| I have been making glass beads and jewelry since 1991. I work primarily in what is called “soft glass”. The glass comes in long canes that I work by heating up in the torch. When the glass is molten I will wrap it around a stainless steel mandrel that has been coated with release. I will shape the glass into the final form and decorate. When the bead is finished I will put it into a kiln to anneal the glass. This process cools down the glass slowly. This removes the internal stress inside the glass. When the glass is cool, I will remove and clean the bead. The mandrel space creates the hole for the bead. Depending upon the complexity of the bead it can take anywhere from a minute to 2 hours per bead. Each bead is unique. No two beads will ever be exactly alike. | | 
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