Two years ago, my boyfriend bought me an amazing gift- a glass bead kit. I gave him a list of things I would like for Christmas and where they could be found, etc. and that was one of the items. I was SUPER excited when I opened it. He is a little craft oblivious, so he was a little surprised to find out it had a blow torch in it. Yes. You read that right. I was pregnant at the time, so I didn't dig right in. Come the following Spring after my son was born, I decided I wanted a little guidance before I tried it. So I added classes to my wish list the following year. My mom found a great class for me to take where I could learn safety and technique. Here we are, almost a year later and I found the time to take the class. Thanks to two very generous gifts from two people I love, I have a new favorite art form!
My teacher, Diane http://www.dkdesigns.biz was so helpful and informative. She has a lot of experience and it showed. Under her tutelage, I was able to make some really great beads:
The first few were a little tricky, but in the end, I had some nice matched pairs that I was happy with. We also made some larger beads that I will post another day. They needed to anneal (see how I used my fancy glass art term there?) for strength.
Since I have my own torch and supplies, I hope to have more examples to show you soon!
