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Nov 09

I am excited to announce two new tutorials we just released!

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 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 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

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Aug 22

Everyones flower gardens should be well into their full bloom. I know ours is certainly alive and bursting with color. With our new blown glass bud vases you can bring some of that color and wonderful smells indoors while displaying them in something just as eye catching and beautiful as your flowers.

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

20110822-125358.jpg20110822-125513.jpg

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Jul 23

New Shard Color

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

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!

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Mar 16

Starting now through March 25th we are having a sale!

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.

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Feb 23

If you’ve been following along on our Facebook fan page you probably know what we’ve been up to. If you don’t know, well now you will.

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.

Fused and Lampwork Pendant StockPick 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

After Firing

After the first firing this is how the pieces came out. I love how all the shards mottled a bit, the way the black stringers set off the shard colors and just the over all look. When I pulled these out of the kiln I was pleasantly surprised by what came out. Obviously the first thought that came to my mind was “I definitely need to make some plates like this!” but lets stay on track here.


Step Two

Pendants all cut out.

Pendants all cut out.

Now we get to cut up the pendant sheet stock into all sorts of fun shapes and sizes. At this point you could either use a tile saw to cut the pieces out or if you only use one layer of sheet glass for the base like I do, you can still score it and snap it. If the sheet is too thick though the scoring method won’t work and you’ll have to use one of those deafening tile saws! Plus the scoring method leaves a much cleaner edge.

Step Three

Drilled Pendants

Drilled Pendants

Drilling Holes

Drilling Holes

We’re almost there! Now that we have our pendant shapes it’s time to give them some holes. For this I used a heavy duty drill press with a 9mm diamond core drill bit. I wanted the holes to be pretty big so people could either add a jump ring or loop fat ribbons or cord through them. To make sure the drill bit went through the glass like butter I cut them under water. Worked perfectly! It’s also a great idea to wear hand protection when drilling. If the drill bit catches and starts spinning the pendant around, you don’t want your bare finger there.

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

The finished product

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Feb 14

heartcluster
It’s that time of year again. Time to spread the love! Whether you celebrate Valentines Day or not we would still like to show you some love.

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!

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Nov 15

We have added another color to our growing silvered stringer collection. This one is by far my new favorite! I have been using this new silvered stringer in pretty much everything that I have been making lately. It is great!

Silvered Yellow StringersI introduce you to our brand new 104coe silvered yellow stringers. This is a very reactive color and you are going to love it just as much as I do. These silvered stringers will change and exhibit different colors depending on the base glasses you use it with.

Here are just some of the things that I have been creating with these awesome new silvered stringers.

These new stringers are now up on the website and available for your lampworking enjoyment. So come on over and try a bundle or two, you may just get addicted like myself ;)

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Oct 16

Here’s an item that is very versatile. Check out our new unique handmade lampwork glass cabochons. What are they?

A cabochon, or “cab”, is a flat-backed piece that is void of any holes or channels. Cabochons can be used within many different mediums and techniques to create a beautiful finished piece. You can glue on a bail, bezel set, wire wrap, use them in a PMC creation, or even peyote stitch around the cab. Even further, cabochons can be used in mosaics and stained glass panels. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and ability.

Cabochons

Cabochons

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Oct 03

Now available in our store!

Unique sterling silver pendants that allow you to wear your favorite marble as jewelry. Each pendant is an interchangeable marble keeper. Simply snap your favorite marble of the day in and you’re ready to go! Want to change it? Just pull the marble out and put a different one in to match your mood or attire. How cool is that! With the Holidays quickly approaching, these would make a really great gift.

The pendants come in both plain and twisted style. More sizes and styles coming soon.


Plain Marble Keeper Twisted Marble Keeper
Plain Marble Keeper Twisted Marble Keeper

Don’t forget to check out the unique marbles we have available made specially for these awesome new Marble Keepers. Check back often as new marbles are added on a daily basis.

Click here to go directly to the marble section.

Marbles

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Sep 13

An excerpt from our latest live lampworking broadcast showing how I make blown vessels. This one is more of an experiment of making them without the glass handles and adding wire handles once annealed. Finished piece is pictured blow video.

Blowing A Lampwork Vessel

Watch live video from Playing with fire! on Justin.tv

Here is the vessel with the wire handles added. Going to be playing around with this more in the future. What do you think?
http://www.etsy.com/listing/56106289/mottled-vessel-lampwork-blown-glass
Blown Lampwork Vessel

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