I spend a lot of time at the torch, when your hands are busy your mind is still somewhat free...

This year marks seventeen years I've been doing this, and I find myself looking back quite a bit. I learned in a vacuum - I quickly discovered lamp working after seeing it on eBay, I found what I needed online and just started making tons of beads... eventually things started to click, but what I didn't know was what size they were "supposed to be". (In an effort to establish a better grasp of what size things were, I was one of the first on eBay to take pictures of beads in my hand to give some reference to scale) ((and yes, eBay back then only had a few pages dedicated to lampwork beads)).

I found this small amber set a few days ago - I was astonished at how tiny they were.

My sincerest apologies to Noel who purchased so many of my micro sets as shown below - unintentionally I worked so so SO tiny! They are shown in front of a set of 1/2" dia rounds from this era of bead making - and also you should realize that the tiny set is IN FRONT and CLOSER to the camera - but they still are tiny. Of course, nowadays there are more people making beads, lampwork is more prevalent in available jewelry... so one can get a better idea of what size things should be!! Just another of those moments I roll my eyes and shudder to think of what phases I've passed through over the years, and what still lies ahead! smiles, Jill