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. 

 

ALL MY BEADS Facebook

Since My Last Post...............................

It's been a long few weeks with no torching and still I can't breath out of my nose.  Feeling better, just can't breath.  Ugh.  Since no beads were made, I have no brand new photo's to post - except a few of beads I "re-did".  Photo's below. 

Since my last post, the time fell back and it took everyone a week to fall forward !  lol !  Time for that tired tradition to end.  No need for it to change at all anymore. Leave it at Spring Forward.  More sunlight in the day means healthier people. 

Since my last post, I noticed not as many folks have stopped in here.  I am guessing that has to do with my removing old, outdated posts about Kumihimo.  Can't help it.  That "art" has moved far ahead of where I was when I made those posts.  So, bye bye. 

Since my last post, I got a couple new "toys" to play with.  I did try one out last week and LOVE it.  Can't wait to use it more.  It's a masher that mashes absolutely perfectly  parallel compared to any other masher out there.  Pricey but worth every dime.  Second toy is a press or mold that came from Germany.  Can't wait to use it either.  

Since my last post, I I've cleaned up/out my bead stash.  It was a long time coming.  BOC got a nice box full of almost 300 beads and a nice person overseas got a nice boxfull of beadies !  :)   

Since my last post, the weather is changing dramatically however not like it should be.  Instead of getting cooler and STAYING cooler, we are getting temps in the 70's !  For pete's sake, it's NOVEMBER !  The leaves are covering the ground and still falling and it's still in the 70's !  Very little color in the leaves I'm guessing because we had very little rain all summer.  Yet, we have been getting TONS of rain the past 2 months.  Go figure.  

Since my last post, I've cleaned up my desk, my torching area and my silk cords are better organized.  

Since my last post, I've added OPB's (other peoples beads) for sale on my Facebook page.  Destash Beads For Sale  I've had these beads for MANY years, never used any of them so they need to find new homes.  Send me a message over there if interested in any of them. 

Promised eye candy photo's.  Enjoy ! 

Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon.


 

Beads - Beads - Sick (you know like, " Duck, duck goose ! )

I know it's the same ole' same ole' but it's what I do and love doing.  Still, the last week and a half it's been no beads, no torching I should say, nada.  Sick and more sick is the way it's been at our house.  Yuck.  Still feeling it but starting to ease up.  What bothers me is within 48 hours of going to the doctor, who INSISITS everyone MUST come in every 6 months whether or not we need to, I was sick.  Yep, went in healthy and 2 days later, sick.  This is just ridiculous.  I need a new doctor.  Hard to find one that's even likable where we live.  Anyway, that's the last time I do that.  It's happened before.  After going to the hospital once for a mammo.  Within 48 hours, sick.  It's crazy.  Doctors offices and hospitals are for sick people.  We need places to go to if we are NOT sick and just need an xray or bloodwork done, we can go and not have to worry about what strain of flu we're going to catch or when will the cold kick in - or worse.  No, I'm not a clean freak or sterilize everything freak, I just want to be able to go into a doctor's office and feel at ease that I won't get sick.  lol !  Yeah, I know, it ain't gonna happen.  Oh well............

I am getting a few things accomplished this weekend.  Finally getting my bead bowl cleaned out.  Have a nice little bowl going for BOC.  It's been a long time I sent in any beads and it's about time to get moving on it.  Back to making at least one bead each torch session for BOC kids.  I know they need them.  They always do.  It also means I'll get back into sculpting a little again.  I love to sculpt the little dino's I've done in the past and teeth.  Those are fun to make.  So that is my mission - at LEAST one bead per session for the kids.  :)  The few photo's below are what I have done in the past for them.  Fun stuff. 

I am anxious to get back on the torch.  So what's new right ?  lol !  Can't help it.  Looking forward to trying something I've never worked with before - gold leaf.  Have used silver foil, leaf and powder many times but never gold.  Mainly due to the cost.  That stuff is EXPENSIVE because it IS real gold.  And we all know how much gold is per ounce these days.  So, will be very careful about using it.  First, I'm going to "build" a little tool that will help me work with it better.  A fellow lampworker posted a free tutorial on how to make this tool on her blog here Hot Glass Chick's Blog .  It will hold the gold leaf in one place in order to make it easier to use.  That stuff just literally flies away.  This tool will keep it from doing that.  So if you're a beadmaker and have never seen this, check it out.   Well worth the pennies you'll invest in it.  :)  Thanks to Shawnette for sharing this.

 

Time for me to sign off for now.  Thanks for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon !   Have a great week ! 

Autumn In The Air (not really) & Torch Time

It's kinda hard to believe Autumn and fall like weather is suppose to be here when it's 80 plus degrees outside !  lol !  Even though it gets into the 50's at night sometimes and is so nice and cool in the early mornings.  One good thing about those nice cool mornings is they will be nice cool DAYS very soon and I am anxiously awaiting that !  :)  Ok, onto torch time..........

