Lampwork Glass Flame Made Beads

How's that for a title to a post ?  lol !  Kinda says it all I think.  lol !  

I had a very productive, hectic week thus far.  Not just with arts/crafts but with other stuff happening on the home front.  We are considering a move so that's taking up alot of time.  In between all that I do manage to "do my thing" beading, jewelry making, Kumihimo braids with and without beads.  Those keep me sane.  Those keep me happy.

So my happy parts brought me back to the torch finally over the weekend.  As long as it was raining, I could torch.  That rain keeps the pollen from filling the air so I can do just that.  It is pollen season again and it's been in full swing for the past month. 

 I had 3 torch sessions.  Fun !  The first day was pretty shaky but after that, I was fine.  Did some things I hadn't done in YEARS on that first day basically to prove a point.  It worked.  lol !  And those beads are the first picture below.  I made BIG beads all three days plus some flowers and leaves.  All pictured below.  Photographing the beads with the dime shows just how big those beads are.  :)  I had to make big beads for several reasons and am very happy with the outcome of all of them.  :)  Haven't decided yet if they'll be listed or will go in a piece of jewelry.

In the last photograph, there are 3 HUGE beads.  It took me forever to make each bead and it was due to the oxygen supply.  Will have to fix that.  Anyway, the beads turned out decent enough and I had fun making them.  That's what matters.  :)  The flowers and leaves will go in a bouquet I think.  I need to make a couple more rose type flowers yet.  In the last photo, that honkin' blue bead is my favorite of all of them.  I LOVE that glass and as far as I can tell, it's no longer available.  sigh.  That bead came from one rod of glass.  Soooo pretty.  It's been my favorite glass for years.  That one for sure is going in a necklace.

It would seem that the glass will keep calling me back in.  lol !  I have thought maybe it's time to quit - again with all these long breaks but something just keeps bringing me back every time.  I'm thinking it's the "zen" of melting glass.  Sounds corny I'm sure but it's the truth.  Seeing that glass melt then form into "something" is amazing to me and I can't wait to see the final outcome - good or bad - every single time.  :)        

   

 That's all for this week.  Thanks so much for coming by.  Come back again soon. :)

Please come on over to my All My Beads Facebook page and have a peek.  All My Beads Facebook  Leave a comment or message.  I'd love to hear from you.  :)


 

Time to Torch plus More Kumihimo

I'm overdue for this weeks post.  No excuse other than it's been another hectic week.  So much for slowing down and taking things a little easier !  lol !

I'll be off to the torch this morning !  Yay !  It's been so long. I hope my glass muse has made a comeback !  I have designs in mind to play with or possibly make some bell flowers.  The latest bell flower tool I bought is the Carlo Dona 12mm 6 point flower.  The other two I have are the Carlo Dona 14mm 6 point and the 20 mm 8 point.  My favorite is the largest one.  These tools are the best quality tools made by a family that's been doing it for decades in Italy.  Anyway, I can't wait to play.  Hopefully I'll have something decent to show.

What has kept me busy all week is Kumihimo of course.  I made several pieces and thankfully only one had to be torn apart.  sigh.  I hate it when that happens but it happens to all of us.  We find that one little mistake that just happens.  lol !  And it was a pattern that one has to use tiny beads with.  I hate that too.  So that will be put away for another day.  :)  I did have much success with that pattern that has enthralled me lately.  I love doing it and don't see an end in sight.  :)  Pictured below are 3 bracelets I made using that pattern.  I love love love how these turned out.

Left to right - pale pink and lime green with silver and creme soda seed beads.  A hummingbird clasp brings it all together.  Pretty spring colors for sure !  And the hummers will be back very soon !  Next up,  Peach and shades of green and gold matte beads with silver and gold seed beads.  A pretty gold clasp to end it.  Lastly a gun metal and icey blue gray magatama beads with silver and pearl gray seed beads.  The clasp has 3 hoops to size this bracelet up to a very large size.  The one on top right is sold but the other two are available for sale if interested.  Just send me a message here in the comment section below.   

Next up, another dragon necklace.  :)  This one is so cute !  Great for a young lady of any age. lol !  A turquoise blue and pink dragon adorns this Kumihimo beaded braid necklace.  The colors of the braid match her perfectly in pink, turquoise, silver and gold.  She guards her precious orb close to her body.  The silver plated chain will extend the 17 1/2" necklace up to 20" if one chooses.  :)  And yes, I am obsessed with these dragons !  lol !  Soooo cute !

