Beaver Island Jewelry Blog

This blog was written by my husband, Cary Johnson a couple years ago but I thought it was worth reading. I am not prone to write essays or short stories but today’s event moved me to write. My wife and I and two dogs live in a semi-rural area and have basically taken over the habitat of many white tailed deer. Along with my neighbors, we have a love/hate relationship with them since our shrubs and other plants are some of their favorite food. We fence off as much as we can, but success is limited....

Do you feel naked without earrings?  I do.  Casual earrings or dressy earrings.  So that is why I love making earrings with my lampwork glass beads, Czech glass beads or Humblebeads polymer clay beads! There are all types of earrings for all types of people.  Lately I’ve been making Art Nouveau inspired earrings.  They are lightweight and airy and can be dressy or not.  I took a class by Humblebeads on creative methods and one was all about Art Nouveau.  Another type of earring is the funky, colorful...

The mannequin is called “Ida” for where she came from – Ida, MI. Many artisans do craft shows, festivals, farmers’ markets to sell their products. There are indoor shows during the winter and many shows in the summer outside. For the outdoor shows you need a canopy and displays for inside the canopy. Indoors is a little easier with no canopy tents required. For a few years I have only been doing craft shows on Beaver Island. And since I am on the island in the summer I don’t have a chance to...

The earliest evidence of glassmaking in Venice is from AD 982. Fragments of Murano-made glass date from the 13th century. In 1291 the demolition of all glass kilns in Venice was ordered due to the risk of fire with all the wood buildings. From then on, Murano was the main center of glass manufacture in the Venetian Empire. Being on a separate island protected the buildings of Venice plus the secrets of glassmaking. Originally mosaic glass was made on Murano, developing then to glass vases, goblets,...

Welcome to my new Beaver Island Jewelry Blog! I wanted to start talking about glass lampwork beads and their history. A few years ago I was offered an opportunity to take a glassmaking class from a master artisan, Lucio Bubucco, on the island of Murano, Italy. Murano is the “heart” of glassmaking. I thought about the offer for about a day and then decided what an opportunity to work with the maestro of glass control and expand my horizons, both professionally and personally. The class consisted of...