Ring of Fire (Opal)

I had this piece of fire opal for probably 5 years now and is definitely a notable piece in my stash. With my recent spur of creativity, I decided to finally do this specimen justice. The gem's size is perfect for a ring and that was the direction this naturally went. The asymmetrical wiring design really compliments the organic shape of the gem. I cannot stop staring at this finished piece, it has such brilliant flashes of red, orange, yellow, and green against the neutral silver wire. 

Drooling over Double Helix

I splurged and got some double helix glass to experiment with from Nortel! Getting the different striking colours was harder for me than expected. It took a couple of tries to get it right with the striking and reducing glass but the results are so mesmerizing; the range of colours and the excitement of not knowing exactly what you will get out of the kiln is rather addictive. The petal beads and green/yellow bead were made with double helix, the rest had a nice dip in raku frit or was drizzled with melted silver wire. Needless to say, double helix is here to stay in my glass collection. 

Hollow Baubles

Wired Lampwork

I have yet to combine wire wrapping and my lampwork until this necklace, shame on me for not doing this earlier! I think this one came out well but I can't take all the credit, my friend JT really advocated for me to put the two hobbies together as a present for his wife this past Christmas. The bead is an implosion floral bead with blue on ivory petals and the wire wrapping is ever so slightly asymmetrical (on purpose). ~SOLD~

Lampwork Implosion Beads

After a lot of practice and mostly fails, I have finally perfected my implosion beads! Theses ones have an orange center and light teal petals. ~SOLD~ 

Wire Wrapped Birthstone Bracelet

This bracelet is the most intricate design I have done so far. I was commissioned by a friend to create a bracelet based on the different birthstones of his family. I got the stones (2x peridot, 1x citrine, and 1x ruby) from Ada at 72 Gem St., she has the most beautiful and comprehensive collection of precious and semi-precious stones in Toronto! The bracelet turned out as what I imagined it would be like, I am more than thrilled with the results. It did take me about 2 months to complete on and off, and it was worth every second of my time. ~SOLD~

When Favourite Things Come Together: Lampwork and Crochet Necklace

I have just gotten into crocheting in the past few months and had some left over fingering weight wool/silk yarn. With my stash of lampwork and yarns increasing by the week, what better way to incorporate this new hobby into my jewelry and lampwork designs?! 

Lampwork Pen

I love a good pen, so when I discovered that there are pens that you can add beads to them, I was ecstatic. I can keep lampwork on rotate for the pen, think about the possibilities! They make awesome presents too, functional and pretty to look at. This is one pen no one will be throwing away, the ink is easily refillable as well. ~FOR SALE~

New Lampwork

 New lampwork! The encased floral ones I chose to make the beads longer, instead of the rounder ones that I am more accustomed to make. It turned out well, but the shaping was harder as overheating the glass makes it want to go back to a round shape. I have been very afraid to do much work with dots, it takes a very steady, yet patient hand which I have not mastered. But these ones were the best dotted ones I have done so far.

Lampwork Frit Experiments

I just bought my first bag of reduction frit from Nortel. This stuff is awesome! I really like all the colours the glass can turn, from purple to turquoise to orange. I only reduced the frit on the last bead for a metallic effect and was very relieved that the colours turned out too. It is fascinating how the base colour also has a huge effect on how the colours turn out on the reduction frit and how well the frit spreads on the base colour. 

Tourmaline Wrapped Ring

On my recent trip to Paris, I stumbled across a gem store by the Louvre.  My French is horrible but I managed to ask to see the tourmaline stones. I picked this green, untreated bar and thought it would be perfect for a ring. The ring is wrapped in silver plated wire with an asymmetrical design.