I'm so bad about designing beads ahead of the seasons for some reason. Probably because I often just make whatever the mood calls for in a particular session. I recently got some peacock stringer from Avenue Beads and decided to see what it would do in a fishie bead. And, boy, am I glad I did! The colorful stripes on the body of the bead comes from the stringer. It has that great webbing thing that it does. The coloring is even more vibrant in person.
I learned this technique from Deb Crowley a couple of years ago at Glass Stock. Sadly I was unable to attend this past year due to health issues and will miss this year as well due to a friend's wedding. Don't anyone invite me to anything next Labor Day! I am going to Glass Stock, come hell or high water! hehe!
I don't usually make them in the winter because my studio is too cold and it's much harder to keep the entire bead heated at all times. I was constantly wafting it in and out of the flame to avoid any cracking and am really pleased with what came out of the kiln today.
This fish is pretty big and took me the better part of an hour to make. It's about 2" in length. I was so excited to share it, I didn't even take it off the mandrel. You get to see it in all it's glory, bead poop and all. ;-)