This past week it's been all about revisiting sculpting and of course more beads for the Beads of Courage kids.  I didn't get as many of those done as I would of liked at each torch session so I made up for that a bit yesterday at the torch.  That said, I didn't torch as much as I would of liked either.  Only 3 mornings for a couple hours.  Busy week.  Anyway, the BOC beads are waiting to be cleaned so no photo yet. 

The revisiting part - Sculpted flowers.  I am working on a project for myself again.  This time for our newly remodeled half bath.  Finding colors to coordinate has been a challenge but finally getting resolved.  Some of that glass won't arrive until next week.  In the meantime I've been getting my hands warm again by practicing sculpting roses and other sorts of flowers.  I've revisited the basic rose I was doing before but adding new "twists" literally - to some.  lol !  See photo below.  I actually really like that twist/crimps but it's not exactly what I was trying to accomplish so will keep working on that and reveal that in another post.  Maybe this isn't even a rose type flower with the twisted/crimped petals !  lol !  Whatever it is, they are kinda pretty I think.  Those orange flowers - are suppose to be dark yellow.  sigh.  Anyway the rose in the middle and the flower with transparent petals are close to the colors I need.  In the meantime, I'll keep playing.  :)) 

The bottom picture is of a set of beads I might still add to yet.  It takes a couple of torch sessions to get all the beads in the photo.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out !  The color combinations of the base color and the frit are really wonderful !  It's so hard to tell in a photo.  Be sure to click on the pic to see the close up.       

 

 

I'm going to start something new here on my blog.  Every post I'm going to ask a single question about something in the post.  If you can answer correctly in the comments section below, I'll send you a little surprise gift !  It might be something about a technique I use, a tool I use, a color, etc.  All in fun !  The first person to respond and answer correctly gets the gift.  Easy peasy !  :)  The question will always be posted down here at the bottom.  This weeks question is: 

 

What tool did I use to twist/crimp the petals in the flowers ?

HINT - Everyone has one in their home/toolbox. 

 

Winner is Therese of Therese's Treasures Blog.  Thanks for playing along !  :) 

 

Thanks for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon ! 

 

 

 

 

Finally - Beads for Grown Ups Again (and BOC too of course ! )

Yes indeed, more beads for the kids of Beads of Courage but this past week I needed to get a few sets in my Etsy shop so had to make some beads for grown ups too !  lol !  Not that the grown ups are doing any shopping in my Etsy shop.  :(  Still, it needed to be done and I had F-U-N making them too. 

I always have fun making beads for the kids and I am continuing to do that with each torch session.  I've made at least two beads for them every time I sit at the torch.  Lately the only reason only 2 beads is because they have been bigger and have taken longer to make. 

The bowl with the BOC beads needs to be mailed because it's filling up pretty quickly since I am torching about every other day now.  The count right now is 55 with a few more in the kiln.   Top two photo's below are of BOC beads I've made recently.  So much fun.  Top photo is a new design for me of little dinosaurs.  I hope the kids like them. 

The beads for grown-ups were a lot of fun to make as well !  And I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out.  The last photo below is just one of the sets I made the other day.  Not in my Etsy shop yet but will be by Monday.  I love the color combo's in this set and I really like them etched. 

 

Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon ! 

Fall is in the air which means cool temps and fall colors !  Yay !   

For Beads of Courage Again and On and on and......................

Yep, more for the kiddo's.  :)  I can't help it.  I'm having too much fun making these beads.  I hope the kids like them too.  If anything, making some of these beads has shown me I need to work on some skills !  Like stringer work, encasing (of course !) and not working too hot when it's not needed.  It all takes practice of course.  I have NEVER been good at stringer work and most likely never will be.  My hands tend to shake too much.  Just me.  I'm not nervous, just a bit shaky when I don't want to be.  lol !  So I hope the kids aren't too critical when they see a spotty or shaky line where it's not suppose to be.  lol !  I don't think they would be.  

This weekend Flametree Glass Shop in Roswell, GA. is having Beads of Courage day.  They invite beadmakers to come in and make beads all afternoon for the kids.  They provide the mandrels and glass !  What could be better !  Free glass to play with and the kids get the beads.  Nice.  :)  Here's a link to their website page from a day of beadmaking for Beads of Courage  https://flametreeglass.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=10   Looks like a blast !  I generally do not make beads in the afternoon but maybe this is just what I need for a change.  Plus I'd get to finally meet some fellow glassy folks.  Now that would be cool !  

