Ventilation is very important not just for comforts sake, but also for your health

This is where all the magic happens.
We live out in Arizona where the heat is pretty intense during the summer. Our garage is insulated pretty well though. I turn on the vent hood which draws the hot air outside. I prop open the door to the house with a blower in the doorway. It pulls air from the house into the garage. We manage to maintain a comfortable 85 degrees in 115 degree weather. Not bad for the dry, HOT, HOT desert of Arizona.

Here are a couple views of my worktable. I use a minor torch to make my beads. I use an oxygen concentrator and gas tank to fuel my torch. And with all my beads I use my Jen-Ken kiln. Using a kiln for your beads strengthens them and makes them more resistant to cracking when they are cooling down, or if they are dropped later.

These are various left over stringers which come in handy when making beads. I have to admit stringers and murrini are my least favorite things to do, but without them, beads are just not as unique. Before each bead session, I find myself making them for the first 30 minutes or so. I guess I have to wait for the kiln to heat up anyway.......

Colors can inspire!! 
It is especially nice to work with all the rods withins arm reach.  I tend to start out with a general idea of the bead I am going to make and sometimes the colors change from one minute to the next.