Welcome! Make yourself at home. Let me introduce my self. My name is Sandra Saylor Seaman and I am a lampwork glass beadmaker, mom, wife, teacher and general all around jack of all trades. I make the beads, take the photos, create the web site, pack and ship and so on. I have been making glass beads since 1997. My husband and I opened a retail store (Earth Rhythms) at that time that was part world percussion drum shop and part bead shop. We adopted 2 children from Korea at about the same time and the bead shop portion of the store became too much to handle. Before it closed, however, we were selling a book by Cindy Jenkins about making lampwork glass beads. I had been searching for a creative outlet, having spent some time hand weaving and stringing beads and when I saw those bead photos, I knew I had found my medium. My business has grown slowly, as the children have grown. I never tire of the mesmerizing process of melting glass and experimenting with color. I am delighted to have found a medium that is so full of wonder and so rich and complex that I feel I will never exhaust its creative possibilities.

Bead News

As many of you may know, I am no longer making beads or teaching beadmaking. It just seemed like it was time for me to move on. I am presently studying homeopathy through the Caduceus School of Homeopathy in California. My daughter and I started being treated by a homeopath last summer and I became fascinated by the subject. I have about 3 years to go but maybe you will see me come out the other side a practicing homeopath.

I would like to thank my wonderful bead customers who have become friends over the years. Bead people are just the best! Please feel free to keep in touch - I would still love to hear from you...

Sandy
By the Way...What is Lampworking?
The beadmaker uses a propane/oxygen torch to melt rods of glass. The melted glass is then wound around a thin steel rod...shaped and decorated with dots and stringers of melted glass. Silver foil, gold leaf, glass shards, latticinos (twists of multiple colors of glass) and other materials can also be added to create these special beads. Lampwork beads are a wonder to see, to touch and to wear. All of my beads are annealed in a kiln at approx. 950 degrees F. This removes stress from the glass and prevents the bead from cracking. I primarily use Morretti glass from Italy and glass from Czechoslovakia.