Ok so here's a couple of pictures. The first one is of my favorites so far this week and the second one is of all the beads so far .  I need to count them but I'm guessing right around 45 give or take.  Plus there are more in the kiln.  I just got a new press so played with it today and created a couple new to me critters with it.  We'll see how those turned out !  lol !  Anyway, the white polar bear, peace signs and love bug (white dots on wings) are all from the BOC book of 20 tutorials, Hot Glass For Cool Kids, that Diane of Soda Lime Times put together.  Here's the link again  http://www.sodalimetimes.com/bocbook.html  which also takes you to the e-mag Soda lime Times.  :)   The little mouse on a wedge of cheese is from a seperate issue of Soda Lime Times.  All the rest are just my fun times at the torch.  As you can tell, I LOVE LOVE LOVE playing with bright colors.  They are my favorites.  I love most all colors but the brights are my most favorites.  :) 

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon to see what's happenin'. 

 

Beadies for the Kiddies

I'm still able to torch early in the morning so that's where I've been lately.  The cool early mornings are great then around 9 - 10 am it's time to close up shop so to speak.  The heat and humidity are back.  lol !  "They" are saying we're going to cool down - 80 degrees - for a high come this weekend.  Nice.  I am anxious for fall and winter weather !  My time of year ! 

Ok so since I'm able to torch a bit in the early morns, I've been making more beadies for the kiddies of Beads of Courage.  They are still in need as far as I know and I'm sure always will be.  I've been so totally inspired to keep making beads for the kids that I've let my Etsy shop wane and I need to get busy with that again too.  Not enough time in the day geesh....Anyway, as long as the kids need a bead, I'll keep at it.  :)  I'm inspired, I'm having fun, I'm learning new techniques, I'm revisiting old techniques and just enjoying all of it.  Knowing too that each bead I make for the kids will be loved.  The kids themselves are such an inspiration.  All that the kids have to deal with on a daily basis I just can't imagine.  So yes, they inspire me to keep on keepin' on !  :)  Wow, now that's an old sayin' I haven't heard in a while.  lol !  

I've mailed in two boxes this past week and the picture below shows the most recent one.  I had so much fun making these beads !  It was recently posted that the kids love bumpy beads, dot beads, encased beads, odd shaped beads and the Peace sign beads.  Sooooooo I made bumpy beads, a few odd shaped beads and some critter beads.  No encased beads mainly because I am lousy at encased beads !  lol !  I give it a shot every now and again but more on that another time.  The critter beads are hard to see because they are standing up on their "paws".  lol !  The peace sign beads are soaking as I type so those will be pictured another time along with today's beads. 
    

 

So as I mentioned before, if you are a beadmaker, PLEASE take a few moments of your torch time each time you torch and make a BOC bead.  Send them in when you get about 30 done.  Believe me, you will feel soooooo good knowing you're bringing a smile to some kid who truly needs a smile.  :)  Besides that - it's fun ! 

 

Thanks so much for coming by.  Please come back again soon to see what else I've been up to.  :)

   

Calling Out to All Glass Bead Artists Again

Beads of Courage is still in desperate need of your handmade lampwork beads.  Please do what you can.  When you're at your torch please take a few moments and make just one or two beads for the kids.  I promise, the more you do it, the more you get into it !  lol !  It's such a great feeling knowing that little beadie you just made will go to a child that's gone thru some serious stuff.  These little bits of our own creativity will bring a simple smile to a kid who needs to smile.  :)  Those little beadies are well loved by these kids too so you know YOUR bead will be cherished !  That alone is a great feeling I think. 

It was recently posted on LE (www.lampworketc.com ) that the kids LOVE certain kinds of beads.  Those are:  Beads with the Peace sign, bumpy beads, anything encased in clear and polka dot beads.  It also said the boys in particular love dark and bright colors and odd shaped beads. 

I've posted a photo below of the box of beads going in the mail today.  The post also said the minute the beads are received, they are shipped out to hospitals in the program.  Most of the beads pictured are made from the tutorials that are in the e-book I posted a link to in the previous post.  Here it is again http://www.sodalimetimes.com/bocbook.html  There are some in there that are my own playtime beads.  lol !  Still, that e-book is chock full of 20 tuts the kids will LOVE ! 

