chromadots

chromadots Handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry, often inspired by birds, made with glass seed beads woven together o

Here's the panel I made for my other young niece, Mary Kate, who turned 6 on Christmas day. Back in the summer I asked h...
01/05/2026

Here's the panel I made for my other young niece, Mary Kate, who turned 6 on Christmas day. Back in the summer I asked her what she'd like me to make for her, and in true soon-to-be-kindergartener fashion, she requested an M and K for her name. She specifically told me her favorite colors were purple and pink, and she did not like brown. Pink and purple are not colors I gravitate to or use much, so this was a great opportunity to use some of the pretty ones I had on hand, including this really gorgeous streaky iridescent piece. Naturally, just like her sister, she didn't actually remember what she had requested from me months ago, but she still smiled when she saw it. 😄 I know giving art to young kids isn't as fun as a new toy, but hopefully she'll enjoy the pop of color it'll bring to her room. It was quite a gloomy day when I captured these photos, but hopefully you get the idea!

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We had a stretch of very warm weather last week, which allowed me to stay busy making some glass gifts for my nieces! Ea...
12/29/2025

We had a stretch of very warm weather last week, which allowed me to stay busy making some glass gifts for my nieces! Earlier this year, I heard my brother's young daughters fondly remembering how colorful my house was when they came to visit the prior Thanksgiving, which felt like a striking contrast to their more neutral colored home. We talked about all the colored glass I had everywhere, which made me want to make something special for each of them, even though they are so young.

At the time, my 7 year old niece Emory said she wanted a pink and blue butterfly, and I welcomed the opportunity to try making a somewhat elaborate one! Luckily I already had some pink glass from various sources, including the really vibrant sunset looking glass in the center. Pink glass is actually the most expensive kind to buy because the raw materials used to make it (including gold chloride!) are rare and less heat stable than those used for other colors, making pink glass more difficult and risky for manufacturers to make. There's also some pretty iridescent glass mixed in, though it was hard to capture that on camera when it was so gloomy outside. Not surprisingly, when I gave her the finished piece this weekend, she did not even remember what she had asked me to make. 😅 I think she liked it though...but I also think the adults in the room were more impressed than she was. I guess that's how it goes when you give kids art instead of toys! It was important for me for her to have it though, so I regret nothing! 😄 ...Except actually, I didn't get to enjoy the finished piece more, since I finished it at night and gave it to her the next morning. I think that means I'll have to make another one for myself. 🤔

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I've REALLY fallen out of the habit of making things and sharing them here, but here's a glass panel I made this year! M...
12/08/2025

I've REALLY fallen out of the habit of making things and sharing them here, but here's a glass panel I made this year! My sweet friend commissioned this for her coworker whose precious pup passed away recently. 💔 Making things look realistic is not really my strength, but my compassion for her loss meant I couldn't say no. He was a boat dog so I surrounded him in shades of blue and green, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I hope it serves as a sweet reassuring reminder of his loving presence. 🥹

Well it's been quite a while, but I finally made some new glass art! These flowers are the first thing I've made since I...
06/21/2025

Well it's been quite a while, but I finally made some new glass art! These flowers are the first thing I've made since I bought my first house and moved last fall. It seems only natural that any creative energy I've had since then has been mostly directed at making my new home feel like me, inside and out. The latest house project has been building a roof on my new concrete patio I've been planning to use as a workshop space. I'll eventually screen it in (the mosquitoes are relentless), but now that the roof is on, I felt I owed it to myself to try making some art again.

Making stained glass is not exactly easy, as it requires a lot more exactness and patience than is my natural tendency. 😅 Being away from the craft for ~9 months made it even more intimidating to jump back in. Recently though, when I had a day off work, I finally just pushed myself to get on with it, drawing these relatively simple flower patterns that didn't require too many difficult cuts. However, even when I think I'm doing something "easy", the exactness of it all means it's never actually that easy! Naturally, I messed some things up while soldering the blue one, and instead of continuing on knowing it would turn out wonky, I took the time to undo some things and start over a bit. That part wasn't exactly fun, but necessary nonetheless and definitely worth it in the end. I also added some wire details to that one, which was my first time doing that and I think it turned out cute! Not sure what I'll make next, but I'm proud of myself for ripping off the proverbial "bandaid" and finally making something again.

Tell me, which one is your favorite??

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Something new I actually made a bit ago! This was a wedding gift commissioned by months ago for and who just got hitc...
10/01/2024

Something new I actually made a bit ago! This was a wedding gift commissioned by months ago for and who just got hitched this past weekend! Stacy had the brilliant idea to request a panel recreating their engagement photo (swipe to see), knowing I wouldn't be able to capture their faces but letting their sunglasses suffice. Making people out of glass was absolutely a first for me, and I don't plan to ever do it again because it was hard! Fitting random shapes of glass together just right is always hard, but especially so for those tiny face pieces. I'm not sure it fully does justice to their beautiful photo, but hopefully it serves as a fun reminder of where their marriage journey started for all the years to come!

