30% OFF SALE!

Lorenzo the Lapis Blue Dog is now only $8.40

I've just added a bunch of beads to my SALE section on Etsy. I plan on making holiday beads soon, and I want to clear out some beads that have been loitering in my bead box for a while now. So I've marked down over 20 beads - 30% off! I used this really cool new website/tool called Etsy On Sale, which allowed me to mark down all the items I wanted to at once. Of course, I managed to mess that up by adding a couple items to my sale section after I had scheduled my sale on Etsy On Sale, so there are 2 or 3 beads that I marked down myself. But it's really an easy way to have a sale. These beads will be marked down until next Sunday, Oct. 31.

Ghost and Bat Pair - Marked down to $10.50!

Shem the Shard Owl is now only $11.20!

Thanks for looking!

Lucky Me!

Looky what I won! I entered my friend and fellow Fire Diva Janel's bead giveaway, and her personal random name picker - more specifically her cat Maynard - picked my name! It's only fitting, right? Maynard picks Maybeads.

I feel so lucky because I already own one of Janel's beads (from my recent Charm Swap), and now I'm getting another! Just look at that bead! Janel says it's made with River Rock and Silver Leaf, and the design is made with a silver reactive color and one of her hand-pulled millefioris. All of the glass and techniques she used to make this bead are foreign to me, and much more sophisticated than anything I've ever done, so I can't wait to see it in person!

And in case you've never vistited Janel Dudley Beads, here's just a taste of what Janel can do:

Nubbly Big-Holed Bead - the bumps on this silver bead are expertly-placed.

Lampwork Set of 7 Perfectly Encased Beads

And this one is the super-star of her shop - Glowing Eyeball BHB glows in the dark!!! Janel hand-pulled all of the millefioris for this bead.

Art Charm Swap - The Big Reveal

Move That Bus!

As you may remember, I recently participated in my first ever Art Charm Swap hosted by Jennifer of GlassAddictions. I sent in my 10 charms a few weeks ago, and just last week I received a package of handmade charms. I tried to slow myself down while I was opening my package, but it was no use. I was too excited! I was excited first to see and touch the glass charms that my fellow lampworkers/online friends/Fire Diva teammates had made. I have ogled GlassAddictions, Emakaye and JanelDudleyBeads for a loooooong time now, and I was finally getting to have my very own. Believe me, they are beautiful! My pictures here don't do any of the charms justice. I was equally excited to receive charms made with mediums that are totally foreign to me - ceramics, enamels, polymer clay - oh my! I was overwhelmed by the talent and variety of my package. These artists are all fabulous, and I am thrilled to own each and every one of these pieces. And . . . I'm not sharing. That had been my original thought when I decided to do the swap, but I never said it out loud so it doesn't count and they are all mine. Bwahahahaha! Mine!

From left to right, starting at the top (the colors are washed out, believe me, they are vibrant and fantastic!):

1. Loretta http://www.designsbyloretta.blogspot.com/

2. Kristie http://ArtisanClay.blogspot.com

3. Nan http://spiritrattles.blogspot.com/

4. Amy http://copperdiem.blogspot.com/

5. Janel http://janeldudleybeads.blogspot.com/

6. Jennifer http://glassaddictions.blogspot.com

7. Ema http://emakaye.blogspot.com/

8. Lauren (that's me!) http://maybeads.blogspot.com/

9. Susan http://suebeads.blogspot.com

10. Paige http://pmaximdesigns.blogspot.com/ (this one you can see better in the first picture - my flash kept reflecting on the surface of this one, but it's a really cool owl with a coral background and sparklies).

And here are the charms I sent in. I forgot to take a picture before I put them on my cards.

Now that I've taken my new charms off their cards, I get to start wearing them. Lucky me!

I've Gone Pro

This spaniel pup is wearing his best sweater, and looking for a home.

That's right, I'm a pro. Along with thousands of other artists and suppliers, I've upgraded my ArtFire account to the Pro level. I originally opened my ArtFire shop with the basic free account, and basically I ignored my shop. Now that I've gone Pro, my items will appear higher up in searches and I'll have more freedom on the ArtFire site - I can make Collections (which are similar to Etsy treasuries), have featured items in my shop and even import listings directly from Etsy to my ArtFire shop. It's pretty darn cool. I still have a lot to figure out (like how to get my banner to not look smushed), but I've made good use of the importer tool and brought a lot of my critter beads over to ArtFire. The critters are loving it, because they think they're wizards in Harry Potter books, apparating from shop to shop. And I'm hoping my customers will find my critters over at ArtFire because I've lowered the prices on lots of beads that I've moved there. Most beads in my ArtFire shop are $10 and under! Custom orders will stay the same, but for now there are lots of little glass animals available at very low prices.

This pretty patriotic cow doesn't want to wait until the 4th of July to find a home, so I've mooooved her to ArtFire and marked her price down.

Hoo Who doesn't love an owl bead with murrini eyes? This one is perched happily in my ArtFire shop, showing off not only her flower murrini eyes and silvered ivory belly feathers, but her new and improved price.

This pea green and purple murrini turtle is available only in my ArtFire shop, so don't go looking elsewhere for it.

Another really neat thing about ArtFire is that you don't have to be a member to make purchases there. Isn't that nice? I've put my ArtFire "Rapid Cart" back up on my blog, so my listings will not only randomly appear here, but they can be purchased by clicking on them in the Rapid Cart.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you over at ArtFire!

Earring Pairs

Making two of the exact same bead is a daunting task for me. Sometimes I get the design right, but not the size. Other times they are close in size, but the designs are totally off.

Another lampworker once told me that for earrings, at least there's a head in between the earrings, so slight differences aren't that noticeable. That's a good way to look at it.

I've recently been making my "pair" beads on the same mandrel, and that is a huge help in getting them to match up better. It's trial and error, and what I've learned is to make the top bead first. That way if you need to flatten the feet or anything like that, you won't have to avoid another bead below it. Also, keep flashing the finished bead in the flame so it doesn't crack while you work on the second one. That is a very important tip. :)

Here are a couple little pairs I made recently. I think they came out pretty well.

Murrini Monday

I know I skipped last week's edition of Murrini Monday, but this week I'm baaaack! Check out all the fun I've been having with murrini. Jealous?

This pretty snail shell is decorated with chalcedony murrini made by my friend Mallory, at rosebud101. I love all the colors that come out of it, and I think my favorite way to use it is on brown glass. But it also looks really cool on blue . . .

Here is a night owl, sporting a blue moon murrini from lori and kim. It's from the Lucky Charms blend.

My first-ever big hole snail bead is looking cheery in rainbow murrini, by lori and kim.

Ok, I couldn't help myself. I love blue dogs, and this one was just calling out for a nice orange star murrini ~ also from the Lucky Charms mix by lori and kim.

Happy Murrini Monday!!!