I make beads using a flame torch and glass rods. I simply love making these one-of-a-kind creations. I am inspired by nature and color combinations and by my own mind always thinking of new ideas! I am in awe of the works of Corina Tetinger, Pati Walton, Kimberly Affleck and Leah Fairbanks. They are true artists in this field.
**I sell beads on Etsy, it's Etsy.com and my shop name is TrueGemsByPatti**
I currently teach a class in glass beadmaking. I teach a beginner class, as well as a more advanced class called "Four Fancy Frit Beads." If you live in Southern California and are interested in learning how to make glass beads, please contact me for more information or click on the "Glass Obsessions" link.
www.glassobsessions.com
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1/18/09 Once again it's been a long time. Happy New Year!
Here's my new elephant....enjoy!
4/07/08 Well hello everyone! Just got back from theGlass Expo in Vegas! Some people on LampworkEtc met for dinner. We had a great time. We traded beads and I got a very cool aquarium bead! I took a beadmaking class by Margaret Zinser. She is very talented and smart. She is right and left brained, creative and science-smart! The class was wonderful, we learned all sorts of new techniques. I was also very fortunate to be able to upgrade my system (I love my husband) to a better torch, and an oxygen concentrator.
Here are some beads I made the other day. I put them all on a bracelet last night and they look great!
9/02/07 Jack passed away today. He was the best dog ever. We love you Jack! We will miss you so much. I pray that you are running through a beautiful green field, chasing balls with plenty of treats. You deserve it, our sweet boy. I can still see your smile and your wagging tail.
We just returned from a trip to Minnesota. My neice got married. It was such a beautiful ceremony on the shore of lake Superior.
I have been having a blast with Iris Gold Frit! Lots of swirlies and the Iris Gold gives everything a rich look. I will post some pics soon.
Glass Obsessions will be having an open house on September 22nd. It should be a lot of fun. Click on the link (above) for more info.
7/11/07...did you get your free Slurpee today??
I've been pretty busy, we just returned from a trip to Palm Springs. It was over 120 degrees! But we had a good time. We swam, shopped and ate! Our three daughters each brought a friend, so for a couple of days it was life with 6 teenage girls!
I'm on kind of a new kick with the metal leaf and foils. I love the gold. It's so rich looking.
18 carat gold leaf!
Palladium leaf was used in this bead.
Frit over sterling silver foil.
6/27/07 Wow, has it been 3 months since I've updated my site?? Well, I have some new stuff I've been working on. Trying to go for a little more earthy feel. They are so much more difficult to master than the cutesy type beads, in my opinion.
Then there are these guys...I would really like to improve on this concept, I love the idea, although I do think there is room for improvement.
And these were a lot of fun to make...
One of my favorite bracelets...
3/26/07 Hi! Had a great week at the torch! Trying to get ready for a show and demo I'll be doing in June in Yorba Linda. The kids keep me busy. One is almost driving. I have an imaginary brake pedal on the passenger's side of my car now! I wish I had more time for bead-making and more money for classes. I plan to take a class by one of the "greats" one of these days. (Leah Fairbanks? Michael Barley? Kimberly Affleck?<~~~you should see her seahorse bead...amazing!)
Well, anyway, here are my latest...
These little black and white guys are so fun to make. I usually come up with the design as I am making them. I love dots over dots, especially the ones that fool your eyes. The last one on the right, see the crescent shapes? That started with a white dot, then a black dot placed partially over the white dot. Then I ended with a white dot. Cool, huh? The possibilities are endless.
Then there are these little lovelies. I love love love the way the leaves turned out!
2/11/07 Ok, I started making some hearts...a little late for Valentine's Day, but such is the life of an artist..we do what we feel at the moment. However, I did make a cute little vessel...check it out..
Yes, you can actually put perfume in it. These are meant for hanging on a chain around the neck.
And here's an owl and a lizard..
Look at the little guy! He's just begging to be kissed, dont-cha think?
I took a class on glass fusing last Saturday. Phyllis from Glass Obsessions taught it. She sure knows her stuff when it comes to glass art! I will soon be making glass pendants using dichroic and colored glass. Coming soon!
