First Beads

Well I snapped some pictures while dad was at work of some of his first beads that he made. The pictures are not great as it was hard to hold the camera still with my wee little paws for something so small. Technically not his first beads, as most of them broke when he was trying to get them off of the mandrel. But these are from his second and third attempts. While the beads look large in the photos, most are about 1/2" wide by an inch long max.

He still has a way to go, but he is getting better at it. He has learned how to get the glass beads off the metal mandrels without breaking them. He has also learned to stay further back in the flame so he does not get the glass to hot and discolor it.

I know he will get better at it the more he does it, but he has some beads now that mom can start using in her necklaces if she wishes. If she does I will post some pictures of the finished product on her bead blog.