Here's a gift I made from my friend/realtor to thank her for all her help the past year! Since this time last year, tog...
09/09/2024

Here's a gift I made from my friend/realtor to thank her for all her help the past year! Since this time last year, together we toured more houses than I can accurately count, considered making offers on at least a dozen or more, and actually made formal offers on 7 different houses. She saw every emotion from me in the process--lots of excitement, blind optimism, crushing disappointment, anger, anxiety, grief, regret, and even some apathy towards the end when I really just wanted to give up. It's funny how you can spend so much time looking forward to something and then when it's almost in your lap, it doesn't feel how you expected. I've been feeling this from all angles lately, in both house buying and my son turning 18. I feel like I've waited my whole adult single parent life for him to grow up and now that we're at this threshold, it feels way more emotional than I expected! All this to say, it's been a rollercoaster of a year with a lot of high emotions for me, and Stacy was a trooper through it all. She was patient and reassuring at all the right times and when houses had too many scary problems she was the rational voice I needed to hear. When I was close-minded to some, she was pointing out the positives that I was failing to see. I'm certain I drove her crazy along the way, but she was a total professional and always knew what was going to make a house feel like "me". And here I am, officially a homeowner, filled with a lot of gratitude to Stacy for getting me here. ❤️

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Here's a quick little butterfly I made for my manager at work, whose baby shower was yesterday. I know glass is a weird ...
08/29/2024

Here's a quick little butterfly I made for my manager at work, whose baby shower was yesterday. I know glass is a weird gift for a baby but she already had everything else on her registry and one can never have too much art, right?! 😄

I made a cicada wing! The periodical cicadas already came and went here in Nashville, and boy, was it a spectacle! I rea...
07/01/2024

I made a cicada wing! The periodical cicadas already came and went here in Nashville, and boy, was it a spectacle! I really underestimated how abundant and noticeable the 13-year old brood would be, but you simply couldn't go outside without them demanding your attention. Actually, you didn't even have to go outside--you could absolutely hear their loud constant hum from inside too. One did land on my face and startled me into a scream, but that's just part of the experience. ✨ During the few short weeks they were with us, it was easy to find their beautiful glass-like wings discarded on the ground after some other creature made a meal of the body. I knew immediately I wanted to make one. The best part is I got to use up lots of small scrap pieces of glass leftover from other projects. It always feels nice to make use of all the things, and now I have something to enjoy until the next brood emerges.

https://chromadots.etsy.com/listing/1755394041

Here's the second commissioned panel I made for my friend and former coworker . Can you tell what this one says? 🙃 This ...
06/05/2024

Here's the second commissioned panel I made for my friend and former coworker . Can you tell what this one says? 🙃

This is for her daughter Rosalind, so I had to get a bit creative to fit all those letters in and have it feel balanced. I also wanted it to feel unique and separate from the last panel I made for her son, so this is quite a different color palette. I knew I wanted to incorporate some teals and turquoise and somehow pink and yellow felt like the best compliment for those tones. Adding in some clear textures is always fun too, especially that pretty floral glass by the L. That dark green waterglass for the A is so hard to photograph accurately though, as it's not really as dark as it appears in photos. Y'all know photography has never been my thing, so just take my word for it--these glass pieces and the beautiful ways they bend and transmit light are always more impressive in person!

If you, too, want to commission some art and help contribute to my house buying fund, just send me a message! It's wild out there, so I really do need all the help I can get! 😅❤️😵‍💫

Look, some new art! After seeing that last "August" panel I made, my old coworker and friend kindly reached out to requ...
05/29/2024

Look, some new art! After seeing that last "August" panel I made, my old coworker and friend kindly reached out to request some similar panels for her kids. I dove right into this first one for her son, Rhoads, and I am LOVING how it turned out!!! I actually finished this one a few weeks ago but haven't handed it over yet, so I've just been enjoying how rich and juicy these colors are together. There's something about that "OAD" section in particular that looks so mid-century to me and I'm really into it!

I've already started a second panel for her daughter too, which has a lot more letters--a fun challenge trying to fit them all in. It's going to be a very different color palette too, so we'll see how that eventually turns out.. It's been really nice to have the push of commissioned projects to focus energy on when I'm otherwise not feeling very creative. Last week in particular was very emotional and stressful, then my son graduated high school, and I promptly got sick with COVID yet again (3rd time now 😭). Luckily, I am recovering faster this time around. There's nothing quite like being sick to make you appreciate what it's like to feel well.

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Here's some pics to revisit some of these pieces I've made over the last year as they look now in their current homes. I...
04/30/2024

Here's some pics to revisit some of these pieces I've made over the last year as they look now in their current homes. Inspiration is proving harder to come by lately, probably because of all the life stuff taking up room in my head, but seeing these pieces looking glorious in the light makes me feel so proud!! I'm still such a newbie to this craft, but working with colored glass has got to be my favorite medium of all time. 😍

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