New Creations

The past few weeks I have been learning a lot of things about bead weaving. From peyote stitch to weaving crystal and bead types to thread types. I've started not only working with Nymo but also Fireline. I've left little gashes in my fingers from unintentional garrotes and I've pricked my fingers with long needles. It's all so incredibly worth it. Above you can see the crystal ball pendant that I made with 4mm Peridot Swarovski crystals. Megan at The Peacock Shop taught me the technique.

Well I had been contemplating making a collar for quite some time, with crystals and beads and shiny bits galore. Last night I finally got a start.

The center is a Vitrail Swarovski Rivoli, and the cabochon to the right is bloodstone. I got so much done on this piece last night, I'm really looking forward to where this project goes.

A Story

...Once upon a time there was a girl. This girl really liked glass. She loved seeing what it could do, how others used it. So she started learning to work with glass, to manipulate it in flame and turn it into works of art. Months turned to years and before she knew it she was arriving at the two year anniversary of her start date at the torch.....

Yep. February 18 will be two years! I can hardly believe it! It seems like just yesterday that Melissa was sitting me down at her torch to melt glass. My first beads weren't worth writing home about, but they were MINE!

Remember these?
Yep, those were in fact my first beads. Since then I have learned that glass can do amazing things. Two years later the explosion that comes from thrusting a rod of glass into the flame too quickly still scares the heck out of me!
Then came the first beads at my own torch at home in my very own studio. (I really should post new pics sometime. It has changed SO
MUCH!)





And from there came the point where I stopped being afraid to play with colors. Using colors that people called "fugly" I created some unique focal beads, learning that all colors can be gorgeous when used in different ways.





This year I'm looking forward to more Silvered Glass, I've fallen in love with shards. Here's to a 2010 full of discoveries, play time and gorgeous works of glass!

November

November is the time that snow flies, the leaves have fallen. The time for hot cider and cocoa and curling up to watch movies with friends. It's also the time for NaNoWriMo, which I've decided to once again take part in. The goal? 50 thousand words in 30 days. That's roughly 1,667 words a day.

Yes, people tell me I'm crazy. No, I'm really not. I don't stress about it, don't freak out if I don't make my goal because really? It's just a goal, and if I write at all I've already succeeded.

Last night I tried an off mandrel leaf. I was so very worried that it was going to thermal crack on me. I'm not used to making off mandrel things, and so for some reason I was terrifyed it was going to crack. It didn't though! Yay! I plan on making a lot more of these. They're fun to play with.

Promised

So I got way too excited about these pieces that I thought I'd post the promised photos just a bit early.
I've been playing a lot with silvered ivory. The photo above is definitely proof of that! Top right is Vetrofond dark ivory with silvered ivory shards and a string of goldstone through it. The top left is Vetro Dark ivory again, with dots of violet pastel. The bottom bead is Vetrofond dark ivory, silvered ivory shards and a bit of Double Helix Elextra glass.

Definitely in love with these glasses. Managed to get some CIM Plum and Thai Orchid to play with too. Looking forward to seeing what I can make!

Trying new things

So over the days I've been looking at glass again, at tutorials and thinking up big dreams.

The first tutorial I bought? Amy Kinsch's Taking Reduction Glass by Storm Tutorial.

I've drooled over Amy's beads for as long as I can remember. Often looking through her etsy site and not being able to make up my mind which bead to buy. Now I can try to make them myself! Not only is the technique gorgeous, but the tutorial is easy to read and understand. I'm very excited to try more and more. I have done one bead, but it was wonky and lacked the proper "storm" as it were. Just takes practice!

Other than that? I think I've finally achieved the effect I want when using silvered ivory. Very exciting indeed. I'm half tempted to just play with dark ivory and silver... but I'm telling myself that it will get boring... I'll post photos tomorrow and see what you all think.

Alive!

Yes, contrary to popular (not so popular?) belief- I'm alive!

Working full time plus some sucked my creativity dry. So! I'm back now, the fates decided that I was to be job-less for a while and guess what that means? Light up that torch!

Yesterday I made some simple green rounds to get back into the swing of things. I'm finding that I'm real fond of Effetre's Green Grass Pastel. That stuff is pretty awesome, and when used alone I got some nice color variation. It worked a lot like the old petroleum green for me. Yummy.

