If any of you have been beading for any time at all I’m sure you’ve encountered lampwork glass beads. Today I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how they are made.

Several years ago a friend showed me how to lampwork, and I took right to it. I loved doing it and really had hoped to continue to build my skills and get good at it. The part I enjoyed most was the sculptural work.

(Above photo from Beadworx. Click on it for a photo tutorial on how a lampwork bead is made.)

Sadly, circumstances intervened so that my space for  lampworking was no longer available. So instead I turned to polymer clay for sculpting, which probably worked out for the best, although I do still miss playing with fire and making glass beads. 🙂

(This explain why the beads I show you aren’t that great, I really needed more time to get better. Still, I was rather pleased with what I was able to do, and still wear that cat pendant every year around Halloween.)

By the way, I misspoke in the video, the bead that is in the upper right, the black and purple swirly one, was made by my friend. It was one of her rejects but I absolutely love it and wear it often.

The above video is NOT mine, it is by Jersey Girl Beads. She seems to have closed her website, and her Etsy shop is not stocked at the moment. 🙁 I include it here because she shows several things I talk about in the video: drawing with stringers, making dots, covering with clear glass and melting in dots.

Should you like to learn more about lampworking there are many, many other videos on YouTube that will show you a bit of the process.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

You can watch the Friday Findings-Lampwork Beads video over at YouTube.

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