Shop Talk

Eric Sumberg - Daily Chronicle What do those who create gifts give as gifts themselves? Often, the artistic among us choose what is close at hand. DeKalb resident Allison Johnson, 33, works with glass in her Bliss Beads Studio behind Mattress Warehouse on East Lincoln Highway. She was hard at work Saturday in her studio, creating glass beads in the searing heat of a propane-and-oxygen torch for 12 family members and friends. “I think that going to the store and buying stuff is so ... people can buy that themselves,” Johnson said. “I'd rather make someone a piece of jewelry than something they can buy at a store.” Each piece takes about a half-hour to make, and the quality and color of glass rods vary with each bead she makes. Most of her fr