Top 1 website for Glass Beads in Australia
Since the time of Marco Polo, the making of glass beads has been important in Venice. It is thought that the Venetian artisans were inspired by the cut-gem beads Marco Polo brought back with him from the East. While the industry may have begun as a way to copy the Asian designs, it has since grown into a distinctly Venetian art form.
Australia beads based in Melbourne, Australia has been offering stunning glass beads since 1998. These beads are very practical, fashionable and great value for money. You can buy them online and create your own jewellery or take it up as a hobby. In addition to glass beads, they also stock a number of jewellery making supplies, metal beads, findings and pendants.
Some of the designer glass beads available are:
Millefiori Beads
If you’ve heard of any Venetian beads, you’ve probably heard of these. Millefiori translates to “thousand flowers” in Italian. Each bead made in the fashion uses a variety of thin-cut slices of glass canes, each with a particular pattern or design. These tiny pieces of glass are pressed together to form beads of astonishing variety and beauty. Each glass cane is formed with some kind of image or pattern inside, which is only apparent when viewing it from the end. You may think of it as being like a refrigerator cookie, only much smaller and made of glass. Flowers and other natural scenes are popular designs for these glass canes, but an infinite variety is possible.
Mosaic Beads
Like millefiori beads, mosaic beads use glass canes, but instead of the pattern being inside the glass cane, the canes are used to construct a design directly on the mosaic bead. Very fine and tiny glass canes are used to place the color one pinpoint a time. These beads take a long time a lot of work to make.
Floral Beads
Like millefiori beads, floral beads are made from tiny slices of glass canes. These canes will have a flower pattern inside and will be combined with another piece of glass a base. This creates a repeating floral pattern across the face of the bead. Unlike the more stylistic millefiori and mosaic beads, these flowers will look somewhat more true to life. The color of the glass in the center of this beads can also alter how the outer slices look, creating depth and an interesting look.
Lampwork or Wound Beads
Lampwork beads are so named because a lamp is traditionally used in the making of them. A copper wire is a heated over a lamp, around which is then wound tiny strips of melted glass. At the end, when the glass cools, the wire is removed to create a hole for stringing the bead. These beads can come in an infinite variety. You can find any shape, size, or color you wish.
Blown Beads
If you’ve been to a historical fair, you may have seen glassblowers making bowls, cups, vases, and other objects using a pipe thrust into the molten glass which they then blow into the create shapes. Venetian blown glass beads use the same process to create tiny works of art. These beads are made with very high-quality materials to create clear, beautiful glass beads. They often look like beads within beads, because of the blowing process, which gives them depth and layers. Often, contrasting threads of glass are wound around these beads later for further decoration.
If you are interested in buying glass beads, Venetian glass beads are certainly something to look into.
Also, check out the latest fashion jewellery website