Well a few years ago we quit doing shows. The travel, shipping 800-1200 pounds of beads to far away places and night flights had lost their appeal. But this weekend, we did our first show. It was very close, only 2 miles from our shop. If we had a lot of time to think about it,…
This August marks 23 years that we have been working in Murano and Venice with our wonderful bead makers. It started as a hobby, well not even that, friends wanted the beautiful necklaces that I had bought in Murano. Little did I know that loading my bags with goodies for friends would lead 1)a change…
What goes into making a millefiori bead? What are they always different? What makes them smooth? and other questions you’ve always wanted to know about millefiori! First the canes must be made. And since there are many different opaque millefiori slices of canes used in this particular millefiori bead, well there are about 120 opaque canes that…
Our beads are handmade and well, sometimes there are shards of glass left when the mandrels are etched out. I know many people think the holes are “drilled” but that would be so time consuming, hazardous to the health and we would break a ton of beads along the way. Rather, most of our beads…
Ever so often a customer’s question reminds us that while we are familiar with our beads, and what appears to us to be obvious is definitely NOT, especially to new beaders! We learn from all your questions. And a picture is always a good idea. So, here are a couple of tips on using our authentic Murano…
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…
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…