AD: Deepwood Art Lampwork

Marmalade and honey! Those are gorgeous, love the colors.

I've been on air all day after reading the email telling me I'd won!

I feel so lucky to add some of Fran's beads to my growing stash.

-Su

Marmalade and honey, yes, that's exactly it!!

And thank you, Margie! :)

Thank you, Su, that's so sweet! :)

They're on their way as of noon today (Monday)!

You rock, Fran - that Rose Rio is luscious!!

That's such gorgeous stuff, Fran!

I've got a question for all the lampworkers here. Is it really hard to make smaller beads? Is it easier to make bigger ones (up to a point)?

Because I find it difficult to find smaller beads. Everyone on eBay (except Joan Eckard) seems to make beads that range from roughly 12mm to 25mm -- lots of lampworkers specialize in focals, in fact. I prefer smaller beads, and I seldom find them, comparatively speaking. So I buy far less lampwork than I might otherwise. ~~ Sooz

I prefer to work with smaller lampwork too. I'm such a girly girl! When I have a yen for smaller art glass I bid on Julie of "Fergiebeads" and Carolyn Driver's "minis" auctions.

That's good to know, because I was always under the impression that people liked the bigger stuff better. It is harder to get fine detail work on smaller beads - the smaller you work, the less space you have, the more finely detailed you have to be. But I love making the little ones - it's a challenge! Hmmmmmmmm I am on the torch now....maybe I will make some small ones!

This is an interesting topic to me. I used to like to make really little beads. I've grown to like to make larger beads. I suppose mine could be considered small focals but I sell them in sets because that's how I like to use them in bracelets. But anyway....I found when I made bigger beads and sold them in sets that I was able to get more money for them. Of course, my designs are different now too, so maybe it's not size at all.

Some buyers/customers feel like they're getting more of their money's worth....a perception thing, when in reality, like Kandice said, it's more difficult to work on a smaller bead and should therefore be more expensive!

I remember when I used to make Abundance Boxes and I met with a store owner to sell to them. They told me it would be hard for them to justify selling something that little (3" square) to someone for $30. I guess they didn't listen or look at the fact that they were hand painted and detailed.

I do think there is a market for everything though...people have different preferences.

I try to be sure to read the size! 8 to 20 mm is the range I generally use, and 20 mm is really pushing it. The large sizes just won't lay in a good flow.

Tina

THANK you!!

Ooh, good question!! Personally, I don't think making smaller beads is any more difficult than making larger beads, it's just different... at least in my experience.

A few weeks ago I made a couple of sets like the ones I used to make a year or so ago, lots of dots and lines, more traditional shapes and designs. While I was working on them I thought nothing of it, but after I strung them up and took a good look at them, it hit me just how tiny these beads were compared to the ones I make now. Not that my beads are these huge honkin' things, but they are definitely larger than my beads from a year ago.

I have no idea how it happened, or why, but I suddenly started focusing more on shape than on surface design (in the classic lampworking sense). As it turns out, this fun- with-shapes thing just happened to work better with a larger bead. Now I'm hooked!

I think I'm suddenly inspired to try a regular, shape- intensive set, but in mini size! :)

Thanks for bringing this up, Sooz!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH! I can't wait to see it! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Pure desperation on my part -- I'm frustrated. I yearned to buy some lampwork this week, during my mom's stay here. I needed an indulgence. But I couldn't find any that weren't rather large (of the pretty ones I liked) in the time I had to search around on eBay etc.

I want some small, pretty ones, not *too* plain. I'm not unreasonable -- I won't be whining for endless details on tiny beads. But....but......I know I won't use the biggies, I do mostly bracelets! And I like to add lampwork to my beadweaving most of ALL. So big hulking beads are a waste of money -- they'll just sit in a drawer. I love 'em, but I want to be realistic/practical, you know? ~~ Sooz

I think those spiny beads you do would look so lovely as really tiny beads. They're wonderful as is of course, but for some reason things in miniature really send me. :)

I mean it, I really admire your work. I can't wait to see it in person.

-Su

Me too. I love them when they're small and bumpy. I'm not as much for raised florals but I do like bumps. I'm lucky to have a variety of beads for someone just starting out collecting them but the ones I keep coming back to usually have some surface texture. It's that tactile experience, how beads can be so smooth and cool and still have texture that I like.

-Su

I can make small base beads, but they're a different challenge to decorate. I have trouble doing my favorite raked designs because I tend to overheat and lose the shape. I'm messing around with enamels on small beads (there's a pink & purple set on Ebay right now) and I like the way they look, but more ornate styles frustrate me because the canvas is just too darned small.

Joan Eckard is the Goddess of small beads, IMO.

KarenK

You bet there is and thank goodness for that. While *I* personally prefer to work with smaller beads, I do not limit myself in that way. Also love big focals as long as they lay nice when strung up.

Ugh, frustrating indeed! A few weeks ago I was looking for a couple of bangles, I was SO ready to go shopping! But the sites I check for such things continue to have a big ole' SOLD label on every bangle I liked! Maybe I'm just fussy, but how long does a piece need to stay up with a sold label on it before it can be replaced with new stuff? I find that highly irritating. Lol

One, two or three of the biggies do look pretty darn cool in a bracelet, bangle or choker, though! :)

But yes, I understand perfectly what you mean. I tend to like the chunkier stuff. But I really don't see a larger bead fitting in with the daintier, more delicate pieces.

Well I still seem to be a small bead maker. I seem to lose control of the shape once the bead starts getting big :) I do know that the smaller ones are harder to get intricate detail on.

I also prefer smaller beads myself.

Kathy K