A Match Made- Well, at the Torch!

This is the finished pair.

Last week I put some pictures up on facebook of pairs of fish I was working on for earrings. I get a little particular when I'm looking for earring pairs. I can take a bit of variance in design, but the size and shape have to be fairly close. So I thought I'd fill y'all in on what I do to attempt to achieve that.

The first part is easy- make a wee fish! First- I count the number of wraps of glass I start the bead with, then take a good look at my starter bead and try to remember the size. I do give it a little bit of a measure against my graphite paddle (for all the good that does me...)
While I'm doing that I attempt to put all the rods down on the table in the order that I used them- so when I go to make the match it should be much easier (except that in the flurry of making the fish, I often make a few mistakes- so I still have to think!).

Here's a picture of some lined up rods. But they were kind of wrong. At least all the colors were there. The next thing is to find a way to measure so I know what I'm aiming for. Need to know both length and height, so I lay it across the graphite paddle again and mark it in my mind.
The first fish goes into the kiln and then I have to put on my thinking cap and cross my fingers.

Hmmm... I made three fish, but I have a bad feeling there is no match there. On to the next trick. Instead of blindly making more, I take the precaution of writing down everything I did just in case I need to try again the next day- which I did. Good luck trying to understand my goofy notes. But it did help. Gave it a read through, brought both of the beads to the torch for comparison, and got to work.

Whew! I think I got it- well close enough for lamp-work!

Making Glass Frit

In an effort to clean up an an ever-growing pile of glass rod ends accruing on my table, I thought it might be time to show off my frit-making skills. I used to use my empty altoid container collection to save little bits of rods- all sorted into piles of like color- for instance, I put all of the aquas together- transparent and pastel alike. No, I did not put each aqua hue into a separate container, I'm not that organized. (And I don't use quite that many altoids). Granted, if you keep all of your 'shorts' separated by color, you can make a nice precise frit mix that is repeatable using the same methods I will outline here.

I'm not a real big user of frit- I'm more of a 'mix as you go' person. Most of the bits I had lying about were in tones of purple, green, and aqua. I piled them all together and they looked pretty good, so that was the frit mix I was going to make.
Again, I will say- your safety is your responsibility. This is what I do, it has not gone through any rigorous testing by any certified safety organization:

1) Put on safety glasses

2) Fill a clean glass jar with at least 4 inches of water (friends have suggested this be cold water- that should make it break even better!) and put it nearby on my torching table.

3) Light the torch.

4) Grab one of the shorts with a pair of tweezers and put it in the torch until it glows a nice red just about all over. Try not to put the tweezers directly into the flame.

5) Drop the hot glass into the jar of water. If it is attached to the tweezers, plunge the whole thing into the water and tap lightly. Usually the glass will detach from the tweezers. If there is a little bit still attached to them, reheat and plunge into a different jar of water to remove it- the 'junk' jar.

6) Do this with all of the pieces of glass. They will shatter as they are placed in the water, but not really into small enough pieces to be used as frit as they are.
*** After I wrote this, a friend told me that she mashes the glass into a thin lollipop shape and the glass naturally breaks into small frit, so it is not necessary to use a hammer. What a great tip! Thanks so much, Lara***

7) Pour the glass through a small strainer that is reserved for this purpose.

8) Let dry on a piece of newspaper.

9) Put glass into an old broken down cereal box or other thin cardboard, or wrap in fabric. Wrap around the glass so that it can't escape easily.

10) Wrap with newspaper and tap with a hammer on a solid surface. Open and see if the pieces are to your liking. If not repeat wrapping and tapping.

11) If desired, the frit can be put through different sizes of mesh to sort it by size.

 That's it! All done and I'm ready to use it.  Frit made of glass with special qualities, like rubino oro or silver reaction colors, should be made separately rather than used in a mix so that the reactions and flame atmosphere can be controlled properly.

