Wow - I actually won something!

Fabulous bead maker, Heather Davis of Blissful Garden Beads, has been having several "give aways" on her blog.  So of course I entered, and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw that I had won one of them.  Her beads are exquisite!

I not only won the sweet little pair of floral beads, but also the
gorgeous copper coloured heart (I think her husband makes those -
but I'm not positive).

Thank you so very much Heather!

New Autumn set

The name is a bit over the top "Autumn's Royal Robe" - but I love how these beads turned out.  It is not at all how I thought they would look - I figured they would look a lot lighter, but I really love the dark plum colour.

These beads can be found in my Etsy shop.

I hope you all had a great weekend - my sister and I took out 49cc scooters out for a spin today - fun, fun, fun!

Tropical Ocean beads

I don't work very often with transparent glass - and when I make a set like this (that I think worked out so well) I wonder why I don't.
This set was made with transparent aqua with twisties in shades of aqua and green and then decorated with dots and stringers to make a sort of underwater garden look.

Tropical Ocean bead set.

reverse side

As usual, this set can be found in my Etsy shop.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Colourful Guardians

After making the three sets of the black and cream "Guardians" beads, I had a craving for some colour.  So I decided to see how the Terra silverglass would react with some coloured glass - I love the result!  I'm really pleased with the colour I was able to coax out of the Terra.

"Summer Guardians"

As usual, these beads can be found in my Etsy shop.

The Guardians

I have discovered something about myself - I like limitations.  When I limit myself to just two or three colours, I find I can be much more creative, and the ideas seem to flow.  Much more so than when I look at the whole range of colours in my glass shelf - I just get overwhelmed with all the choice.

These beads are not a new design - I made them earlier in the year, and loved them so much that I have re-visited the design.  Just black, light and dark ivory, opal yellow, and Terra.

The three sets can be found in my Etsy shop.

Guardians (set a)

Guardians (set b)

Guardians (set c)

Thanks for looking!

Are you ever stumped?

I sat with this set on my table for ages, and just couldn't come up with a name.
I knew the theme I wanted - something to do with moss, woods, trees, etc.  I ended up with "A Mossy Path" - eh, just doesn't really turn my crank, you know.  Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
They were another go at Heather Trimlett's 40 bead challenge - I got to 21 before I got bored.  The base glass is Pale Opal Yellow, and the accent is Fast Striking Terra.  It struck a little too fast, because very few of them kept some colour other than the mossy green.  A good thing I like green!  These will be split up into 2 or 3 sets and listed on Etsy after our glass group meeting on July 13th.  They are part of the monthly challenge for our group, so I want to do the "show & tell" thing with them.

Pale Opal Yellow & Fast Striking Terra

Pale Opal Yellow & Fast Striking Terra

Then while I was on the dots theme, I made up some nuggets.  I looked through all my glass and chose as many creamy type pastels I had, other than ivory.  A lot of them are CIM uniques.
Again I had trouble with a name, but the one image that kept running through my brain was "dice".  So hence we have "Shake, Rattle & Roll" for the larger set, and "Snake Eyes" for the smaller one.  That last name will probably put off a lot of customers - lol!

Shake, Rattle & Roll

Snake Eyes

These two last sets will be going into my Etsy shop shortly.

Hope you are all having a great weekend - and to my fellow Canadians, "Happy Canada Day" tomorrow!

New Peacock Feather Style Hearts

Wow - I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.  Not a whole lot to report I guess - other than putting my back out 3 times in 2 weeks, travelling to the mainland for a doctors appointment, only to have it cancelled when I got there, and having to travel back - a whole day just wasted on ferries.  Also I had to have an x-ray done on my right wrist - it has been so very sore lately.  The x-ray showed "considerable wear and tear" according to the doctor.  I guess that means that I will have to figure out some way to show my pendants other than wire wrapping.  Hmmmm, maybe some of those interchangeable pendant hangers - anyone know of a good (and inexpensive) supplier?

