I never thought I would say this, but unpacking is actually starting to become fun. Now that all the clothes and dishes are MOSTLY put away, I am having a great time rediscovering some of my long packed away lampwork supplies and glass. The best surprise this week, was some German vintage glass I’d purchased a while back from Jessica at Phoenix Art Supplies, and tucked away for some later play time!  LATER has arrived, yahoo!

My favorites of the Vintage German glass colors/styles are shown below.  They make great 96 COE twisties, and I have used them  successfully in slumping , and making beads, with anywhere from 90 COE to 104 COE glass!

This is one of my favorites, Jessica calls this “Hexagonal Glass”,  but it really is Pentagonal (5 sided) in profile. It is clear 96 COE rod, with a black stripe down each of the five corners, which produces this lovely effect when twisted and applied to a bead (the first three pictures below are courtesy of  Phoenix Art Supplies):

Another of my faves from her, includes another Hexagonal (again, it’s Pentagonal in profile) glass, this one is green with a hole through the center of  the rod. I found the hole wide enough to allow me to insert a thin piece of  black 96 COE stringer and using it that way, pull some AWESOME twisties.

She also sells “Dirty Shorts”, so I bought a pound way back when,  and cleaned them up (they really weren’t very dirty).

I made some awesome Holiday Twisties (below) with them about 2 years ago (before I shattered my elbow). The nice thing about  glass is, it NEVER grows STALE! Jessica tells me that most of this glass was made in the mid 1950′s, yet it handles just like new! LOL

I  made these beautiful twisties using 96 COE rods too! The Baby Blue and Green Twist is made using the Green Hex glass with some 96 COE Sky Blue, and the Clear and Dark latticino is made with Dark colors from the Winter mix I bought.

People often ask me WHY I like making twisties, and the only reply I can come up with, is that the time I spend making these gorgeous twisties, is like meditation time. I love the infinite selections of colors and designs, and never get bored!

Before I got hurt, I could spend 4 hours on the torch and not even realize it. Time just flew, while I was happily mixing and twisting colors. Nowadays, it takes a great effort for me to grit my teeth and bear the pain of  torching, But, every moment I spend at the flame now, I consider a great accomplishment, so I keep trying,and praying I can do more some day. It distresses me that the thing I love to do best hurts me, but I don’t plan to quit trying!

Click here to see more of Jessica’s awesome German Vintage glass! Can’t you just feel the creative juices flowing? Check out my blog and websites for more fun and beautiful beads and twisties!

Lynnie Richards is a lampwork, bead and jewelry artist from southern New Hampshire.  She blogs and has an Etsy Store and a Twisties sales website as well…  Another fun place she visits is Facebook ~ and she has a farm addiction in Farm Town there, check it all out!