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Seaweed Forest

27.00

This design reminds me of the colors, bubbles and textures of the bull kelp underwater forests of Sligo.

All sea bead necklaces are fully adjustable (just slide the knots on each end) and can also be worn as bracelets (wrap twice around your wrist). Each necklace is unique, hand made with love, and totally collectable!

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Description

I make every part of my glass sea bead necklaces myself. I start with a 2mm steel rod dipped in a ceramic paste. This will eventually become the hole in the bead. Then, in a very hot oxygen/propane flameworking torch, I heat up the end of a pencil-sized glass rod until it becomes molten. This liquid glass is carefully stuck to the steel rod which is then turned to wrap the glass around it. In this manner layers of different glass colors are built up to create unique designs.

The whole time there is a dance going on between the turning steel rod, the molten glass and the hot flame. If the bead gets too hot the glass drips off the rod, and too cold it will crack, and the rod can never stop turning or the bead will loose its shape.

Once finished the bead is slowly cooled to relieve stress in the glass and make it strong. Later it’s soaked in water to dissolve the ceramic paste so the bead can be removed from the steel rod and the hole cleaned with a diamond coated reamer.

I source all my materials locally or at least within Europe, and aim to make a product that will last a long time. One of the great things about glass is it lasts a very long time. The earliest beads were made in Egyptian times and are still perfect today, so your bead can be handed down through generations.

For the cord I use saddlers black waxed nylon which is super strong, looks better than leather and doesn’t rot, and for the clasp a handmade glass bead and a high tech stretchy rubber o-ring that’s oil and chemical resistant (won’t perish).

Bead size is approximately 12 to 15mm in diameter, unless otherwise stated.