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 ! 

   

 

                                

 

Lampwork Beads & One Way To Use Them

I showed these flowers a couple weeks ago after I made them and promised I was working on a project to use them in and the day has come to reveal that project !  :)  I am so happy to present this necklace I made with my beads and a stuffed silk cord. 

I LOVE how it turned out !  The large dark red flowers look fabulous on that stuffed cord as do the pretty little white bell flowers.  I thought it would be pretty neat to add some more red to the inside of a couple of those bell flowers.  Kinda looks like little berries inside.  :)  Sweet.  The leaves are really pretty in real life too.  It's too bad that the shiny silver doesn't show in the photo's cause it's really pretty.  

 

I wish there was a way for me to photograph the entire necklace but alas, I have major issues in doing that.  The photo's end up showing necklaces too far away and too dark.  I have the beads size photo tent and not the jewelry size.  Still, I think the cord and the flowers show nicely as is. 

 

Thanks so much for coming by !  Please come back again soon and see what's happenin' in my neck of the woods.  :) 

                                    

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.    

 

 

I'm Late, I'm Late for a Very Important Date

I didn't realize how late I was to posting here til this morning !  Geesh.  So here we go................

Last week was a very slow week for me as I was sick all week and got nothing done.  That said, towards the end of the week, the "boredom" kicked in and even though I still can't breath thru my nose, I had to torch.  :)  I actually started feeling better by Saturday so it wasn't like I was forcing the issue. 

Last Monday, I got a delivery of something I had wanted for years but just couldn't justify spending the money.  Well I finally decided to "justify" it and my new tool came.  A Carlo Dona bell flower press !  Wow !  A true Italian made glass melting tool made by a company that has been in the Italian glassblowing community for decades ! Well known for their quality, innovation and service.  Just below is a photo of the exact press I have.

                    

Finally feeling better, I began playing with it towards the end of the week.  Wow !  Not only is it fun to use, it makes the most lovely little flowers !  And there is so much you can do with these cute little flowers !  My first "bouquet" is pictured just below and as you can see, there are lots of colors in there.  I needed to try various colors just for fun.  :)  Of course there is a bit of a learning curve with this tool/press which is to be expected but that's ok.  Makes it more fun !  What's really very different about this press is there is no place for a mandrel.  It is made to be used with wire only.  We beadmakers here in the US have learned to use mandrels or work off mandrel when making beads so this was really something that took some getting use to.  But using the wire instead of a mandrel also make these flowers ready to add to jewelry or whatever you make with them.
  

 

 

That's all for today.  I need to get my day started !  I overslept !  lol !  Thanks so much for coming by. I hope you come back again soon to see what's happening ! 

 

 

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.  :) 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

Back in the Saddle Again.....Or I Should Say, Back at the Torch Again.

Yep, I'm back at the torch again !  Finally !  It seems like it's been sooooooooo long !  :(  What a miserable, hot, humid, icky summer it was too.  I'm so glad it's over for so many reasons but this is the biggie. 

When I'm off the torch for so long, it takes me a little time to get comfortable at the torch again.  Nothing serious, just getting to know the flame and the glass again.  I made beads on Sunday and have been playing every day since.  :)  It feels GREAT !  I just can't express how happy it makes me feel to be able to melt glass.  I am still amazed at the whole experience and still amazed I am lucky enough to be able to do it.  I LOVE MELTING GLASS !  I recommend to ANYONE that if you've never tried it, find a place that has classes and go for it !  You won't regret it.  :) 

So because I am back to making glass beads, the jewelry will take a back seat.  I'll still make some things here and there but mostly I'll be at the torch whenever possible.  I'll still make beads for jewerly.  I'm in the process of making a set now for a necklace.  I am terrible when it comes to making sets of any kind so I stretch it out into many sessions.  That way, I don't get bored so fast. 

Once again, I've tried a few new things and of course, having ALOT of fun doing it.  I picked up some dichoric glass at some point and decided it was time to try it.  I had read by many that they had trouble using it and would just give up on it.  I found it to be pretty easy to add to a bead.  I'm not saying I'm better at it, just that I had no problem with the two pieces I tried.  No scumming, no burning off the color, no problem.  The photo below is the bead.  It was the last bead of the day so it's a very plain bead.  I just wanted to see if I could actually add it and encase it as directed.  It worked, I'm happy about it and will be exploring this more down the road.  

 

As for the rest of the week, so far, I've been making some wing type beads.  I was going in a totally different direction with these when I started them but this is what ended up happening.  :)  Sometimes the glass says, "THIS is what you're suppose to be doing."  lol !  It's good working on these as they are helping me to feel comfortable about sculptural work again.  It's been a while.

 

 

Of course, there were test beads and beads that ended up in the water can.  Plus I also did some fusing.  Ugh. That post is for another day.  lol !  All in all, a VERY good week !

 

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon !  Please leave a comment as I LOVE to read them.  :)