There are times when I want to make frit using specific color combinations. To do this, I simply heat the end of a rod and plunge it into my jar of clean water. This is where Lara's 'lollipop' trick could really come in handy!
It is a good idea to reheat the end of this rod right away as it may be a bit cracked at the end. This will save your being surprised by a 'shocky' end later.

Taking Photos- New Backgrounds, New Ideas

Ever since my scanner broke a couple of years ago and I had to start learning to take  my online photos using a camera, I have struggled with what looks good. Generally I take a photo on a white background, and then photoshop it until it looks better. That takes a lot of finagling- I have to sharpen it (my photos always look a little blurry to me), cut it to the right size and shape for my online shop- I use 300 dpi, and cut it to 3x3 inches, though that doesn't work with everything, and then I have to lighten, brighten and adjust the color to make it look right- especially the stupid white background. It's really more energy than I want to put into each picture I take. The white background is a real bear, and black just doesn't seem to work at all for me. Maybe because I don't have any kind of official setup to use, like a light tent or proper lighting.

Oh, that's another thing- taking the photo itself- I use a rather high powered halogen lamp, lighten the exposure by a couple of clicks and shoot a closeup without a flash. My old garage-sale camera actually worked better as the flash wasn't so harsh, so I could actually use it. The flash on my present camera is covered with a little piece of paper as it washes everything out, no matter how far away it is. The scanner was really easier, and I might even go back to that if I could!

So get to the point already!!! Well, I have, by necessity, taken to using different backrounds with my photos, and I am kind of liking them. The autumn leaf background is cool- no messing with trying to get it just right- I can just concentrate on the item I am trying to feature- I like that a lot! And the newest map background, though I still often correct the 'level' to make it whiter, is kind of fun, and it is not very noticeable if it's not all bright white. And it has the advantage that I might just see a word I like and use it to name the piece. Woohoo- a twofer!

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more fun backgrounds in the future.

Portal bead goes to Austria

One of my portal beads is the focal for this lovely piece, made by Marianne Cornelius (see link below)
It is made of woven silver wire with garnets.
Marianne paints some wonderful watercolors, as well as making some very nice jewelry pieces. I have no idea how she found my beads on etsy, but I'm glad she did!
The neckpiece is currently on display at this gallery in Vienna, Austria- http://www.spiegelgasse8.com/ 
I am always so excited to have something of mine travel to another country, and having Marianne use one of my beads as a focal to be displayed in a gallery in Vienna of all places was doubly exciting!

Please go here to see more of Marianne's wonderful work:
http://www.mariannecornelius.com/

Girlfriend beads

Oh, I have a new bead style that I'm liking right now. So far I've only made four, and they're all princesses, but this idea isn't completely congealed yet. I decided while I was making one today that they don't always have to have a crown. So they are not going to be princess beads after all, but rather 'girlfriend' beads. Remember when tiaras were 'in'? I'm hoping that's all over with!

They can have different hair, skin, eye and background colors. And different background pictures too. Since there is a face on only one side, I have to work on making the other side interesting. I've got a new idea for that- we'll see how I do a bit later. For now, here are the first couple of princesses- the harried princess ( I keep wanting to call her Princess Harry!) and blue girl, who is a bit more staid.

Epiphany! Lampwork glass beads for Mardi Gras

Well, today is the first day of the Mardi Gras season, aka Epiphany. The season always begins on the same day- the twelfth day after Christmas, no matter when Mardi Gras actually falls. Of course you know that Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. And Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter- the beginning of Lent. Well Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday) is simply the day before Ash Wednesday. The whole mess lasts right from Christmas to Easter, with some of the days for celebration, and some of them days of moderation.



If you want to know more about all of this, you should visit this site- it has loads of info about everything from the Mardi Gras Indians to Pete Fountain's Half Fast Walking Club- well at least I hope they include that! No Mardi Gras morning would be complete without a bunch of extremely drunk men walking by, attempting to play music, and kissing everyone in sight at 5:30 am or so...
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mgdates.html

I've been working on a special request again this last week. Thought I'd just post a couple of pictures here. I've been remiss in keeping up with my blog- again!

