Diamond Net Beads and Kia's Green Lampwork

My friend Kia Dallons and I were friends in high school, but we've only just reconnected through facebook. As it turns out, we are both making jewelry. Kia describes herself as seamstress, costumer, illustrator, sculpter, mold-maker and glass artist. She sent me some of her lampwork beads (which surreptitiously arrived on my birthday; nice present!). Here is the necklace that I made with them. Thank you Kia!

It is nice to return to the old favorite patterns from time to time. The beaded beads in this necklace are mini Diamond Net Beads. The Diamond Net Bead has the nice distinction of being the first beaded bead that Gwen and I designed together. Gwen and I met at a math conference, and about a month later, she visited my department to give a presentation. She stayed at my house, and brought with her what I now understand was a small box of beads, though at the time, it seemed like quite a collection.  She introduced me to beaded beads at that time. I'll skip the part about my first beaded bead (with no hole) and the tennis ball sized beaded pompom that was my second attempt, after which I bought reading glasses and downsized. Before we met again, we both had designed beaded beads of our own.

My husband and I went to San Luis Obispo to visit Gwen and for vacation in 2004, and we had a grand show and tell. Gwen showed her first original beaded bead, the Barrel Bead, and I showed my first original design, the Blueberry Bead.  We discussed the techniques that we used to make these beads, and in the discussion uncovered that in both cases, our first uses of the techniques were not the easiest possible versions. Out of these discussions arose the Diamond Net Bead (from the Barrel Bead), and the Spinning Top Bead (from the Blueberry). Our first Spinning Tops turned out very well, but the first Diamond Net was sort of lumpy; what we now call the Diamond Net Bead was almost dubbed the Stunted Torpedo!