Summer Days

Ohhhh man is it HOT and humid out there !  I hibernate during these hot days of temps in the 100 degree range - with and without heat index !  Today's high - 105 with heat index.

Because of the heat, no torching.  It's just too hot to melt glass.  I'd melt right along with the glass !  lol !   With the torch going and the kiln parked at about 950 degrees the torching area is almost the same temp as it is outside plus the hot air coming in the house.  Nope, can't do it.  So the beads you will see are ones that were made before this Hades heat set in.  :)

Jewelry - well, it's just not there yet.   Such is life.

I do have a few bead pictures I can show so here goes.
This first set is more fun with that new press I have.  I love making beads with it !  This particular set is made with some new frit I have and includes a few donut shaped spacer beads with it.  Love the fun colors in the frit and I really have fun cutting !  lol !
This press is one reason I can't wait to get back to the torch when it cools down.
White base with fun colors in the frit. 

These round beads are fun to make too.  Round with sparklies added in then lightly encased in clear so the sparklies have some depth to them.  All transparent colors except the lilac which is almost transparent.  ;)  More of these will come about too later on.  

I finally bought some glass to add to my supply.  I haven't bought any glass to melt in a very long time so there was a bit of sticker shock involved.  Prices have increased dramatically compared to the last time I bought any which was probably a year or so ago give or take.  And honestly, there's just no reason prices need to be so high.  It's a total ripoff but nothing any of us can do about it - if we want to melt glass.  That whole scenario is for another day.  All I know is, my glass will last a bit longer since I don't torch during the dog days of summer.  Think SNOW !  LOL !

I can't remember who took this photograph but it was taken in the Smokies and posted on the Great Smokies National Forest Facebook page HERE.  It's so gorgeous and perfect to help one cool down on this nasty summer day.  Go to their page if you're on Facebook and check out all of the fabulous photograhers that post there work.  Amazing stuff.

Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon. 

Glass Beads In The Works

So much to say, so little time.  lol !  The past week has been so hot and humid.  Typical for this time of year and now the coming week is suppose to be hotter and more humid.  Problem is, no rain predicted !  We need it badly too while other parts of the country are drowning in rain. 

Even though we had all that heat, I did have LOTS of torch time.  Every morning I was at the torch trying new goodies and a new technique.  I REALLY want to talk about the technique I played with but I must carefully think that over.  The new goodies are the press I got recently, new sparklies and some silver.  Fun, fun stuff.  So I played all week. 

I made lots of little bead sets over the last couple of weeks and lots of focals.  Focals have always been my favorite thing to make in the last few years.  The bigger the better.  But playing with the new sparklies made it even more fun.  Check out these beads.   All focals, all encased.  Left to right:  pretty lavender, aqua in the center and amber rose on the right.  Yummy colors !  These were so much fun to make and each one took a while to make.  I've never been great at encasing so it takes me a while to get it right.  Boy, but when it's right, what a treat !  lol !  If you look closely, you can see the light shining thru the beads except for the lavender bead.  That is not transparent glass.  ALMOST transparent but not quite.  lol !  These are for sale on my Facebook Fan page HERE  if your interested in purchase.  All of my Beads on that page are for sale.  :) 

I have no other photo's to show.  lol !  I have a bunch of beads I made and still have not taken pictures of any of them other than these.  lol !  I have NEVER done that before.  Talk about lazy.  Well, not entirely.  I was pretty busy LAST week doing other stuff.  Since I won't be able to torch for the next several days (at least) due to heat, that will give me plenty of time to do the photographing I would think.  lol ! 

Time for me to get my day started.  I hate starting late.  Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again very soon. 

Remember to check out my facebook fan page with the link above.  Also, check out my Etsy shop for hand dyed silk cords, some jewelry and some beads from long ago.  lol !  When the bead listings in my Etsy shop expire, I will NOT be listing them again.  If you want any of the beads that are left, now's the time.  :)