playing with silver foil again - I forgot how elegant it can be. Nice set though - Prussian, purple and black with reduction frit and twisties.
Elegance.

Beauties, eh? I tried some different things with this set. Side to side feathering - floating R4 ring over the mint... that is THEN encased... Palladium core with floating R4... Vortex, then Palladium floating over R4, R4 core with a wrap of copper wire... a fun mix. 15mm lentils and as is the standard of late - 1/16" mandrel holes!

I just found out my buddy Jeri Warhaftig (*Happy Birthday this Sunday!!*) is teaching next year at Bluemoon Glassworks in Austin... you GO girl! That is awesome.

While finding those image, I revisited the array of toggles that were made back in May of 2007, at this time I was playing with texture - and texturizing the barrel of the toggle as well as the complementing rings.
For those of you who aren't familiar with toggles, they're made like beads - but it's a two part process - involving making/annealing/cleaning the rings one day - then putting them into a cold kiln and brought up to working temperature. While this is happening - you create a long bead barrel with one tall disk at one end... while it needs to be hot enough not to crack, yet cool enough not to have the rings stick to it, you carefully retrieve the rings from the hot kiln and slide them onto the barrel and quickly make the other end disk. Try to gently warm it a bit - then tuck it into the kiln.

I love all the different shapes that the presses allow - and getting nicely squared edges without the distortion of the design is the 'goal'... but no matter how lovely the bead - it's incredibly hard to photograph them AND give them the honor due for being a beautiful bead. (I will search my archives though and try to find a photograph that utilizes the shadow that was thrown - as it shows how sharp the corners are and straight the lines.) These show much MUCH better in person - unfortunately, for most of my sales are online. Very pretty though!
I found some more images while I was hunting for the one above... so - the show continues...This bead is called "Portals" because the large droplets of clear act to amplify what's underneath... and sometimes the view into the bead has to be sought - and what better to look through, than these viewing portals. Love this look, and I do have four additional that I made - if you're interested in owning one - just email me!
My love affair with R4 glass continues... this pendant shown above has some of the most glorious swirls and also - the most beautifully executed color transformation of this R4 glass. Neat, eh?

AND finally - the last one - "Ventana" meaning windows - it was reminiscent of a window I saw on the island of Murano. It looked as if the glass were just slices from some large glass cane. I left the chill marks on the beads - as they really seemed to add so much to the design.

OK, one more - these are my firs beads ever. Note how many were burned, cracked right in two - lopsided or what. I shake my head now... but I was darn proud of them... uh, about 11 years ago.

so - they dangle, but they're posts... my Mom has been asking for post earrings FOREVER... do these qualify? They're fun, all handmade components - save the post and clutch. I've got four pair set to go - pricing? hmmm. dilemma - suggestions?? *oh, and yes - there are a "pair" of errings!* The smaller rings are 14ga, the larger ring is 12ga - soldered shut.

Instructions: "click above image to fall in" ; )
I was wishing that there would be better light today - as these new sets are absolutely stunning. But - this is what I got. I had to string them quickly - as otherwise, I'm sure they'd be bracelets by now!

And, these just went on as the Daily Bead on my site.

Two new bracelets - both holding their own in my heart... what do you think of the new silver caps? Obviously, my love affair with the R4 glass continues - I don't think I'll ever tire of it. : )