And another kinda scary bead- I got a book on matroyshka out of the library- very intriguing...

The birth of the Christmas Bird

I’m not really the kind of bead maker who does anything special for the holidays, but this year there has been a bit of a change. Thanks to a special order pair of earrings, and the confluence of several ideas, I am making Christmas birds. How did this come about? I will try and explain.
First, I have been in quite a swirly mood lately. Twirls on the sides of fish, and swirls on the sides of beads have become the norm. Just a phase I suppose. Then I got an email from someone who wanted a pair of earrings to match a particular dress for his wife. I looked at the photos he sent and- wait, what is that I see- are those paisleys? And did he just ask if I ever make anything with swirls on them? Oh dear, it looked like I was going to be heading into dangerous waters. My oh-so-literal mind couldn’t just try and put paisleys on beads. I had to go the whole way and make 3-D paisleys.
As soon as I’d made the first one, I thought, “Wow, what a cool bird that would make” That idea just sat in my brain for a couple of days while I worked on some more earring choices and some other things I wanted to get done. When I made a nice red and green fish a couple of days later, I had to stop myself from changing directions in the middle and trying my first bird. It was going to be a nice fish, and I didn’t want to mess with it. But the next bead had to be a bird. And it had to be the same colors as that fish.
That little bird is now sitting on my glass table, modeling for the newest item in my repertoire- Christmas bird earrings.
Here’s the quick breakdown of the process: twirls and swirls-customer photos- paisleys- red and green fish- Christmas bird

A Bit of Alchemy

Magic? You Betcha!

I love to add a bit of silver to my beads. A nice silver core, some clear, and some color action over it all is a lovely effect, and it adds that 'bling' that so many folks crave.

But a funny thing often happens when I work with silver. I can't help thinking of it as a kind of alchemy. When I put the hot clear glass over the silver foil, it often turns a beautiful gold color. What makes that happen? Well, like the alchemists of old, I really can't say. My feeling is that it has something to do with the heat of the glass that is applied over the silver. But I don't know for sure. Usually, if I apply the silver foil, burnish it on well, and apply some nice hot clear on top of it, it will turn a lovely gold color, but sometimes it is a mixture of gold and silver, and once in a while it stays just plain silver. You can see how different it can look in the photos above.

P.S. Check out the newest issue of The Flow- There's a tutorial by me about scissors- my favorite tool, along with a lot of other great tutorials.

Flower Tut is Finally Finished!

I finally got it done and ready to sell in my etsy shop- a tutorial about making four different kinds of glass flowers- a lily or star flower, an aster, a simple iris and a fancy lady's slipper orchid. So here's the link to that:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45703612/lampwork-glass-flower-bead-tutorial-lily

Orchids and other flowers

Well, I've been working on three dimensional flowers lately. It's something I've played with from time to time over the years. Since I haven't really seen anything that looks like the ones I make, I've been taking pictures and started writing a tutorial. I've written lots of mini tuts and published them here, but never tried a big old tut.

The tut I'm currently writing will start with a simple lily, then graduate to a purple aster-like flower that has two rows of petals. But yesterday I finally got to work making something really over the top. This is the flower I want to include instructions for as the final piece in the tut. The two I made yesterday turned out quite nice. I'm hoping to be able to do it again, and refine it just a little for the sake of speed and ease. But I was so happy with these- they are kind of big for me- between 1 and 1 1/2 inches across. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but it looks HUGE in real life.

The tut and a couple of the flower beads are going to be a part of the ISGB auction next month. I think they'll be up for sale in the last week of the auction. If you haven't heard about that auction, keep your eyes peeled for news. I'll post something here when it begins. There are going to be a lot of amazing pieces for sale, by a lot of wonderful lampworkers- and me! And it's all to benefit the International Society of Glass Beadmakers.

