A Published Work

The December 2014 issue of The Soda Lime Times(link), an "In-Box Magazine about and for Lampwork Bead Makers", was published yesterday.  It features interesting articles, tutorials, and photos of beautiful glass work by lampwork artists.

This month features an article about a Facebook group I'm involved in, Lampwork Beads For Sale. Our membership consists of artists who sell their handmade beads, and buyers or designers who make jewelry.  The SLT article contains photos from our group, and

I am honored to be included among them...

with this picture of one of my blown conch shells!

Diane Woodall, the managing editor and an accomplished lamp-worker herself, says:
"Folks can can come to www.sodalimetimes.com for a free issue and to subscribe - or just to learn more about the magazine."

The monthly issues are available on an individual basis for immediate download, so you're not committed to receiving for a period of time, unless you desire.

My thanks to Diane and her staff for a quality publication and support of the lampwork community. I look forward to it every month!

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

I'm unfashionably late to the Party and offer my apologies to all, especially my partner,  

Cindy Ritchie of moonriverglass. 

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Let's recap the beautiful soup ingredients sent to me by my partner:

Although Cindy and I are both lampwork bead makers, we have different styles.  Having no immediate vision for design, I took off the strings, laid it all out, and played with arrangements off and on until some ideas began to come together.


I've never worked with waxed linen to string beads, so this was a BIG stretch for me.  After much trial and error, knotting and unknotting, this is the first piece I managed to connect the beads to create this necklace.

Here's another perspective, showing the clasp provided:

Next, I made some earrings to match.

 

Of course, I HAD to make use of the darling angel, so a 2nd necklace was in order:

I designed it by adding some cobalt faceted beads I had on hand.

And the little owl was so cute, I thought he needed to stand alone, so I made a hair stick!

This was such a fun and challenging soup for me, and I'm grateful to Cindy for her lampwork creativity, and her patience.  I also appreciate Lori's huge undertaking in making BSBP's doable and fun!

 

Tutorial Experimentation

I've been studying some new designs from a tutorial I purchased from Gems in Bloom, and for the most part, am delighted with the results of my trial run.  Here's one of my gems, measuring 1 inch across:

Going to light the torch again!

Special Bulletin

(Bead soup I sent to Cindy Ritchie)

This just in...NC bead soup delivered
in New York today. 

Upon opening the box, the above and below were found within:

Funny how we both chose beach and ocean themes!

 

Hard to photo the true shimmer of silver leaf in the glass.

 I can't wait to see what Cindy creates with them!

{Thanks for stopping by, and I'd love to know that you were here!  Feel free to leave a comment}

BSBP Teaser

Bead Soup for my partner, Cindy Ritchie, is on its way, and scheduled for delivery on Monday.  So since the rules state that we can not post photos of the soup we sent until the partner receives it, here's a teaser.

Reading other blogs about the Bead Soup Party, I learned of a (new to me) photo app. to skew pics, and I adore how this app treats photos!

Check out Tuxpi, but fair warning...it eats time ;-)

Visit again soon for the reveal!

Soup Delivery!

I received soup goodies from my Bead Soup Blog Party partner yesterday!  

This cute lil guy was attached to the drawstring....sweet!

Just looky at all this fun!  Sand and sea, just for me!

 

  Plenty of flameworked head pins, discs, and a shape I've never seen or made:

Little white and blue flower petals or hats (bottom center).

Somehow, she knows what color this girl is fond of:  Blue! 

And now, I get to oogle at and play with all the lovely pieces that 

glass artist Cindy Ritchie of mooseriverglass sent.

 Love the little faces she puts on some of her beads.

This little angel is ready for her closeup.  Isn't she adorable?!

Time to get my creative thinking cap on and stir these beauties into something wearable.

Thank you Cindy!

Partner - 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party!

It's ON!

Been a couple of years since I participated in the Bead Soup Blog Party, so I decided to sign up for this one.

Thanks to Lori Anderson for hosting it, and doing ALL of the work to make it happen.  This year, there are 490 participants from all over the world!  Amazing lady.

Partners will exchange beads and clasps, and other findings, then each will create one or several pieces.  The "reveal" day is May 3rd, when we post photos of finished work, and spend hours perusing blogs for our viewing pleasure of eye candy!

Partners have been announced, and I couldn't be more delighted to be paired with Cindy Ritchie of 

Moose River Glass

Cindy is a fellow glass bead maker, and I noticed she also works with metals.  

Here's an example of her work:  I chose a favorite to show from her etsy shop.

Beautiful!

If you want to see more of her unique offerings, click the bracelet.

Stay tuned for the soup exchange arrivals!