Flameworked Glass Beads, Buttons & Jewelry

A Review of Heather's Tutorials by Cindy Jenkins:

"Heather's three new tutorials are impressive to say the least. Having taken several classes from Heather, I noticed right away that they are written in her own voice. This makes them easy to read and entertaining as well. There are many excellent beadmakers but Heather is one of the few who is also excellent at teaching. Her layout is nice and the many photos are clear and uncluttered. You can easily see what she is demonstrating and explaining. These are seriously fun tutorials with exercises and challenges to strengthen your skills. They are filled with crucial little tidbits that took me years to learn the hard (and expensive) way. Her question and answer sections clarify further and cover many mistakes that we all are prone to making. As an added bonus you get supply lists and even a peek at Heather's studio. Foundations! Want to make a flawlessly shaped bead? You need this tutorial, it's as simple as that. It has all the information that a newbie needs to keep from starting out with bad habits and all the explanations that more experienced beadmakers need to analyze and correct their bead issues. Heather will show you how to make a proper footprint and then build it into a beautifully shaped bead that you can be proud of. No more wonky beads. Dots! In the Dots tutorial you will find all the information and tricks you could ever want for perfectly spacing and sizing your dots. Heather shows you different dot pattern layouts and demonstrates how to keep the dots round as they are melted in. After reading and practicing you will be controlling the heat instead of letting the heat control you and your beads. Bumps! In Bumps, Heather ups the ante by showing you how to make those irresistible raised dots and then heat them just the right amount so that they are on the bead to stay. Learn how to add as many dots as you want without melting the ones that go on first, so that they are all at the same level. Your beads will be texturiffic and as yummy looking as candy. Who could resist? When you have mastered these three tutorials you will have wonderful beads as is or great start to almost any more complex bead design. If your beads have a poor foundation, no matter how well you decorate them, you will still have beads with issues. A good base bead makes everything else you add look better. The Dots tutorial builds on Foundations, and Bumps builds on Dots, so do yourself a favor and buy all three. You won't be sorry. They are the next best thing to taking a class with Heather (which I also highly recommend). You will have great fun and your beads will show it." (Cindy is the author of "Making Glass Beads" & "Beads of Glass") Back to Tutorials...