I know it doesn't look like much, but to me this is a little slice of heaven! I have a workbench in the garage where I make all my beads. I generally work at the torch in the early morning before it gets too hot. 
If you're not familiar with lampwork bead making, here's a quick introduction.
All lampwork beads begin as glass rods. The rods are heated with a torch and wound onto a mandrel, which is a sturdy metal rod dipped in bead release. As glass is being added to the mandrel, different colored rods are used to make dots, patterns, etc.
Once a bead is completed it is put in a ki
ln for several hours until it's properly annealed (heated and cooled slowly for strength). Beads are then soaked in water and slide off the mandrels. All beads are cleaned with a little tool to take all the bead release (which is powdery and makes a mess) out of the holes.
That all changed with a recent trip to Alaska, where I fell in love with Tklingit tote.jpg)
m poles and their graphic colors and patterns. I took loads of pictures of them (and believe me, they're everywhere) and couldn't wait to try and duplicate elements of what I saw.
Feeling pretty good about how totem pole beads turned out, I decided inspiration could come from anywhere, in any medium. I found the perfect source for new ideas in a birthday party catalog I got in the mail. It had pages of party decorations for kids and two caught my attention: bandanas and camouflage. I figured they would be fun to try, and here are 
my finished designs. I must say I'm happy with both of them and love the fact that lots of creative license was used in the design. 
Now when I'm in a design slump, all I need to do is look around me for inspiration. Where do you find yours?
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