Yep, and (sob!) I am addicted to the expensive colors!

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

Hi Diana.

I'll answer this for me, as everyone finds difficulty in different things.

I would say that encased florals would have to be the hardest for me
because
there are just so many steps. Add more color layers to the petals and
it's
even that much more difficult and time consuming. The bigger the bead,
the
more time it takes to get everything molten too, so that is $$.

Precise, raised, scrolling stringer work can be a stinker too since you
have
to leave it raised enough without it popping off. Raised straight lines
are
a breeze for me.

Well placed, even sized dots are easy for me. Frit beads are easy for me,
if you don't count the playing it takes to find what colors don't have
icky
reactions.

Symmetric shapes other than round or donuts can be difficult because you
work agains the natural tendency of the molten glass to be round.

Realistic sculpture (frogs, dogs, faces, etc). For me...forget it.
Murrini? No way. Then we get into certain colors. Purple 254 (evil
purple), silver pink? I love to hate those sometimes.

Pricing should be based on the time involved, experience, and materials.
I'm finding more and more these days that I can only get the effects I
want
with the more expensive glasses. Buyers may not realize that some glass
costs more (way more) to use than others. The difference can be $8 a
pound
to $50 a pound for moretti colors. Colors like Ink Blue, Rubino Oro (Gold
Pink), Copper Green, Intense Black, Opal Yellow, a few of the pinks, tans
and a handful of others, will make a higher priced bead if used in larger
amounts. Silver in a bead also makes it more time consuming and more
expensive. I would guess dichro does the same.

Just some of my thoughts.

--
Lori Greenberg
http://www.beadnerd.com

ebay auctions:

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...origre enberg

"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
I ask this question in total ignorance of the processes you go thru to
make
lampworked beads. Almost total. I know there is melted glass involved,
and
mandrels, and release stuff....and flame..
My question is, what are the most labor intensive type of beads? I see
florals, and stripes that appear pulled around on the surface, and
bumps,
and worlds floating inside clear casings, animals, flowers and other
adornments sitting prettily on top of a bead, swirls, blips, frits.. and
so
I wonder about what you find are the most time consuming processes
involved.
It would be fine if you know an url that showed how some of these
effects
are achieved, I dont mean to take your time away from actually making
beads.
When Sooz posted the url for the clear beads with purple flowers and
green
vines I was enchanted with them, and wondered about how hard it is to do
something like that opposed to .. for example.. some of Kalera's beads
with
the ocean waves on them, or a sculptural piece such as the dalmation
angel
with puppy.
One last question. How does the difficulty level factor into the price
of
the bead?
Thank you for reading... I hope this sparks some interesting
discussions...
Diana