 

Please do what you can to help out the kids.  So easy for us to do and really not at all time consuming.  Just a couple a day and send in when you get at least 30 beads.  That's it.  :) 

 

Thanks to all of you that have donated and those of you that will be.  :) 

 

Until next time, thanks for coming by !  Please come back again soon.  :) 

Handmade Glass Artists, Glass Beadmakers, Lampwork Artist, Etc - Beads Of Courage Needs Your Help

Yep, they need our handmade glass beads !  :)  Seems they have plum run out of stock of these types of beads which are Act of Courage and Long term follow up beads.  Act of Courage beads are special beads the kids get to choose for special courageous act during treatment.  http://www.beadsofcourage.org/

A new e-book of tutorials is now available to anyone that wants one for a mere $20.00 and is chock full of 20 tutorials of beads to make for the kids.  Or just for anyone that wants to try something new or to just look at some fun stuff.  All proceeds go to BOC.  You can order your e-book here  http://www.sodalimetimes.com/bocbook.html which is also a link to Soda Lime Times monthly e-magazine for glass artists.  Which in itself is nothing short of FABULOUS !  :)  For only $5 bucks a month you can't beat it !  Not only do you get great art to look at and read about but also tutorials are included every single month for you to try.  Yes, I said tutorials - with an "s" !  Always more than one !  lol ! 

If I may offer a suggestion.  If you really can't do whole sessions of just beads for BOC, it's really not a biggie but if you could just make one or two or three simple beads each session and send them in when you gather a bunch then it would help TREMENDOUSLY !  Simple bead, hmmmmmm maybe a frit bead with eyes !  lol !  Or a frit bead with a smiley face on it.  Simple and fast.  :)  You know all those pretty and/or fun murrini you bought and have never used - perfect !  Add some frit to a bead and a few murrini and WHA - LA !  :)  The kids really do need beads.  

Ok so here are a few examples of some beads I made using some of the tutorials in that e-book I mentioned above.  I had a blast trying out a bunch of those tuts !  I usually do NOT torch during the summer but hey, I can handle a little heat and humidity which is nothing compared to what these children are dealing with.  

Have fun looking at the photo's and PLEASE - take a few moments of your torch time and make a bead or two for the kids.  Believe me, it's an incredible feeling to know how much the beads will be loved !  :)  

 

These are from two torch sessions of about 2 hours a piece.  I have more beadies cooling in the kiln now that will be added plus I'll be at the torch again today.  :)  Like I said, I'm having too much fun making these beads !  lol !  The only two beads here that are not in the e-book of tutorials is the little doll bead and the fishie bead.  The little doll bead I learned from Anne Ricketts and she has a tutorial available for that on her website here .

 

Thanks for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon to see what's new !  :) 

   

Adding Elements to A Lampwork Bead

Today's post is all about making and adding a certain element to a lampwork bead called a twistie.  These are little pieces of art all on their own if you ask me.  Simple to make to some while a difficult undertaking to others.  They add yet another wonderful step in adding design to the glass bead.  Pictured just below are the twisties I've made so far this week.  I will be making more along with canes.  Canes, are yet another element and will be explored further at a later date.  :)
 

 

As you can see, they come in as many color combinations as one can think of !  The skies the limit as far as that goes as well as how many colors that can be added to a single twistie.  For the twisties pictured, I pretty much stayed with up to 4 colors.  The sizes you see here range from about 6" in length to a couple that are 20" in length.  Twisties are put together using a few different methods and they all work perfectly.  The paddle method, adding stinger to a rod of glass, attaching several rods together with a rubber band, etc.  Once all the colors are melted in, then you pull and "twist".  Depending on how much glass you've added, you can get a pretty long twistie !    

I'm sure there are video's on YouTube showing each method but since I rarely go to YouTube I can't connect to any here.  Sorry.  I would just do a search for lampwork twisties there.  

 

Now that the twisties are ready to use, it's time to add it to a bead.  The photo below shows a few ways twisties can be used in a bead.  Once again, the skies the limit as far as what can be done with these colorful addtions to a bead !  In the past, I made lots of beads for Beads Of Courage using bright, colorful twisties.  Below, the large one on top left is twistie cane encased.  The blue donut bead is a twistie melted on top, no encasing.  Bottom left is one for the BOC kids, twisties just melted into a white bead and eyes added.  The bell flower next to the dime is a red, yellow and orange twistie melted into a press to make the pretty little flower.  :)  So much more you can do too !

 

 

Making twisties to use can be very time consuming but well worth the effort to be sure !  And at the end of the torching day, if you have any tiny nibs of twistie left, you can add them to an "end of the day" bead and end up with a surprise that might be the best bead made all day !  lol ! 

 

Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon ! 

   

 

                                

 

Where Was That Ah-Ha !

Last Monday morning, as I sat at the torch, trying to get inspired I just couldn’t find my mojo.  Nothing was working for me.  Nothing was coming out like I wanted it to.  I made a couple BOC beads for the kids and some spacers thinking ok, that’s it.  No more torching for the day.  Took a lunch break and thought oh what the heck, let’s give it another try thinking it was all going to go horribly wrong or maybe I’d get lucky and find some sort of inspiration.  Generally, with me, it’s the going horribly wrong !  lol !  So I sat down and thought, ok maybe I just need to do something either brand new or revisit something that for whatever reason I just could NOT get in the past.  I revisited encasing flowers.  Oh brother !  That was always a crick in my side.  I just could NEVER get it right.  The ends were bad, the flowers were smeared, encasing had divets, etc, etc.  No matter how hard I tried or what I did or what tutorial I bought and tried to follow.  Nothing worked, there was always something wrong – until last Monday ! 

