Moving Sale!!

We're moving!! We're headed out of here! I'm thrilled! My whole family is very excited. We can hardly wait! But there is a down side, and you get to benefit.

I have tons of my handmade lampwork beads that I really don't want to pack up and bring with me. So instead of going through all that work, I decided to put my entire Artfire shop on sale - 25% off! Everything except my tutorials are on sale. Beads, jewelry, kumihimo, you name it! Plus, some of my older items were already marked down 25% off, so they are marked down even more now. Think of the savings!

The sale will continue until shortly before we leave - it's only a few weeks away, so if you want something, now is the time. It will be a while before I will be able to unpack everything that I do bring with me and reopen my shop.

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/teasebeads

Hangin' Around

I got a fun request for a custom order. A customer wanted a bat fan pull! She wanted the bat in shades of brown, and he should hang upside down. She also wanted some coordinating beads with him. This is what I came up with:


I think he's cute, and so does my customer! She's thrilled and he's now hangin' around in his new home. Some of my favorite elements are the ribbed rounds above him - I made those using my new tool from CG Beads. I'm going to have to make more of those, starting with some fan pulls for my own living room.

Improved Website and a DRAWING!!

What seems like a million years ago I was in college.  I met my darling husband there, and amazingly, I learned a little.  One of the most valuable things I learned was not in the classroom - it was on my own.  I learned how to design web sites.


I love to play around with different things on my site, http://www.teasebeads.com, and for that reason I spent the past couple days working away.  I just added a Twitter widget on the right, along with a blog feed below it - you can always see my latest news now!  In addition to that, all the pictures on my home page feed right from my current items.  Every time you refresh my page you'll see a whole new set of pictures and they are always items that are available for sale right now!  Even the pictures for my banner refresh, and those are clickable!  If you see an item in my banner that you like, click on it to go right to the item!

Finally, I added another category called "Featured Items."  You can always check here for items that are perfect for whatever is going on right now.  For instance, right this minute that category is packed full of awesome stuff for Valentine's Day!

In honor of all these changes, I've added over 50 more items to my website.  These items are beads, pendants, and jewelry, all handmade by yours truly.

Check it out and tell me what you think by leaving a comment below!  I'll pick a random number from the comments below and that person will get a $10 CREDIT to spend on my website!

http://www.teasebeads.com

Love Pats

I had the best time at the torch last weekend.  I wanted to do something special for Valentine's day.  I ordered this really awesome Puffy Heart press from Beadpress:

 

It's not going to be here for a while though, because it's coming from the Netherlands.  So, I had to improvise!  I knew I wanted to make hearts, so after some soul searching (get it?  Heart and soul?  Ok, ok, terrible...), I came up with this idea:

 

 Love Pats 11 Bead Set

I made the center heart using a press that my friend and fellow Fire Diva Holly from Holly's Folly generously lent me.

I was thrilled with this set.  The problem was, however, my husband and I both agreed that although it was good for Valentine's day, it was also good for Easter, and not quite what I had in mind.  I set out again to make that absolutely breathtaking, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, romantically perfect Valentine's Day bead set.  I made this:

 

 Love Pats 8 Bead Set

Now this was what I was aiming for!  The little red hearts on ivory were the perfect combination.  It really felt like "love" to me.

Somewhere along the way I realized these little beads looked remarkably like truffles to me.  Therefore, the only natural thing to do was make a third set.

 

Chocolate Love Pats 8 Bead Set

If they were edible they'd be good enough to eat.  Mmmm... chocolate.  My biggest vice.  I think I'll go have some and ponder over what I'm going to make this weekend.

Ah, I almost forgot (sidetracked by chocolate - happens every time!), all three sets are available on my website and in my Artfire and Etsy shops.

Back Where I Started

I got into lampworking, like many other glass bead artists, by making jewelry first. In fact, I started making beaded jewelry nearly ten years ago. My first pieces were simple strung braclets and necklaces, and I really had no idea what I was doing. I was instantly addicted, though, and before long I was making detailed, complicated pieces, like my Reef design, which I won Bronze prize in the Pearls category of the Fire Mountain Beads and Gems Annual Beading Contest in 2008:


However, like many lampworkers, since I started making beads it has taken precedence over making jewelry. When you consider the fact that the reason I started making beads was to make my own beads jewelry, it is actually quite ironic! I really quite enjoy making jewelry, whether it is beadedwoven, strung, or wire worked.

Olive Twist (with matching bracelet)

For this reason, I've decided to spend more time during the week doing what I intended to do four years ago. I'm going to make more jewelry, like this bracelet and earrings set, just listed:

Passionate Affair

The set is now available on my website, my Artfire shop, and my Etsy shop, where you will also find other jewelry pieces featuring my very own lampwork beads. Look for more in the future!