New Beads & Other News

I have new beads to show you this week at long last!

This first set is called "Andromeda"

and the second set is one of my favourites; "Lyme".

I plan to be producing beads a little more often than I have managed over the past few weeks, so keep checking my site and my gallery for new beads.

Despite the lack of beads, I have been busy making beads and jewellery for a very exciting fundraiser event in New York. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust are hosting an Elephant Gala Fundraiser at The Wild Horses of Sable Island Gallery, and I was asked to make two pieces for the charity auction. So I have made pieces for two special orphan elephants; Chaimu and Turkwel.

Now this is the exciting bit! Their guest speaker is Kristin Davis, of Sex and the City fame, and she is (hopefully) going to be wearing one of the pieces for the evening. Gulp! Kristin was involved in the rescue of Chaimu, a male baby ele when she was visiting Kenya. I'm hoping Kristin might like the Chaimu piece enough to place a bid! Well you never know ;)

I will post some piccies of the pieces I made once the auction details are in the public domain, which should be soon.

I was asked to send a copy of my Bumpy Beads logo for them to add to the event Sponsors page, which I duly sent. It is quite bizarre to see my little logo displayed against some big brands, particularly the iconic Vespa brand. I think I could get used to it though!

I was wandering around the website of Making Jewellery magazine yesterday evening when I stumbled across some pictures of my beads and jewellery. These particular pieces featured in a recent edition of the magazine, but I didn't know they were online too! My beads are the ones at the bottom of the page, on the left. I'm sharing the page with some of Laura Sparling's delicious cupcake beads.

The other thing I have to tell you is that I went all sequins and sparkles a couple of weeks ago and went to see the Strictly Tour at the NEC. (Gon on, click the link - you know how you love THAT music!) It was fab!

I am a massive fan of the show and was in my element with Len, Arlene, Craig and Bruno. Kelly Brook is stunningly gorgeous, and the dancing hobbits, Chris and Ola were cute! Ali and Brian were in love, Ricky Groves was funny, Natalie Cassidy did a brilliant quickstep and Austin Healey displayed a marvellous chest, which justified the ticket price all by itself ;) Mark Ramprakash won the trophy the evening I went. I haven't enjoyed a night out so much in ages.

I'm back at the NEC again tomorrow, but this time to visit the Spring Fair International. It should be fun!

Have a great weekend :)

Coming soon - Elephant Auctions

Well it is almost that time again when the auctions of the next pieces of jewellery for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust will go live. For those of you unaware of the inspiring and life-saving work of the DSWT, you can read all about them on their website.



Since the Trust was established in 1977 it has successfully hand-reared more than 100 orphan elephants. That's amazing!



There are many reasons why elephant babies need rescuing. In some cases their mothers have been victims of poachers. In others the babies have fallen down man-made wells. How heart-wrenching must it be for a mother to have to leave her baby behind, when despite all efforts she has been unable to rescue her baby.



The DSWT is amazing. It never turns away an orphan in need of help, even when it is bursting full to capacity. And it has certainly been stretched this year as so many elephants have fallen prey to the droughts in Kenya. Without their mums to take care of them the babies can only hope that they are spotted so that they can be taken under the wing of the Trust and welcomed into the nursery to meet their new family.



So this year more than any other, the DSWT needs support. I hope that the six pieces of jewellery I have made raise a record-breaking amount.

The auctions will be up and running shortly, so keep checking here or here to find out when they're live. I've sprinkled some teaser photos of the pieces throughout this blog. As always, each piece is dedicated to a particular elephant, and the elephant's name is engraved on a sterling silver tag.



You can also help to support the baby elephants by fostering one. I foster Makena, a beautiful, motherly female, who I have watched graduate from the nursery in Nairobi to "big school" at the Ithumba stockades. Makena was just 7 weeks old when she was rescued. She is now 4 and loves to take care of the younger ones. She is becoming quite the little matriarch.



I also foster Shimba, a little boy. He's quite an aloof character, and must be one of the few elephants with an aversion to mud baths!

To foster your own baby elephant, or even baby rhino, visit the DSWT's website.

