Being a huge fan of glass I went to a Chihuly exhibition at VMFA in Richmond, VA today. What a beautiful collection of amazing glass sculptures! Glass is very rewarding as it offers enormous possibilities as far as colors and shapes are concerned. Dale Chihuly glass sculptures are great illustrations of what an artist can make out of common silica or sand.
Fiori
Persian Ceiling
Fiori
Persian Ceiling
Handmade lampwork always fascinated me! There are amazing artists out there who turn glass into art beads of different shapes, colors and sizes. I can easily imagine people collecting glass beads as some of them are as beautiful as gem stones. I've recently came across lampwork of glass artist Katerina Koroleva of MayaHoney. She works in her own studio creating totally amazing glass beads. Katerina was kind enough to share her aspirations and inspirations.
My name is Katerina and I'm a Russian artisan currently living with my family in Slovakia (EU). I started lampworking in 2008 after my daughter was born. I'm now a proud member of American organizations: Self Representing Artists in lampwork and Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design.
I create glass beads out of my studio in Slovakia which is a beautiful country located right in the middle of Europe. Slovakia is known for its manufacturing traditions. It's a close neighbor of Czech Republic famous for its glass beads and traditions of glass making. Bohemian crystal glass of Bohemia region is known all over the world.
I always dreamed about living in a small town or a village surrounded by nature. My dream has finally come true a few years ago. The place we live in right now is a huge source of inspiration for me. We live next to the most beautiful lake Slnava that looks and smells like the sea. Our house is surrounded by woods with plenty of squirrels, hairs, foxes and even bears. So I just try to replicate in my organic beads all designs nature displays to me every day.
I just adore the sea and you can track sea-ocean theme in my lampwork beads. I make a lot of shells, starfishes etc. I just love to make my customers happy. When I think of how many people own my jewelry and beads - oh, it's a really good feeling, trust me!
When I first saw colorful earring and pendants by Alery I instantly fell in love! Bright summer colors of Alery earrings radiate positive energy and make me think about ocean vacation, exotic flowers and refreshing cocktails at a beach.
I was curious about the technique and materials these bright pieces are made from. Thus, I simply had to talk to Avery and share what I’ve learned.
Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Valery and I was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s a beautiful city with rich history and beautiful ancient churches. A few years ago my husband, our two children and I moved to California where we now live in a small city not far from San Francisco. I work in IT but in my spare time I turn into a jeweler.
How did you start?
I’ve always been into crafting and art. Over years I’ve tried different crafts, techniques and fibers. Finally jewelry making became my main passion. I started about six years ago with incorporating precious stones and beads into my jewelry. Later I moved to wire wrapping techniques and metal. Nowadays I mostly work with hot enamel. I love to experiment and to incorporate completely different techniques into my creative process.
What are your main sources of inspiration?
On one hand I’m inspired by the diversity and sophistication of nature. One can indefinitely contemplate intricate creations of nature finding something new and surprising every time.
On the other hand man made objects can be as beautiful. Apart from nature architecture and art serve as great sources of inspiration. The simplicity and elegance of minimalism where every shape and every line have a well defined meaning and purpose prompt me to create simple yet bright and colorful jewelry items.
Could you tell us about the technique you use in jewelry making?
The technique I use is called enameling. A metal surface is covered with a finely grounded glass powder. The surface is then heated to about 1450F so that the powder melts and fuses together. One can use either kiln of hand torch to heat the powder.
It usually takes a few melting iterations for a jewelry piece to be ready. With each iteration a jeweler can change the color of the glass powder, its quantity and transparency. As a result most of the pieces turn out to be one of a kind and completely unique as it’s simply impossible to replicate them.
The process of enameling offers a jeweler a lot of freedom for creativity and experimentation. The results are sometimes very surprising and unpredictable. I totally love it!
I went shopping the other day and bought a string of beautiful clear glass beads. Beads were so shiny and perfectly cut that I couldn't stop myself. Since I ended up buying these beads I had to create something out of them. It didn't take long to come up with a design of a summer bracelet.
Beads are of medium size. They are beautifully cut and sun light just shines through them. I wire wrapped glass beads adding some small dark gray ones to accent the color. The combination of clear glass and dark dots looks very stylish.
