Christmas is closer

More Christmas earrings.  This time, I decided to try my hand at frit.  I collected various shades of green and red, heated the tip of the rod and mashed it then put it in cold water.  The tip fractures into small pieces which I collected.  The result is a mixture of Christmas colors.  To make the earrings shown below:

I made a lentil shaped bead out of green nile opalino (Effetre 516), as in the previous post, rolled it in frit, melted the frit down and repressed the bead, then added a wreath of green aventurine which I accented with a twist.  Earrings made from thes;e beads are for sale in my Etsy shop:  Etsy.com/shop/DeborahDRoss.

Starry sky beads

In a recent issue of Soda Lime Times, I found out about an interesting technique using silver foil.  It has to be foil;  leaf won't work, not enough silver is deposited on the bead.  Take a dark color like black or transparent cobalt blue,  and make a base bead.  Shape as desired.  Then heat the bead and press silver foil all around the bead and marver it in.  Burn it off in the flame, and tiny flecks of silver will be left on the bead.  Then add glass frit, such as Bead Goodies Atlantis.  The frit will move the silver flecks, forming a halo around the pieces of glass frit.  Twist and add a cubic zirconium if desired, and voila:

For earrings made from these beads, see my etsy site:  etsy.com/shop/DeborahDRoss