Tag: lampwork

NEW Beads – 9/25/2020

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

Smokey Sun

Hello! Well, Fall is officially here but we’re still seeing temperatures in the 90’s and next week will be 100+! 😦

Unfortunately, there are also fires still raging in the distance and the smoke and ash are being blown into our area.

I took this photo one afternoon when the smoke turned the sun an eerie dark orange.

Handmade Glass Art Encased Murrini Marble Style Pendant BeadIt has definitely been a crazy summer in more ways than one!

Thank goodness for things like making beads. Being creative is very therapeutic and I’m so happy when I’m able to spend some time at the torch.

Even though the weather hasn’t changed much yet, I know the cooler weather is just around the corner!

Handmade Glass Art Encased Murrini Charm Bracelet BeadIn the meantime, I do have a few new beads available this week over on Etsy (the large marble-style bead has sold already).   Handmade Glass Art Encased Murrini Charm Bracelet BeadHandmade Glass Art Encased Murrini Charm Bracelet Bead Example of a handful of beads photographed in full sun

I made these during the last cool-ish days we had (when we were only around 90, haha!)

I am really enjoying revisiting some of my previous designs from the past. I call them Neptune’s Net for the embedded copper mesh.

I also am having so much fun making larger size marble/paperweight-style gazing ball pendants.

Unlike most of my charm bracelet beads, these round gazing ball beads have a small hole that can be threaded right onto any smooth chain that is about 2.5mm or smaller. I often string them on ball-chain since it has the stability to showcase these larger beads well and the glass doesn’t catch on the chain.

Another way to wear these marble style beads is to use a ‘Beadhopper’ pendant stick to display them vertically.

OR, you can do what I usually do and just leave them on your desk to look at all day long. Lol! 😀

 

Thank you for looking and have a wonderful day,

Christina
CCGlassArt

NEW Beads – 8/5/2020

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

Hello, hello! I hope all is well with you and this message finds you in good health. 🙂

Bunny

Many of you know our family recently moved to a new home. Something we didn’t know until we moved in was how many rabbits there are everywhere! Occasionally I’ll wake up in the morning to see this little guy watching me through the window – haha! Good thing I don’t mind…

The past few days we’ve had a little break in the hot 100+ degree weather – which has been a welcome change!

To celebrate, I’ve put a few beads in my Etsy store on sale through the end of the month. You can find them here:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CCGlassArt

This week’s NEW beads include some fun glow-in-the-dark murrini that I made recently. I’ve been tucking these special murrini into some of my beads here and there. If you soak them in a bright light for a minute then go into a dark room they glow electric blue! 😮

Here’s my current collection of beads now available in the Lampwork Bead Market Facebook Group:

Handmade Lampwork glass art bead with encased murrini Handmade Lampwork glass art bead with encased murrini Handmade Lampwork glass art bead with encased murrini Handmade Lampwork glass art bead with encased murrini

 

Handmade Lampwork beads with encased murrini

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day,

Christina
CCGlassArt

Video: Glass Shard Application on Lampwork Bead

On By ccglassartIn Photos, Tips & Tricks, Videos4 Comments

In this video I make a small bead with my own handblown shards!

Shards are thin sheets of blown glass that can be wrapped around beads to add interest and detail to a design. I used shards quite a lot back when I was making large focals. But applying them to small beads can be a bit tricky. Especially if you are using reactive shards that tend to move while they melt in the heat of the flame.

I hope you enjoy it!

Please note:  This video is a demonstration for entertainment purposes only.

A photo of the finished bead after kiln annealing…

hand blown glass shard bead, applying shards, making glass beads, aqua turquoise bead, organic beads

Summer To Fall – Pandora Style Beads

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

Officially it is Fall, although you’d never know it stepping outside into 95 degree heat, but it is here. I do notice a distinct chill in the air in the early mornings, though. That little bit of crispness that tells you the season is here (or almost here in our case).

I am SO ready for the weather to change and for that chill to be in the air all day long. I can’t wait to see the leaves change color (yes, where we live in SoCal they actually do that – something to do with it getting cold enough here in the Winter I think…)

I really can’t believe that the holidays are right around the corner though – how are we already here at this time of year again?! These days, I seem to have to make a special effort to slow my mind down so I am sure to enjoy everything and not let it all go by in a blur.

In the meantime, as I pine for Fall and prepare for the holidays, here are a few new Pandora-style beads to brighten your day:  😉

Barnacles – big hole bead
Blue Daisies – big hole bead
Happiness Is – big hole bead
Hydrangea Buds – big hole bead
Summer to Fall – big hole bead

The Netflix of Music

On By ccglassartIn Tips & Tricks, What's Happening NowLeave a comment

sansa

Whenever I am at the torch I always listen to my iPod (remember when we called them ‘walkmans’?) But now that I am torching upwards of 10-15 hours a week, or more, I am quickly growing tired of listening to my same playlist over and over.

Recently I found out my local library offers audiobook downloads for free, I just needed to get a compatible player. So I purchased a cheap, little portable device called a Sansa mp3 player. It clips onto your shirt, just like my iPod shuffle, but can play all my mp3’s as well as the audiobooks.

When I looked through the inserts that came with my new Sansa player, I noticed an advertisement for Rhapsody.com. It offered a free 30 day trial so I signed up to try it.

Much to my surprise this service was a lot more than just another iTunes! You pay a monthly subscription fee and download as much music as you want as often as you want. You can either just rent the music, or choose to pay for the songs if you want to keep them forever (.99 cents each). I get sick of music so quickly, I can’t see myself buying music too much anymore.

However, if you still like buying music, not only is Rhapsody less expensive per song than iTunes, BUT as a subscriber you can listen to the entire length of every song before purchasing it. I know I’ve bought a lot of ‘duds’ because the 30 second clip sounded great, but the rest of the song…not so much!

Because I’m just renting the music I know I will change out songs often and will be able to listen to so much more music than I would if I had to purchase each individual song (especially with iTunes raising the prices of most their songs to $1.29 each!) I wouldn’t ordinarily let myself buy as much music as I would really like to listen to just to keep my playlist ‘fresh’.

Rhapsody charges $12.99 a month for downloading the rented music on up to 3 computers. If you want the ability to also download the music to a portable device, it’s an extra $2 a month.

I guess if I ever got to the point where I didn’t want to buy as much music to justify spending the $14.99 a month then it wouldn’t be worth it. But because I’m listening to my iPod for up to 20 hours a week, this type of service is great for me!

Oh! Rhapsody also has a feature where you can upload their preselected music ‘channels’ (grouped by genre, artist or your own custom choices) to your compatible portable device, and everytime you connect to their website this playlist of music refreshes with new content. How awesome is that?!

Between using Rhapsody and the free audiobooks from my library, I’ll never get bored listening to the same songs over and over again while torching – woo hoo!

CC