Using a torch for heat, Murano glass canes and tubes are heated to a molten state and wrapped around a metal rod until the ideal shape is achieved. Several layers of different colored glass as well as gold and silver leaf are used to produce the desired effect. After the bead is slowly cooled, it is removed from the rod which produces a hole for eventual stringing.
Wedding Cake beads, decorated with glass overlays featuring roses, swirls and dots and Venetian Foil beads, with their fusion of color, gold and silver foil are just two of the kinds of beads made using the lamp-work method.