Today? Today I pulled out a thin rod of Precision 104 Van Gogh. Tossed it in with some ivory... We'll see what happens. When I put it into the kiln I didn't see much color variation, but I'm hoping that the kiln will bring out some color. I also tried Laguna Blue, another Effetre color. I've had it sitting around forever, but hadn't played with it any. I'm watching my kiln with excitement to see what comes out!

New creations...

So over the past few days I've been mulling around bead ideas in my brain, and trying to figure out how to make a perfect "round" bead. I would like to announce that I have, in fact made perfect matching spacer beads! The same day I made those, I was playing around with silver and frit and all sorts of wonderful things.

The bead to the left is just one view of one of the focals I made. I love this bead! I used frit from Val Cox, which I am just in love with. Under the frit was a bit of silver foil, which reacted as yellow on the white glass. Also I added some perriwinkle stringer, just because I could and was playing.

There is nothing like being able to sit down and torch for two hours straight. I loved being able to just sit and play, not caring about anything really. It's amazing that I pulled such wonderful things out of the kiln! ...Now to clean them.....

Days and Days

The torching is coming along. I think I'm back in the hang of it. As for jewelry making, it can be hard to sit there and stare at so many things and know exactly what you're doing. I call this over exposure. Often times I have to hide things from my sight so I'm not overwhelmed. It isn't easy I have to admit.
In that same vein, I find so many things that I can no longer use. Jewelry supplies that just don't fit into my theme any longer. What do I do with those you ask? Why I add them to my etsy destash shop. I'll be adding more over the next few days, so if you're in the market for new beads and supplies keep your eyes peeled!

I did it!

Today, I made my first set of beads. They're not terribly intricate, but I made a cohesive set of five beads!!!
Light Sky blue with frit and others with some goldstone and clear stringer that I pulled all by myself! I also put together a few earring pairs that are really simple. I know that I need to start simple, it's much better for my less than perfect attention span.

I'm so glad that I decided to torch today, the past few days have been less than wonderful on the torch. :)

The set to the left is one that I made for my Mother, she's still waiting it it to be made into a necklace.

Frit, beads and other things

There are days that I want to just sing everything instead of talk it. I think that today is one of those days. Since Sunday I have tried to do two batches of beads a day. It's really paying off. My kiln fits 11 beads each annealing cycle because I make them and put them directly into the kiln. I don't want to mess around with batch annealing.

Anyway, so I make about 22 beads a day. I can seriously say that not all of them are good ideas. Some turn out amazing and others I have to blink at and wonder what I was thinking.
(Left) This was the first batch of beads that I did. The first two turned out really... wonky. I was getting used to the glass and melting it. These are beads 5-11. At this point I had only made 4 beads prior.

My second batch was much better, if I do say so myself. You can see them to the right. I'm still working on getting perfect shape, but for only having done some 40 beads at most I think that I'm getting there.

And Completion

For about four months now I've been working on my brand new lampworking/beading studio. As of 2pm yesterday it was completed and my Nortel Minor torch was fired up for the first time!
What started out as an old hot tub room (see photo on the right). Is now painted, spiffed up and with fire, ventilation and everything else I need!
I am in love with my new space. My kiln is rather small, but I can get 10 or so beads in per annealing cycle. It works for now. I've also fallen in love with my oxygen/natural gas duo for my torch. Talk about EASY! Since set up I've made 20 beads, I have a long way to go but I'm enjoying every step of the way.

Safety

Safety is a big thing for me. There are really a lot of small ways to be safe, whether you're making jewelry or lampworking.

For jewelry making, I always make sure that I "guard" my cuts, which means when I cut wire I try to cover the tail that I'm cutting off with my finger or hand (keeping it out of the nippers of course!) and I always wear my glasses. They're made for close work or reading, so they're a bit required for me. Another thing I try to do is pick up any fallen beads. Not so much for safety but comfort. It hurts like a bugger when you step on a bead that's sitting on a concrete floor. There's no give and so the bead kinda.... well it hurts a lot.
Now for lampworking it's a whole different animal, if you will. You have to have didymium glasses, no ifs whats or buts. If you work with borosilicate glass you need even stronger glasses than that. Not only are they there to protect your eyes from flying glass (you never know!) but also to protect your eyes from flame glare. After the glasses you have your rod rests and your tools- and always remembering that the bead is HOT.