Fear Not the Rubino Oro

Pink. Pink, Pink, Pink, PINK!!!!!


Bubblegum core ... Silver reaction ..... 1/2 over opal yellow, 1/2 over white

I’ve been privy to some chatter lately about Moretti Rubino Oro glass (#456), AKA gold pink,or gold cranberry pink. It seems that some folks are afraid to use it, or even dislike it! Now that’s a travesty. Rubino Oro is one of the most beautiful colors you can use, not to mention that it has some amazing qualities that I've found I just can’t live without. So I’m here to give you a few pointers on using it- hopefully this will be helpful.

1) Keep cool, man- Rubino, like many other pinks, prefers a cool flame, so you’re going to have to be ready to take your time with this. Otherwise, the color won’t be all that it can be. I work this glass on a hothead, and really have no trouble getting it to be a nice pink, even when the rod starts out looking clear. If it doesn’t seem to be ‘striking’ (changing color), heat and cool it a couple of times. But don’t overheat it to a molten mess.

2) Silvery grey away- Sometimes, on the end of the rod, or on your bead, you will see a bit of shiny, silvery-grey. You most likely don’t want this on your finished bead. What's happening?Your glass is being exposed to a flame that has a bit too little oxygen- it’s 'reducing'. This can actually be used for some effects, but to get rid of it, just add a bit of oxygen to your flame. On a hothead, I find it generally means I have the flame just a bit too high, so I lower it a little. It also seems to help to be just at the tip of the blue flame cone rather than higher in the flame.

3) Just a little bit- Rubino oro is a very saturated color. If you use it all alone to make a bead, it will probably end up being an ugly muddy mess. So, you should try one of these things.

...a) Make a small core bead of Rubino and encase it in clear (or a very light transparent).

...b) Make a white (or light colored) or clear core and encase it in a thin layer of Rubino.

...c) Layer. You can do something like make a base of pastel uranium yellow, cover with a thin layer of rubino, and encase that with a nice pale purple. Layering like this adds subtle color variations. You'll just have to experiment with different combinations and see what you like.

I don’t recommend you use the Rubino on ivory. That’s not a friendly reaction.

...d) Use it as an accent color. It’s such a deep color that a little goes a long way.

4) What’s your reaction? Oh, there has been so much written about this, and there are so many possibilities, that I’m afraid you’re just going to have to try it out! Here are a few suggestions:
...a) Try it over opal yellow for a lovely pinky-brown color
...b) Use a bit of light aqua (232) on top as dots or lines- there will be a dark pool in the middle of the dots, or a dark line through the middle of the line. Try this with some other colors like periwinkle blue (220).
...c) Use it as small dots or lines either over or under silver foil. If using dots under the foil, heat it up slowly until a mesh-like pattern forms.
...d) Use bubble gum pink as the base bead for a nice deep pink.

There are problems you will run across from time to time. It may get a chalky or bubbly surface. I think the bubbly surface comes from simply overworking, and if it happens you're kind of out of luck. As far as the chalky look, that could be a bit of devit. You might be able to bring back the sheen by heating it up a bit more. There's a bead in the kiln right now that I tried this on, and I think it worked. I'll let you know!
Yes, even if you follow these tips, you will have some bad beads from time to time- even some awful beads. But just keep at it, pay attention, and maybe even take a few notes, and I think you’ll be very happy that you tried out this fantastic glass.

Here's a discussion about Rubino reactions:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99886

And a great tutorial that shows how to use Rubino with silver:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=119760

If you need more info, you might consider the 'think pink' a tutorial by Sarah Hornik, available here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38097676

Now get torching!!!!!

Parkview students' first beads

Yesterday was workshop day for me at Parkview High School. Once a year, I have the pleasure of going to the jewelry class and doing a 1 ½ hour introduction to lampwork glass beadmaking. Yesterday there were about 15 students on 7 torches. Wish I had some pictures, but I was too busy to think about that. I hope everyone had a good time, and that some of them will continue practicing on the torches there. P,p,p, as we say.

