Thank You, Studio Marcy!

One of the things I really, really like about my local ISGB chapter, "Southern Flames," is that everyone there is so helpful. We're all interested in each other's success, and everyone is just genuinely supportive. One great example is Marcy Lamberson, aka Studio Marcy, Marcy makes the most wonderful, humorous, just plain funny beads out there. She has a fantastic sense of humor when it comes to beads -- check out Kayla the Panda Hula Dancer, or the woman who wants to be kissed under the mistletoe!

But Marcy is a genuinely cheerful person outside the studio as well. I still laugh when I think of the both of us outside Beads by Design, where Southern Flames meets (Thank you, Stephanie!). We were both buying glass from another Southern Flames member who had extra in his car, and there in the dark, weighing out glass, we were cracking all kinds of mafia jokes :)

Marcy is also generous of spirit, and when we are all working on beads for Beads of Courage offers mini-tutorials, sharing techniques freely--something increasingly rare. She features Southern Flames members on her blog--and I am her latest feature. If you are in the ATL area on the 12th of December, make sure you stop by Janke Studios, where Marcy will be demoing lampwork!

Beads of Courage: Butterfly Beads

Marcy Lamberson has blogged about Robert Simmons' new take on butterfly beads using white enamel and copper leaf. Robert's beads are the top picture. He's the National Director for Bead Donations for the Beads of Courage program. He also is a wonderful person and an excellent teacher--only Robert could tell a group of lampworkers about the chemical composition of etching fluid, and its dangers (this stuff can eat down to the bone!), and have all of us raring to go out and etch some more ... carefully.

Butterfly beads are given to parents whose children didn't survive their illness. The problem with many sculptural butterfly beads is that, while they are beautiful, they can also be delicate.
Unless the wings are carefully attached, they are likely to chip or snap off. It's not a problem if the parents want to display the bead, but many want to wear it and keep it close.

Robert has made an excellent tutorial on making these beads; you can see pictures at the Southern Flames website.

The second and third pictures are of both sides of my first butterfly bead. I rather pretentiously named it "From Bonds Arising," and added copper mesh to signify the prison fence of the body that the child has escaped. The bead can be wired so that it can be worn as a pendant.


If you do not want to use enamels, I have found that adding copper leaf over a dot of Opal Yellow will give a lovely green color, as seen in these beads from last year. I think if you add a dot of Opal Yellow where you want your butterfly to be that you can achieve a similar look. If you want to use fine 40 or 42 gauge copper sheeting, the butterfly will turn a lovely shade of pink if you use it over Reichenbach frits in the pink and red family, as seen in this focal (it's a dragonfly, so just imagine it as a butterfly, k?).

Robert's tutorial (and my tips) are freely offered to the lampworking community. Please consider making--and donating--some of these butterfly beads to Beads of Courage.

Beads of Courage Day

This weekend I went up to Beads by Design in Marietta to spend some time torching. The Southern Flames support a wonderful charity, Beads of Courage. Beads of Courage helps children who are undergoing treatment for serious illnesses such as cancer or leukemia. Each treatment wins the child a bead for his or her string, and serious treatments earn a handmade bead. It sounds silly, but increasing numbers of studies are showing that the kids in the program are more involved in their treatment and recovery.

Marcy Lamberson (bottom photo) showed us how to make cute face beads, which are in demand by both kids and staff. Kim Neely was making Georgia Dawg beads, and we all made fish, faces, and bumpy beads. I made one of my poodledo beads.


We filled up one kiln and were working on a second one when I left. Beads by Design contributed the studio space, the propane and oxygen, and the supplies. Flame Tree Glass gave us the glass. Thanks to everyone, we're going to have a lot of beads for the kids to use.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning--melting glass with friends, and doing good things for kids and the people who care for them at the same time.