1/18/07 Latest set...
1/09/07 Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We went to see my Mom, her husband and her dogs in Arizona. It snowed! We had a great time! It's always nice to go there for the holidays. Mom has the house decorated so nicely and she makes tons of traditional goodies for the kids.
Here is a set I have been working on. They are currently for sale on Ebay. (Bidding ends Jan. 16th.) Wish me luck!
Here's a bracelet I recently made. I call it "Jade Dreams". I think it's my favorite (for now)!The store-bought beads match perfectly, don't you think?
Oops, that last one caught the light a little too much, but you get the idea. What's with my font? Oh well. My Mom and I have been busy playing our favorite game...it's an acronyms game. If you like word games, click, or go here: www.acronomics.com Mom's often in first place. Emailed my pen-pal today. She's from England. We met in fifth grade, when we lived in Germany and went to a British school. We have been writing for almost 30 years! She is an artist, so we are going to make a trade....one of my bracelets for one of her paintings. I can't wait to see what she produces for me!
12/02/06 Had a great day at the torch today! I got a lot accomplished. I'm making a Christmas bracelet for my friend, Helen and one for my friend Felix's neice. The little kid's bracelets are so cute. Just like the adult's, only on a tinier scale. Had a beginning class last week. My friend, Carol, took the class. She says it's harder than it looks. I told her to practice, practice, practice! Here is a candy cane and holly leaves! I LOVE the holly!
10/09/06 Well, check this out! I bought some larger mandrels and started making rings! They are so awesome, and I have soooo many ideas for them! The mandrel used is extra large. It takes more time to make these than it does to make a regular bead, and you have to pay special attention to keeping the band warm because it has a tendency to cool quickly due to the large size of the mandrel.
9/24/06 Started making some Christmas beads today. (Click on "for sale" link to see previous Christmas work.) I'm trying to branch out from the typical red and green. I made some pink and ivory...Victorian Christmas. I made some other wintery looking beads. I put some silver-glittery pixie dust around the edges of a clear pillow shaped bead, and put a poinsettia on the center of the bead. They look very nice. Besides Christmas, I've been kind of into these clear purple with swirls...I've done clear blue also.
Not too into Halloween beads...I'd like to make some pumpkins and other Autumn stuff. It just seems I am always doing something else.
9/14/06 Well, I have a day off from my regular job so I will hit the torch! My favorite thing to do (besides hanging out with my family.) I taught a beginner class this past Saturday. It went really well, we had a blast! Oh, here are the etched beads that I mentioned before, the ones that look Arizona-ish! Credit for these goes to my friend, Janet Anderson, who also teaches at Glass Obsessions. She is a very talented bead artist.
I loooooove them! Here's another...a more ocean-y look!
Pretty!
I also mentioned using powders....here are those beads...
I think they look great, they'll do well as accent beads.
9/11/06 Yesterday, I tried working with pixie dust. I made a few cool beads. Four ivory beads with gold-colored dust and four clear beads with silvery-glittery dust. The silver ones will go well with a winter theme. The gold ones are just plain awesome, although I don't know what I will do with them yet.
I've been kind of into etched beads lately. They look so earthy! I made a really pretty set out of ivory, coral, black, and copper green. Very Arizona-ish! I also etched some simple coral colored beads...they remind me of Sedona. Pictures to come soon!
9/11/06 Today, I made some beachy looking beads. Silver foil underneath clear teal glass. Ya gotta see pics of these! I promise I will add them soon!
Being that it is 9/11, I'd like to mention how surprised I am at how few people are displaying the American flag in their yards in my neighborhood. Remember, we live in the most awesome country in the world! Display your flag proudly, especially on a day like today. God Bless America!
Well, 9/11 has been a good day for beadmaking for me. I just finished another batch. I'm trying to create more "artsy" designs. It's hard! I must stray away from cutesy....I always have a tendency to do cutesy. I sort of like these swirly purple ones I did. We'll see when they come out of the kiln.