Lastly, another bracelet using that favorite pattern !  lol !  Yep, I just had to do it.  :)  I had this color combo in my brain for a while.  Love how it turned out.  This is AB Amber, gold matte mag beads with gold and AB amber seed beads.  I love how this turned out.  Perfect for fall however it can be worn any time of year.  The antique gold color leaf clasp works great with it as well.  Also for sale.  If interested, post in the comments section below.  This one fits up to a 7 1/2" wrist very comfortably.  :)

 I guess that pretty much shows just how busy it's been.  lol !  What's not shown is the two braids I made on my Marudai as well.  lol !  Craziness.  A slow down seems nearly out of reach these days.  lol !  It is what it is.

Until next time.........thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon.

Time Change - Kumihimo - Dragons - What a Week

Well, it's that time of year again where the clocks had to be changed.  sigh.  This is so stupid.  Leave the clocks one way or the other for petes's sake !  There is no need to do this.  It is proven it takes some people weeks to recoup from the twice yearly change and that's just not good let alone productive.   I could go on a major rant here about all this but I won't.  Time to move on.......

The last several weeks have been so busy (as I have stated more than once) I've had barely enough time in the day to finish up what I start.  Doesn't matter what it is.  So time to slow down, like I mentioned last week, and pace myself.  Do you ever find it's just too much sometimes ?  I'm there.  lol !  I have a list of what I NEED to be doing and as I look at it, I am making plans on when and how much time I will spend on each item.  Maybe it'll take more time than what I planned for a particular "job".  With that, next time around I'll plan it better.  :)

I have been "playing" with beaded Kumihimo of course as I have been for months now.  Have I learned anything new recently ?  Not alot but that's only because I haven't had the time to sit and learn something new.  lol !  I have several new books to read, a BUNCH of tutorials to go over and actually make something, including a new lampwork bead tut.  I've glanced over a few things and am anxious to try it all.  So in the meantime, I'm still making some jewelry pieces, as time permits, and having fun with that.

The first necklace I made weeks ago.  It was one of the braids I made to go with the shell pendant - possibly.  It ended up going with the little blue dragon seen below.  Such a great match !  Turned out really good together.

This second photo is of another dragon necklace.  This little dragon is Esmeralda.  For whatever reason, as I was braiding the Kumihimo braid, I kept thinking the braid belonged to Esmeralda, the little purple dragon.  :)  There she is.  The braid is made with my own hand dyed pink silk cord, purple satin cord and one "strand" of gold color seed beads.  LOVE it !  She is for sale if anyone is interested.  Just message me.

That's a couple things I was able to finish up last week.  I really enjoyed making the pink and purple braid.  I love working on my Marudai and would do it daily if I could.  ;)   The beaded Kumihimo braids are all made on a foam disk.  Which is fine but I get more pleasure out of using the Marudai.  Not exactly sure what it is.  The feel of the fibers ?  The movement of the cords ?  Could it be I can actually DO more on the Marudai ?  Meaning making more movement of the cords ?  I'm not sure but I love it.  :)


 Please remember to come on by my Etsy shop for a look at my new hand dyed silk cords !  Lots of colors available with more to come in the next week.  All are available by the yard ! 


That's all for this week.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again sometime. 

Hand Dyed Silk Cords/Strings Revisited

Last week was such a busy week but there was some fun involved too.  :)  I am not complaining cause I like to stay busy but we all need a break once in a while right ?  So I think this coming week I'll slow down a bit.  Get caught up on some rest but do what needs to be done too. 

Ok so what kept me busy last week and actually the last 2 weeks - hand dyeing silk cords/strings.  Yes indeed.  I've gotten back into it once again.  Left doing that some time ago mainly because I had enough to keep me going for a while.  Recently, I looked at what I had left of those colors, I decided it was time once again to start dyeing.  :)  So far, I've done 30 skeins with more in mind.  I manage about 10 a day with single colors.  When I start painting the cords it will probably take longer.  Painting the cords can be fun too.  Still I want to expand on the single colors before I start painting them.  :)  What I managed to get done I have listed in my Etsy shop which you can see to the right of this.  Just click on any photo to go there and see all the colors.  More will be coming !  These cords are perfect for Kumihimo braiding.  You can use them on either the Marudai or the foam disk.  Either way works.  I use them on my Marudai which is what I'm use to using with fibers and keep my disk for beaded kumihimo. Also would be great using them in Friendship bracelets.  

Below are a couple of samples of the 8 strand braids using my silk cords.

The first one is a square braid using my sky blue silk cords and hand dyed satin cords.  The square shape is very distinctive.   

  
The second braid is made only with my hand dyed silk cords - Red and Black.  This one is available in my Etsy shop. 

I am anxious to try out some of my new colors just dyed.  They all look GREAT if I do say so myself.  lol ! 

I was able to finally finish up a couple of beaded Kumihimo braided necklaces as well.  I'll show those next post.  :)  I need to get back to work.

Thanks so much for coming by !  Come back again soon to see what's happening.