My name is Kimberly Nicole and I'm a fulltime lampwork artist, a wife, mother, grandmother, pet lover of three furry babies, live in a wonderfully old 1907 yellow victorian farmhouse in Milwaukee, and I'm full-time lampwork glass artist. All the lampwork beads you'll see on my website have been made by me daily, one by one, in my cozy little home studio here in Wisconsin.   I addicted to melting glass, making glass beads and creating one-of-a-kind jewelry designs that I can share with my friends, family and now buyers like you.... and I'm very blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home and do what I love.  And now Im happy to also include beautiful and unique custom metal stamped jewelry, charms and tags to my shoppe.  In fact, every piece of jewelry made in my studio from my own beads and charms also includes a hand-stamped metal "BBL" charm respresenting my studio name, Bastille Bleu Lampwork!

I first took an interest in lampworking back in 1990 after taking one class at a medieval recreation demo, but once the class was over, so was my interest.... until 2006.  A friend of mine was making beautiful glass beads and selling kits.  I decided to buy one, and from that day forward, I've been melting glass ever since!  Im completely self-taught (if you dont count the hour class I had over 15 years ago), and find much of my inspiration, from artisan tutorials, even YouTube videos, and of course, simply drooling over the gorgeous glass creations of some of the famous lampworkers in our industry...... trying to unlock the secrets of "how did they do that"?

Lampworking is my passion,  my bliss... and everyday I am thankful for the opportunity to do what I love doing so much, and a family who loves and supports my crazy addiction to the torch and melting glass. I love melting glass and making beautiful beads, and hope will enjoy looking at and using them. All my beads and hand-stamped metal charms and tags are made with great care, time, skill, and attention to detail, and because each lampwork bead is "made by hand" and completely unique, and are never exactly identical which is the beauty and hallmark of an authentically handmade item.  All my beads are properly kiln-annealed (straight from the flame) for strength and durability for 8-12hrs, and with proper care they will last a lifetime. I take pride in my work so that you can take pride in designing and wearing it!

Im a registered member of Self Representing Artists (member SRA #R67), Self Representing Artist Jewelry Designers (SRAJD mbr# 2852), and a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB #P7942), Lampwork Etc forum.
I have a Mini CC/Oxycon set-up, and use Effrete, Vetrofond, ASK, CIM, Precision, Lauscha, Bullseye, some Double Helix silver glass, Devardi glass, and GT Glassworks.
PUBLICATIONS - -

I'm very proud to have my glass lampwork beads featured in the following publications: "An Introduction to Working with Art Glass Beads: The Beader's Handbook on Lampwork" ~ by Debby Gwaltney