All Washed Up

I absolutely love making organic bead sets, and I love this softly etched set in ivory and black, with trails of silver and a lovely swathe of antique clear. They really look as if they could have been washed up on the tide, so they are my All Washed Up beads. See what I did there?



Staying on the organic theme, here is a fab lentil in one of my favourite colours. The black has laced over the bead giving a deep veiny appearance.



I rarely encase my organic beads, but when I experimented with this bead I was really pleased with the result, so there may well be more of these appearing in future.



Tiger beads are such fun to make, and this is a really hefty-sized focal.



If you prefer more colour in your beads, I can do that too! Pink Lipstick...



and Raspberry and Peach Melba.



That's all for now!

Verdigris beads published in the US.

I was really excited to learn recently that Lynn Davy won first prize in the Semiprecious Stone Contest, and her winning entry is featured in the September/October issue of the popular american magazine, "Step by Step Beads".

Lynn created an absolutely stunning necklace, which she called "Treasures of Atlantis". You can read all about it here.

Lynn used amazonite, labradorite and pearls, and a beautiful fine silver focal bead along with some of beady clusters, and my verdigris lampwork beads. The silver focal is by Rebecca Crabtree. I own one of Becci's silver lentils myself, and so I can vouch for how beautiful they are.

"Treasure of Atlantis" is a really gorgeous necklace, and I am so pleased that my own beads were fortunate enough to play a supporting role in this winning piece!

The September/October edition of the magazine features not only Lynn's winning necklace, but also a project for a matching bracelet, also incorporating my beads. Lynn has made some clever beaded beads for the bracelet.

Finally, there is a project to make matching earrings, which can be downloaded from the magazine website, and Lynn has used my verdigris beads in these too.

This is the first time my beads have featured in an american publication, so it is a big milestone for me. There is something quite surreal about browing through a magazine and your own creations jumping off the page at you. Lynn's pieces with my beads feature throughout the entire magazine, and Lynn has been generous enough to mention me as the bead artist. My website even gets a mention too. Thank you Lynn!

If you would like your very own verdigris beads to recreate Lynn's "Treasures of Atlantis" set, I would be happy to make some especially for you. Just contact me with your requirements and I'll give you a very reasonable price.

The BIG (it's not) SUMMER SALE

So that's that then. Summer I mean. In a few short weeks we'll be putting the clock back and drawing the curtains at 6pm. Now I quite like the dark nights, but I know i'm in a minority.

So to cheer you up I've just launched THE BIG (it's not) SUMMER SALE!

ALL beads are reduced, so there are some great bargains. There are bead sets and focals, so please pop along and take a look.

Mr Site - thanks!

I was really surprised to learn today that Mr Site has included my website as one of their "sample sites". I have a vague recollection of being asked for some comments on Mr Site a few months ago, but then I'd forgotten all about it.

There is a lovely screenshot of my website and a link back to it. So it's fantastic free advertising. Thank you Mr Site!
This isn't a terribly good screen capture, but if you want to see if for yourself go to page 10 here.

I've had a brilliant week of sales, but there are still plenty of beads left to buy in my Etsy Shop.

These are two of my favourites;

Iced Cranberries - named by Nic of Murano Silver

Shades of Amber


Well that's all for now folks. Have a lovely weekend!

Beads on Etsy

For a number of reasons, none of which are interesting enough to blog about, I have decided that for the foreseeable future I shall be selling my beads on Etsy. You will recall that Etsy is THE online place to buy and sell handmade items.

From the buyer's perspective this will be much more straightforward, as the lack of a stock control system on my website has meant that on occasions the same bead has been sold twice or more, resulting in disappointed customers.

The slight down-side is that Etsy prices are displayed in US dollars rather than £ sterling, because it is an american site. Of course, if you're an american customer this is an up-side! For all other customers I recommend http://www.xe.com/, which is a reliable currency conversion site. Paypal will do the conversion for you automatically, so you shouldn't really notice any difference at all when you're shopping in the Bumpy Beads Etsy Shop.

