Handmade lampwork beads by Kari Chittenden.

Hi and Welcome! In 2000, I read about a class offered in Lampworking - melting glass over a torch and winding the molten glass around a rod to form beads. My daughter Chelsea seemed interested too but was too young to take the class. I decided to take the class so that I could teach her and we could share a fun hobby together. I also thought it would be a terrific way to stay connected to my girl. My plan worked like a charm! She loved making beads with me! She would even invite her friends over and teach them - we'd all make beads together. Chelsea especialy loved to make "critter beads" - like frogs and lizards.

Over the years my bead-making skills improved and I began selling beads. Working from my log cabin studio by the Yellow River in Northern Indiana, I make the occasional stained glass window, but mostly focus on glass bead making. King's Jewelry store has the local exclusive in Plymouth, Laura's in Kokomo and Flirt's in Rochester with (hopefully) more stores to come! My glass beads work well with charm bead bracelets (designed by Pandora, Troll, Bagli, etc). My beads have a large hole and come in all sorts of colors and designs. I also make critter beads: cats, dogs, bees, ladybugs, fish, frogs, and many more.

You can see me work at the local Farmer's Market in Plymouth, Indiana (May-Oct) where I demonstrate bead making.

To see my beads here, simply go to the navigation box on the left and select "beads & more beads." Thanks for looking!

To buy my beads, go to my Etsy store :http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6234494

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Please email me with any questions at : Karichittenden@yahoo.com