Gemstones and Lampwork...well, I've been shoppin'!
I've been working on my studio, actually I'm just beginning the project. Hopefully, it will be clean, re-arranged, and organized by Monday. Well...that's the plan. :-) The reality might be something different but I'm giving it a try.
I've been telling you that I've been working on lampwork bead sets that work well with gemstones...plus been in the drawing phase of several different jewelry designs. So I took a good inventory of my gemstones and it wasn't lookin' good. I've got plenty of ocean jasper, garnet, amethyst, quartz crystal, peridot, petrified wood, obsidian, opal, tourmaline, zeolite, sugilite, sunstone, jade, lapis...and the list goes on. BUT there's lots of new stones out there like bronzite, crab fire agate, fossil coral agate, new shades of amazoniten, new faceted stones, lots of new types of briolettes, new shades of turquoise, and lot of other kewl stones.
So I've been shoppin'...notice the copper. Yeppers, I normally only do sterling and fine silver but I'm beginning to think about adding copper. I used to do gold but I really don't like working with it. It melts differently than silver...I think I'm just so focused on silver that I don't like anything else.
There's also a lot of new Swarovski colors of crystals out there. So I've been picking up small qualities to see what hues I like. There's also a lot of new shades of seed beads that I don't have in my stash.
I've been telling you that I've been working on lampwork bead sets that work well with gemstones...plus been in the drawing phase of several different jewelry designs. So I took a good inventory of my gemstones and it wasn't lookin' good. I've got plenty of ocean jasper, garnet, amethyst, quartz crystal, peridot, petrified wood, obsidian, opal, tourmaline, zeolite, sugilite, sunstone, jade, lapis...and the list goes on. BUT there's lots of new stones out there like bronzite, crab fire agate, fossil coral agate, new shades of amazoniten, new faceted stones, lots of new types of briolettes, new shades of turquoise, and lot of other kewl stones.
So I've been shoppin'...notice the copper. Yeppers, I normally only do sterling and fine silver but I'm beginning to think about adding copper. I used to do gold but I really don't like working with it. It melts differently than silver...I think I'm just so focused on silver that I don't like anything else. There's also a lot of new Swarovski colors of crystals out there. So I've been picking up small qualities to see what hues I like. There's also a lot of new shades of seed beads that I don't have in my stash.
I think what intrigues me the most about the gemstones is the different shapes! Plus the carved stones!!!!!!
Anyway, I've got a bunch of new pearls, amber, jet, and MOP strands coming in. I'm working on large jewelry pieces but want them light enough to wear.
The new lampwork series is coming alone very, very well. I'll get pictures soon. It's all done in metals, transparents, lots of encasements, and reduction glasses. Spot reduction and spot encasement intrigue me. It adds depth to the beads.
I'm really excited to get the pearls in, I think that's what I want to mix with some of these beads. There's lots of huge disks that I made that will be used as focal pieces.
OK...back to work with me!
BEAD ON!
~Moon