A Couple Of… Pendants « Julie’s Jewels

BHV Blog

Bead Hive (BHV) is a group of fun, creative, Self Representing Bead & Jewelry Artisans, from eBay joining together and starting a street team to support our art on Etsy. Dedicated to quality workmanship. Superior in design, materials & style! We find our creativity and inspiration in our friendships and in the beauty of the world around us!

Our members dabble in many mediums and art forms. Some being glass lampwork artisans, clay artisans, fusing, jewelry design, supplies and much more!

We have so much fun learning, laughing, sharing, supporting and creating our art together and invite you to kick back & enjoy!

etsyBEAD Blog

Beads are the most versatile medium for the creation of jewelry. Fun or elegant, chic or simple, they give endless possibilities for artistic expression. An artist in beads is one who, inspired by the beauty of colors and textures, creates something that is more than the sum of its parts. The humble bead, used in jewelry for thousands of years, can itself become a blank slate. etsyBEAD is therefore open to both bead artists and jewelry designers.

This team provides both jewelers and beadmakers with a forum to congregate, discuss their craft and business ideas, and share tips. Beaders make up a large section of Etsy, and this street team will help them promote both their craft and their individual shops through a diverse selection of events, including: online trunk shows, blog features, targeted advertising, and other opportunities. All Etsians who create beads or beaded jewelry are invited to join.

What Are Lampwork Beads?

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Of the many types of beads I use in my designs, some of my favorites are lampwork beads. They are little works of art with a hole for stringing! I buy from many gifted Artisans; one gracious artisan gave me a descritpion of how she creates these little treasures!

Handmade Lampwork Beads - Donna Merrill

The process of making glass beads by hand is called lampworking. Here's a brief description of how I make my beads:

I use a torch that operates with oxygen and propane to melt the rods of glass used to make beads. I begin with a thin stainless steel rod called a mandrel coated with a substance that allows the bead to come off easily after it cools. I heat the mandrel in the flame with my left hand, so the molten glass will stick to it, and I heat the tip of the glass rod with my right hand until the glass is glowing and molten. Then I touch the tip of the molten glass to the mandrel and begin to slowly wind a ribbon of glass onto the mandrel in the flame, I hold the mandrel horizontally and slowly rotate it at a constant rate of speed until gravity and centrifugal force turn the glass into a round bead. For a basic bead, that's pretty much it!

Beads with patterns inside are done with layers of glass melted into the original bead and encased with a thick layer of clear glass. Patterns on the tops of beads are made with layers of dots or lines of molten glass. Depending on the complexity of the design, it takes me from 10 to 20 minutes to make a single bead.

Each bead is put into my kiln at 1000 degrees where it is annealed overnight. The controller on the kiln reduces the temperature very gradually to take all the stress out of the glass, so you don't have to worry about breaking beads! I then take them off the mandrels, clean the bead release out of the holes, and they're ready to go into jewellery!

When you buy jewellery made with lampwork, you are buying art to wear.

Thank-you and Enjoy!