At last, it all came together.  How or why I’m not sure.  I’m thinking I just relaxed and figured what the heck !  lol !  Yep, everything worked out just fine.  The first one I just let myself go.  If the ends turned out – great, if not I didn’t care.  My main goal was to keep the “flowers” and everything under the encasing in shape, no smearing.  I did it !  No smearing !  Then the next thing was ok, no divets in the encasing.  I thought surely that was just too much to ask !  I mean there was no smearing afterall.  Wasn’t that enough for the first try ?  Nope.  I had to improve the encasing and I did it !  NO divets !  Two outta three ain’t so bad so let’s see if I can get nice ends.  Done !  J  Needless to say I am very happy !  It was one of those weeks I couldn’t wait to get back to the torch every day just to see if I could make that bead.  There was no “ah-ha” moment when it all came together.  I have no clue WHY it all came together after all these years.  It just did and I don’t think I want to question it.  lol ! 

These are just “beginner” encased flowers, nothing fancy.  The fancy stuff will come later I hope.  Fancy meaning a second layer of petals or putting a crease in the petals or adding a stamen to the center, that sort of stuff.  I did try the layering of petals on one bead – pffft, did’nt work too well so no rushing it.  I did learn something very valuable though that I DID read over and over in every tip or tutuorial out there – take your time encasing.  Slow is better and it’s very true.  

Below is a photo of the flowers from last week. 

Top row, left to right, first two are day one, second two are day two and bottom three are day three.  The very bottom bead isn't encased flowers but I like how the bead turned out so it was included in the photo.  :)  Of course a few did end up in the water can.  It happens.  :(   All in all, I am THRILLED that I can say - I can make encased flowers !  lol !  Wow !  Insert happy dancer here.  :)     

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon to see what’s going on in my little corner of the world.  J           

          

Today is Tuesday

ETA: Today is Tuesday, May 22 and this entire post is what I wrote up yesterday and kept having problems posting. Seems Google has a few issues it needs to work out for the new format we are to work with. Anyway, I decided to post it even though it's a day late to keep up with what's going on with me at the torch cause something VERY exciting (for me anyway) happened yesterday. So a new post is coming............................ 

Wow, it's time for an update here.  The last 10 days just sort of flew by even though it felt like it kept dragging on and on.  Having a cold, sinus and/or allergy problems really puts a "kink" in things.  Feeling somewhat better now but it still lingers......................

Not much time spent at the torch but was able to get on it a few times here and there.  Was able to try out some more murrini and make a few more beads for BOC.  The murrini - some ok, some not so ok but it's a learning process.  :)  While it can be fun to do, you most certainly need to be in the right frame of mind as it's a long drawn out process to get to the final result.  The more detail, the longer the process of course.  I've kept it simple so far with the smiling face and star or starfish.  Basically simple, no fuss designs.  The picture below is what I made one day.  The yellow star or starfish and another smiling face with blue and green.  The dark blue with clear around it was my first attempt at a starfish but it looks like a little flower.  So it's usuable.  lol !    

The next time I thought I felt up to torching I made a few beads.  One ended up in the water can.  It happens to us all.  One of the colors I had encased, didn't want to be encased so the bead kept cracking no matter how warm I kept it.  lol !  I ended up making two for BOC, the dino and the one with lots of dots pictured below with two others.  The other two are also for BOC but I made those a bit over a week ago.  I made the dino's tail a bit too long but I'm sending it anyway and hopefully they'll still use it.  :)  

I worked hard over the weekend so today is playday at the torch - I hope.  I'm not sure what I want to do yet but whatever it is, I plan to enjoy and have fun !  Sometimes the glass dictates what IT wants to do rather than me choosing what I want it to do !  lol !  If that sounds strange, it probably is a little bit but it's the truth.  I can have an idea in my head and it goes completely out the window once I begin melting the glass.  lol !  It just happens. 

