Materials I Use

Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure. Most Bali silver is sterling. Bali silver styles are also produced in India and Turkey.

Thai Hill Tribe Silver is 95-99% and entirely handmade by the Karen people. This craft is passed down through generations with each village having its own patterns and styles.

Lampwork Beads are formed by melting narrow rods of glass with the flame of a torch. The molten glass is wound around a mandrel, a thin length of stainless steel. The space occupied by the mandrel becomes the hole through the bead. Turning the mandrel and holding it in different positions allows gravity to help the bead take form, but tools are also used to push and pull it into shape. Unless specified, most lampwork beads are made with �soft� glass.

Borosilicate Glass (Pyrex) is heated to much higher temperatures and is more expensive. It can be wound on a mandrel or blown.

Cane Glass and Furnace Glass are types of lampworked glass. The beads I use are made exclusively in the US by well-known glass artists.

Dichroic Glass has a multi layer coating is placed on glass with up to 30 layers of crystals and metal oxides. It is unique in that it has a transmitted color and a completely different reflective color. When heated in a kiln in the process of fusing, the colors become brilliant and luminous. You can get more information on the process here: http://www.inspirationfarm.com/GG/articles/article9.html

Austrian Crystals are made by Swarovski but because of their trademark registration, the name may only be used for jewelry designed and manufactured by them. Most of the crystals I use come from Austria and the Czech Republic.

Freshwater Pearls come from China and fascinate me with their colors and variations. You can learn more about them at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearls

Gemstones. To learn more about the fascinating semiprecious gemstones I use, this commercial site provides easy to understand information. http://www.thaigem.com/shop/select_type.asp