The "What Was I Thinking" Post or....................

..........why not just try it and see if it works post...:)  So that's what I did.  That's always the case anyway when a "new" to me idea pops into my head or into anyone's head.  I mean, I know what I'm thinking it should look like so it should end up looking like that.  Right ?  Nope.  lol !  Not most of the time anyway.  And sometimes it's just not at all about anything in our minds eye.  It's about the end of the day bead.  That bead that comes together using elements and/or techniques and/or left over twisties that are laying on the table from the days beadmaking session.  You don't want to waste those bits of glass so you put them in the  - end of the day bead and hope you get some sort of semblance of a pretty or artistic or at least something nice to look at bead.  :)  It's usually a surprise how it turns out which makes it even more fun when it comes out of the kiln. 

So why do most beadmakers not even show these little gems they are experimenting with ?  It's all a part of the process afterall.  I think they are fun to look at and especially if there would be an explaination of what they are trying to accomplish.  You might be thinking well what about the new beadmakers ?  The ones just getting started.  Their beads are all experiments, trial and error.  Yep, that's true however the difference is, they are learning all about what's already out there, what's tried and true, what it takes to become a flameworker/beadmaker/lampworker. 

All that said, I'm going to show you what I made at the torch last session and what my thoughts were at the time.  Mind you, they aren't beauties by any means but a path to what I was attempting to do.  I'm still "in process" with them which is always the fun part.  :)  So enjoy and leave a comment or suggestion if you want. 

 

Here they are. In keeping with the flower themes I've been working on lately, these 3 "flower" beads were made a few days ago.  The top blue one was an end of the day bead.  I had flower petals left over from making another blue flower and wanted to use that pretty light blue glass they are attached to.  I am thinking maybe if I had added more petals ???  I doubt it.

 

The flower bead on the lower left is actually not so bad IF less frit was used on the ends of the petals.  I will play with that one more in the coming week I hope.  The shape was exactly what I wanted to do however I didn't want that much frit and that much green frit on the ends of the petals.

 

The last bead.  The all blue one on the lower right.  sigh.  That is the one I had a picture of in my mind, knew EXACTLY how I wanted to make it and this sure isn't the way it was suppose to end up !  lol !  It was suppose to be a flower with nice long petals.  Oh well, yet another one to continue working on. 

 

Fun stuff.  :))

 

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

 

 

Fall Is In The Air...........

.......even though it's still over 80 degrees today.  Still, it's been fairly cool in the mornings which allows me to spend a little bit of time making beads.  Yay !  It's suppose to start getting a high of only in the 70's this coming week so more time to play.  :)  The cooler it gets, the better my days will be.  I am a cold weather person anyway. 

I've had a great week at the torch.  Finally feeling like I never stopped for the summer.  Still working on things I have made before but using some new to me colors and experimenting a little bit.  Made lots of leaves, some roses and a couple other flowers.  All pictured below.

First are the leaves - and lots of them and more coming.  What will I do with all of them ?  I have no idea.  lol !  Maybe a necklace is in order ?   

 

This second set is all the flowers as of today.  There are more but they are still in the kiln.  I had alot of fun making these.  They are done three different ways.  The dark red rose and dark yellow rose on the left, closest to the dime, are done with the mandrel coming up thru the middle of the flower.  The Yellow rose all the way to the right is done with a base underneath it with the mandrel hole running east to west.  The top yellow flower with points on the tips, also done with a base underneath with mandrel holes running east to west.  And the last yellow flower, at the bottom, was made on the end of the mandrel and has no hole that runs all the way through.  There is one more way I can think of that these can be done and that is off mandrel which I want to try as well.  :)  Oh and did ya guess, yellow is one of my most favorite colors. !  lol !     

 

 

I also made some other beads but just not worthy of posting them.  lol !  Always a learning experience every time I sit down to melt glass. 

 

This next bead I made following a tut in the Tonbo Dama book.  I made this bead long ago once and remembered how much I loved it so wanted to revisit it.  In the tutorial, it says to encase it and I didn't.  It would of looked better had I encased it.  Oh well, live and learn ! 

 

 

Time to get busy and get some work done.  Thanks so much for coming by and visiting.  I hope you come back again very soon.  :)  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

 

 

 

Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers

With all that practice/working with encasing, flowers in particular, I got the "urge" to follow another tutorial on roses.  Sculpted roses this time.  It's been a long time I really sculpted anything and hoped I wouldn't revert back to bad habits.  There weren't many but there were a few that kept me from accomplishing things back then when it came to sculpting.  Plus, I really wasn't sure I wanted to go that route again.  That's what I use to LOVE to do - sculpt with melted glass.  So when I sat down to follow along with the tut, alot of my GOOD insticts kicked in and I started feeling better about it again.  Not totally though.  As I was working on the first rose, I was rather shaky.  Just something I do when I'm trying new things.  The longer I worked on the first rose, the better I felt.  Plus, I had done most of this type of sculpting before.  I had made flowers long ago just not roses.  The whole purpose of buying this tut really was to see how the middle was finished and if there were any other good tips and techniques to learn. 

The only thing that really was no surprise to me is that first rose it HUGE !  I don't know what it is but making small beads just escapes me so often.  lol !  I try but 90% of the time it just doesn't work out for me.  

So far, I've made 2 roses, a lovely blue color one and a cream color one.  Both pictured below with another flower I made that's not a rose and on their own.  Notice the sizes !  lol !  The white  rose is smaller than the blue one though !  lol !  At least I tried.  :)  That blue one measures in at a full 2 inches across at the widest point !  Like I said - B-I-G ! 

Make sure you click on the photo's to see the full size. 

I've also included a photo of some sculpted flowers I made long ago.  Geesh, I think it was back in 2006 or 07.  Can't remember.  Not any particular kind of flowers.  Just plain ole' flowers.  I do remember the whole idea then was the petals and working with a new tool at the time.  I still have that tool and that's what was used in the multicolored flower pictured with the roses.  Making the petals is key to any of these sculpted flowers of course.  With these types of flowers, the petals are made in advance and kept warm on a warming plate of some kind.  Makes assembling the flower so much easier.  The picture is pretty bad because I was using a very old digital camera.  I still have all those flowers so maybe I'll redo the photo.  :)    

So I am continuing on my flowers quest with yet another project I'm working on.  More on that to come later.  I will make more roses over time.  Hopefully, I can get to small !  lol !  

Thanks for coming by !  :)  I hope you will come back again soon.  Please leave a comment.  I love reading them.  :)