I’ve been asked for years how to blow shards and more specifically how to make my ever popular special effect mottling shards. Well if you’ve been wanting in on the secrets you are in luck.

Originally I was going to make one big tutorial for learning how to blow shards and how to make mottle shards but decided to break it up into separates for those that might already know how to blow shards, thus lowering the price of the Mottling Shard Tutorial.

I had a lot of fun putting these tutorials together. I hope you enjoy them as well and learn lots of new techniques.

Enjoy and have fun!

How to Blow Shards Instant download PDF tutorial that teaches you how to blow shards and apply them to your work. 18 pages and 45 photos that include easy to follow step by step instructions accompanied by full color photos. Included in this Tutorial: How to Blow Shards How to Make Your Shards How to Apply Shards Shard bead examples

Creating and Using Mottle Shards Learn how to make and use the original striking Mottle shards that was first created by Avenue Beads. Instant download PDF tutorial that teaches you how to make your own mottling shards like our Dragons Breath, Skystone, Ethereal Blues and Lunar Moss Mottle Shards. 28 pages and 55 photos that include easy to follow step by step instructions accompanied by full color photos. Included in this Tutorial: Making Mottle Shards How To Use Mottle Shards Mottle Recipes Bead Examples From Artists

Each one of these bud vases is a one of a kind work of art. They may be small but pack a big visual punch.

You can view all the bud vases that are currently for sale in our etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AvenueBeads?section_id=6205965

We just released a new 104coe shard color! This is pretty much a what you see is what you get kind of shard. Great color for those that love creating pieces with an organic feel.

Silvered Kelp Shards Silvered Kelp Shards 104coe Pale green infused with fine silver that allows you to add a no fuss organic look to your beads.

Sale Items

From now until the end of this month you can save on some of our most popular products.

20% off:
Raku Chips 104coe
Vine Canes 104coe
Confetti 104coe

15% off:
Silvered Ivory Shards - 104coe
Clear Shards - 104coe
Lunar Rainbow Shards - 104coe
Black Berry Wispy Shards - 104coe
Painted Desert Shards -104coe
Italian Marble Shards - 104coe

10% off:
Dragons Breath Shards - 104coe
Skystone Shards - 104coe
Silvered Caramel Shards - 104coe
Silvered Stringers - 104coe
Streaky Stringers - 104coe

Last but not least, all orders over $50 get a free .2oz tester bag of the new Silvered Kelp shards. Even if you have these new shards in your order you will still get an additional .2oz of the shards.

Have a great weekend!

To get show dates and times please visit http://www.beadandbuttonshow.com/

Hope to see you there!

Marbled Red Chips Marbled Red Murrini Chips 104coe Marbled red chips with stripes of black that create beautiful star-bursts of color when heated and pressed into your bead.

Striped Yellow Coral Chips Striped Yellow Coral Murrini Chips 104coe Black striped chips that have a coral center encased in yellow giving these chips a pretty yellowish orange when heated and pressed into your bead.

New Android Phone App

We released our very own iPhone app a couple weeks ago. Of course many were asking “what about us android users?” Well you’re in luck. I am excited to announce the “AvenueBeads on the go” Android app! Now you can put us in your pocket and take us everywhere you go.

Download this app to keep up with new blog posts, view our twitter feed, watch our youtube videos, view our gallery and the user gallery (*more info about user gallery below).

And…its free!

So what are you waiting for go grab your phone and download our app today! Just search for “avenue beads” in the Android Market.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.appmakr.app148320&feature=search_result

*User gallery information

We want you!… and your photos. If you use flickr and have photos of beads or other glass work that you made using our products, consider joining our new Flickr group and share your works. We will be using these photos as an inspiration gallery for our handmade supplies (shards,stringers,murrini etc..). If you upload any photos to the group be sure to put in the photo description what product or products were used in the creation if you can remember. Also if you would like to direct viewers to where your work is available include one store link in the description as well. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the user gallery.

10% off all fused items
Bowls
Plates
Platters
Coasters

15% off
104coe Shards
96coe Shards

10% off
104coe Streaky Stringers
104coe Silvered Stringers
104coe Veining Stringers
104coe Murrini

All domestic orders over $35 ($45 international) receive free shipping! What’s the coupon code? Well you’re going to have to work for it this time. Some pesky little leprechaun took it and hid it somewhere in the lampwork supplies category. Dig your way through the pages and look for a hidden shamrock. If you find it and click on it you’ll find your coupon code. Enter that code during check out and receive free shipping.

I am excited to announce the “AvenueBeads on the go” iphone app! Now you can put us in your pocket and take us everywhere you go

iPhone App!

It gets better. If you enable the push notifications you’ll be notified of our live broadcasts, receive special coupon codes that can be used in our store and receive other important news/information instantly.

And…its free!

So what are you waiting for go grab your iphone and download our app today! Just search for “avenuebeads” in the appstore or on itunes and there we will be.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/avenuebeads/id421168742?mt=8

*User gallery information

We want you!… and your photos. If you use flickr and have photos of beads or other glass work that you made using our products, consider joining our new Flickr group and share your works. We will be using these photos as an inspiration gallery for our handmade supplies (shards,stringers,murrini etc..). If you upload any photos to the group be sure to put in the photo description what product or products were used in the creation if you can remember. Also if you would like to direct viewers to where your work is available include one store link in the description as well. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the user gallery.

I’ve had a couple sheets of 104coe glass sitting around for what seems like years, gathering dust in a dark lonely corner. Last week I decided to pull out the sheets and try a little experiment mixing our handmade lampwork glass supplies and fusing. For first time around I decided to use some scrap pieces just in case it wasn’t going to work. No sense in wasting a good sheet of glass on the unknown.

First step.

Pick out some complementary shard colors. I was going for an organic look so I picked some colors that I thought would create some good reactions. In the one closest we have Lunar Rainbow, Silvered Ivory and Silvered Caramel shards. Added to that I overlaid the shards with black stringers, a bit of Rosewood Fusion Frit and a handful of Ocher Spiral Murrini chips.

On the other piece I used Amphibian shards piled high with black stringers and another stringer color that I custom mixed.

Fast forward 12 hours...

After Firing

Step Two

Pendants all cut out.

Step Three

Drilled Pendants

Drilling Holes

Step Four.

Now that we have our pendants drilled with holes it’s time to put them back in the kiln for another session. Instead of doing a full fuse this time they’ll be going through a contour fuse. All this is going to do is soften out the hard edges that we created from cutting out the pendants and drilling the holes.

Last Step!

After two days we finally have a finished product. Now just photograph and sell These pendants are currently available in our etsy store.

The finished product

Alternatively you may also email any photos and the information about the item to me if you do not use flickr but would still like to be included in the gallery.

This is all being worked into something new and fun but can’t yet say what it is. It’s going to be cool though

Join the Flickr group

Starting Feb 14th and ending Feb 19th get yourself some great glassy deals!

25% off
Marbles
Disc pendants
Focal Beads

20% off
104coe Shards
104coe Confetti
96coe Shards

15% off
104coe Fusion Frit
96coe Frit and frit mixes
104coe Vine Cane

10% off
104coe Streaky Stringers
104coe Silvered Stringers
104coe Veining Stringers
104coe Murrini

Last but not least. All domestic orders over $75 ($100 international) recieve free shipping! Just enter coupon code “freeshipping” during checkout.

Have a great Monday and the rest of the week!