Last updated Dec 2002

Early Beads by Kateryn

(left)This strand is made up of beads from my first year of lampworking.
The top one is noteworth as the second bead I ever made! Beneath that are three "foil" beads, where the base bead is covered in silver foil, then encased in translucent glass. This was done in period using both gold and silver, but I can't afford to use gold. The trick is to encase the silver before it burns off. That's not as easy as it sounds, but it helps to turn down the flame on the torch, and to make sure the glass rod is absolutely molten before applying it to the foil covered bead.

(below) My first necklace (my 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc beads. As I didn't really know what I was doing, I would try to apply a second or third color to the base bead while that bead was still molten. This is an easy way to pull your bead out of shape, possibly even fracturing the slip underneath. However, if you're careful, you can end up with a great mixed color effect...and as I learned that day, using a ridged marver to add shape to a molten blob can help produce a bead worth using.

(left) At the top is a bead that didn't make it on the necklace, and
at the bottom are more recent beads. (L-R) a pre-10th century style side shifted bead, and two yellow raised eye beads.

Below is a group of beads from various years...

(left) here are a couple of millefiori beads and (below) other misc. beads. The double helix effect is achieved by first making a twisted cane out of two filigrana canes (clear glass rods with a colored center).

(left) four hollow beads, topped by two "marble" beads. Whenever a bead doesn't seem to be turning out the way I'd like, I encase it with a translucent color, and voila! a cool 3-D effect...

And, lastly, two necklaces (below). The top is from two years ago, the bottom is from summer 2002.