New Summertime Glass Murrini

On June 17, 2011August 26, 2011 By ccglassartIn Photos, What's Happening NowLeave a comment

Making glass murrini is hit or miss for me.

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:

Ice Pop Murrini Chips — "Ice Pop" murrini chips

Introducing Mixed Media & Altered Art Jewelry

On February 16, 2011 By ccglassartIn Photos, What's Happening NowLeave a comment

This is something I’ve been working on for a while now – after much experimentation I have successfully combined my love for graphic arts/photography with my love of lampwork bead-making.

By bringing these elements together I’ve created a unique line of jewelry…something I never thought I would actually get into doing. But now that I’m in, I have to admit it’s quite fun and I’m very pleased with the results.

There’s something about seeing my lampwork glass beads go beyond the ‘loose and lonely’ stage into a completed, wearable piece of art. It is very satisfying!

The pendants below are available now in my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CCGlassArt

All That Glitters…Is Goldstone!

On May 28, 2009May 28, 2009 By ccglassartIn What's Happening NowLeave a comment

Maybe it’s just me, but I think a little bling in a bead is a good thing – make that, a GREAT thing!

I had a hard time offering this bead for sale, I wanted to keep it for myself!

This bead is so incredibly beautiful in person (if I do say so myself 😉 with all that shimmering, glittering goldstone suspended in crystal clear glass.

I usually don’t photograph my beads outside but I just had to take this one out in the sun to try and capture its true beauty.

I also love the fact that the colors are fairly neutral, so this bead can be worn with any other color.

Celestial Series Bead in Deep Blues

My Celestial series beads were a ‘happy accident’. I was trying to achieve a layering effect with both transparent and opaque glass. I wanted to be able to see the inner layers of glass from the surface.

With the addition of the silvered ivory and Dichroic glass it was clear that this bead resembled something ‘other-worldly’, hence the name = Celestial.

It may look like a pretty straightforward, easy design to create, but this is actually one of the hardest beads to make simply because the colors and layers are so carefully arranged.

And when you’re working with hot, molten glass you don’t have a lot of time to think about placement. Half the time the colors are completely different when heated so a lot of it is guesswork, hoping it will come out as planned.

Art Deco Series Bead w/ Handpulled Twistie

Speaking of ‘happy accidents’… This bead started off as planned, but then took on a life of it’s own half way through.

There is a lot going on with this bead and including the time it takes to create the twistie you see in the middle, it’s one of the most time consuming designs I have made.

The twistie is handmade, by me, using olive green, deep red and ivory colored glass. It is applied in a specific pattern to a ball of glass then carefully heated and, when molten, handpulled while being twisted at the same time.

This bead also includes a sheet of pure fine silver foil encased just beneath the surface. The silver foil gives the bead this unique warm glow as it reflects light from within.

I wound goldstone stringer around each ‘hemisphere’ and left it slightly raised off the surface so that the bead had some texture and dimension to it.

**All these beads are currently available on eBay – just click here to view them! **

Until next time,

Dichroic Lentils On ‘The Bay’

On May 14, 2009May 15, 2009 By ccglassartIn What's Happening NowLeave a comment

Dichroic glass is my current obsession. It has completely captivated me and I just can’t get enough. It is a tricky glass to use as the dichroic coating can easily burn off if exposed directly to the flame and sometimes the glass it’s adhered to can be fussy. I’ve lost 2 big beads, and 2 beautiful strips of expensive dichro to incompatible glass reactions…

Thankfully I had success with the beads below, just listed on eBay for only .99 cents each (and free shipping)! I’ve been selling on eBay for over 10 years and this is something I’ve done before and would like to continue. I feel starting the price at .99 cents enables people to set their own budget for what they can afford.

Soleil Dichro Bead

I had a hard time letting this bead go. It’s a Soleil series bead which came out so beautifully. The dichroic glass is simply stunning in person. I’ve held onto it for a couple weeks so I’ve had time to admire it all I want – and I have some beautiful pictures to remember it by. But now it’s time to allow someone else the enjoyment of owning this shimmering bead.

I wish I could show you this bead in person, especially in direct sunlight. Definitely an eyecatcher with bold, cheerful colors just in time for summer!

****Click Here To View This Auction Item On eBay****

Celestial Focal

I had a hard time coming up for a name for this bead. I knew I wanted it to relate to outer space in some way since to me it looks like a planet. But ‘Planet Bead’ just didn’t have a nice ring to it…I thought maybe ‘Lunar’ but I already have a dichroic bead series called Luna. So I settled on Celestial. This can apply to any ‘other-worldly’ things like stars, planets, etc.

Because this bead has many dark shades of glass swirled throughout its design, it was difficult to get a photograph that really captured it’s true beauty. This photo shows the bead off well, but it is much more breathtaking in person. Those bits of dichroic suspended between the opaque and transparent glass is incredible, the depth in this bead just cannot be fully appreciated in a 2D photo.

****Click Here To View This Auction Item On eBay****

Until next time,

Satake Soup

On April 29, 2009 By ccglassartIn Tips & TricksLeave a comment

Satake Glass Rods

A while ago, I purchased a small stash of Japanese Satake glass rods. I kept hearing that this glass that is a ‘match made in heaven’ for those of us with single fuel torches. So I just had to try it!

When I first got it and tried it, it was a disaster! I boiled every color to smitherines! Since then, those beautiful glass rods have just been in a lonley corner of my studio collecting dust…literally.

Then, a couple days ago, I decided to try using this glass again. This attempt was slightly more successful than the last.

Satake glass turns to drippy molten soup in an instant making it very difficult to control, much less achieve a pleasing and symmetrical shape. I did manage a nice bi-colored tab bead and heart. BUT……what I forgot, is that Satake glass anneals at a lower temperature than the Italian/German glass I normally use. So when I pulled these Satake beads out of the kiln the next morning…this is what I saw…

Satake Heart Satake Disk

You can see how the glass slumped in the kiln. Also, the brown on the disk-shaped bead ended up overheating and discoloring a bit, turning more metallic.

This is a very tricky glass and one that I probably won’t be using often as the methods I’ve grown accustomed to simply don’t apply to Satake. It is also considerably more expensive, so although it’s fun to play with, the most I will probably do with this glass in the future is just make spacer beads with it.

C.C.