I haven't been able to torch very much because of my back, but I did get a couple of peacock feather hearts done.  They are a very simplistic style heart, but I am quite pleased with them.

Peacock Feather Heart #1

Peacock Feather Heart #2

These beads can both be found in my Etsy shop.
Hope you all have a great weekend - it is a long weekend here in Canada - "Canada Day"!

A couple more Miss Emily beads

I have a couple more of my Miss Emily beads to show you - however these two are now happily on their way to a new home (special order).  I have another order for a Miss Emily, so I will be making a few more, and then when my customer chooses which one she wants I will post the other/s on Etsy.

Reverse side of bead above.

Thanks for looking!

Update on Heather Trimlett's 40 Bead challenge

I have only managed to make 10 so far in the 40 bead challenge. ( I blogged a couple of days ago about this challenge).  My back has been playing up and giving me grief, so my days have been spent with a hot pack, Ibuprophen and a book instead of glass, mandrels and a torch.  Hopefully today I will be able make some headway on the rest of the beads.

Here is a photo of what I have done so far.  I love the way the apricot yellow has struck orange on some beads and stayed yellow on others - and some have both colours.  I think this is one of my favourite summer colour combos.

Apricot Yellow and Light Turquoise.

Thanks for stopping in for a look!

The 40 Bead Challenge

Have you seen Heather Trimlett's 40 Bead Challenge?
I was browsing the internet yesterday and came across this great sounding project. Our glass bead group - Vancouver Island Fireflies - has a challenge each month, and this months challenge is masked dots.  Although the challenge from Heather Trimlett is not necessarily masked dots, it is along the same line.  I like how she challenges you to only use 2 colours, just dots, and use heat only - no tools, and to make 40 beads in this manner.  I think you are also supposed to try to make them all with a different design using only the dots.

I started mine this morning - so far I have made 10, and they are in the kiln cooling down now.  Apricot yellow with light turquoise.  I will take photos when they are cleaned.

However, for now, I will leave you with a picture of some other beads I made about 3 years ago.  Not quite following all the rules, but almost!

"French Tablecloth" made using 2 blues and 2 yellows.

Another version of my "French Tablecloth" beads, using 2 blues and
apricot yellow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ribbon Roses

A few days ago I purchased a "Ribbon Rose" tutorial from the very talented Laurie Donnette.  It is a great little tutorial, clear instructions, well priced, and I am really pleased with the results.  For all you lampworkers out there who love florals, it is worth a trip to her Etsy shop to see all her tutorials.

Dark Pink Ribbon Roses set - can be found in my Etsy shop.

Well, I won't be doing too much this weekend - I have once again pulled a muscle in my back.  I was cleaning the shower - I knew housework was detrimental to your health!!

Spacer Beads - Made to Order!

I don't know about you, but I never have enough spacers when I am designing earrings, necklaces, etc.  So I have decided to offer them for order in my Etsy shop.  You get to choose the colour, or do a mix and match - your choice.  I will be updating the photos as I get more made showing the various colours available.  The spacers are average size at approx. 8 - 9 mm wide and approx. 5.5 mm hole to hole.  A veritable rainbow of colours is available - with the exception of purple.  All of you lampworkers out there know just how hard it is to find a decent purple.

I hope my wrist holds out! lol

Tim Burton anyone?

Yesterday for some reason I felt like using just white, grey and black to make a couple of Little Miss beads.  As I was making them the image of Emily from the Tim Burton cartoon-type movie "A Corpse Bride" kept flashing in my brain.  So of course I had to call these Little Miss beads "Emily".
I hope you like them!

Little Miss Emily

Reverse side of above bead.

Little Miss Emil

Reverse side of above bead.

I really enjoyed just sticking to the white, grey and black - less choices to make.  I think I will try it again with various hues of just one colour.  Perhaps all blues, or all yellow/topaz.

More Peacock Beads

I have some more peacock beads - this time named Peacock Tears.

This set is now in my Etsy shop.

I hope you have all had a great weekend.
Mine was not so great - put my back out yet again!!  However it seems to be getting a bit better (touch wood)!