It's 95 Degrees... So Naturally, I'm Thinking About Fall
Outside, it's 95 degrees. The Texas sun is doing its best to convince me it's still the middle of summer.
Meanwhile... I'm in my studio making autumn leaves.
That's one of the funny things about being an artist. While everyone else is enjoying summer vacations, I'm usually working a season or two ahead. Christmas ideas arrive in September, spring flowers bloom in January, and apparently fall has officially arrived in my torch long before the weather agrees.
Autumn has always been one of my favorite color palettes. It's easy to think of fall as simply oranges and browns, but when you really stop and look at a forest in October, you see so much more.
Golden leaves.
Honey-colored sunlight.
Warm creams.
Olive greens.
Deep berry reds.
Even unexpected hints of lavender and purple.
Those little surprises are what inspired Autumn Canopy.
Every blend begins the same way, with a tray of seemingly random colors that somehow become something entirely different once they meet the flame.
Instead of creating another typical "pumpkin" palette, I wanted something that captured the feeling of standing beneath a canopy of changing leaves as the afternoon sun filters through the trees. A blend with warmth, movement, and just enough unexpected color to keep every bead interesting. However, I really want to make my own version of Pumpkin spice in glass.
One thing that surprised me while testing the blend was how differently it behaved depending on the technique.
The mosaic beads preserved individual fragments of color that reminded me of fallen leaves scattered across a woodland trail. Every bead looked slightly different, almost like nature had arranged the colors herself.
The swirl beads, however, completely stole the show.
Rather than blending into muddy browns (which warm transparent palettes sometimes like to do), the colors stretched into beautiful ribbons of amber, orange, cream, and warm earth tones. They almost resemble polished agate or flowing wood grain, with each bead developing its own personality.
Sometimes the best surprises happen when glass decides to do something even better than you imagined.
So while Texas continues to pretend it's the surface of the sun, I'm happily dreaming about cooler mornings, colorful forests, cinnamon candles, sweaters I'll probably only wear twice, and all the beautiful colors that make autumn my favorite season to create in.
For now, I'll just keep making fall one bead at a time.
If you'd like to experiment with these colors yourself, Autumn Canopy is available both as my original artisan frit blend and as finished handmade lampwork bead sets.
Whether you enjoy making your own beads or designing jewelry with one-of-a-kind artisan glass, I hope this blend brings a little bit of autumn into your studio—even if it's still 95 degrees outside.
🟠 Shop Autumn Canopy Frit Blend
🟠 Shop Autumn Canopy Mosaic Beads
🟠 Shop Autumn Canopy Swirl Beads
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