AUTUMN IS TORCH TIME !

Yep, it's that time of year when the cool morning breezes, falling leaves and the smell of autumn is in the air !   Which means - torch time for me !  In the early mornings, when it's the coolest temps I can take advantage and finally be at the torch again !  Which is what I did this past week !  Yay !  It also means the temps will keep falling (hopefully) and I'll be able to torch no matter the time of day.  Still, my most productive and favorite time of the day IS early mornings.   As far back as I can remember early mornings have ALWAYS been my best time of day. 

Since it is autumn I decided I needed to make some leaves again.  The set I made took me a few days to put together.  That's because I only torch no more than 2 or 2 1/2 hours a morning.  It's a HUGE set that can be divided.  Just need to figure out how big the sets need to be.  Anyway, I have made this set before and enjoyed it a lot so have wanted to make another set since.  Just never did it - til now.  Of course it's not exactly the same.  A remake never is.  Still, I like it a lot.  I'm putting up photo's of both sets to compare.  The only way I can compare since the first set is long gone.  :)  So here goes:  Photo #1 is the new set and photo #2 is the first set.  I used the exact same colors but used a little bit of a different technique in applying those colors.  Plus, the newest set does not have spacers.  I have given up on making spacers simply because they are a pain in the hand (and butt ! ) to clean !  Easy to make but a real pain to clean.  I have enough hand problems as it is without adding more !  :)  Anyway, there you go. 

So this morning, as I sit and type this post, I am thinking what I want to do today.  Specifically, this morning.  I have had a busy week up to this point with my typical "stuff" including torching but also including reading again.  Oh yes, reading some books that have grabbed me by my heart and won't let go !  lol ! 

OUTLANDER baby and if you haven't seen the show yet or read the books, I suggest you do !  If you like a great love story that includes a bit of "fantasy", romance, a bit of World History, war battles, intrigue, murder and everything in between than these books and the show are for you !  I am so badly hooked that, in a months time, I'm already on the 4th book in the series !  Yep.  I haven't read that much in DECADES !  I use to read ALOT back in my younger day.  lol !  And back then it was not novels so much as biographies and such.  The outlander series is a novel but also has a bit of history in it as well.  It grabs you from the very start, holds on to you and you don't care one bit !  lol !  It's soooooooooooo hard to stop reading.  And that is my "problem" these days.  Deciding do I want to read or get other stuff done ?  The reading has been winning out pretty much.  The nice thing about that is that it's a way to make up for waiting for the new season to start next year.  Yep, it's one of those shows that you literally have to wait a whole year to come back.  Much like Game of Thrones.  Another post for another day.  :)  Anyway, I highly recommend reading the books and watching the show.  The first season is on dvd with the second season soon to be released I think.  The show will begin it's 3rd season sometime in the spring on the Starz channel.  With GOT on Sunday nights and Outlander on Saturday nights, my weekend line up is complete !  lol ! 
  
A little something to entice you to watch Outlander !  :)
A photo that was the cover of Entertainment Weekly about a year or so ago I think and the second photo is the latest from the upcoming Season 3 out next year.  I found them online so figure I can post them here too.   

 

 

 

 

Thanks for coming by.  Come back again soon !

 

 

 

 

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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Lampwork Glass Flame Made Beads

How's that for a title to a post ?  lol !  Kinda says it all I think.  lol !  

I had a very productive, hectic week thus far.  Not just with arts/crafts but with other stuff happening on the home front.  We are considering a move so that's taking up alot of time.  In between all that I do manage to "do my thing" beading, jewelry making, Kumihimo braids with and without beads.  Those keep me sane.  Those keep me happy.

So my happy parts brought me back to the torch finally over the weekend.  As long as it was raining, I could torch.  That rain keeps the pollen from filling the air so I can do just that.  It is pollen season again and it's been in full swing for the past month. 

 I had 3 torch sessions.  Fun !  The first day was pretty shaky but after that, I was fine.  Did some things I hadn't done in YEARS on that first day basically to prove a point.  It worked.  lol !  And those beads are the first picture below.  I made BIG beads all three days plus some flowers and leaves.  All pictured below.  Photographing the beads with the dime shows just how big those beads are.  :)  I had to make big beads for several reasons and am very happy with the outcome of all of them.  :)  Haven't decided yet if they'll be listed or will go in a piece of jewelry.

In the last photograph, there are 3 HUGE beads.  It took me forever to make each bead and it was due to the oxygen supply.  Will have to fix that.  Anyway, the beads turned out decent enough and I had fun making them.  That's what matters.  :)  The flowers and leaves will go in a bouquet I think.  I need to make a couple more rose type flowers yet.  In the last photo, that honkin' blue bead is my favorite of all of them.  I LOVE that glass and as far as I can tell, it's no longer available.  sigh.  That bead came from one rod of glass.  Soooo pretty.  It's been my favorite glass for years.  That one for sure is going in a necklace.

