Yikes....Ice!

It's super frozen outside, but we managed to get out and about today to get our Christmas tree. It was a mistake to wait so long, because all the trees available were iced over...can't exactly bring an iced Christmas tree in the house. We ended up going to Lowe's, where there were 3 tiny reject trees left. One of them was perfect for me though and we got it for a great price!

It's currently 31 degrees and we have a roaring fire going to heat us up! Harry is working on his monster drawing for the night (365monsters.blogspot.com) and I'm working on editing some bead pics. All the while, we're watching the "Day After Tomorrow"...which just makes me colder as I watch.
The first pic is one of my half hollow focals. It is a long thin focal, with a hollow bumpy bead built off one end. I also created some matching rondelles to go with it. I'm really happy with the blue colors on the focal. I think I'll list this one in my eBay store.
The second pic is of one of my double hollow beads again with some matching rounds. The double hollow is made up of two separate hollows that have been merged together to create one bead. This bead will be available in my Etsy store.

Playing with Enamel

Here are some examples of enamel beads that I have been making lately. I'll be listing them on Etsy shortly.

Ok, so it's a little creepy, but it's very cool. My husband, Harry, has started on his yearlong quest for monsters. Yep, that's right, monsters. In his blog (365monsters.blogpot.com), he is striving to create a monster a day for 1 year. Very fittingly, he started his blog this past halloween and is now two weeks in. Check out his blog for fun, cute, and creepy monsters alike!

Cabochon Crazy

Harry and I took a Begining Cabochon class at the local Tuscarora Lapidary Society. It was a great class and there were 3 instructors for 7 students which meant we learned A LOT. They also gave us interesting stones to work with as you can see from the variety of colors and patterns in our cabs. If you live near Philadelphia and would like to learn some lapidary skills, you should check out their organization. The first pic shows the cabs I made and the second pic shows some of Harry's. As usual, Harry did not want to "color in the lines," so he made a lot of free-form shapes, where as I stuck with traditional setting sizes.

I also used my time in the class to work on some ideas I had for shaping glass beads. We'll have to see where this leads....

Large 1" Discs

I love custom requests! I usually spend most of my torch time making stocked items. This doesn't give me too much time to experiment and try making new bead patterns and styles. However, as soon as I get a custom request, it really motivates me to get down to the torch and experiment!

I've recently been getting requests for large 1" single color discs. I've been playing around with this concept and trying to infuse my own style in to it and I think I've finally gotten there (see pic). This set is up on Etsy now (here) and I hope to have a few more up in the very near future. I hope you like them!

Officiator #1 Sleeping on the Job

Officiator #1 was found sleeping on the job again today. As soon as she wakes up from her all day nap, we'll be picking the July drawing winners. Winners receive a FREE set of BEADS! Last month, large hole paradise beads were given away to two lucky winners. In order to participate, you must be a mailing list member (click here to join). Names are randomly picked from two hats (read box): hat 1 contains the names of new members and hat 2 contains the names of customers who purchased from me during that month. This month, I'll be giving away a set of matching hollows!

Watermelon

Here is a picture of my husband's prized watermelon baby. His first attempt at growing watermelon (last year) was fruitless (sorry for the bad pun). However, this year we already have one 6 inch watermelon and a few other smaller melons. It's very exciting and it has me thinking about some watermelon inspired beads!

Large hole spacer sets are in stock at both HMBTUDIOS and Etsy! These beads are very versatile because you can use them in several ways.
String them as normal
Use them as dangles
Create chain with them
I'm sure there are a ton of other ways to use these in your designs!

Custom color requests are always welcome me, just contact me.

I can't believe it's been over a year...

...with no posts to my blog. My disc bead bracelet was in the recent BeadStyle magazine. You can find cute little disc sets on my website. They were put together specifically in mind for this bracelet tutorial. Also, you can contact me directly for custom requests if you are looking for specific colors.