If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time you’ll know how much I love all things murrini. Ok, you might say I’m a bit obsessed with it.
I love to make it, I love to work with it, I love to just look at it… I make it often, and always end up with much more than I could ever possibly use myself. So, this week I finally got around to listing some of my stash on Etsy!
Here are 3 new styles of murrini chips that are available now, (Seagrass, Strawberry Fields, and Watercolors).
Is there really such a thing as too much murrini, though? Not in my world! LOL! 😀
I recently had to upgrade to a bigger tray to hold my ever-growing murrini collection:
I usually begin every torching session by making a new batch of murrini. This is part warm-up, part ‘feeding the obsession’ – hehe. 😉 I also like to keep my bead designs fresh and new so I’m constantly making more murrini to use in my beads.
Problem is (if you can call it a problem…) I always end up with wayyy more murrini in a single design or color than I’ll ever be able to use myself since each batch of murrini makes so many chips! Sometimes I will list my de-stash on Etsy. Other times I just keep it all for myself… 😀
I do try and put all the murrini I make to good use, however. Below are this week’s beads featuring some new murrini I made.
(Note: for the record, I do occasionally buy murrini from other talented glass artists as well – I love using it too much and too often to ever be able to make so many different murrini designs myself! One of my favorite glass artists, Lori & Kim, make some of the most unique murrini in such beautiful colors and fun patterns which I love to use in my beads. But the majority of the murrini I use in my beads are ones I’ve made myself. 🙂 )
Some of these beads are still available on Etsy:
Even though making these beads takes a long time, a lot of work and concentration, (and can even be downright stressful at times!), they have become my all time favorite beads to make….thus far. 😉
No two of these beads are exactly the same so each of them is a one-of-a-kind, very special piece.
I build them murrini by murrini, rarely choosing the chips in advance. I like to be spontaneous and pick the murrini chips as I go along building the bead. Here’s a picture of the pile of murrini I have to choose from as I make a bead:
I also regularly make new murrini to add to my stash of chips to choose from. Here are some recent designs I made (these are currently available on Etsy):
Below are more encased murrini beads that were made in the past couple weeks. Many of them are still available on Etsy.
I made a few more of these in pretty colors of peridot green, and fuchsia pink (which comes from Rubino Oro glass). I also made one that is swirled with different silver glasses for a more opaque look but with multiple colors running throughout the design. I even embedded some sparkling cubic zirconia stones to catch the light! 😀
All beads currently on Etsy:
Learning new techniques then mastering them is what keeps me having fun with glass! 😀
I’ve been involved with many crafts and hobbies over the years, from soapmaking to acrylic painting, and while I’ve enjoyed them all there was a point where I felt I learned all there was to know about it.
For me, I love the challenge of learning new skills then practicing over and over till I get great results. Working with glass, I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of learning all there is to know in this medium. There is so much to it and so many different places you can go with it.
I recently learned a new technique which combines swirls of transparent and opaque glass with hair fine stringer and multiple layers of crystal clear glass which greatly adds to the inner illusion of the twisted core.
Of course, I couldn’t help myself by adding some murrini to the surface of the beads 😉
All beads are now available on Etsy:
I also made a couple encased murrini beads which include some of my new flower shaped murrini (to be listed on Etsy soon):
CCGlassArt 