3 Free Glass Bead-Making Projects

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I just had one of the most exciting, fascinating experiences of my life: I learned how to make lampwork glass beads. I spent the day with a lampwork bead maker/artist in her studio making a handful of beads and I’ll never be the same! You can learn all about glass-bead making, too, in our FREE eBook, 3 FREE Glass-Bead Making Projects Plus Bonus Checklist: Lampwork Tools and Supplies.

Ignite the jewelry artist within by learning step-by-step how to make glass beads with bars of color, lampwork tools and your unique sense of design! You’ll then turn your glass-bead making projects into personalized lampwork beads.

Discover how to make glass beads that mimic the juicy, plump look of your favorite fruit with Cindy Martin’s “Grapes of Glass.” Or make your jewelry come alive with the colors of spring, with a birdhouse lampworked bead, complete with vines and vibrantly colored accents. Have you ever wondered how to get designs inside a bead? Follow along with Lauri Copeland for a step-by-step demonstration on lampworking flower designs into beading.

Lampworking History

The centuries-old technique of lampworking was originally known as flameworking, because glass bead makers would melt their glass rods in the flame of a lamp. The art of making these glass beads is now more commonly known as lampworking. Today, the lampworking or flameworking process still involves heating long skinny bars of colored glass in a flame–though nowadays glass beads are formed with the aid of a variety of lampworking tools in the flame of a small torch–and then sculpting and “painting” designs on a glass bead-making mandrel using glowing molten glass as your “paint.”

So beware: You’re about to be captivated by an addictive jewelry-making technique! If you have some glass bead-making experience (or someone who can teach you the basics, like I did), download our free lampwork glass eBook to learn how to make three unique kinds of lampwork glass beads. Soon you’ll be hooked on the ancient art of making glass beads, just like I am. And there’s more: The free glass bead-making eBook comes with a bonus lampwork tools and supplies checklist, so you can know what every lampworking studio needs to make glass beads.

Each of these three fun lampwork glass bead projects demonstrates different types of lampwork beads you can make by clever and skillful placement of dots and lines from glass stringers. After you’ve made these three glass beads, your imagination will run wild with other glass-bead ideas and designs to be achieved with dots and stringers. And then there are the lampwork jewelry ideas.

Glass-Bead Making Projects You’ll Find:

Make Your Own Flamework Beads

By Cindy Martin
Capturing the essence and luster of your favorite fruit is easier than you think. Cindy created her signature grape design after being inspired by some of her close friends. There are endless possibilities with shape, color, and even variety of fruit with these lampwork beads. Begin the process of growing grapes from glass by pulling stringers, a technique which will become easier and easier with practice (and some expert advice). Then create the glass base for your bead and begin adding the color and design. Be mindful of your flamework and treat your unfinished bead with care, and you are sure to find lampworking success with Cindy’s jewelry making technique.

How to Make a Glass Bead

By Donna Johnson
What could make a cold, dreary day feel more like spring? A lampwork bead that comes alive with the colors and sights of the season! You start these lampwork glass beads by carefully pulling stringers, then move on to create the house, roof, and realistic details. Donna also shares her tips for flameworking, from the right combination of oxygen and control for stringers, to adding embellishments and other lampworking techniques. These can be worked into any shape you can imagine, just spread your wings and fly!

Make Glass Flower Beads

By Lauri Copeland
A medley of lampwork flowers can bring a little color to a dreary day. Lampwork glass beads continue to be one of the most admired and requested styles of glass beads from artist Lauri Copeland. Making glass beads with flowers within is as simple as encasing the lampwork beads in clear glass to give the flowers more depth. Create a bouquet of flowers to last a lifetime and learn how to make glass beads today when you download your free eBook!

Bonus: Lampwork Tools & Supplies

A Bead Maker’s Workshop by Michelle Waldren
There is a common belief in the world of beads and lampwork jewelry making that you can never have too many tools. However, for bead makers having the right tools is even more important, especially when it comes to making glass beads. Michelle admits she started with the wrong tools, but as she found herself creating more and more, she began to learn what fit her lampworking needs best. Her checklist includes a breakdown of what you will need to get started creating lampwork beads.

Now is your chance to learn how to make glass beads and get started making lampwork jewelry. With step by step flameworking instructions, this free eBook on how to make glass beads will help you develop and expand your lampworking skills.

The four expert lampwork bead makers featured in this eBook, 3 FREE Glass-Bead Making Projects Plus Bonus Checklist: Lampwork Tools and Supplies, share their secrets for how to make glass beads with as little frustration, and as much success as possible. Each project includes detailed instructions to help beginners and experts alike create; including techniques for pulling stringers, controlling your flamework, properly creating embellishments on a glass bead, and more.

So unleash your creativity with another jewelry-making technique and fall in love with lampwork glass bead making. Imagine the custom lampwork jewelry you can make (and how much more fun it will be) if you’ve made the glass beads in your glass bead jewelry designs yourself! Download your copy of 3 Free Glass Bead Making Projects plus Bonus Checklist: Lampwork Tools & Supplies now!