What are Lampworked Glass Beads??

When I am selling in person, I get so many people that walk up and think my beads are rocks :)
I have a brochure with the following explanation about Lampwork.  Thought this would be a good place to share it here.  Also, Pendants are on sale in the Etsy shop right now thru May!

SALE! Lampwork Glass Pendants

So, What are Lampworked Glass Beads?

Lampworking, also called flame working or torch working is an ancient form of glass work, originally using oil lamps.  Today a small oxygen and propane mix torch is used to melt glass rods. The two most common glasses used are soda-lime, and borosilicate.  Once in a molten state, the glass is wound around a mandrel that has been dipped in bead release so that is can be removed later.  The base bead can be shaped, sculpted and formed with the use of tools and gravity with the hot molten glass.  Smaller pieces of glass and metals can be used to decorate the base bead.  Once the bead is completed it is "garaged" in a pre-heated kiln until the bead making session is over.  After all the beads have been made, a digital program is run to anneal the beads to remove stress from the glass.  After the beads are cool they are removed from the mandrel and cleaned with hand tools, or dremel attachments under running water.  At this point the beads are finished.