It would seem that the glass will keep calling me back in.  lol !  I have thought maybe it's time to quit - again with all these long breaks but something just keeps bringing me back every time.  I'm thinking it's the "zen" of melting glass.  Sounds corny I'm sure but it's the truth.  Seeing that glass melt then form into "something" is amazing to me and I can't wait to see the final outcome - good or bad - every single time.  :)        

   

 That's all for this week.  Thanks so much for coming by.  Come back again soon. :)

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Bringing Autumn In

I can't help it.  It's been so hot I needed to think about the cool, brisk mornings and the changing of the leaves and all the color.  Ahhh, my most favorite time of year !  It's not so far off afterall.  :)  That said, I did play at the torch some and went in a whole different direction.  Nothing brand new but something I never spent a lot of time with - off mandrel leaves.  Fun.  I hadn't done an off mandrel anything in a very long time so it was time to give it a go and with fall arriving soon, what better way than with leaves.  :)  

Fall to me is like Spring to others, it gives me a brand new sense of being alive !  The cool air makes me "wake-up" out of the sluggish, hot, humid weather of summer. 

Working with off mandrel anything can be a challenge to those of us that don't do it on a regular basis.  My biggest re-learning was the loop that needs to be added.  No loop means there's no way to hang the pendant if that's the intention of the final object.  That was my intention.  lol !  Too little glass means a thin loop which can break easier.  Too thick and it looks awkward.  I got there but it did take a couple sessions at the torch.  lol !  In the end, it all came together and I really like what I ended up with. 

Pictured below are just a few of what I've made recently.  I think my favorite is the focal leaf at the bottom.  All the leaves shown are a mix of several colors in one leaf.  Fun.  The top set and the focal are in my Etsy shop now as well as leaves from last season.   

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by !  Please come back again and see what's happening.  Next time, I'm pretty sure I'll be showing jewelry !  lol ! 

   

Waiting For Motivation Week

Yes, it's been one of those weeks where the motivaton just didn't make itself known.  Probably has to do with fighting off the sniffles and it being a losing battle.  lol !  Still, I WANT to be at the torch but figure with no motivation, it would be a waste of time and glass.  So I just took the week off and have pretty much done, nothing.  Nothing creative anyway.   I know this happens to everyone at times.  Sometimes it can last a VERY long time but in my case, now, it's just the sniffles keeping me down.  :(  I'll get over it sooner than later.  lol ! 

Since the last time I was at the torch was Sunday, I did manage to make a few things which I will show at a later date.  In the meantime, I've posted a couple photo's of a couple of temporary bell flower and leaves bouquets.  Temporary because I just needed someplace to put all these bell flowers.  :)  They will all be sorted out and put in pretty little bouquets with other flowers I've been working on and will be given as gifts.  I still have alot of work to do before they are finished.  I think they're going to be so pretty though and I hope the receivers will love them.  

This bell flower press is such a joy to play with and make these flowers !  I've also been trying different things with the press but those little experiments need work before I can show them.  lol !  Right now, I just need to concentrate on the gifts !  lol !       

 

Since it has been such a slow week, that's going to be all for this post.  I hope  you come back again soon because I will have more new things to show !  :)  Thanks so much for coming by !  :) 

Leaves and Flowers - More Fallish fun

The few days I was able to torch this past week were pretty fun.  Only one day it was a bit frustrating.  More on that later.  I really didn't "learn" anything new.  Just kept playing with colors.  Some new to me but most colors I've known from the past.  I did play a bit more with some heavily laden silver color which is not the norm for me but I was enjoying it so much I just kept at it.  :)  It gave me no trouble at all either which is a good thing because when this particular color first came out, it gave LOTS of people fits, including me.  That glass/color being Double Helix Terra.  Not the original Terra but new batches that match the original. 

Now alot of people much prefer the multiple colors that you can get from Terra but hate the metallic sheen of it when that pops up.  I, on the other hand, like both the lovely colors AND the metallic sheen.  Both have their own place/use in a bead. I guess it just depends on what you are going for in that particular bead.  This past week, I have been going for whatever color shows up and I really like what's been showing up.  :)  In fact, I'm REALLY likin' what's showing up !  :)    

Check it out.  More leaves..............and both sides to show the variations of color and metallic sheen.  Granted, the colors probably have never been seen in "real" leaves but remember, this is glass and as with any art/craft, it is only limited to one's imagination.  :) 

 

I also made more leaves in other colors and more flowers.  My favorite leaves so far are these

 

 

In revisiting colors, I remembered about Opal Yellow and how much it reacts to MANY colors.  Or maybe it's how many colors react to it ?  Either way, the outcome is always wonderful !  I had forgotten just how much I LOVE THIS COLOR !~  And the older the rod, the better the colors that come out of it.  I happen to have just a few little rods of some old opal yellow and you can see it in the leaf to the far left.  There is some hints of pinkish tones in it and THAT'S the beauty of the older rods.  The rods were rich in this buttery yellow and those  wonderful pinkish undertones.  Yummy.  The new rods are lovely as well but nothing compares to the old stuff.  sigh......Still, all the leaves turned out lovely I think with the opal yellow base, encased in silver foil then dipped in a wonderful reactive frit I have.  I WILL be making more of these for sure.  :) 

 

And last but not least - the flowers.  To date, the ones below are what I've done so far. 

 

 

I've had so much fun making all of them that I will continue to make them in more colors.  Except for the red poinsettia looking one.  I'll be making more of those for a particular project.  The roses will all be made using various techniques and lots of colors and sizes.  :)  Eventually, I'll "delve" into making other types of flowers. 

 

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon.  :)  I love to read your comments so please feel free to get your 2 cents in.  :)