More Beads

More of my torch fired enamel beads.  A variety of beautiful colors for the 18 mm loopy beads and the 14x16 mm woven beads.

I love coating the metal beads with glass enamel using a small torch.  The spinning of the bead, the choosing of colors, watching the colors blend, it's almost therapeutic.

Sometimes the color combinations are a complete surprise.  The nature of the torch, the variation of heat on where you place the bead in the flame, the mixing of colors, timing, so many variables.

You just have to wait until the bead cools to see what you got!

Friday Feature

Torch Fired Glass Enameled Lantern Earrings

Kari from Kari1121 on Etsy has created these elegant earrings with a pair of my torch fired enameled beads.

There is beauty in simplicity.

Click the image to view more photos of these gorgeous earrings in her Etsy shop.

Kari and her daughter collaborate on Maravillosa Designs and have filled their charming Kari1121 Etsy shop with lovely things "Handcrafted from the Heart".

The photos are amazing, they make it easy to want to spoil yourself.

Go ahead and shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kari1121

Friday Feature

Metal Pink Necklace

Erin from ItsyBeadsySpider on Etsy creates fun and charming jewelry pieces and adorable needle felted cat nip toys, which you just have to check out.

Erin created this stylish Pink Metal necklace using one of my paisley torch fired beads. She's got a great knack for combining a variety of beads to fashion delightful and flirty pieces.

If you're looking for something quirky, exotic, romantic or just love dangly earrings browse through Erin's Etsy shop: ItsyBeadsySpider

Friday Feature

Red Tiger Necklace

Nikki from LoveRoot on Etsy created this fabulous necklace using one of my torch fired enamel on metal beads. This edgy victorian styled necklace has a 24" long black brass chain.

The red tiger bead simply smolders in this design!

This one and a lot more unique pieces are available in Nikki's Etsy shop:

LoveRoot

Take a look!

Friday Feature

Fresh Water Pearl & Enamel Bead Hand-Knitted Necklace

Michaela from JewelryByMondaen on Etsy created this wonderful hand-knitted necklace. The silvery gray nylon yarn is beautifully knitted with shimmering silvery freshwater pearls throughout the entire piece and it incorporates two of my glass enameled metal beads as accent pieces. The craftsmanship and design is fabulous on this double strand 23 inch necklace. It gracefully comes together with a classy sterling silver hook and eye clasp.

It is reminiscent of a mystical fairy tale!

This stunning and elegant piece along with many of her other one of a kind amazing pieces can be found in Michaela's Etsy shop: Jewelry by Mondaen

It's worth a closer look!

Beading Joy

I was finally able to break out the torch again yesterday and created a bunch of amazing beads. Today, I photographed a bunch of those beads and the photos came out fantastic if I do say so myself.

I absolutely love this trio of beads ... almost kept them for myself.

These torch fired metal beads coated in glass enamel are so unbelievably lightweight. Perfect for creating a statement necklace! Or use one as the focal point of a necklace and create a matching pair of earrings.

I turned a set of these same beads, same colors into a pair of earrings and I love them! They really are lightweight. I wear them a lot.

You can find these Mission Lavender Pinks in my Squier Etsy Shop.

A Few Favorites

A few of my favorite beads that I have saved for myself to create something special just for me. I need to find the time and the inspiration to turn them into something fun and unique.

The Woven Bead Board

This was a fun way to display some of the torch fired enamel beads I have to offer in the large holed woven pattern. Almost houndstooth like. My customers can choose the exact bead by number.

A piece of foam core with a 1/4 inch hole punched in a grid to keep the beads from rolling away. I added the numbers in photoshop.

Let's hope Daisy kitty doesn't find it fun!

Fancy any beads?

Favorite Bead of the Day

Red Tiger Loopy Bead

I've been editing photographs I have taken of my torch fired glass enamel covered metal beads. The stunning close up detail of this one bead fascinated me. This bead is approximately 18mm round and super lightweight.

A set of five red tiger loopy beads will be available soon in my Squier Etsy shop.

Spicy Hot Color

Spicy Hot Paisley Beads

I love torch firing metal beads.

Adding coats of glass enamel.

Playing with colors, blending, mixing, torching.

These paisley beads are surprisingly ultra lightweight and rather big at 20mm.

I love them!

On a Mission

Mission Khaki is the last pair of beads I torched.

Yesterday and today, we have been on a mission to secure all things outdoors and prepare for the impending hurricane Irene. At least she's visiting here on a Sunday.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. This phrase has been repeated over and over the past few days.

All things movable outdoors have been taken care of and today we're making sure the generator runs. We've got sand bags, actually mulch bags incase we need to sand bag our driveway due to flooding. Hey, it's useable afterwards. What would we do with all that sand?

This morning, I'm baking cookies and cooking up some chicken. If the power goes out for a few days, let's hope not, we've got plenty of cold things to eat.

Enjoy your day and stay safe if you're in Irene's path!

Etsy Front Page

My Bakers Dozen Torch Fired Enamel Beads made it to the Etsy Front Page on Sunday, July 24th at around 1 pm eastern time!

The Bakers Dozen set did not sell, but a few other sets of beads have sold, which does make me happy.

Check out more of my beads for sale in the Boho Chic Beads section of my Squier Etsy Shop.

Etsy Front Page at Midnight

Foggy Blue Too

My torch fired beads were featured on the Etsy front page at midnight on July 3rd in this awesome treasury.

The beads sold on Friday, July 8th.

Double yay!

Boho Chic Beads

Rosie Fog

Torch fired beads, each with unique color. I enamel each bead one at a time, by hand using a torch. Each metal bead is heated until glowing orange at about 1500 degrees, dipped into powdered glass enamel and heated again. This process is repeated several times using both opaque and transparent colors until the desired effect is achieved. The reaction of the metal beads and enamel in the torch, each bead is somewhat unique.

Can't you see yourself creating your own fabulous jewelry with these bohemian beads?

These beads and more can be found in my Squier Etsy Shop: http://squier.etsy.com

One Single Bead

One of the 101 beads.

Love it!

March of the Bead Groups

I have been busy this afternoon organizing, sorting and photographing my beads.

This week I have created 101 torch fired beads. I am doing a test to see how many beads I can create with one bottle of map gas. So far, 101 and the bottle is not empty yet.

Etsy Front Page Again!

This time my Speckled Eggs torch fired enamel beads made it to the front page of Etsy.com at 7 pm eastern ... so very exciting!

Find the beads right here:

Speckled Eggs

Even more beads in the bead section of my

Squier Etsy Shop

I need more mapp gas so I can create more beads!

Wild Tiger Beads

Spent the day doing tax prep work. I'm done and ready to hand over my paperwork to my accountant.

Just wanted to share an awesome set of beads created by my husband Michael.

This is what happens when you share your new hobby with your spouse, he becomes really good at it too.

Love the orange, grey and tan combo on this set of beads.

This set and more are available in our Squier Etsy Shop.

Busy Beader

I've been busy playing with my torch and creating lots of gorgeous beads. Only thing is, I'm not sure what to do with all of them. So I decided I would add sets of beads to a special section in my Squier Etsy Shop.

Others too can create wonderful and inspirational pieces of art jewelry from my beads.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Squier?section_id=7942170