Revisting an old friend. The toggle bead - this one with a wonderful encased ring floating effortlessly on the barrel of this bead/sculpture. I've mentioned before the process involved making this bead, but will quickly revisit.

The toggle barrel is created and one end is attached - a ring made in another session that has been annealed, cooled, cleaned and brought up to temperature in the kiln is quickly slid onto the barrel/one ended bead (that is sufficiently cool so that the glass barrel is not 'sticky'... and yet still warm enough so that it will not suffer thermal shock...) the second end of the barrel is attached (quickly). Pop back into the kiln - and start breathing again!!

I've made these Toggles before with up to 6 rings - but - 3-4 is really quite enough to cause a stir.

There she sits - magestically reigning over the page... I think I'll leave her for a few days...
very pretty.

I'm working on revealing the limits of Pandora - it's Double Helix's new silvered glass...
Bill Thornton - Moretti and More has asked for a photo of what I am able to do - this is just a work in progress... but - it's great fun to use.
OK, let me clarify. Pandora is luscious, and I have found that it 'shines' best when it's encased...but an entire set of encased gorgeous mauvy/peachy/pink beads is a bit 'dull'....
This set has some accompanying beads that are in the same flavor - but punch it up with a bit of diversity. Such as the purple base disk with a sprinkling of raku frit... and the chocolate brown ones. I think the Raku is a very nice companion to this glass. I will continue to play - but just wanted to give you an idea of what it is capable of producing.

It seems appropriate that these are called Aqua Drops... doesn't it? Graceful little drops - made en tandem on a single mandrel - to make sure they match. A sure feat of concentration and determination to watch as molten glass drips like honey - to just the right shape/size.

...and the process continues - I'm liking what I'm seeing - don't know how everyone else will - but it's pretty. It's still hard to limit the size of the beads - with the requirement that the holes be shaped so perfectly to be able to seat a nice core. It almost dictates the size of the bead.

N says that in her opinion, the size of the bead is more important than the fact that it's lined. That's an interesting point of view, as I'd be happy to make small intricate UN-lined beads - after all - small is my forte!!

Knowing that my photographic skills have improved, I re-photographed this set - and will re-post it to my gallery on my website. I remember telling Glassdaddy that Prussian Blue would be his biggest seller... it's just a shame that the factory couldn't ever reproduce that same exact color...

I was just leafing through my favorite places to hang out on the Internet - and was looking at the Treasury listings on Etsy... this is where people act as curators and put together a grouping of other artists' work, to allow viewing in the Treasury gallery. It's near to impossible to get to be a curator - I've had some work featured in a few. I just found this one, and am flattered to be featured.

Etsy Treasury - For the love 'o' glass!

I've been working on the Pandora bracelet style beads lately... some experimentation yesterday showed me that the standard size hole I've been using - WITHOUT - any metal core added fit nicely over the threaded points on the bracelet... but - when adding a core - I need to make a slightly larger hole in the bead. Which means that if I want to keep the beads 'wearably sized' I need to pay attention to getting as much into the bead as possible and stay conscious of the growing size of the bead.

Here's the latest color combination - a series of dark rich purple, taupe and violet - encased lentils. It's a shape variation on a few of the 'Wilma Rocks!' Necklaces that will be hitting the screens soon... I've also experimented with etching these - and it's a more casual but equally stunning look!

I was asked recently about fall colors for these shaped sets... did I hit my mark? Makes me want to spend another torch session making variations of these!

I've mentioned before how I am always unscrewing things looking for cool findings to outfit with my beads... I think also, that once you've gone through such a search, your beads ought to enhance the item even further. This means cohesive design and well fitting beads, pleasing to the hand as well as the eye.

These 'beads' are in excess of 5" long - and took a great deal of painstaking attention to make sure that they survive their creation in the flame.

Again how light plays in and around, through the glass - here is a simple paddle style pair of earrings - but - with the stampings in the glass - it appears almost as if there is a silver lining. I like that effect, I love the way the light bounces around - and best of all - there is all this happening inside earrings that are very forgiving to wear. I mention this because it seems so many lampwork earrings are endless... beads, silver, dangles... more beads. Gosh - how much can one earlobe support?? Less is more - I always strive for that type of design... and these embody it.