Burnished Berries

Berry Delicious!

These plump copper beads (from Afrobeadia) are my new favorites--they are just the size of a small blueberry, and even the ends are puckered like a real blueberry! I gave them a liver of sulfur bath, buffed them up a bit, and popped them in the tumbler--and out they came in this delicious, plummy-rosy color. I gussied them up with leafy brass caps and sterling silver.

The Real Thing

I think I rather like the metal ones better--if there was a way to gobble them up, I would!

You can visit me at my Etsy shop HERE.

Star Factory

Star Factory

I am just enchanted by these Unicorn lampwork beads in "midnight special"--they make me think of a glowing nebula!

Photo of the Omega Nebula by NASA

The way these lampwork drops (available from Stinky Dog Beads) are configured, they are most stunning when viewing the drop section head-on, so I devised a design that would keep their shining faces front and center. Here I've combined them with amber, freshwater pearls in lime, and antiqued copper. The idea of a "star factory" must have also put me in an industrial mindset because the metal sections feel very hardware-like to me. And that's always a good thing!

I leave you with a stellar spire from the "Eagle Nebula",

and a little music to go with it:



Keirsten