Good morning, Sunday readers! I’ve been perusing the blogs this morning and have a tip to share with you from my beadmaker’s blog, I share insider tips only beadmakers may know about and I call them a BEADMAKER TIP ALERT! Here’s a tip I shared last spring and one I happily share with you today. Glass beads purchased from craft stores aren’t kiln annealed and could crack when you’re wearing the beads.
Why should you care about kiln annealing? Kiln annealing strengthens glass by allowing the glass to cool very, very, very slowly. If properly done, it relieves any stress in the glass and the beads won’t crack.
Below is a picture of a set of glass beads I purchased at a local craft store:
As a glass beadmaker, I know by where the crack is, that the bead has not been kiln annealed. A crack along the bead hole means the glass cooled too quickly. Glass cools too quickly when it hasn’t been placed in a kiln.
So, when you’re buying supplies to add to your creation, be wary of large, thick glass beads. A beader on a budget will invest her/his money wisely on quality artisan made glass focal bead and/or sets that are kiln annealed. Make sure to look for this phrase when buying handmade glass on the web or on Etsy.
So let’s go to the beady news. Lots going on but I want to highlight Carmi’s post and show a picture of her lovely fiber necklace:
Photo courtesy of Carmi, of course and here’s her teaser and link for it:
Carmi’s Art/Life World
Carmi creates a punched fiber collage necklace.
Catch up on the news for the B&B Show in June
Art Jewelry magazine
Demos and more planned for the Bead&Button Show 2009
Earthenwood has a sale going on:
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Spring is here and Melanie announces a big springtime sale on her website, going on from now until Earth Day.
Jean is catching up on her reading:
Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean reviews an excellent wire wrapping book, Beautiful Wire Jewelry for Beaders, by Irina Miech
Several projects and new designs:
Strands of Beads Melissa shows off a new necklace design inspired by Sir Thomas Wyatt’s poem “Whoso List to Hunt”
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Taking advantage of Artbeads.com’s free shipping and fast, friendly service, Andrew attempts to capture the beauty of a Lord Byron poem with the new Crystallized – Swarovski Element Disk Pendants in his new necklace design, “Cloudless Climes”.
Candie Cooper
Mother’s Day is coming fast! Do you need a project idea? Candie and Katie have just the thing!
About.com Jewelry Making
Puzzle piece jewelry is perfect to make during the month of April since it happens to be autism awareness month. Here are a few projects to help you make your own puzzle piece jewelry.
Jewelry & Beading
Make a fiber and wire necklace that will slide right on with no clasp!
Barbe and ABS are working the business end:
Barbe Saint John – New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Marketing Monday: Its all about word of mouth
Art Bead Scene
Worried about the economy? Take care of your bead business with these tips.
Are you enjoying your Sundays with Cindy? Leave a comment and let Cindy know what you think.
SueBeads
April 19, 2009 at 3:20 pmThanks for this post, Cindy! I hate to see people buying lampworked beads at the big box stores, because I know someday they are going to be very disappointed, or their customer will be very disappointed!
Cindy Gimbrone
April 19, 2009 at 4:00 pmHi Sue,
Amen! Cheaper isn’t always better. Selling jewelry with un-annealed beads is a dissatisfied customer waiting to happen. Investing a few extra $$ into kiln annealed beads is worth the $$ and more importantly customer satisfaction!
Thanks for the comment 🙂
Cindy
tamdoll
April 19, 2009 at 8:27 pmLoving every post on this blog, thanks for being here! I use beads as accents in some of the things I make and am finding the posts and links to be so inspiring.
Thanks!
Cindy Gimbrone
April 19, 2009 at 11:16 pmHi Tamdoll!
Glad you’re enjoying the blog – we love having you! We strive to inspire and show others how to use art beads in their crafts and jewelry.
Look forward to seeing your around “The Scene!” 🙂
Cindy
Gardanne
April 20, 2009 at 2:39 pmThanks for this post Cindy. It is a pet peeve of mine that in bead stores that sell mass produced lampwork beads there is never any mention of the fact they are not annealed properly. I did notice recently in a rings and things catalog that there was a boxed alert that the lampwork was not kiln annealed. Its like anything else you get what you pay for.
TesoriTrovati
April 20, 2009 at 4:54 pmHey Cindy! Thanks for the tip about the annealing…those of us who appreciate the work that a bead artist does but who don’t actually make the beads now have another reason why we purchase high quality materials…and another reason to tell customers why we are different…and worth it! Enjoy the day! Erin
Gail W.
April 20, 2009 at 9:41 pmWish I had know 3 years ago.I thought Fire Mountain was the best thing in my world.Well,I started ground up,self taught,with a lot of words of wisdome from Heather Powers.I now have a big box of cheap,but it cost alot!,beads that I could never give away,definitly not sell in my shop.But I know,now.And,Cindy,one of your beads is still a favorite,thank you!
Softflexgirl
April 21, 2009 at 9:42 pmI’m definitely a “quality” over “quantity” kind of girl in my beading supplies. It makes a huge difference in the end result.
Alice
April 22, 2009 at 12:35 pmWow, wonderful post with lots of great info! I live in a small town of less than 3,000, and only a handful of people here are willing to pay for quality handmade beads even if I explain the dangers of buying cheap glass beads. They are willing to risk it.
Thanks for taking the time to search and bring us all this great information!
Alice
Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor
April 23, 2009 at 4:41 pmThat is very cool information Cindy! Being a polymer clay bead making girl, I didn’t realize that all glass beads weren’t annealed. I just assumed they had to be or they cracked before they were taken off the mandrel. Good to know about the big box beads though. Had no idea they could crack and become a problem after wearing them!