Bead Photos

Shooting underwater was getting to be a pain. Cat fur & dust was magically attracted to the dish of water, & I found myself having to replace the water every few beads, which really slowed down the whole process.

So here's my latest setup. The heavy duty paper is taped to both the table & a heavy backrest, so it forms a curve for a nice continuous background. There's a couple of lights clipped to the table, and a mirror to bounce light around even more.

The camera is at "eye level" with the beads when they are setting on the paper.

Boro Ring Components

I've been making these with the intention of using wire wrapping & jump rings to make them into chains. Making jewelry components out of boro is fun because I can just set each down on the table as I finish, no need to be all worried about these little guys cracking. They still get annealed of course, its just nice to be able to see them all together as I make them.

These are made with Caramel Lustre

Using Murrine

I've been using some of those murrine in my ocean (& other) beads lately.

There's a photo in an earlier post of these starburst murrini. They get poked in the center as they're melted in, to bring the stripes together in a starburst pattern. These warm tones (yellow, orange & red) don't seem to like to be exposed to silver.

Flower murrine. These ones aren't poked, & I melt them in slowly & flatten them gently to prevent distortion.

These pale lavender murrini play nicely with the silver leaf used in the background.