Thanks for coming by and visiting.  I hope you come back again soon to see what's happening.  :)

   

   

Something New & Fun

I haven't been doing much at the torch this week due to life getting in the way but did manage to try a new technique.  Up until a few days ago, when I came down with this icky cold or whatever it is, I was still making beads for the BOC kids.  I got some feedback from a fellow lampworker that after seeing one bead I had made inspired her to get out her murrini and work with it again.  The bead in question had some fun murrini in it and one piece in particular was a smiling or happy face.  The bead is in one of the photo's from a post a couple weeks ago.  Anyway, I got some more of those murrini from the gal that made the ones I used.  Lori of  http://www.etsy.com/shop/loriandkim Then I got to thinking, why couldn't I try making some myself ?  I had never tried making murrini faces or anything too technical before.  I had made simple murrini with a few colors in them but nothing of this sort.  So I went looking for a tutorial.  Found a great one with about 5 or 6 tuts in it !  Not that I'll be able to make a butterfly murrini or anything but I got what I wanted - at least 2 murrini I CAN make.  :)
  
So, I did just that.  On my very first try at a smiley or happy face - here's my result ! 

I must admit I am very happy how it came out !  I got it perfect and THAT was a total surprise !  lol !  I only cut some of the pull into the chips you see.  I did use a couple in a couple of beads.  Only one turned out.  Melted the other ones into the bead too much.  lol !  Then I remembered why I didn't use murrini much in the past - I was no good at actually using them in a bead !  lol !  So I'll keep working on that part as well.  :)  

I did make 3 more smiling faces murrini but managed to do several things wrong.  In one of them, I forgot a step.  In one the colors were too dark and the last one, I used white for eyes and a mouth and they just sort of disappeared into the other color.  lol !  Oh well, that's what learning and trial and error is all about.  :) 

I can't wait to get back to the torch !  As soon as this cold or whatever it is moves on, I'll be on it !  And I really wanted to see the new movie Dark Shadows this weekend !  Drats.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you come back again soon to see what's happenin' !  :)    

For The Kids at Beads Of Courage

Been playing hard all week at the torch and so far, the picture below is what BOC is getting from my torch time !  :)  I am pleased as punch how these beads all turned out and had a bit of a sniffle over the several that ended up in the water can.  :(  It happens.  One I was pulling off the mandrel after annealing and the end broke off !  That one was at least 3 1/2" long !  Oh well........onward and upward as it were.  I'll be back at the torch hopefully tomorrow making more of these for Beads Of Courage and I hope the kids love them.  I'm actually sculpting again too by making the little dino's !  I had forgotten how to make them so had to figure it out all over again.  lol !  

I will be making more of them that's for sure.   Just a bit time consuming right now.  Once I get back into the hang of making them, they'll move along faster.   

This second photo is of beads I made some time ago that I dug up to send to the kids.  I was REALLY into sculpting back then !  The  only one in this pile that was made recently is the whitish color one.  Not sure why it's in this photo !  lol !  
















Time for me to run.  Thanks so much for stopping by !  I hope you come back again soon to see what's going on.  :)  

Old Stuff, New Stuff, Whatever Stuff

It's been one of those weeks where you just don't know what's going to happen next !  Geesh.  To make it easier on myself, I got back to the torch at last !  :))  Happy, Happy Debbie !  lol !  It's been FUN too.  The title pretty much says it all.  I did some "old stuff", things I've done before, "new stuff", something I've been wanting to do for a long time and finally did AND the whatever stuff is pretty much everything else in between.  :) 

The old stuff:  Back to bright colors again.  Yummy, fun, put a smile on my face colors !  lol !  All for BOC kids whom I hope will smile at them as well.  So much fun to do.  Picture of what I've done so far is below.  

They're big, bold and I love 'em.  LOTS more coming as I'm in that mode and I don't think it will go anywhere too soon.  Because they are so big it takes a long time to make just one so I'm only getting a few done at each session.  My torch sessions generally only last a couple hours.  Anyway, I'll make plenty more before I ship them off.  












So now we come to The New Stuff.  Below is a picture of something I've been wanting to do for a while now but just got around to it.  It's another form of a blown hollow bead.  These have been around for a while actually in the form of a vessel or globe.  Done off the end of a hollow tube or mandrel.  The blown hollows I was making previously were done off something called a puffy mandrel that has the hole the bead forms around on the side of the hollow tube.  Anyway, this bead not only has a hollow inside, it's also covered with blue enamel then encased with clear glass.  Encasing a hollow bead in this fashion is usually not the norm however that said,  I'm sure it has been done in the past since there is very little in the glass world that is considered brand new.  There is one bead artist that is doing them beautifully right now and her artistic renditions are fabulous !  I was thrilled to have accomplished this on my own even though I am pretty bad at encasing.  Encasing a hollow is a pretty touchy thing to do as the hollow part can and will collapse easily from the heat of adding more glass.  It all came together the other day and this is my second try.  I won't even show the first one.  lol !  So all in all, it's pretty basic.  If you can make a vessel or globe off the end of your hollow mandrel, you can make one of these beads.  

