Lampwork beads on ebay

I have finally listed three sets of my beads on ebay. Yaaaaay!!! It has taken about 5 years for me to get from… my initial thoughts of how I would really love to make lampwork beads,.. to it actually becoming a reality and now selling them on ebay. Wow,.. I’m so gald I’m a patient person.

During these past 5 years, I gradually gathered lampworking tools, equipment and glass,..and then it would just sit there…..because as much as I really wanted to get into beadmaking,..I simply just had no time left in my days to learn how to do it.

Even now,. because working at a torch with molten glass is not something you can do when you are tired,. and my ‘windows of opportunity’ (which are not daily),… sometimes come at the wrong time, when I’m just too tired to work at the torch even though I have the chance.

So,. I’m not sure how many beads I will be able to get up on ebay each week yet,.. some weeks more than others no doubt, but I hope to get into the swing of things and list them regularly.

I plan to list on Sunday mornings here in Aust (which is Sat evening in the US), since I always have a few hours very early Sunday mornings before I am out the door at 10:45am. Every other day is impossible to set a regular task,..as I’m all over the place at uncertain times,lol.

I also changed my ebay ID from **remy** to **remy**studioheath .

It has also been 5 years since I was selling my jewelry on ebay,….feels like yesterday.. NOT! ,lol.. but hard to believe it was really that long ago.

Lampwork beads red set

and why not some in red?

As you can see,..I’m finally getting some beads made at long last. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for years and have had all the glass, the torch and the rest of the equipment for years, but for one reason or another,.. I could never seem to find the time to get my lampwork beadmaking off the ground. I wear so many hats (like most mums do),..one each for mother, wife, housekeeper, cleaner, chauffeur, accountant, grocery shopper, cook, maintenance guy,..eh hemm girl,..councellor, tutor, jewelry maker, webmaster, and I’m sure I have missed a whole bunch more,… I just have so many fingers in so many pies,.. adding lampwork beadmaking to an already rediculously busy life was like bringing in another pie for my 11th finger…oh wait……. erm you know what I mean…I just couldn’t stretch myself that far, even though I really wanted to. So,.. I’ve thrown away the hats for housekeeper, cook, cleaner, maintenance girl (erm..edit: not true,.. I just spent 4hrs installing the timber slat blinds in my studio grrrr.. I need a handyman in my life) and shop for groceries online again. The house is lookin’ shabby, and my family are starving but hey… I’m making beads right?!…and maybe in a week or twelve….erm ok a week or two… up they go on ebay. Now,…I just need to find someone to drive my kids all over town every afternoon and evening to their sporting commitments,…and I’d have more hours every day to play at the torch.

More lampwork beads

…and a set in purple/mauve,…mmm purdy…

Lampwork beads

Another set. These remind me of the seaside,. aaah I can hear the ocean, smell that salty air and feel the sand between my toes…. erm….or perhaps I inhaled too much of the fumes off the silver foil that I used while making these. ;} I have good cross ventilation via two open windows and a door, plus a ducted extraction fan in front of my torch,.. but I’m not happy with it and I think I need to re-position the extraction fan and/or increase the size of it.

I was a bit concerned about how much of the fumes (especially from the silver foil) I enhaled while making this set,… so I raced out after and bought a very attractive (NOT) respirator to wear next time I need to play with things that produce those very nasty fumes.

Latest Lampwork bead set

Here is my latest set. I was not quite sure what these beads reminded me of as I was making them and it was really annoying me,.. I was thinking maybe kind of tribal but that still wasn’t quite it either. As soon as a dear friend of mine saw them she said Batik!,..and yes that was exactly what they remind me of,…gorgeous patterned fabric, created using hot wax masking…. oh wow that brings back some scary,..yet fun memories of my teen years. I can almost smell the beeswax.

click to enlarge

Blue Lava set

This set was made up over sessions 4, 5 & 6 back at the torch after my break. Except there is that olive bead from session three. The set is a result of quite a few uh..huh moments I had, both at the torch and away from the torch as memories suddenly came flooding back.

I decided to stick to a technique over a few sessions to see what I can do and what I can learn from doing it that way, as opposed to doing one of these, then one of those.. kind of thing. I really enjoyed this technique and process when I was making beads before so it was a no brainer to start with these and make a whole set of them. I love the effect on these beads with the turquoise, brick red and spiderweb reaction of intense black.

Click to enlarge

At the torch again

Third session back at the torch since my 20month break and my aim was again to get rounds and also see if I can get a nice olive shaped bead. I also wanted to play with a colour that I used to love playing with because of it’s colour reactions in the flame. The brick red & turquoise comes from the same rod of ‘turquoise’ glass. A reducing flame causes the copper in the turquoise to come out.

While I was having fun watching the interesting effects from the reactions,.. I forgot to make sure my ends had nice puckered holes, silly moi, so the holes in the olive shaped bead and one hole in the bead on the left,.. could have been better. *smack*

Here is the result of my 3rd session back at the torch.