Skull Beads-- Lampwork with Day of the Dead Appeal

One look at my etsy shop and you will know that i like to make bone-shaped glass beads.  The bones are good for either dog lover's jewelry, or Halloween jewelry.  Oh and i suppose paleontologist might choose wear bones.   And Day of the Dead aficionados.  And now i am finally rolling out my skull beads.

It seems like every year or so, i would try to sculpt a few skull shaped beads, and my results were terrible, and then, eventually, not quite so terrible.  But this year i seem to have finally figured it out and i am having a good old time making little skulls and decorating them with flowers, ferns and tendrils.

Please visit my etsy shop: The Bead You Need, for purchases or queries.

'Ween Beads Wednesday

That's 'ween, as in Halloween. I had to make it start with a W to go nicely with "Wednesday". Ahem.

I'm continuing to do my little bit to help support other etsy glass bead makers today, by bringing you Canterbury Keepsakes.

I have never seen such realistically rendered gourd beads. These are fantastic, warts and all! My pre-lampwork hobby was gourd growing and carving, and these beads bring back fond memories.

And the whimsical "Halloween Treats" collection, with the witch hat, halfmoon beads, and spider, are so fun, and have great attention to detail. It looks like a couple of little pumpkins on that witch hat-- how original.

I hope everyone's autumn-themed bead sales are starting to take off. This is the first year i've made seasonal beads, so i'm curious to see if it affects my business. It has been fun to try to come up with something original with the Halloween theme, and i think i've done that with the O'Lantern boys' Personal Ads, but making the beads is one thing, and marketing is a whole other thing.

oo la la!

je'taime Paris, listed in the etsy shop. The mauve color is so soft and fleeting. The flashes of reflecting light bring in so much gold and blue-green that these are the kind of bead you can enjoy watching. I keep picking them up and carrying them to the window to be fascinated by the flash--some people are like that: dazzled by little sparkly things...

Stan-O'-Lantern and a few more squash studs now have their personal ads in the shop. They are very hopeful they're going to meet their special someones.