Shards, Forget-me-nots and ceramic tile!

Well, I've been seeing lots of "shard" beads online and have been wanting to try them for myself. This is my first attempt.

I actually tried one before and the shards I used were very, very thin. They melted into little blobs and just looked like mistakes on the bead that I put them on.

This time, I used the thickest of the shards I had blown, but I believe I now know how they should be applied - it takes a lot of heat control.

So, this was my first attempt... next one I show will be better.

On the other hand, Molly, my neice, loved the bead and had a very specific way she thought it should be used in an art nouveau style necklace and I may just try it.

She (Molly) was torching yesterday while we were making and wrapping soap and after she and Tina went home, I sat down at the torch myself and made the bead above and also, this set.

The base of the beads is Lauscha cocoa, the vines are avocado and the "Forget-me-nots" are pajama blue.

I haven't made a set like this one for some time. When I first started making pressed beads, the florals were all I wanted to do. This one was almost relaxing to make - a comfort set, if you will.

Another ongoing project around here is the remaking of our basement. This summer, when we did some other work on the house, we added a nice, private, outside entrance to the basement and will be making it private from the rest of the house with a door inside.

Our son had taken it over for years and just recently, we moved all his stuff over to the unfinished side so that we could convert the finished side into something like an apartment.

We enlarged the powder room to a full bath and are going to basically use a large set of bookcases as a room divider to make the large room into a livingroom/bedroom. The old paneling has come down and drywall has gone up and we've finished painting it.

My husband and I have always wanted to try our hand at laying ceramic tile - don't ask me why, but we have. This was our chance.

The picture shows the view from the bathroom door. The picture is pretty washed out so you won't see the seams very well. We have laid most of the tile and next week will finish it off and grout it. It's been fun and looks pretty darn good for a couple of amateurs!