Cup of Bead Soup - Lea Avroch Reveal

When I received the focal bead for this challenge, from Lea, I was immediately taken with the flower "insert" on it. I have come to find out from her that it is called a murrini, and "there are many ways to make them." She kindly explained her process which I really did not understand, since I know nothing about lampwork.

  Lampwork Murrini                   Polymer Clay Cane

From what I could glean, she starts with "glass in a barrel shape onto the tip of a mandrel,  and then adds stripes of glass stringers from the point of the mandrel to the other side, all meeting in the middle," as many or as few colors as she likes. After heating it up, "glowing hot", she "attaches another mandrel into the opposite side, lets it cool for a few seconds and then pulls." She lets it "cool and then cuts it into slices with a glass nipper."

Now, not wanting to burn my house down, I stick with working in polymer clay. So I got out matching colors, made a Skinner blend, a bulls eye center, and put together a cane imitating (the sincerest form of flattery) her design. I then made blue ovals with Mica accents and attached slices of the flower cane to some of them.


To find just the right accent beads, I went to a Rings and Things Bead Show, and picked up Amazonite roundels, Natural Agate puffed ovals, and deep blue Mirage rounds, which fascinated me in the way they changed color to shades of light blue and purple when touched. They gave the same effect as the many hues of the focal when different light reflected off of it.

The agates were strung together in a floral shape with a turquoise center bead, and used as an offset to the focal.

One more trip to my local Bead Store (that's the name of it) for the pewter seeded spacers, and there waiting were the perfect Czech glass clam shaped beads to mimic the spine-like strip of the focal.

All together and here you have my humble design submission

 for Lori Anderson's fantastic Cup of Bead Soup.

Here are the other participants in this Challenge:

Lori

Sonya

Shaiha

Marlene - You are here!

If you want to get more info on future Cup of Bead Soup Challenges by Lori Anderson, 

click here.

And please take a moment to visit these links to the creator of this fantastic lampwork focal,

Lea Avroch!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lajewelrydesigns

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/lajewelrydesigns

https://www.facebook.com/LAJewelryDesign