The Whatever Stuff:  I stepped on my glasses and broke them and my computer is dying a slow and painful (to me) death.  The new computer is already ordered but the glasses, well I gotta get to the eye doctor and get that done.  The cheapies I'm wearing are giving me  horrible headaches.  UGH.

Time to go for now.  Thanks so much for coming by and paying me a visit.  I hope you come back again soon to see what's happening.  :)) 

   

Wow ! New Blogger look and New Necklace

Wow ! I have some catching up to do !  I don't know if I like this new blogger thing yet.  Well, will have to just keep playing.


So it's been a very busy week this past week.  Very little creative time but I did manage to put together the necklace pictured below.  

I wanted to use the enameled beads I made a few weeks ago before the pollen hit and this is what I came up with so far.  I'm not sure if I like it nor am I sure it will stay as it is.  I like the solid black beads bringing out the black in the enameled beads however I'm not sure the shape of those black beads is right.  Someone mentioned a more organic shape to match the  enameled beads & I do believe they are right.  The more I look at it, the more I agree.  :)  






I am getting closer to being able to torch again.  Yay !  I can't wait.  Am getting very impatient now.  I got some filigrana glass I am so very anxious to use !  Filigrana rods are a solid color encased in clear & ready to use.  Also stocked up on some glass at very good prices to use with the enamels.  I'm ready to get back to that and the blown beads as well.  Have LOTS of ideas floating around in my head.  Need to get back to making some BOC beads as well.  I gave up on the butterflies.  They just weren't very good at all.  Those need to be very special.  So I will just stick with making the beads for the kids.  It's all good.  :)  


That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon.  Lampwork beads or jewelry - it's all good !  :)     

A Whole Lotta Nuttin'

That's not entirely true.  I just haven't been making beads at all this week.  I didn't stick to my thought of making butterfly beads but I have good reasons.  Life just gets in the way sometimes and we have to go with the flo.  :)   It's been one of those weeks where the unexpected comes along and for a change, it's all good !  lol !


I did manage to get some glassy stuff done though.  I tackled twisties the other day.  I hadn't made a twistie in years so it was time.  Besides, I really wanted to see if a bigger sized twistie would work on these bigger blown beads.  The small ones just don't look right.  I did make some pretty big ones too.  Big in diameter and LONG.  Not at all pretty, not at all straight and all of them have different widths in one pull.  :)  What can I say, I tried.  They'll still make pretty decorations.  I might take a picture of them later.  Next torch session that I'm making the blown beads, I'll give one of these twists a try.  


I also finally got some little metal containers for the enamels to go in.  Was short by one container wouldn't ya know it !  lol !  Still, these worked fine and could be used for many things.  May get more in the future.     http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=44948&cat=2,2260,47776&ap=1

I FINALLY went thru all my loose beads and ended up shipping off a nice box to BOC  http://www.beadsofcourage.org/  Probably about 3 pounds give or take.  Which compared to the last two wasn't much.  lol !  Still, they are in very short supply of the fun decorated beads & BIG beads so that's what they got from me.  And I tell ya, some of those puppies were honkers !  lol !  


Since I didn't make any beads this week, how 'bout a "Blast From the Past" photo ?  Well, it's from my past anyway.  lol !  

Beads made by Anne Ricketts

Bracelet made by me a LONG time ago.  :)

Time to run.  Thanks so much for coming by !  Please come back again soon !  

I'm Late and Have a Good Excuse

Well, only by one day and really it's only because it took me longer than normal to get chores done yesterday.  And the reason it took longer, I burned my finger last week while at the torch.  Yep, and it's not just a minor burn.  Anyway, I haven't been able to do alot of my normal "stuff" which includes being at the torch.  The burn is on my first finger in an area that is used ALOT, usually bends alot and gets bumped alot in normal circumstances.  Plus, that area is exposed to alot of heat when making beads.  Something that doesn't feel very good right now.  lol !
  
At least before I burned my finger I was able to explore making blown beads and shards for the very first time, for a very brief moment.  I got one shard done, one blown bead done and one more blown bead partially done.  That last one is still laying,  glass unscathed, where I threw it on the table after burning myself.  :)  Just below is the picture of the blown bead I was able to finish.  I almost blew a hole in it but saved it and you can see that weak spot in the photo.  The bead is very odd shaped to be sure but I HAD A BLAST making it !  I am sooooo hooked and will be doing more.  I have ALWAYS loved huge, giant beads and this one measures in at about 30x35mm or about 1 1/4 x 1 1/2" !  I want bigger too !  :)

I can't wait to make more and in lots of colors !  A friend said she'd love to have a  necklace made with some so that gives me a great incentive to do my best.  It was so much fun making this one and even the one that blew out.  lol ! 


Of course I'll continue to make the butterfly beads for BOC.  I need to keep working on and perfecting those as well.  

