Boggle Toggle Bead

You know that feeling right after a haircut, all fresh and new, a bright outlook on a new world?

That's how these beads feel to me now, after grinding and cleanup, and a fire polish in the kiln.

The edges are all smooth and shapely, the holes are nicely finished, and they have that clear, bright new feeling.

They need their hardward and their toggle bar, and they are all ready to be part of a necklace.

Glass is facinating stuff. It is a solid, but translucent and even transparent. It can be melted to become a liquid, and will flow or slump over a shape. It can be ground and shaped, but is firm and solid. Things can be enclosed inside it, and it can be fused to other glass to make beautiful layers.

There is really nothing else that feels cool to the touch, but warms next to the skin, that lets the light shine through and bounce off its surface.

It takes a bit of courage to take the glass and drill the hole in it to make the clasp hanger. It's nerve-wracking. I'm never so glad to be done with any process as I am when I've gotten through the glass with the bit successfully, no cracks or breaks. Whew. A sigh of relief.