Lapidary FUN!

I bought a lapidary machine at Bead and Button this past June, and have not had time to play, until this weekend. Torch buddy Samma Parcels and I got together Friday and made test beads to lap. We got together this morning and had a blast grinding and polishing :) (Check out Samma's bead too)

I decided to do florals and encased them in dark fumed ivory. I was so happy with how the floral beads turned out, it was hard to cover them up with the ivory! The roses in the first bead are made from rose cane that Dee Sipe and I made over a year ago using the tutorial from the Tonbo-Dama book. (It is always an adventure when torching with a friend!)

These are not finished. I am going to add surface decorations this evening, and will post after pictures tomorrow.

As always, thanks for peeking!

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

State Fair Entry


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I've been working on a few special orders, and here are a few from the kiln this morning.

Secret Garden Focal Beads

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Above are two beads from this weekend. The colors are very vibrant!

Thanks for looking!

New Electroformed Focals

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Above are three beads that I just finished this evening. I spent some time Saturday sandblasting and painting the star focals, and put them in the solutions early this morning.

I hope you had a great weekend, and thanks for looking!

Blue Flowers and Morning Glories

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Just a quick pic of one from yesterday :)

Raised Floral From Yesterday

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Here is a raised floral from yesterday done in yellows, pink, lavender and green. I added dichro stripes to the floral cane, so it sparkles. I also used a core of dark red on the cane, which makes the petals verigated and added depth.

Have a great weekend!

Fun at the Torch Yesterday

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NFS

Above are the beads from yesterday. I am so enjoying the raised florals, more than I never thought I would. I learned raised florals from Rita Burkholder as a new lampworker, and I never thought it would be a style I would want to further explore. However, taking a recent class with Cynthia Tilker made me want to revisit and reconsider. Cynthia's class was very inspirational for me.

The top bead really glows as shown in the picture, even more. The colors are rich, the dichro very warm and the raised metallic dots actually glow like fire opals.

The second bead is another nebula inspired bead. It is done with new dichro purchased from Arrow Springs at Bead and Button. The gold/red shimmer is a good match to the nebula in the picture.

The third bead is Dark Ivory and Ekho, and is accented with Double Helix murrini, which are metallic and glow when you turn the bead.

The fourth bead is just one of my favorite designs, that I really enjoy making. It offers a lot of techniques, interest and depth.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend!