Ocean’s calling

beading in progress

Enjoying blue beads again, I am working on a new wrap in aqua colors.  Here are pictured some seed beads in tubes and the tray, the tiny needle used for the peyote stitch fringe, and two handmade beads on a stainless steel rod.

The royal blue wrap was made earlier and I have the basic strand assembled for the aqua blue necklace.  It has three handmade Aura Sun Arts beads in the seafoam blues that remind me of tropical oceans.

seafoam blues with a bit of fringe

Here it is with the ruffled fringe of smaller seed beads added on.  I may add some fringe to the right side of the strand just to see how that looks.

I have not been to the beach in a long time, but I take a look at Hempstead Beach on Long Island New York, by webcam when I want to pretend.

Click on either photo for a closer view.

Annealing glass beads

a kiln full of beads

Here we have a kiln full of handmade beads ready for annealing.  Annealing is a method for heat treating the beads to make them less likely to break.  Annealing is also used in metallurgy to make metals less brittle.

After several hours in the hot kiln, the beads reach 960F and are then allowed to cool slowly.  Now they are ready to release into the wild.

Glass is still glass, so a bead might break if dropped.  It is also wise to avoid thermal shock to glass beads, so if you were wearing a glass bead while sunbathing and then jumped into a cold swimming pool it could have unhappy results.

It’s a wrap!

This week’s necklace is a wrap around style that can be worn in a variety of lengths.  Crisp blues and white seed beads in a free form scalloped edge complement the three larger handmade Aura Sun Arts beads.

blue and white wrap style necklace

The entire strand is 19 inches, but it is shown here as a 16 inch choker.  The lobster claw clasp in the front makes it easy to hook over the main strand where you like.  I will be making some variations on this theme in other colors, and it will be fun to come up with matching earrings.

Click on the image for a closer view.  The ruffle is best appreciated in person; the tiny seed beads woven in a peyote stitch create a flexible fabric.  This style necklace will be in the $175.00 range.

Armed Forces Day

Today is Armed Forces Day, thank you to all who serve.

Land of the Free

My front porch has flown a flag for the past ten years, and now there is a bit of bunting on the railing as well.  Sometimes the local school band practices marching on my street, not a real parade, just the flavor.

Spring is here, the days are getting warm enough to start making beads again.  Glass prefers working temperatures above 65 degrees.

Here are the first new beads of the season, on the rod at the bottom of the photo.  They are smaller than my usual beads shown at the top.  In the center of the photo are some of the stock glass rods used to create the beads.  I am needing smaller accent beads, and am also experimenting with a larger steel rod which results in a bead with a larger hole.  Click on each photo for a closer view.

first beads of the year

Something old, something new

This week we have one older bracelet and a new pair of earrings.

Something old, something new

The bracelet is an Aura Sun Arts original from some years back; it features glass seed beads, freshwater pearls, and larger glass, quartz and amethyst beads dangling in a cascade across the top that move as the wearer does.

The earrings are my handmade glass beads with metallic accent beads, and the raindrop beads that are also shown loose.  Click on either image for a closer view.

Something old and something new, and a salute to the upcoming Royal Wedding that is filling the news.  Here my teacup had foam that took the shape of a portrait of Kate Middleton!  I won’t be auctioning it off like the jelly bean story on the BBC.

teacup Kate with fancy hat

On a more serious note, this event will have an audience in the millions.

Princess Diana’s funeral had an estimated viewership of 33 million, and if half of them recited the Lord’s Prayer when it was spoken during that service, that (due to the technology of the global simulcast) was the largest unison prayer in the history of our planet.   Maybe that prayer will be a part of the wedding service?  Wishing the couple every happiness and a day of global harmony.

Blue with hints of spring green

Seafoam blues with hints of green

The Vernal Equinox arrives, and today’s creation features three Aura Sun Arts beads strung with a range of blues and hints of green.

The handmade beads feature my favorite blue and gold glimmers, and tiny air bubbles encased in clear glass.  I add the air bubbles by making a mesh of glass strings and encasing over that.  Many glass artists view air bubbles as mistakes, but I find them to be really fun.  When you spin the bead the bubbles look like tiny planets in orbit.

Click on the photo for a closer look.  This one is 24 inches and needs no clasp.  It has already gone to a good home, but a similar creation might cost $95.00.

Fire bead in a woven choker

fire bead in peyote stitch woven choker

Finally finished another woven seed bead choker this week.

I call this series Fire beads because of how great they look in full sunlight – like they are on fire!  Translucent ambers and blues with glimmers of gold and lots of encased air bubbles make this handmade Aura Sun Arts bead special.

The focal bead colors are repeated in the seed beads along the necklace, in shades of amber and brown, with flecks of gold and a scattering of blues.  The bead weaving technique, using upholstery thread and a tiny needle, is called the peyote stitch.  With it you can create patterns or completely freeform pieces, it is much like knitting.

Browns and blues just naturally complement each other, it’s a good team.  Here is another shot to show the detail on the end clasp.  Some of the beads were just 1mm in size, it made this one more challenging.  It is 15.5 inches long.  $250.00.  Click on each photo for an enlarged view.

fire bead with bubbles

Twinkles like the winter sky

black and white necklace with earrings

Black and white beads set each other off; the white ones twinkling like the stars in the winter sky.  Here I have the necklace I created a few weeks back with new matching earrings.  I added a third row of beads on the necklace as well.  Looping and branching as you work is a nice change from beads strung in single file.  Click on the photo for a close up view.

There are three handmade Aura Sun Arts beads in the set, the large black and white beads.  They have traces of goldstone and bluestone glitter jazzing them up.

Speaking of the night sky, Venus makes an appearance in the early morning hours.  Check with Astronomy Magazine for the best viewing in your locale.

Black with moonstone

black, gold and blue focal bead with moonstone accents

This week’s handmade Aura Sun Arts creation features a focal bead with a black core, drifts of metallic gold and bluestone, and captive air bubbles encased in clear glass.

The lentil shaped moonstone accent beads along the necklace have their own mysterious hints of blue and gray.  So sophisticated!

It measures 18 inches; the balance of smaller seed beads are in colors of matte and oil blacks and gold.

Click to see it close-up for true appreciation.

To learn more about the optical properties of moonstone, you will find the Wiki entry on adularescence is most enlightening.

Christmas 2010

Are you having a White Christmas in your neck of the woods?

Snowfall at the homestead

This snow fell in Seattle back around Thanksgiving, and the snowflakes caught in the light of the flash inspired me to make a black and white necklace.

The two smaller beads on the table will be earrings to match.  The three hand made beads are black and white with traces of gold and blue sparkles.  The necklace is 17 inches long.  Click on the image for a closer view.

Wishing all a tranquil season of peace on earth.

Classic black and white, earrings to follow