Our beads all take a similar path arriving here to have photography made, get names, assign Product Codes and finally to you. We begin with the famous Effetre glass canes which are produced on the island of Murano in much the same fashion as hundreds of years ago. The Effetre factory is a secretive place…
We published this article a few years ago, but it is still valid. I was prompted to update it when a reader on our FaceBook Page commented on a picture of beads and saying “wow so expensive, i find these places …. i go to garage sales, and regular stores and can get some amazing glass beads…
Since the Colors of the Year were announced by Pantone, we’ve been trying to create some designs which feature our authentic Murano Glass Beads. And I was having a bit of difficulty with the colors. Then at a girl’s softball practice, there they were – and created by nature for all of us to see.…
One of our favorite Fusion laboratories is pretty much a one-man show. He is young, very precise and very energetic. Fusion is a lot like baking cookies. You cut the dough, you cook the dough and you decorate. Only it takes skill and patience, diamond saws, lost of dust and you best be careful. The…
One of our suppliers in Venice came up with a clever way to use the broken beads for the holiday season, which send me right out to collect a box of broken beads and get started. A quick trip to a craft store for the cone and some pins with colored balls on the end…
I have been a member of ISGB (International Society of Glass Beads) for about 15 years and GAS (Glass Art Society) equally as long. So I was a little taken back when I received a pamphlet at the GAS conference here in San Jose, CA (where I spent 3 days volunteering) called “How to Buy Glass…
This is a question we get often, especially from new beaders who have just been their first bead show. Are all Venetian Beads are annealed. She had heard that annealing makes the beads stronger. What is annealing? The word comes from the metallurgy and materials science where it has long been recognized it increases the metals ductility…
This is a question every new beader asks when they first encounter Venetian Beads. And then they ask, “What size wire should I use?” Venetian Beads, Murano Beads The most common size of holes of Murano Glass Beads is approximately 1mm. Approximate because they are most often made on 1mm diameter copper rods, which heats…
Calcedonia Murano Glass was developed in Murano during the mid fifteenth century. In the glossary of glass, written in Murano, Angelo Barovier is attributed with developing this polychrome glass in 1460. The secret of this glass was closely guarded and entirely lost when the Venetian Republic fell. It was once again rediscovered by Lorenza Radi…
‘A place for everything, and everything in its place.’ is the famous quote by Isabella Mary Beeton in her book of Household Management written in 1861. It’s a great philosophy, but with some 20,000 SKUs, it’s easier said than done. When we began importing Murano Glass Beads, we named them after the bead maker, their…