How to use the #9, or, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

[caption id="attachment_1304" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="The GOOD"][/caption]

What a lovely surprise to find that my friend Ananda had sent me some Vetrofond Lichen to try after I had commented on her beads made with this colour (thank you so much Ananda!). Isn't it pretty! It's the most delicate green with a hint of blue. My favourite of these beads is the middle, think I'm calling it Glacial Fields, which means it's probably a keeper, if I start naming beads it's usually because I'm seeing them as offspring...
The little black bead was my first attempt at using some eye cane I made from a tutorial by Pipyr.

The BAD
My oxycon died on me today, I don't know whether to be mad or cry. It's only about six months old and I've treated it with all love one would bestow upon a family member - except I never named it... perhaps THAT's the problem. Fortunately it's under warranty, but I'm wondering how long it's going to take to get the whole thing sorted out and what I'm going to do in the meantime. Does this mean a switch back to the trusty old Hot Head torch?

The UGLY
Well, that would be my mood, I feel like things are conspiring against me so I've taken to eating to make myself feel better - which by the way is a lousy solution!

The #9
Ahh yes.... the number nine! Cloud nine, Love Potion number 9, the 9 horsemen of the Apocolypse (really!! they just forgot to tell you about the other five!), and the fact that the Mayan calendar ends at the year 2012 and 12 is divisible by three and so is nine! I read somewhere that for some reason if you use odd numbers in your blog posts people tend to be drawn to them - consider this a test! ;o)

Thats it - if you've got any interesting uses for the number nine I'd be happy to hear them.

Reshoots and some new additions

Drumroll...

Here are the first sets I have got put together of my new beads, some are reshoots from the previous post but there are some new ones in there too! I'm really happy with the design of these, the shape makes them feel quite elegant, and the ivory and silver tops are accented with silver glass - I've used Triton and Tibet, most of which is reduced to a pretty metallic blue/green sheen.

I'm listing each set at $20, they'll be going up on Etsy hopefully in the next few days, but if you just can't wait, drop me an email and we can work something out with Paypal. Colours may vary slightly from monitor to monitor, I've got them as close as I can.

More pictures and measurements are available of each set on request. All these beads have 3/32" inch holes. I've used Moretti, Vetrofond and Reichenbach glass.

Tangerine Dream - or maybe it should be tangerine dreamsicle!

January Rain - little raindrops almost appear to have been painted on this bead, in very delicate almost rainbow colours.


Cosmos - I used raku to achieve the swirling clouds of colour - it's quite trippy!


Coastline - if you look carefully you can almost see the coastline hovering above the grey sea, I see a house and cliffs, if you look you'll probably see something different.


Fossil - this bead has a very earthy look and there does appear to be a fossil of some kind buried deep beneath the surface!


Neptune's Gift - silver foil over oxtongue black creates this wonderful patina'd blue, topped with silvered ivory and iris gold it really does feel like something Neptune may have held.


Sea Storm - crashing waves and surf the sea is rising high tonight, lit by a silvery moon hanging in the sky.


Firestorm - swirls of colour, almost molten lava-like, the metallic blue compliments them wonderfully


Deserted - If you are wondering about the name -an idea for a name for this one deserted me! There's raku in there and a Vetrofond colour I'm not sure of, this bead was hard to get a good picture of.


Rainbow Fields - beautiful Raku colours swirling around! Colours I could never achieve with my hot head torch come flying out of the glass now - I'm thrilled!


Agua - I used dark teal glass for this bead which is much prettier than the picture actually shows, the 'water' is rippling, reflecting light off the surface.

Celtic Moss - I think the Vetrofond colour may be called Swamp Moss, but oh my! It's just beautiful! Definitely a mossy colour and combined with the ivory and silver in this bead, it just made me think of all things Irish.


MORE TO COME!