Did you know that glass blowing started in the middle east around 2000 years ago? Are you curious about the history of Millefiori? In this article, you’ll learn what exactly millefiori is and the history of it. Read on to discover its colorful and long history. What Does Millefiori Mean? Millefiori is a word in Italian…
Tag: Venice
Carnevale Ends with the Flight of the Leone
For those of you who follow VenetianBeadShop, you know that we are in Venice “working” and enjoying Carnevale. The weather has been beautiful, warmer than usual. Today is the closing and it ends with the flight of the Leone. When I first went to Carnevale, I thought someone dressed as a lion would slideup the…
Celebrating 25 Years @VenetianBeadShop
Taking a walk down memory lane, 25 years ago in August we made our first buying trip to Venice. Now why our Italian son-in-law never thought to tell us that Italy is “Closed” in August is still a mystery. We arrived with our little indexed list of glass blowers, indexed by location and type of…
Celebrating 25 Years @VenetianBeadShop
La Fenice furnace on Murano whose owner GianFranco Albertini taught me the ins and outs of Murano GlassTaking a walk down memory lane, 25 years ago in August we made our first buying trip to Venice. Now why our Italian son-in-law never thought to tell us that Italy is “Closed” in August is still a…
Redentore 2017
Redentore 2017 Venice Celebrating the End of the Plague by blogvenice • July 24, 2017 • 0 Comments The end of the plague is always a cause for celebration, even if it ended in 1576. And fortunately, for all of us, the Doge Alvise Mocenigo kept his promise and built the magnificent Church of the Redeemer aka Il Redentore which…
Glass Conference in Murano and Fashion Show
The island of Murano was host to the GAS (Glass Art Society) with world wide participation. Everyone who works with glass paid tribute to the heritage of Murano. This week it was evident and the pure joy and excitement of the students of glass as they wandered around the island was abundantly obvious. While I…
Murano Glass Bead Hole Sizes
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…
23 Years and Counting – Happy Anniversary to Us!
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…
Making a Boro Tube Necklace
These are very popular in Venice, and combining both traditional Murano Glass beads for the center piece and Borosilicate Glass, commonly called “boro” for the curved tubes. The tubes are curved working in the flame. Here are some suggestions for center beads. You will need a bead that is at least 20mm to command the center, or…
Let’s Make a Round Venetian Bead
The round bead is the first one you learn how to make. And most of our other shapes take off from the humble round bead. So it is the building block and our most popular bead shape. We buy and sell many thousands of round Gold Foil beads each year. First you’ll need a torch,…