Here are a few extra tips and reminders.
**Shake the bead release (sludge) well, and dip your mandrels in rather slowly to get a nice even coating. If there is time to let the sludge air dry, that is best, though the mandrels can also be carefully dried in the flame.
**Once your glass has touched the mandrel, it will not come off without breaking the bead release. If you have a sharp or thin end that needs to be evened up, you will need to add glass to that end, or heat it and take it out of the flame and point that end towards the floor and let gravity pull the glass down, or heat and push gently towards the pointy or thin end with your paddle.
**Don’t build your bead too close to the end of the mandrel- leave at least ½ inch of space.
**Don’t ever let your bead get too cool- it can break while you’re working on it if it gets too cool and you put it back into the flame- sometimes explosively. So remember to ‘flash’ your bead through the flame often. If you are working on some little detail, you must remain aware of how long it’s been since you made sure the whole bead was hot.
**Whenever you touch the bead with a tool- like your paddle or trowel- you introduce stress into the glass. Sometimes you can see it as ‘chill marks’ which look kind of like a finger print. Heat the bead a bit after using any tool on it to get rid of this stress.
**If you want to add some little bits that will stick off of the main bead- like fish fins or wings, be sure you heat the attachment point well first.

Here is a quick tutorial to help you with your first beads.

Basic glass bead technique:
1) Begin by heating the tip of your glass rod slowly. There are a couple of ways to do this– you can start heating high in the flame and work your way down into the hotter flame, or you can move the rod in and out of the hotter area of the flame. Either way, keep the rod twisting so that it will heat evenly. Always stay aware of the heat of the rod you are working with and the heat of the bead you are working on (known as “reading the heat base”).
2) When the rod has an orange glow all around the tip, it is ready to stay in the heat of the flame- between the tip of the blue cone of the flame and the area about 1 inch above this cone. Begin to heat the prepared mandrel (in your other hand) to a slight glow while you continue to heat the glass. Rotate the glass rod to avoid sagging, and continue heating until hot glass has a controllable but fairly liquid texture, similar to cold honey.

3) Keep your glass rod in the flame, and the mandrel behind the flame, as you begin to apply glass to the mandrel. The glass rod and the mandrel should be perpendicular to each other- in a ‘T’ position. Roll the mandrel up and away from you during this process. The mandrel will be slightly behind the flame and you will be pushing the rod of glass through the flame to it, heating the glass rod just in front of the area you are actually applying to the mandrel– this gives you a constant source of heated glass to use. TOuch the glass rod to the mandrel, and gently push it on, and begin rotating the mandrel. The glass rod should stay pretty much in one position while you spin the mandrel.

Make sure the glass is good and hot- it should flow easily onto the mandrel. If it feels like it is pulling, pause and let the glass heat up some more, or burn the glass off, heat it again, and then add more. If you are adding more glass to a bead you have started, make sure the bead is a bit cool (not cold) before you add the next layer of glass.

4) Wind the glass once all the way around the mandrel, then move the mandrel slightly to the left and add another wind of glass right next to and touching the first wrap. Add more glass on top of these two wraps, moving the mandrel back and forth as necessary, until the bead looks fairly even, and is about the size you want it to be.
5) When you have applied all of the glass you need, detach the glass rod by pulling up and turning the bead towards yourself, and letting the flame burn it off.

6) Now you can begin to round the bead. Keep turning the mandrel, and keep it horizontal, while you heat your bead in the flame to a nice orange glow. Take it out of the flame, turning it all the while. Look at the bead in cross-section so you can make sure it is uniform all the way around. Use gravity to help round the bead. You may need to gently marver the bead into shape with a paddle. Be sure you don’t push the glass too hard against the mandrel. You are trying to push the glass on the top of the bead into shape, not push the bead around on the mandrel.
7) When you are finished with your bead, you want to cool it slowly (flame anneal) before putting it away. This will help keep it from breaking later. To flame anneal the bead, get it just glowing all around- not so hot that it all starts moving around again- then begin to move it slowly towards the top of the flame, always turning to keep the bead from getting distorted. Flame anneal for 1-2 minutes, or until bead is no longer glowing. Take out of the flame for a few seconds, and then cool in a fiber blanket or vermiculite for 3-4 hours.

