Why you should consider buying handmade beads and jewelry:

1. They are unique. No one is wearing the exact same piece, and very few people will have anything like it.

2. They are made to last. Artisan beads and jewelry are created, annealed, cleaned, and finished by the same person, someone who takes pride in their work and product. You can be confident that the materials are high quality and no important steps have been skipped or overlooked. A handmade bead is a piece of art that will last years with proper care and can be handed down to future generations.

3. You aren’t supporting sweatshops. Both inexpensive knock-off beads and expensive name brand beads are mass-produced in sweatshops. Lampworking is dangerous and proper ventilation set-ups are too expensive to build and run for sweatshops to bother with them. The health of the workers in these factories is endangered.

4. You get a prettier product. Artists take their time and will work with expensive and finicky materials that can’t be used in mass-produced beads. Artists typically make beads and jewelry with extra sparkle and details.

The difference is obvious!

I'm getting ready for Halloween early this year.

We are going to get the first frost soon so I cut all of Mom's pie pumpkins for her this morning. The plants had a disease so most of the pumpkins are small. I couldn't resist painting some even though it's still too early for Halloween decorating. They were really quick and simple to paint, I just used spirals, dots and stripes and continued the design up the pumpkin stems.

They are a lot like my fall stripes bead actually.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Mandy and I'm starting this blog in hopes that you will find it fun and get some good ideas and inspiration from it. I'm self employed as a full time lampwork glass beadmaker.

I love arts and crafts, decorating and gardening. I live for making pretty things and love to improve things. My husband and I are renovating our very ugly house old farmhouse at the moment, a task that is requiring a lot more money and patience that I had first expected but is rewarding in it's own way nonetheless.