Addicted to Beads by Amy

Glass beadmaking has pretty much overtaken the other crafting in my life. There just isn't room for anything else, between school, my day job, and the rest of life in general. What I really love about working with hot glass is how much it calms my busy mind. I can spend hours staring into that flame, slowly working the glass, and the worries of the day just melt away. It is a quiet and solitary hobby, and the pace is slow. My pace is never slow outside of my studio... which I think is why it really helps me to unwind.

I have enjoyed making jewelry and beaded items for as long as I can remember. It started with seed beads, because they were cheap, easy to come by, and they managed to occupy hours of my time. I quickly developed an addiction to beads in general. I always found creating things was a great way to keep my hands busy and that helped me to combat stress.

I had seen lampwork beads in the bead stores, and always wanted to learn to make them. One year, my mom got me a beginner's beadmaking workshop at a local glass studio for a Christmas present (actually, we took the class together - although she got into glass fusing and gave up on beadmaking pretty quick). I was completely hooked from the day of that class onwards. When I got to the class, I realized I had no actual idea how the beads I had admired were made... but I learned pretty fast! I came home at the end of that long day with a handful of treasures and I could not stop talking about what I had learned. It turns out, you can take rods of glass, heat the ends up until they melt to a consistency similar to honey... and then shape them around metal sticks to create the most amazingly beautiful beads.

I make glass beads which I sell at local craft fairs, as well as online, mostly on eBay and Etsy. I have jewelry featuring my glass beads in a few local stores, although I make far more beads than I do finished pieces (usually, I sell the beads to other jewelry makers). I have been making beads for about 3 1/2 years now - I took that first class at the beginning of 2006.

Glass seems to have a neverending potential to captivate my interest, because there is always more to learn, and new things to try. It is a mysterious medium and I don't think I will ever be able to completely control the results - and that is probably what I like best about it.

My name is Amy Houston and I'm a glass bead-maker from Victoria, BC.

Comments

[Melissa]

Hi Amy!
What a wonderful post! I love reading about your story and passion for your art. Your beads are magical.
:) Melissa

[cheryl @ mandala oasis]

Amy,
I am totally enthralled and inspired by your passion for glass bead-making! I LOVE glass beads, they're my first love. Perhaps oneday I'll add that to my many creative passions, but for now I'll live vicariously through you. Thank you for sharing your joy for this. You create amazing beads!

[Nurse Barb]

Amy, my 13 year old son loves making glass beads. He learned about it in a Jewelry class in middle school. I'm amazed at your talent! I love what you're doing. Barb