The exchange rate is ever-fluctuating, but I shall keep a close watch on it to ensure that my customers are not disadvantaged by the $:£ rates.

Of course I will still keep my website up-to-date, and you will be able to access my Etsy shop directly from my website.

You can also find my items on Etsy by searching on "Heather Webb". That's me!

I am also a proud member of the Frit Happens Etsy Street Team. The team is made up of a fabulous group of people who sell their handmade lampworks beads/marbles/knobs(!), fused glass pieces, jewellery and a whole host of other items that I know you'll love.

We all tag our pieces "FHFTeam". So to find us, just enter "FHFTeam" into the search box at the top of the Etsy page.

If you're familiar with Etsy you'll probably be familiar with treasuries. A treasury is a gallery of handpicked items. Members feature their favourite items. Treasuries might be based on a theme. Look out for FHF Team Treasuries to see some of the brilliant items for sale. I've been featured on three treasuries this week, which has been great!

The bead pictures that litter this blog are beads currently available in my Etsy shop.

I'm loving stripy beads at the moment, and am very likely to be making more of those this weekend, so expect to see more in my shop next week.

Have a great weekend!

New Torch

Most beadmakers begin beadmaking on a Hot Head, which is a fairly basic single fuel torch. The design of the torch means it can be used on propane, without the need for a sparate oxygen supply. The only thing with this is that Hot Heads don't run as hot as dual fuel torches. My usual impatience meant that I opted for a dual fuel torch straightaway. These torches need a separate supply of oxygen, either tanked or supplied by an oxygen concentrator.

There are so many different torches available now, and I opted for a Minnow, made by Bethlehem Burners. It has been a fabulous torch for me, and has a narrow flame which is great for pinpoint heating. However, I tend to work fairly large, and for a while I've been wanting a torch with a slightly wider and bushier flame. After much deliberation, and I mean MUCH deliberation, I chose a Carlisle Mini CC burner.

I lit it for the first time today and it is superb. It runs hotter than my Minnow and the flame is bushier and wider, so it ticks all the boxes. I'd heard a couple of reports of the Carlisle needing two oxycoms, but I'm running it on one and it's absolutely perfect.

Even the marver that fits it is pretty special. I chose a Crowley Marver, and this fits with a ball joint, which means that the angle of the torch can be adjusted independently of the marver, and the angle of the marver can be adjusted independently of the torch. The torch uses a ball joint too, so the entire set up is extremely versatile.

Strangely, despite the flame being wider, I've found that this has actually helped my stringer control. The greater area of ambient heat around the flame means that the "sweet spot" is easy to find.

But the biggest difference is the fact that the propane and oxygen valves are on the opposite side of the torch compared to the Minnow. Argh! I have to re-learn my POOP routine all over again! For those of you who are scratching your heads wondering what on earth a POOP routine is, it's the order the propane and oxygen are turned on/off when lighting/extinguishing the torch.

So the beads that I have to show you are the very last beads that I made on my Minnow. Enjoy!

I made focals.....

and I made sets....

Hope you like!

Elephant Auctions - now with Rhino's!

The third round of auctions of my jewellery in aid of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is now live!

As always, each piece is dedicated to one of the orphans, and this time we have included two of the rhino's.

So the line up is Zurura, Sinya, Mawenzi, Madiba, Lualeni, Kibo and finally little Maxwell and Maalim.

The pieces have a silver tag with the name of the orphan engraved on it, and they're off to a flying start on Ebay. You can find the auctions here.

In addition, there are two bonus pieces. One of these is the lovely Clunk Click keyring, made by Lynn Davy that featured in February's "Beads & Beyond" and kindly donated by Lynn.

The other is my Silver Caps Necklace that featured in the January issue of "Bead".

As always, the entire amount raised will go to the DSWT.

Happy bidding!

New Glass Storage!

One of the biggest headaches that most lampworkers face is how to store glass rods. If I had a larger entrepreneurial streak and bigger pockets I would definitely be exploiting the enormous gap in the market that exists for purpose-built glass rod storage. As my pockets are shallow and there are already too few hours in the day, I'll have to let this opportunity pass me by! It's this "I really cannot be bothered" attitude that comes between me and making my first million time and time again. Ah well, I'd rather be poor and making beads than rich and selling Bespoke Glass Storage Modules.