Much of working with glass is simply a case of paying attention to the heat base of your glass. Different methods and techniques are most effective when the glass is at slightly different temperatures Stay comfortable, but be aware of what you are doing at all times.

Do the Math

As you attempt to get your home-based art or craft business off the ground, you may be approached by folks who have shows they would like you to participate in, or shops they want you to sell your products in. Here’s my special tip to help you make these important decisions- do the math! It’s very important to figure out how much something is really going to cost you before you sign on the dotted line and turn over your hard-earned money. What do I mean, how much it’s really going to cost you? Well, first and most important is the booth fee, or percentage the shop will take off the top. Booth fees are pretty straightforward.
Here’s an example. Let’s say I have heard about a show with a $100 booth fee. A fee of $100 is just that, no hidden costs, no percentages. But what, exactly, would I need to sell to make that kind of fee a sensible investment? I have often heard that a booth fee should be no more than 20% of your gross. So if I pay a booth fee of $100, I would want to bring in at least $500.
I would think about the number of hours the show lasts, the amount of inventory I predict I can have in my booth, etc. Does it seem feasible? I have found, in the larger shows I have done, that I can generally sell maybe 20-25% of the stock I have on hand. So for a show like this I would want to have at least $2000 worth of product on hand. I know that can be easily done. Now how about the hours of the show? Well, let’s say the show is just one day- a Saturday from 10am to 8pm. That’s 10 hours. Ok, so if I sold an average of $50 worth of items an hour, I could make that booth fee. Do-able? Well, probably.
There are plenty of other considerations, though. Is it in town? That means no hotel and minimal gas costs. Is it a juried craft show? I find that that is what draws the type of customers I am looking for. Is it indoors or outdoors? Bad weather can ruin your chances of having a good day at an outdoor show. Do I know anyone who has done the show? What do they think? This is a starting point, though folks have different ideas of what a ‘good show’ is.
All of these things and many more should be taken into consideration, but doing the math on that show fee is the first, very important step.
Here’s an example a friend presented me with recently- a craft mall situation where he would pay $100 a month, plus 15% of his sales. Hmmm… That sounded a little iffy to me, so I did the math for him. Here’s what I told him. Well, if you sold $1000 worth of your product a month, you would pay that $100 rent, plus another $150 a month in fees. That’s 25% of your sales. Is that sensible for you? Well, he knew from previous shop experiences that it was pretty unlikely that he would sell $1000 worth of product in one shop in a month. And if he sold less, the percentage he would be paying the shop would just go up. For me, the answer was a definite no. I don’t think he’s going to do it either.
Yes, there may be times when you just want to take the plunge, roll the dice, and see what happens. But I’d strongly suggest that you first do the math, and not delude yourself about how things will turn out financially in the end.
Hope this helps with some of those difficult show decisions!

In defense of the hothead

I wanted to share a bit of information and opinion on the hothead torch, which is what I use. And what, you might ask, does that mean? And furthermore, who cares? Well folks making lampwork beads care- a lot in some cases- about what kind of torch a person uses. I am not a victim of 'torch envy' (thanks for that phrase to Corinna Tettinger). I am more a believer in 'what can I afford?' and 'what works for me?' So here is my explanation of what it is, and why I use it.

A hothead is about the lowest end torch one can effectively make glass beads with. It runs on a single fuel (I use propylene) rather than propane and oxygen. It has a rather bushy (wide) flame, and doesn't get quite as hot as a dual-fuel torch does. The flame cannot be made into a pinpoint, but it can be adjusted somewhat, especially if you are using a large fuel tank rather than those screw-on, ecologically wasteful, little bottles you can get at the hardware store. I use a large tank, and it makes an enormous difference in the heat and adjust-ability of the flame. So I definitely recommend using a larger fuel tank with a hose going to the torch.

