Sunday, February 28, 2016

Links and More

Not much in beadie things to show cause I haven't been able to torch this past week.  :(  Life can just get in the way sometimes.  It happens and we all do the best we can. 

I decided to post some links to some really cool pages/websites that I've come to know recently, are brand new pages or have been around for a while that I visit often.  Some are quite helpful, others are just for fun while others can be dangerous.  Dangerous because money is spent at these places.  lol !  No matter they're all places I enjoy, relax to or again just spend money at.  So let's get started.  And in no particular order except for my pages.  It is my blog page afterall.  lol ! 

ALL MY BEADS FACEBOOK PAGE

MY FB JEWELRY SUPPLIES DESTASH ALBUM

MY PINTEREST

LAMPWORK BULK BUY FB GROUP

GLASS BEADS DAILY

LAMPWORK ETC.

http://www.sodalimetimes.com/

http://www.web2pdfconvert.com/

http://www.beadsofcourage.org/

http://www.pogo.com/

AMAZING GLASS ART

DESIGN SEEDS - COLOR ! 

http://www.commentsyard.com/

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eagle-cam

Thanks for coming by.  Please come back again soon. 






Saturday, February 20, 2016

Need More Glass ?

Did not realize it's been that long since I posted last.  Geesh.  Where does the time go ?  I know, it just goes and there's no stopping it.  Sometimes I wish I could.  Don't we all ? 

So the last post I showed all those leaves I made.  I made more after that too.  Finally figured out what colors I wanted to use for that special project.  Had to order more glass.  Sigh.  That's usually the way it goes.  I really didn't want to but needed 2 more colors I didn't have.  Problem with needing only 2 more colors, when we, meaning glass melters, beadmakers, lampworkers only NEED 2 colors, it doesn't stop at just the 2 colors when we order.  Oh no.  We find "excuses" to "need" this other color or that other color.  lol !  And ooooohhhhhh I've never seen that color before !  lol !  Never fails.  Plus, if you're gonna order glass anyway, might as well make it worth the cost of shipping.  Oh wait, this place offers FREE shipping !  lol !  Can't use that excuse for ordering more glass.  It's a matter of justification in the end.  Sometimes it can be - sometimes not so much.  lol !  Justified that is.  Still, in the end, if you do need that certain color for a certain project, it's a must have so gotta do it sort of thing.  The only other thing I can think of is if you live near a glass distributor or dealer.  Then MAYBE you can go in and get just what you need.  That said, I live no where near one of those places so I can't know what I would do.  lol !  I do admit though that getting those boxes with all that glass in it !  It's like a kid at Christmas at my house.  lol !  For me anyway.  It's always fun getting those boxes.  :) 

I was able to torch just a bit the last couple of weeks.  We had a cold spell there for a while.  But it's been warming up this past week.  Spring is just around the corner which means POLLEN and NO torching at all. sigh.  At least not until the nasty yellow stuff disappears.  So I have made a few things here and there however some of it was just experimenting.  As I mentioned, more leaves but did get a couple others things done.  I'm making at least one bead per session for BOC again.  Need to keep this up as they are in need of beads.  If every beadmaker would make just one bead for BOC every torch session it sure would help.  Anyway, I've added a few photo's below of a few things that I made so enjoy the eye candy.  :) 
 
This first photo is another in the line I call Ancient Artifacts I LOVE playing with.  Want to add more beads to this set. 


This little dollie bead set will go to BOC.  I haven't made a doll bead in ages.  Can you tell ?  lol !  I think some little girl might like her though.

 
Of course more bell flowers.  The difference here - they are made on .999 fine silver wire !  Yep.  Those are really shiny wires too !  :)  All of the others were made on German silver wire which is NOT pure silver.  These wires are .999 pure silver. 


 
That's all for now friends.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon. 
 
Please come by my Facebook pages for a visit.  I show all of my beads and projects there. 
 

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Keeping Up and Torch Time

Time to update here since it's been almost 2 weeks.  Why is it that with every good intention of keeping updated here that inevitably something gets in the way ?  lol !  Such is the way things go I guess.  At least there are the good intentions.  :) 

I did have quite a bit of torch time in these almost 2 weeks with a specific project in mind for several of those torch sessions.  Oh I did make some other beadies as well but the bulk of my time spent there was making glass leaves headpins/beads.  Yep, leaves and LOTS of them with more to come.  I think I need more anyway.  I really should start the project so I know exactly how many I need.  lol !  Again, the thought of good intentions.  Still, as you can see in the photo just below, there are LOTS of leaves in many colors. I need to decide which color(s) to go with AND - to etch or not to etch.  Hmmmmmm...............If I etch, the green leaves in this photo will not etch for some reason.  Some colors just won't.  Maybe if I tumble etch them ?  At any rate, I have made MORE leaves already (not pictured here) to bring the total up to about 80.  Once I decide what color(s) then I can move forward. 


As for other beadies made this past week, take a look below.   I so enjoy making beads with this technique.  Sometimes I just don't know how they will turn out in the end.  I love being surprised when I take beads out of the kiln.  :)  I did learn the original technique from a tutorial I purchased however I have changed it up a bit to make it my own and I love the outcome.   They're just fun to make. 

 
Another bead type I enjoy making is the one below.  No special name for it.  They're tube focal beads with a special no longer manufactured glass frit that is very reactive.  Fun to make and the outcome is always quite pleasing.  This one is etched.   
 
 
There are more beads from the past week but those are for another time.  No matter the time of year or the mood I'm in, being at the torch to make these glass beadies always, always makes me happy.  :)  In fact, even though it's only about 30 degrees this morning with it staying rather chilly all day, I'm going to be at the torch in about an hour.  lol !   So, I am outta here !  :)
 
Thanks so much for coming by.  Come back again soon. 
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