂

This is probably one of my most favorite sets I’ve ever made, definitely in the top 5! I am so proud of the way it turned out, if I may say so myself. 😉

As often happens, a collection of beads starts out as something completely different in my head.

Then, as I make each bead they take on their own unique personalities as they are born in the flame.

So many of the materials I use produce unpredictable results that don’t fully show themselves until they’re removed from the kiln some 14-17 hours after they are first made.

I’m often surprised at how well the beads turn out (or greatly disappointed when they don’t turn out as well as I thought they would and end up in my ever-growing ‘learning experience’ pile).

At the moment I completed stringing these beads together with all the coordinated spacers, I instantly knew this was a very special set.

Once I saw how all the the colors of soft jade and dark ivory worked together with the violet/periwinkle shades that developed from the different silver glasses I used, the name for this set, ‘Shire’, immediately popped into my head.

Being an old fan of LOTR books and movies, I felt these beads captured the essence of that wistful fantasy land so well.

“Shire” is available now on eBay – click here to view.

Until next time,

CC
http://www.ccglassart.com