Many people say they cannot work with this type of torch, but, frankly, a lot of them have never tried, or never tried very hard. Not that they should- they have better, nicer torches at home, and this does work a bit differently. I have even heard this referred to as not a 'real' torch. I have used this type of torch for about nineteen years, so yes, it works, it's real ( I have the burn marks to prove it!) and yes, you can do a lot with it- it just takes practice, as does using any torch.

The hothead does not get as hot as dual-fuel torches, so many folks think it is slower, but I am not really convinced of that. I have asked other beadmakers about how long it takes them to make a particular bead, and my times are usually equal to or even quicker than theirs. The first melt and wrap may go more quickly, but detail work takes time, no matter what torch you're using. And many new beadmakers have problems because their torch is turned up too high. I rarely have that problem. And, believe it or not, I actually don't usually work with my torch turned all the way up.

The hothead is an inexpensive torch- under $65, whereas dual-fuel torches start at about $170. Not really a huge difference, but there are a number of other costs that add up, the largest one being oxygen. You either have to buy a tank and transport it (which I don't want to do), or buy an oxygen concentrator, which can run quite a lot. Over the years, a dual-fuel torch might end up being less expensive, I suppose. That's some math I haven't ever done.

Lastly, I'm used to this type of torch. Yes, I can use dual-fuel torches (though I still prefer to have someone there to tell me if I have the flame right), but I'm most comfortable on my little hothead.

The one thing I don't like about my torch is that it is pretty loud. Makes listening to music hard, but not impossible. And I can't really hear the phone ring- that might be a good thing! I know I will 'upgrade' one day, but in the meantime, I am happy with my hothead.

Lampwork Glass Butterflies for Beads of Courage

See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5z--E_jj8

Well, as things often go, about the time I decided to stop making butterflies to sell, I needed to show a few folks how I make them for the Beads of Courage program. Here’s some more info about the program: http://www.beadsofcourage.net/
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is one of the many hospitals that use this program for children who are undergoing hospitalization and treatment. It’s a little bit of fun for the kids to look forward to at the end of some pretty intense treatments. The (as yet unnamed) bead group that I meet with once a month or so decided to make some beads to donate.


Grace's Butterfly........Debby's Butterfly
Our little three hour session wasn’t really long enough, so we’ve all gone home with a bit of homework: Make some beads to be donated, and we’ll ship them off next time.
After writing this whole crazy mess down, I have to say, for simple and elegant directions, you can go look at the ones Sharon Peters wrote here: http://www.beadsofcourage.net/art/ButterflyTutorial.pdf And then tweak it your own way!
Here's a tutorial for making butterflies the way I do it to go along with the youtube video that actually shows me doing it- see link above (thanks to Vicki of parrotise beads).

NOTE: You are responsible for your safety. Please follow all recommended guidelines for studio ventilation, face mask use, safe use of enamels, and other safety precautions. This tutorial presumes a basic understanding of lampwork bead making techniques.

......Finished!
Here’s a tutorial for making butterflies my way, as can be seen in the video:

First, let me say I had a few problems making the body- my glass had a lot of bubbles in it, and I had to pop them and work them out. So the video actually starts about 5 minutes into the session. I had some problems at the end too, so the video ends before I really finished the butterfly- I got a bit obsessive about the shape. In the end, I just had to let the wings be a little different from each other.

