Great Use of Color!

One of my favorite things to do is to see what the talented jewelry designers do with my beads and the many other wonderful lampworkers work that I see on Etsy, Artfire, etc. I usually have some kind of vision about how I would use the beads, that's if I ever got the time! And, then when I see the finished product I am blown away by the variety of styles that showcase the beads. Denise and Katie of livilubaby took some of my chunky disks from a variety of sets and put together this wonderful bracelet. I love the bright colors and the silver components that are included in this bracelet. It really does remind me of a fiesta!

We're Having a YART Sale!

What in heaven's name is a Yart Sale! Well it is an artistic slant to a traditional Yard Sale: Yard + Art = YART. Etsy is having a Yart Sale starting on June 10 and running through the 14th. Great idea! It is a great idea to bring the whole community of Etsy together in a common goal.

So all you wonderful people come visit my store Linden Avenue Designs on the 10th thru the 14th and see what all the excitement is about! It should be fun!

More Buyers Creations

Mary Jane of mairedodd is one of my wonderful collaborative buyers. She has given me some interesting projects to work on and I never know quite how it is going to end. She takes what I and many other lampwork artists make and turns them into her own wonderful designs. I love how each designer takes these components and makes them her own!

Buyers Creations

My buyers are a talented group of Artists! They take what I make and do a little magic with all of their wonderful components to make a new one of a kind design. These beads are part of my Old Paint series and I love what Diane of
dianeh2468 has done with these beads! She hasn't opened a store at Etsy, but after seeing these two creations I believe she should consider it. I love the red coral she used with these beads. Perfect color coordination. When I see what my buyers do with my beads I get more ideas of what I can do with the glass that is available. It is so much fun!




Vicki Murphie of Sasha321 took my simple Tomato Bisque crystals and turned them into these beautiful earings! She wrote to me and told me that she used Higher Chakra Supply earing wires which are those twirls of metal you see above the bead. I'm very impressed with how these components all work so well together.


Priscilla of PGsGemspiration took some of my blue marble beads and turned them into this wonderful creation. She calls them Blueberry, which is fitting! I have to reiterate again that I have the most wonderfule buyers! They keep me thinking out of the box and challenging me to come up with something unique that they can use in their designs. Even the simple bead is turned into something gorgeous in their designs! And, I thank them wholeheartedly for their continued support and friendship!

Ongoing New Designs

This bead is one of the larger focals that I have tried out various cuts just to see which way things would go. Interesting effect. I love the contrast between the silver and the blue. The hard part is taking the photograph of these lovelies! That's why when I list items for sale I take lots of pictures so that you can see them at different angles. All of these silver glasses can be tricky to capture the beauty of it sometimes.


I really prefer more of a freeform look to beads, odd shapes and interesting cuts in the glass. At least I think they are interesting. When you cut glass it can spring apart like these two beads did. I've been working on perfecting the actual number of cuts and the proportion of the base glass to the special glass - high silver content, and then seeing how the base glass influences the outcome. The blue in the left on really does influence the color of the bead. These silver glasses are partly transparent so you see the color as you turn the bead. On the right it is a pale pink base which I think adds more color to the iridescence. I felt that if I used a pale yellow it would be too yellow. Really interesting.

More Mama Mia! Aurae in Two Forms

Aurae is one of the newest glasses out there and I am still finding ways to use it. For the focal I made some glass shards out of it and then applied to a base bead the broken up pieces of thin glass. If you don't know what or how a shard is made I take a hollow mandrel, think of a straw made out of stainless steel, and then melt around the end over and over again th Aurae glass until I have made a ballon of glass. The hole of the mandrel is not closed over during this process which gives me the ability to blow into the metal tube making the balloon of glass expand to a thin walled balloon of glass. Then after knocking this ball off of the mandrel I then break up this really interesting balloon into pieces. Next time I will take a picture of what this looks like. On the focal you can see some of the pieces that ae laid across the base bead. The shards are left raised and then after getting the look I'm going for the whole bead is waved through a high propane flame (reduction flame) to bring out the shine. This glass is the most beautiful gold glass. It is so rich and shiny!



Then we have the spun glass effect. I've done this with burgundy, deep purple and silver and love the effect of the spun glass. I do believe that this is going to be my new favorite! The spun glass on these beads really shows up the shiny and irridescent properties of this glass. The glass reflects whatever is around it and seems to take on the hue of the glass it is covering and at the same time reflect back onto that glass the gold hues. Very pretty!

Wonderful Buyers - Great Ideas!

I have wonderful buyers. I could exclamation this but it really is a simple statement with a huge story behind it. My buyers prod me with requests for new color combinations like Mary of fabmosaics did with the Burgundy and Purple Spun Glass Beads. That little request had me checking different reds to find the right color that would sparkle. The Purple I knew would because it was clear, but the reds were a mismatch of opaques that I wasn't sure would do the bead justice. Luckily some of the newer reds are coming out part opaque and part clear giving that coveted sparkle I was looking for! My latest request has been a hoot! Terry of teresavainoris wanted beads that looked like lettuce and cucumbers... Well, to say it hasn't been interesting would be an understatement. I'm hoping that I can beg, borrow or steal a picture from Terry once she is finished with her bracelet. Which brings me to my latest style of beads. The SLICE. It really isn't new. I have been making them for the River Rock Series, but I thought that it would REALLY be pretty to have THIN slices of color. I've discovered that glass other then River Rock can be extremely soupy when it comes to making the slim slices. I was having bead release issues and glass that completely let go from the mandrel! The bead would be finished and off it would go sliding across the mandrel as if being chased by the flame! I thought it was a fluke the first time it happened, but when it happened over and over again, me desperately attempting to stop the skidding wheel of glass from leaving the mandrel completely, I became convinced there has to be something to the percentage of glass adhering to mandrel and any force applied to it. If it is a small area, IT DOESN'T LIKE IT. I have to giggle, because it is just me, Lady and Callie watching these spinning wheels as they desperately attempt to escape. I shout out, here comes another one girls! (there are a few choice expletives that have been deleted for the general public) Usually, any shouting gets Callie to high tail it out of the room to safety and Lady follows figuring Callie must know something she doesn't. By that time I have wrangled the rascal back to the end of the mandrel where it belongs. Oh, I didn't mention the fact that the bead FIRST comes running towards me, my fingers, and then when I tip it to not hit my hand it turns and runs back towards the end. It's like trying to manage a seesaw! Luckily I have these wonderful tweezers that aren't really tweezers, not sure what you would call them, no serrations, and I use those to grab it, set it back on the release and reheat and polish. Just another interesting day in the Linden household!