Spring has sprung.

 Spring has sprung here in South Dakota.  We are finally having warm weather and some rain.  I made lots of pretty posies in lots of colors.

And some even have lots of colors all in one flower.

New Etched Flower beads

While we were in Tucson I had the necklace I showed off a few months ago on display (You can see it here : http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-new-necklace.html ). everyone wanted to know where those flowers were and I had used them pretty much all up for the necklace so I decided I had better get a batch made for the spring shows. Lots of nice soft etched colors.

New flower necklace.

 This is another new necklace for the spring.

It has just one of my double lampwork flower beads sits in the center of this piece.

More from the Prehistoric series.

 Of course the Prehistoric series had to have some barnacle encrusted flower spikes.

 These are the same shapes I use in my Alice's Garden series but colors and etching to make you think of age.

Of course there had to be some big etched bell flower shapes to go with the spiky pieces.

More Alice's Garden Flower Pieces

 Big bright bell shaped flower pieces that look to me like fairy skirts and...........

.......lots of spikes. If you would like to see one piece I made using these you can go here to see the necklace called Ten Feet Tall   http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/2012/01/challenge-piece.html

A New Necklace...

...for your viewing pleasure.  This one has been in the works for quite a while, but while I have been making beads like a crazy woman I decided to spend some time finishing up a couple of projects, this being one of them.

I have decided to call it "Seaside Dreams" because every time I look at it I see the ocean.  The flower beads have been etched to resemble sea glass and the little tendrils so make me think of strands of seaweed.

NEW!!! cone shaped flower power beads.

 These are some new cone shaped Flower Power beads.  The front of the cone has the Flower Power daisy shape of my flatter Flower Power beads.  These are cone or bell shaped with a ruffled lip.

 I made some with a different color around the edge and some all one color.

 Frankly I can not decide which way I like them better.  I also have all kinds of ideas popping into my head for ways to use these and no time to work on anything since I am leaving Thursday for WI and IL.

These are pretty small.  They of course kept growing as I was working but I had in my mind that they would be small. 

Etched fancy flowers

 I made some of my fancy flowers with the simple combination of clear and black glass then etched them.

 I really like how the etching makes them soft like sea glass.  I made enough to take a bunch with me on my road trip of trunk shows.

And even list a few on Etsy in just a few minutes.

I have been .........

 ............working with the black metallic glass again.

 I just love the colors that this glass produces.  It has that look of Racu pottery that just amazes me how it looks iridized and matte all in the same piece.

These pieces are all headed for my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/tanyamcguire but I will be making more to take to next months trunk shows.

Flower Power Flowers

I haven't for some reason made my Flower Power beads in a while so I worked really  hard for a couple of days and made a big batch.

I was concentrating on pairs because so many people like to make earrings with these.

I also made some mini flowers because I have an earring idea that I hope to get worked out in the next week.  I of course listed some of each in my Etsy store that you can find here. https://www.etsy.com/shop/tanyamcguire

Multi color blue poppy beads.....

...........are the flower of the day.  We are back from Stitches Midwest and working hard to get back into the rhythm of things. 

 So some pretty blue flowers are headed for Etsy and a few for my next few shows as well.

 I am not getting as much studio and work time this week as normal because hubby had shoulder surgery and we have been going to Physical Therapy every day.  We start on three days a week next week which will make it much better.

Do make sure to check out my Etsy store if you are interested in some flower beads.

Jewel tone Daisy's

 Lovely, lovely jewel tone daisy's.  I have made these before but not in quite a while and I just had to get a few in my boxes. I love the watery feel of the transparent glass in these colors.

 I made mini ones this time too which I have to make more of because I just love the dainty little things.

 And some earring pairs for Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/tanyamcguire?ref=si_shop

 Of course the mixed sets are my favorite.

And I just had to show off this picture because I like the picture.

Free Tutorial on using a disc or flower bead.

So often, when we have a disc or flower lampwork bead we want them to hang where they face the front.  This tutorial is just a little trick to make them hang better and stay facing front and not flipping.

 You will need a lampwork disc bead, a headpin, 2 daisy spacers, wire cutters, and round nose pliers.  I also use a little dot of E6000 glue and a couple of size 11 seed beads.  These two things are not necessary but to me it makes a nicer finished product.

Take the head pin and put on one daisy spacer, (about 2 size 11 seed beads), the lampwork disc bead, and the second daisy spacer.  The seed beads just help to stabilize the head pin inside of the hole of the lampwork bead so you do not want any more than just fill that space.

 If you wish to use the dab of glue (E6000) that I like to use, it is placed just behind the back daisy spacer.  You want to use just a tiny amount and let it dry before going on.

 Once the glue has set, you take your round nose pliers and grip the headpin about 3/8 of and inch above the back of the daisy spacer.  I don't really measure this any more because I use the width of my fingernail.  You will want to make sure that the measurement is very close to the same if you are making earrings.

 You want to bend the head pin at a right angle.

 You are then going to make a loop.

 And wrap that loop.

 What you now have is a wrapped loop that is about 3/8 of an inch above the back of your bead.  I know this sounds like a simple thing but it is important that your loop is made and the excess wire has been clipped before going on.

 The next step is to bend the wire right at the daisy spacer making a right angle.  Or making the wire now parallel to the disc bead.  *** The biggest tip about this whole process is to make the loop and then bend the wire.  If you try to bend the wire first you can not get the wire wrapped around itself because you run into the bead. ***

 You are now ready to add ear wires if you are making earrings.

 If you want to make a pendant you will want to add a large ring into the the loop before you finish wrapping it.

 There you have it disc or flower beads used for earrings and pendants.

My love for this black metalic.....

 ........glass goes on and on.  I just love this glass.  I love all the colors that it seems to reflect and I promise these pictures do nothing to truly show it off.

 The Raku pottery look just amazes me every time.  I only wish it wasn't quite so pricey.

The little disc on the left has sort of a steam punk look.  I want to try making some more of those soon.

I have decided to run an October Fest sale in my Etsy shop.  If you use the coupon code OCTOBERFEST you will get 10% off when checking out.  Make sure to read Etsy's how to on using a coupon code if you never have.  Also their codes are case specific so make sure to us all caps.

Bright colors of.......

...........flower beads.  I love this blue frit around the bright colors, weather on discs or flowers.