FantM Designs is me, Deb Fant. I am a marketing program manager and Mom to my school-age son by day, and a jewelry artist and beadmaker after-hours. While I am self-taught on the jewelry design, I have a B.A. degree in Graphic Design and Photography, so I feel somewhat qualified to design pretty things. I have always enjoyed creating things, and have made beaded jewelry since I was a teenager. After more than a decade of working in high-tech, I am finally able to express my creative side. I am constantly learning new techniques and delight in mastering new skills. I started making my own glass beads in 2002. I love working with the glass at the torch to create tiny beads! All new pieces contain my own lampwork beads now.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband (database & web developer extraordinaire), son, and cats Junior and Cinder.

At the torch...

How lampwork beads are made
Each bead is created one by one, so no two are ever exactly the same. I make the beads using a propane and oxygen torch - colored glass rods are melted over the flame and wound onto metal rods called mandrels. I continue adding and winding glass until the bead is the desired size, and them melt thinner glass rods (stringers) onto the surface to create all the different decorations you see. As each bead is finished, it's placed into a kiln where it is annealed and cooled to room temperature slowly over many hours. Annealing gives the beads added durability. Each bead is a little work of art!