I also made a sun catcher which was tack fused. Since I love hearts, I decided to put pieces of glass together in heart shapes for this hanging. The clear bumpy surface is made of small pieces of clear glass frit that is sprinkled on the glass base.  Here are the before and after pictures, although it looks like I hung it up backwards. Notice how some of the colors are different after fusing. Glass that is orange before fusing often turns red after fusing.

The third item was a tack fused plate. This was done a in a 2-part process.  First the plate was fused at about 1350-1400 degrees F. Then, in a separate firing, it was placed in a ceramic plate mold and slumped at about 1300 degrees F.  Just like the sun catcher, the plate had clear frit sprinkled on it, resulting in a bumpy texture.

It was a lot of fun to fuse these larger items and to learn about how to properly slump glass. Of course I still don’t have a kiln large enough, but luckily the glass shop will rent out kiln time at a reasonable rate.

Well, it is time to reveal our treasures from the Bead Soup Party!  My bead swap partner is Janeen and her blog is Wild Vanilla Designs. You can visit all of the entries by clicking here

Here are the beads that Janeen sent to me for the swap.       

From her description, it seems like she was originally thinking about make a bracelet from these gorgeous beads, until she decided to send them to me for the swap. The focal bead is from Loot! where you can find many unique pieces of recycled glass jewelry.  Great site and worth checking out. I love bracelets, so the first thing I thought about was making a bracelet, and even went about starting a three-strand design. However, while tinkering with these beads, I suddenly thought about crocheting the beads into a necklace using fine gauge wire.

I have done several pieces with bead crochet, but have never used wire, so this was a new experience. I just love the colors she sent me, and she had no way to know that these colors match my eyes! So much the better! I had several types of small gauge wire, and ended up using 28 ga silver wire from Michael’s.  I also had some 30 and 32 ga wire, but was afraid of breaking it while crocheting the larger beads into the design. I purposely made it loose and asymmetrical. The result is an eye-catching necklace that I immediately had to wear to work so I could see if anyone noticed it.  Needless to say–there were lots of great comments and inquiries as to how I actually crocheted the beads into the design.

If you haven’t done any bead crochet, the trickiest thing is that you have to first string all the beads onto the (or cord–whatever you are using). It is difficult to add beads later since you really have to end the strand you are working on and start a new one (just like when you run out of yarn while crocheting or knitting).  However, Janeen had sent a good amount of beads, so I strung them rather randomly onto the wire. I first did a crocheted chain, including one bead for every 2 or three stitches. Then, when I thought it was long enough, I turned around and did another chain through the first chain stitches—still including a bead every 2-3 stitches. Somehow the number of beads worked out great, and I was very happy with the results. I also crocheted the silver clasp onto the ends of the necklace so it is fully incorporated.

I love this necklace and have worn it three times last week! The wire can be stretched out or squished together, depending on the look that you want.  Thanks to Janeen for these wonderful beads! Now I’m going to see what everyone else has made—many thanks to Lori for organizing this event.

A few days ago I got these beads from my bead soup party partner Janeen. Just my colors and quite a lovely array of beads. I’m hoping to make something delicious!

I love to find vintage beads and then incorporate them into a contemporary design. These vintage (1970s) frosted lucite beads are 13mm in size and have a black flower scroll design. These are new old beads, meaning that they are of old stock but have never been used in any other jewelry.

I’ve incorporated these unique beads along with onyx and sterling silver to create a lovely pair of post earrings. They are available in my Etsy shop.

Bead Soup Party–Join the Fun!!

Lori Anderson is having a virtual bead soup party and bead swap. This sounds like a great way to bring in the new year, and you’re invited! Visit Lori’s blog to get the details and to see who else will be there.

This weekend (plus Monday)  I’m taking a lampworking class given by Kate Fowle Meleny. Yesterday we worked on enameling and painting beads, and I never thought there were so many cool things you could do with enamels. We also saw a demonstration on electroforming which will be covered in -depth during Monday’s class.

I’ve spent the last year or so perfecting my lampworking skills, and while they are still are not perfect, they have improved exponentially. The pendant shown above is one of my favorites. I love to take different colors and swirl them together in different ways. You never know what the result is going to be.

Over the past year or so I’ve taken a number of classes from expert teachers who have come up to Alaska including Trey Cornette, Kim Fields, Tink Martin, and Mary Lockwood. In a few weeks I will be attending a 3-day course by Kate Fowle Meleny.  Anyway, who says that no one ever comes up to Alaska? See, we have good stuff up here too….

I’ve recently opened my Kaplan Creations Etsy store, so stop by and see what’s new.

These beads almost look good enough to eat. Cherry quartz comes in a variety of color intensities—and most of the time the beads that I see are lighter in color. I like to work with intense colors, and this new bracelet (featuring a sterling silver fish) is a good example. I wish I had bought several strands, but…oh well. Now I need to think about a matching necklace.