BeadMam Handcrafted Jewelry
Welcome to my Musings
Welcome to my Musings
| Glass Apprentice - Week 5 - Black and White |
  This is two views of the same bead. Black and white only. (30mm x 11.5mm) I had a hard time getting inspired about this one. I love color......lots of color......and black and white only just doesn't do it for me. So I settled on form and pattern and this bead seemed to achieve both of those without being too dull. Now on to the next challenge....Raku. |
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| It's Warm Again |
  It is warm enough to work in my shop again! I finished the necklace that I started long long ago. I showed the earrings several months ago. The necklace is copper and I made the beads. The base glass is Effetre/Moretti opal yellow, the frit is Wildwood from Glass Diversions. They were pressed in a deep lentil press from Cattwalk and are 3/4 inch in diameter. The copper dangles and links are 10 gauge wire forged and decorated with 22 guage copper wire colils. I made the jump rings from 18 ga and 14 ga copper wire. The necklace is 20 inches long. I am happy with the way it turned out. I wanted to do something with my lampwork beads that was more than linking them with Bali beads or hanging them on a premade chain. |
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| CF Class Earrings |
 These are the earrings I made in Connie Fox's class last weekend. They are both the same. The left one looks darker in the picture because of the lighting. The right one is the way they both looks. They are made from 22 ga sterling sheet which I sawed out and textured with a bur in a Foredom. The stones are black onyx and are set in a split cup bezel that I soldered to the silver with a plumbers torch uxing MAPP gas. The ear wires have balls on the end that I made with the same torch and then bent into shape. That is all there is to it. |
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| Glass Apprentice - Week 4 |
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| Connie Fox Class |
| Sorry, no pics this time. I spent the weekend in San Diego in Connie Fox's Earring class. What a great class! This is the 5th or 6th, maybe more, class I have taken from Connie. I am so lucky to have her just 2 hours drive away. The class, as usual, is about so much more than earrings. We were introduced to several new techniques and given helpful advice and suggestion on our projects. I came away with my head swirling with new designs and new ways to do techniques I thought I knew as well as brand new techniques. Example; we soldered with a plumbers torch and small MAPP gas canisters. I normally use a Little torch hooked to oxygen and propane tanks. I now have a new tool in my kit because I can use the MAPP gas torch for annealing and save my expensive oxygen for the precision soldering tasks. I also came away with a new pair of sterling and onyx earrings. The next class I am taking with her is in May....cuff bracelets. I can't wait. Maybe I will take pictures at that class. |
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| Twisties to go |
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| GA Frit Bead Ready to Go |
 This is the bead I am going with for the frit challenge. The frit is Pink Ribbon by Glass Diversions, the dots are Effretre Rubinos and the base is Effretre dark pink. I love the combination of swirls with the dots and the pink shades in the frit just tie everything together for me. I was also thinking about rococo decoration. The cake frosting kind of stuff. This bead came out just the way I imagined it. I have some other beads that were candidates that I will post later, after I edit the pictures. |
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| Frit Beads for Glass Apprentice Challenge |
The challenge I am working on for Glass Apprentice is to use frit. Frit is just crushed glass. Melt it into a glass bead and it can react in some surprising ways It can also be very boring. I am in a rococo mood so I tried to add some flourishes to my frit beads. Here are some I like.  Moretti dark ivory with silvered ivory stringer swirls and the center is clear with imbedded frit.  Moretti dark opaque purple base and swirls and clear with embedded frit.  Moretti white base covered with pink frit swirls and dots. I have until the 16th to submit a bead so I will play some more. |
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| FSOJ Week 4 Ha! |
 This is my necklace for week 4. My excuse is that it has been too cold and wet to work in my studio in my unheated garage. Yes, I live in So. Calif. but 50 degrees is just too cold and rain rain rain is just too depressing. That's my story and I am sticking with it. Then I switched to a different project. One that I could work on in my warm house and use the beads from my Glass Apprentice project....yes, the florals. So I started crocheting a bead rope.  The rope is done but it is too cold to work in the studio............. Sigh! |
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| GA Floral Bead - Project 2 |
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