Feeding My Bead Need

Awww, one of my favorite pieces sold last week, one of the Roman glass with lamp work beads. I like these and I'm glad they're selling. 

I have a couple others along this line listed in the Etsy shop, and I still have a small stash left over from my Roman glass buying frenzy a few months ago. This is the third or fourth piece I've moved in the last month or two, so I should probably bring more of it out. 

I'm not sure why I became so obsessed with old glass a few months ago, but when I was snapping up all the Roman glass could lay my hands on recently, I came across this exquisite little collection being offered by a lady in Ukraine. 

You can still see some of the precious metals between the layers of ancient glass. 

These beads are excavated intact from archeological sites in Rome and elsewhere. They're estimated to have been made some 2,000 years ago. It's difficult to capture the natural iridescence and color shift of these beads, but here's my attempt: 

Other inclusions in this set include aquamarine, amber quartz, Peruvian opal, mother-of-pearl, and other gemstones. 

I'm liking the look of the tiny little aquamarine with the very old and weathered glass. I'll probably do one more strand in this design and color scheme (since I have another half-strand of the aqua and mother-of-pearl left) and get them listed tomorrow. 

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I'm also happy to say I made it to bead class last week, and managed to make a few beads without burning the place down. I'm loving this class, I feel like I've found my tribe. Below are my first attempts at lamp work: 

The gal sitting next to me was making figurines, little ducks & stuff. I'm very proud of these lumpy orange and blue balls I made. 

I'm also taking wire wrap. I'm not particularly into wire wrap, but when you work in jewelry, wire skill come in handy. Here's a hideous pendant I made from the fragment of a shattered bowling ball that I'm telling people once belonged to Fred Flintstone.