Recent Itsy Bitsy Commission Work

I make a lot of commission work.  I love doing it.  So when I received an email from someone who asked me, "can you make me 20 Christmas bulb lights that are 1/4" long?"  I decided to give it a whirl.

If you are a flameworker, you know that is a pretty tiny scale to be working in.  But always loving new challenges, I got out my tape measure and turned on my torch.

I found that I could reasonably get to 3/8" of an inch using a 1/16th mandrel. (non- glass folk, I know you secretly love tech talk).  And made an assortment of colors for her.

So in case you're wondering what she is doing with them, here's the answer.  She is needlepointing Christmas stockings for her grandchildren with a house that has lights hung from its roof.  She tried the plastic miniature ones for embellishment, but decided that glass would be better.

And I couldn't resist taking a photo of them, so I added my little trailer that I got years ago on Etsy, and one of my new Santa design beads and made a little vignette.  Might just be my Christmas card this year too.

Stay tuned for my next commission blogpost . I'll give you a hint.  It has to do with a Spirit Animal.
See you tomorrow!

Size Does Matter

Yesterday I received a convo, (that's Etsy talk for conversation or private email), from a customer who had seen this bracelet in Bead Dreams Magazine January 2009 issue and wanted to make her own version of it.

Could I make her a mermaid and a seahorse that are .5" tall? That's just under 13mm. I measured the mermaids on this bracelet and they are about .7" or 18mm and remembered how hard it was to make the wee complicated beads.

She explained that she wanted a more delicate bracelet and the smaller charms would better fit into her design.
Needless to say, the seashells, sea glass and other less detailed and rounder beads would be so much easier to reduce and she did choose a starfish and palm tree in the diminutive size too. So today, part of my studio schedule includes attempting a half inch mermaid.

Charm sized beads are a great way to use up stringer and other little bits that are hanging around your bench. I love making sculptural miniatures which make great charms, earrings or dangles. I keep a small section, (ha, ha) in my Etsy shop.

If anyone else wants to join me in trying this, I'd love to see your efforts. The colors of her hair and tail have been left up to me. I'm smiling thinking that yellow could be interesting. That way I could make her wearing an itsy bitsy teensy weensy yellow polka dot bikini, that she wore for the first time today. (Please note, the last line is only amusing if you are about my age and know this song. But if you do, it will probably be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. My apologies.)