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I had some time this week to play with another one of the items that my share partner, Carla sent me.  The enameled pendant that she made was calling my name.  I wanted to pick up the colors in the pendant with gemstones and knew that Carnelian would be a nice match to the red. The yellow had me stumped though. I didn't really have anything that coordinated well.  There were some natural colored peridot sitting on my work space that caught my eye.  Serendipity! The green had just enough yellow in it to play up the yellow but they were not too matchy, matchy.   I oxidized some silver wire, chain and a clasp to go with the black metal...

Call me a magpie, but I really love fancy pieces of colorful, shiny glass.  That is what attracted me to the art of making handcrafted glass beads, called lampwork. I also sometimes call the beads artisan glass. I was intrigued to the point of wanting to learn the process.  I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to take classes in this art and then to have the time to explore it further. I no longer make my own beads as that can be a full time job in itself, but still occasionally incorporate them in my jewelry designs, such as the necklaces pictured above. The name lampwork comes from the centuries-old process when glass beads were made with the heat of the...