Unsurprisingly, creative people have developed a variety of ways of storing their glass rods. Favourite methods include cardboard postal tubes, drainpipes, vases and vegetable racks. I myself have up until now been using a rather nifty Plastic Guttering/Wine Rack Combo, which has served me pretty well. However, every beadmaker knows that beadmaking is not just about the beads. Oh noooooo... most of us eventually add a second hobby to our repertoire: Glass Collector.

When I began lampworking just over two years ago I set myself up with an Effetre Studio Pack of some 49 colours. I was able to justify this fairly substantial investment, because in actual fact I wouldn't need to buy any more glass for years. Err... hello?? Why did no-one warn me that "needing" new glass and "buying" new glass are activities that are in no way related to each other?!

I discovered Vetrofond, with all their fabulous odd-lot colours. Frog Pond. Wasabi. Painted Desert. Delicious!

Then I discovered Lauscha clear; the very best crystal clear glass there is, in my opinion.

Then I found CiM colours, whose rods have a lovely sheen.

Soon after I was smitten by the ASK range, and am still eeking out some of my favourite colours now that the glass is no longer produced.

Double Helix silver glasses now have me in their thrall, closely followed by TAG and Northstar.

I'm itching to try the Reichenbach colour palette too.

Now I'm no mathemetician, but even I can hazard a guess that with the amount of glass I own I shouldn't actually "need" to buy more until 2038. For the avoidance of doubt that's the year two thousand and thirty eight. However, I may as well come clean and tell you that if I last until 20:38 tonight I'll have achieved something. Yes, I am obsessed. Completely and utterly.


So, my glass collection is growing, and the wine rack no longer cuts the mustard. What to do? Clearly ceasing to buy more glass is not an option. In fact I get the shivers just thinking about it. The only answer is to build more storage. Bigger, better storage! Yes, this is what I need. Bigger and better, with room for expansion. Embrace the obsession!

This time I have gone for the Quality Downpipe Model, and because I know my fellow beadmakers are as occupied with storing their Glass Collection as I was, I thought I would share how it was built. As a picture paints a thousand words, here it is step-by-step, in pictures.


First I had to acquire 80 metres of 6.5cm square downpipe. Yes, that's not a typo. Eighty metres! As luck would have it one of my neighbours has a plastic extruding company, and was able to supply me with exactly what I needed, and even cut it to 40cm lengths. Thanks Dave!

Next, it all had to be unpacked, and cleaned of all the swarfy bits. Then the protective plastic covering had to be peeled off. It took ages, but sitting in the sunshine to do it made it more bearable.




I decided to build four separate modules, each made up of seven compartments by seven compartments. At this point I went all girly, and couldn't fathom how to get it all squared up. My tactic worked perfectly, and my hubby became so exasperated with my feeble efforts that he decided it was men's work. I watched, from underneath my parasol on the patio. It was tiring watching all this activity!


The pipes were glued together with silicone glue, and then checked to ensure they were neatly aligned with a set square and spirit level. I'd have just checked they looked about right, so it's probably for the best that I wasn't left in charge of such an important task.



More layers, and more spirit levelling.


And here is the first one, all finished, except for the heavy card that was glued to the back to stop the rods slipping out of the back.

Two days of drying later, and today I've finally been able to move my glass to its Luxury Accommodation. I have 196 compartments, and it's about three quarters full. I've agonised over the order I should store it in, but have opted for the "approximate rainbow" scheme. Today has been a voyage of discovery as I've found colours that were long-buried and that I had completely forgotten I owned!

I keep popping into my studio to have another look. This new storage system has made my glass so much more accessible and consequently so much more easily strokable, and this can only be a good thing!

This is the bit where the credits roll up the screen, so I should like to thank "Silicone Dave from Over the Road" for providing the materials, and my lovely hubby for transforming it from 80 metres of 6.5cm downpipe into the Luxury Glass Accommodation that it is now!