      

I know in my last post I said I would talk more about photographing but that also has come to a stand still.  I'll get back to all the bead stuff when my finger is healed enough to do so. In the meantime, thanks much for coming by and visiting.  
Come back again any time to see what's up.  :)


Pin It

Weekly Musings

A busy week it's been for me for sure as I'm sure it's been for lots of folks.  Getting back to "normal" after the holidays - whatever normal is - can be a challenge for some, like me.  We get in that holiday mode and sometimes it's a little hard to get out of it.  We're in it for months BEFORE the actual day even happens ! 


Along with getting back into a "normal" mode, I've been back to the torch a couple of times and playing with my photography set up.  More of the photo stuff in a bit.  The torching was a bit of a challenge this week as I continue to try and get comfortable making butterfly beads.  It's going to take lots more practice that's for sure as I continue that effort.  My goal is to make the butterfly then be able to add decorations of all sorts.  Again a challenge for me but well worth it.  I USE to be very comfortable sculpting beads but that was nearly 2 years ago and I haven't done that since.  So again, it's back to the drawing board for me.  lol !  And that's ok cause no matter what I do at the torch, I LOVE IT !  :)  
Butterflies below !  

Of all the photo's I've taken, so far, this is the best one.  :)  As you can see there are funky butterflies but I wanted to show my progress as I go along.  The top middle blue one has burnt wings.  lol !  The orange and blue one on the bottom right was the very first one I've ever made.  See, I never made butterflies before this - ever.  lol !  The orange and blue one will definately be staying home with me and the burnt wings one, I MIGHT be able to still save that one.  We'll see.  I'm going to keep making these in the hopes I'll get better as I progress.  I want to do my very best for the families that will get the butterflies.:)




 I've been playing with my photo set up and it's been a HUGE challenge.  Or maybe a pain in the behind is a better way to express it !  lol !  Photography is not my strong suit at all.  Still, as you can see with the photo above I have alot of work to do !  All this will be the subject of my next post as to what's going on with that.  It deserves to be kept separate.  lol !  I LOVE making beads - HATE taking pictures of them !  lol !  So until next time........... 


Thanks so much for coming by my little blog.  I hope you come back again sometime.  I will post at least once a week from here on in.  :)       


Pin It

A New Year is Here.

Happy New Year to one and all !  I hope you had a safe and fun holiday season.
  
With the new year here at last, I've come to the conclusion I need to do something more  with my beadmaking.  I don't sell beads or jewelry any more and I plan to continue to make beads cause I LOVE IT !  :)  So, with that in mind I needed a plan as to what to actually do with all these beads that will eventually overtake my space if I kept them all.   I can only make so many pieces of jewelry for myself and  I can only keep so many beads for myself.  The best plan for me, is donating to Beads Of Courage.  Follow this link to read about this wonderful organization.    http://www.beadsofcourage.net/
When you're at the website, be sure to watch the CBS story.  Just wait for the picture to scroll thru and click that link.  And you can donate money as well by purchasing beads.  There are tabs across the top in the pink you can click on and read.   


They are always in need of beads so what better way to do something with all these beads I have and will have ?  Plus, I'm learning to make butterfly beads.  Something I've never made before.  The butterfly bead is a very special bead as it is given to the family of a child that has lost their battle with the illness they had.  Sad to be sure but the butterfly is a  lovely remembrance I think.  How can I not give them all the beads I can make ?      


So yesterday I tackled a couple of butterflies.  They are still in the kiln this morning.  The bad thing is when I was at the torch yesterday, I went to reach for something on the table and put two fingers right thru the flame of my torch !  lol !  It happens to us all, that's a given.  Sometimes we just "forget" we are playing with real FIRE !  lol !  So I ended up only making 2 1/2 butterflies yesterday but at least it's a start.  :)  I did make one the other day but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to show that one.  lol !  Anyway, I'll get the other 2 cleaned up today and take pictures of those and some other beads I made a week or so ago and post ASAP.  


In the meantime, here's a picture of a glass ring bracelet I won on Ebay a week or so ago !  Yes, it's all glass that has been melted into those circles !  I LOVE IT !  It is done in Boro glass by the fabulous glass artist Pipyr.  Boro is hard glass and very different from the soft glass I use.  Here's a link to her website   http://www.pipyr.com/sculpture.html    I also bought her tutorial on how to make these circles.  I've always wondered how this was done without the glass sticking to each other.  Now I know and hopefully will someday try working on it !  :)  I have tons of tutorials I've never tried but that's something for another day.  lol !  

So I'm off to start my day.  :)  I thank-you for coming by and having a look see at what's going on here.  I'll keep posting to be sure.  Come back again sometime to have a peek.  Have a safe and wonderful New Year !    


      

Pin It