The bracelet I eventually created is simple yet elegant. It locks easily on one's hand and its size could be adjusted. The neutral color will go well with any summer dress or business casual outfit. The bracelet is of that clear color that will look perfect on a bride's hand. The combination of a beautiful white dress and transparent, pure beads should work very well! 
Hand crafting is a great way to relieve stress and to spend some time creating unique and beautiful art pieces. The result usually looks amazing and all the relatives and friends end up catching the same crafting bug. Be it crocheting, felting, beading or yarn hand spunning it will all make you happy and feel a real artists and craftsman.
We all have spare supplies of buttons, glass and plastic beads, yarn and threads in our homes. They are stuck somewhere in the basement or deep inside our closets.
I encourage you to go and find them! You will be amazed by all the treasures you find in your house!
When I was small I loved to sort my mom's buttons she inherited from her granny. They were so shiny and colorful, of different shapes and sizes! I loved the glass buttons the most. In the sun the light would go through them and make everything around shine! Look for a few glass beads and buttons in your house! You might find some vintage pieces that are priceless!
After you dig out all the treasures it's time to start crafting. Every person is different. Some like the feel and touch of yarn and fiber and, thus, enjoy knitting, crocheting and yarn spinning. Some like vivid and bright colors of beads and are eager to spend hours beading and wire wrapping. It's actually fun to try everything possible craft and technique as you never know what you fall in love with at the end.
The result of hand crafting will always be unique and rewarding. It's such a joy to end up with a beautiful necklace or a cool hand knitted scarf.
I beg you not to waste your spare time at home! An hour or two of crocheting and beading will make you feel better! I promise!:)
I was myself inspired by an example of Ira Rott who has recently made her first hand spun yarn. It's an exciting process you should definitely try! It’s next on my personal list of home crafting techniques.
It's so cool Etsy admins picked my Urban Living treasury to be featured on Etsy front page! It's actually my third Etsy front page treasury and it's all about urban living this time. Things we like and colors we pick living in very busy, efficient and somewhat gloomy city environments. 
My fellow Etsy artists I featured in the treasury include: JuliaFelt, BlueberryCream, Manonknits, SweetNumber, yevgenia, herbolution, KAPARA, CityCrochet, Aroundbeads, kpersonboutique, NeroliHandmade, sabinesydney, poaplumbagsjewelry
We have a small back yard and grow some herbs and grapes there. It's a perfect place to spend a weekend afternoon with friends and family and to take pictures of my jewelry. I handmade these earrings of beautiful Czech antique glass in shades of green, emerald, milk and silver plated wire. An elongated kidney ear wires add elegance and style to these unique and vivid earrings.
Grapes in my backyard serve as an excellent background and match my grapes earrings in form and color! It's a perfect summer match!:) 
I like sunny bright colors and items! Golden, amber, yellow and orange are my favorites at the moment! I created these earrings of high quality amber colored Czech glass and silver plated wire. Large beads look like candy that shines and glistens in the sun making earrings very pretty. Their simple and minimalist design will go well with bright and vivid summer dresses and will add color to any business casual outfit.
I created this minimalist and elegant fish shape earrings of beautiful blue aquamarine glass cubes. These Czech beads are made of high quality glass and shine and sparkle under the sun. Earrings are very easy to put on and take off. They will match almost any summer dress and will add style and color to business outfits as well.
I like to work with wire. It's so nice to be able to twist and bend it the way you want. When I add bright and shiny glass beads and stones to my twisted creations they turn into either blue zigzag, red fish or red apple earrings! It's amazing how much room for creativity a simple wire can offer! 
I like to work with wire as it gives a lot of room for creativity. One can bend and twist a silver plated wire to give it the shape and form one is looking for. When I combine my twisted wire with transparent Czech glass beads jewelry pieces get even fancier! 
I like simple and elegant urban style living. Men and women wear minimalist yet well designed and crafted outfits. City dwellers are always in a hurry and they like easy and practical items that could be easily put on and taken care of. I created my city style hand felted necklace out of glass and wool. It's actually such a pleasure to create these wool beads using nothing but water and soap. The felting techniques are very eco-friendly. As a result the beads appear virtually from nowhere. That's probably how our ancestors created their durable and practical outfits and jewelry many thousand years ago!
