Recently we got a question from a customer who asked if all our 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 and makes it more workable to heat…
A New Treasure For Lampwork
People often ask us how we find new suppliers. When we began in 1993, we thought we were really preparing for this new career. We took a class in importing from a local junior college. Now we could write the book “What they don’t tell you about importing”. We contacted the Italian representatives in the…
From Canes to Beads – Just Add Heat!
In this world of copycats, we are often afraid to post too much data on how our beads are made. Even in Venice, the moment a new bead appears in the windows of the stores in San Marco Square, everyone begins speculating on how they were made and tries to copy. For our blown beads, it’s…
Carnevale 2013
Jan 30, 2013: Venice is buzzing with preparations for the end of Carnival. It began officially on the 26th of January 2013 and ends on the 12th of February 2013. The Grand Theater has been build in Piazza San Marco, the “Marie” (like the beauty queen) has been chosen, the “best costumes” have been judged…
Snow & High Water
The Snow was a present for me as I absolutely love this magnificant city under a white blanket of snow. It began early in the day and continued until late afternoon. At first it was not sticking and we were trying to make pictures of the flakes, afraid it would not stay. Enjoy these and we’ll post…
New Faceted Twists
We previewed these faceted Murano glass twist beads in a post on Facebook a few months back and they have finally arrived! Available in both multi-colored with 24kt gold foil accents as well as in single, transparent colors. The approximate size is 21.5mm across and 7mm thick. Google
New Venetian Colors & Shapes
It sounds terribly romantic to travel to Venice and mostly like in your vision (and wishfully, in mine) have a glass of Veneto wine while we gaze at an array of dazzling Venetian Beads. Reality Check! The new beads you see arriving at Venetian Bead Shop don’t have that romantic origin. For us, it begins…
Love Locks – Venice
It’s official name is the Ponte dell’Accademia and in addition to being one of the most photographed bridges, it is also a very useful crossing along the Grand Canal. It connects Dorosoduro Sestiere to San Marco Sestiere and makes a great shortcut into the historic center. The yellow building in the background is the Palazzo…
Making Beads
Handmade beads are different, each one. You wonder why? So let me explain. Each bead starts as a rod, cane, of glass which is roughly 10mm in diameter. Now I know that American “lampworkers” use a smaller cane. In production beads, we simply don’t do this. So here is your cane of glass, add in some…
Chihuly Glass Inspiration
When we are in need of inspiration for new bead designs or new jewelry, there are lots of places we turn. Of course, we use the Pantone colors and pour over the latest fashion magazines. But there are other great sources of inspiration that we fine in museums, gardens and in the works of one of…