1) Make a tube for the body- about 1 1/8 inches long and ¼ inch in circumference is good. It will need to be a little fatter if you are using a larger mandrel. I often just make a clear body, as I want the wings to be the main focus.
2) Marver into a nice even tube and taper the lower end a just little bit.
3) At one end of the tube, add a bit more glass for the head. A couple of wraps around should do it. Melt down to a nice even shape. Make both ends of the body nice and even and a bit dimpled at this point, as you won’t have much of a chance to do it later.
4) Now it’s time to build the wings. I build them fairly flat, and add quite a few colors. My preference is to make them mostly transparent. To me that’s part of the butterfly look- ephemeral. So, start with the transparent color of your choice and stripe it along the upper 2/3 or so of the body. Make sure the body is fairly hot when you add that first swipe, so that you have a nice attachment between the wings and the body.

The body.......................the head............begin the wings

5) Pick up your next rod and make a swipe or two all the way around the first one.
6) Choose the color you’d like to use first on your lower wings and swipe that on the bottom third of the body. You can use the second color from the top as the first color on the lower wings if you like. Again, be sure you have a nice attachment on this first swipe. Try and push that first swipe up so that it actually touches the upper wings.
7) Add another color to the lower wings. By this time you will (hopefully) have ¼-1/2 inch of glass sticking out from the body on both sides. It already looks a bit like wings. Flatten with your mashers. If it’s all kind of blobbed together, don’t worry too much, we can take care of that in a minute.

another color.........begin lower wings.....ready to flatten

8) If your top and bottom wings aren’t touching each other, now’s the time to fix that. This part’s a bit hard to explain. Heat one of the bottom wings, grab it between the mashers of your choice, and push the top of it towards the top wing while rotating it down. Do the same thing on the other side. If you have watched the video, you can see my hands waving around kind of wildly after I’ve moved the wings around- it’s not part of the bead-making process, or some kind of strange tic- I’m showing the gals an exaggerated example of the motion I just used to move the glass around. It’s more or less drawing a backwards “J” while I have the glass between the mashers.
9) With any luck, you’ll now have the wings pushed together in the middle. If not, you may have to do a little bit of the grab and push with the top wings. All you’re trying to accomplish is to get a little bit of the wings melted together in the center. Why? To make it less fragile in that area. If you have melted them together too much, superheat that area and snip it apart a bit with your scissors, then melt to round off the edges.


Flattening..................flattened.................more colors
10) Add more colors top and bottom, dipping in a little raku frit or enamel along the way if you like. Try and make each set of wings about the same size and shape, with the top wings about twice the size of the bottom ones.
11) Decorate as you like, adding layered dots, bits of color here or there, or what have you.


Adding frit.....enamel............clear and dots
12) Now it’s time for the final shape. For this part I use scissors. Superheat one of the wings. Take it out of the flame and grab with your scissors. Pull a little bit to indent and shape, move and do it again- about four times for the bottom wings and six or so at the top. It may help to have a picture or two of butterflies that you can look at to help you see what shape you are aiming for. Normally I will heat one of the top wings, grab it close to the center on the bottom and indent and shape it, move and do it two or three more times, then reheat and tackle the top half of the same wing. You’ve got to remember what motion you did and do it about the same on the other side. Try not to cut all the way through with the scissors, although that can make a nice effect on the edges as long as you melt and round it out a bit afterwards.

More dots...............first wing shaping...second wing shaping

13) If the wings are not quite to your liking, you can shape them further by heating the wings and a glass rod or stringer, attaching the stringer to the tips of the wings, and pulling gently. The wings should be fairly hot, and the stringer or rod just hot enough so it will stick temporarily to the wing tip. Melt off and reheat a little to make sure you haven’t made a sharp place on the wing.
14) And now for the feelers- if you want to add them, though this may be the deal breaker after all the work you’ve put into this baby! If you are brave enough, dot some antenna onto the top of the head. You can build up a series of small-ish dots, or try dotting and pulling the glass a bit to make them. Don’t make them too long and fragile, and be sure to bend them a little bit away from them mandrel so you can still get in there with your tools to bail it.

Top wings done...shape bottom.........antenna

Whew! That’s a lot of instructions! I was lucky with the butterfly I made for this tutorial- the photos just about took themselves.