I know I’ll be getting a lot of use out of my Pandora-style bracelet this summer and thought others might be thinking the same thing. So I made a bunch of large hole glass beads over the weekend which universally fit all types of European charm bracelets like Trollbeads, Biagi, Chamilia, and Pandora.
Now and then I accumulate several beads that for one reason or another did not meet my extremely high standards enough to be sold individually. They’re each still beautiful in their own way, made with all my best materials, properly kiln annealed and thoroughly cleaned, but they just did not turn out as I had originally planned. So they go into what I call an ‘Odd Lot’ set.
This particular Odd Lot collection includes some great large size focals and three fully lined Pandora style charm beads!
One of my goals this year has been to challenge myself with new designs I haven’t done before, or bring back designs I haven’t done in a long time.
It began with creating more florals in glass, and is continuing with making large hole beads that fit those popular European bracelets like Pandora, Biagi, Troll, etc.
I have made this style bead in the past but did not have the special tools needed to professionally line the large holes with solid sterling silver coring for that really beautiful, jeweler’s finish – but now I do!
Introducing my new line of Pandora-style glass beads fully lined from end to end with genuine sterling silver tubing:
After enjoying some time off, and taking a creative detour for a while, I am finally back to making lampwork bead sets just for jewelry makers and collectors.
I have had so many new ideas and designs in my head just waiting to become a reality in glass. Here are some of the recent results:
This week’s beads feature designs in varying shades of one of my favorite colors – pink!
This “Black Opal” bead uses a fantastic technique generously shared with the entire lampworking community by Amber of Naos Glass. It uses fine silver foil and silver glass to create amazing colors like rich orange and honey with bright flashes of intense cobalt blue and violet.
In “Rosewood”, I used Rubino Oro (which gets its fuchsia hue from real gold!) over dark silver plum creating a lovely, soft mauve-rose shade. The hand blown, reactive silver glass shards layered on top add a unique organic element with the webbing effect created in the flame.
“Ruby Storm” is a large hole bead that has multiple facets of a deep rose-red colored glass with specially treated ‘Stormed’ stringer on top which creates the floating swirls.
With “Pink Dew”, fine silver mesh is encapsulated beneath a thick layer of crystal clear glass. Once the glass is super heated to a molten state the mesh pulls apart to create all the tiny silver beads you see in the photo. A great effect – and a stunning bead to have as an addition to your Pandora bead collection.
All beads are available now on eBay – just click the images above to visit my store 🙂
CCGlassArt 