Grace Ma and her beads were featured in The Ruby page 11 to 13. PDF file is available online.

All handmade lampwork glass beads on gracebeads.com are designed by Grace Ma, who is a self-taught lampworker. Grace started to make beads in Oct 2002. Three months later, she sold her beads on eBay. In July of 2004, Grace did her first bead show - The Whole Bead Show in San Francisco. This show opened the door of a new world. She started to train her own employees to make the beads. You can find Grace beads in most of the major bead shows and 50+ bead stores in United States.

Grace uses Italian glass (Moretti) and German glass. Venetian glass is well known for its beauty. Grace melts silver and gold foil into glass, with other special methods, the results are totally different than regular Venetian beads.

Grace Lampwork Beads has the most restrict quality control process to make each bead. All of the glass beads are annealed overnight for better strength. Each small bead takes 5-10 minutes to make. Some people try to make glass bead faster, then they lost the quality and detail of the design. There is a balance between the speed and quality. Grace Lampwork Beads are always have consistent high quality. That's what Grace committed.

"Learning is a life-term job" said Grace, as she keeps on taking classes, exploring new techniques and methods. "Be creative is much more fun than producing the same beads." With her employees' help, Grace could focus on designing, and the price of beads is more reasonable compare with other artisan beads.

Comparing with tons of inexpensive low quality imported beads and very expensive fine artisan beads in the market; Grace Lampwork Beads provides you the same quality and design as other artisan beads, with affordable price.

PBS TV gave Grace a short interview on April 5th 2008 on BeadFest Wire Show in King of Prussia, PA. The program will be available in Sep. 2008.

Unlike other lampwork artists, there are so many different styles in her work. Recently, Grace lampwork beads just released the new product line - large hole glass beads with sterling silver core, to fit Pandora bracelet and Trollbeads.

"I love to share my vision, designs, happiness and success with others. With my beads, you can turn them into a piece of beautiful unique jewelry. There is too much similarity in the commercial world. The unique lampwork beads will show off your own characters and personality. It will make you feel better."- Grace