Featured on handicrafts blog

Just a quick note for anyone who's looking, I have been interviewed on this blog. Go take a look, she did a great job!
http://bunnyluver930.blogspot.com/
And what lovely photos Jen takes. Here's a link to her shop on etsy:
http://www.JMcGuinness.etsy.com

Synchronicity and lampwork

First inspiration and two new wearable bottles

Just a quick post about my new wearable bottles. It's the kind of thing where a number of ideas come together at once and you end up with a new creation on your hands!
First was a request to make a double sided wearable bottle for a friend. I was pretty pleased with it, and it got me thinking I needed to try and make some wearable bottles to sell. But I really wanted them to have a nice, larger empty area to store things in. That was a couple of weeks ago.
Next I went to the library and checked out Contemporary Lampworking books one and two, and started looking at the pictures and reading techniques (again). This was just for general inspiration and further training, not specifically for bottles.
Then there was a discussion about making twisties in the cgge tips and techniques forum on etsy. And I thought- well, I really should practice my twistie again.
And last was the fortuitous delivery of some Moretti ultra clear glass at the local glass shop- Glass Concepts in Sherwood, AR. And I loved it! I haven't been using much clear. I just couldn't find any that was 'perfect'. Now maybe this will fill the bill.
The end result is some new, clear, twistie decorated bottles, built OFF the end of the mandrel rather than ON the end of the mandrel. And they're made to wear- flatter backs, and a nice long pointed end. Hope ya'll like them!

Metamorphosis of a bead

Thought you might enjoy seeing one of my beads go from inspiration and idea to finished product. I have a bulletin board in my studio area with pictures that I find interesting or inspiring- sometimes it's just a color combination, or a picture that will help me get the shape of sculptural beads right. But sometimes I really want to imitate a pattern. This is the metamorphosis of one of those beads. First I'm showing you the final finished bead next to the picture I started with.:


I began with a picture of a clam mantle that was in National Geographic- here’s part of it:

And these are all of the finished beads. You can see that number one and two are way too yellow. It's a bit hard to see the yellow in the original picture, but it's there. Number three is as close as I came- it looks a bit more like in real life, but anyway here goes! And number four is my bit of fun after I figured out what I wanted to know.


I began with a Vetrofond yellow cylinder as a base, rolled in white enamel, then oxford blue, randomly dotted with intense black.

Next came alabaster blue, a little oxford blue enamel, and two transparents blues over that. Dots were then melted down, distorted a bit. Then the whole bead was shaped and finished in the kiln.

Now, I was not so happy with this- too yellow and not yellow enough at the same time, and the colors just didn’t pop. So here I went again; this time I’ll just show the highlights:

Black base. Roll in yellow enamel, then white, then oxford blue Intense black dots again, dotted with a bit of a solid periwinkle Oxford enamel Transparent blue Shape and finish in the kiln.

And still I wasn’t pleased. I need to get some of that yellow out of there, and the dot color is still not vivid enough. Now normally about now I would move on to a new color combination ‘cause I think I know what I need to do, and I’m getting a bit tired of these being so much the same, but for you I pressed on- one more time, this one without pictures (‘cause my camera ran out of space). Now let’s see if I remember!
Again the black background A smattering of yellow enamel, then a bit of white, and last of all oxford blue (I may have dipped into the white enamel again too)- all of these were very light applications as I wanted some of the colors to show through from below. The some intense black frit before I added the intense black blobs. Then came some solid periwinkle with transparent light aqua over it, and just a little sapphire blue on top of that- this gave me the depth and color brightness I was looking for. Shape, pop in the kiln, and wait. I think I’ve pretty much got it now!
In the meantime, I’m gonna use what I think I’ve learned and bring out some purple- I should have kept a bit of that yellow enamel out for this one, but I didn’t. Maybe next time…..
And remember, if you’re using enamels, make sure your studio is properly vented and that you are using the recommended respirator to keep from breathing in bits of glass.

What's sludge got to do with it?

Well, here I go again, waxing on about sludge, bead release, whatever you want to call it. I have some strong opinions on the subject, but I still don't have all the answers!

Sludge is that clay-like stuff that a mandrel is dipped in to keep the bead from sticking to the steel. There are a lot of different kinds made, and I have tried quite a few. Here's my run-down:

My favorite sludge so far is KRAG Mudd made by Kittrell-Riffkind Art Glass in Dallas, Texas. It's strong, dries in the flame, is nice and smooth when you dip, and leaves a lower residue than anything else I've tried. But yes, you do still have to ream the beads. And, though I've tried just using a pipe cleaner, it seems that a diamond reamer is still necessary to get ALL of the sludge out. KRAG is a more expensive sludge, but I feel it is worth it/

Another one I've tried out is Fusion, which is carried by Frantz Glass, among others. This is pretty nice- strong and fairly smooth; for tube beads, but I'd definitely double dip this one for tube beads ar anything that might be difficult to remove.

 

Right now I'm using Dip n' Go from Arrow Springs. I actually wanted to finally try the Foster Fire, but they were out (again). Dip n' Go is nice- it's strong, and it can be dried in the flame without weakening. It is not, however a really low residue sludge, and that is what I prefer.

Flame dry bead release from Ed Hoy- GARBAGE. That's where mine ended up. Because it's weak and hard to clean.

Air dry bead release from Ed Hoy- Pretty good. Strong, reasonable to clean, and it can actually be flame dried, so why bother with the other?

Alice's bead release- I don't like this. I find it VERY hard to remove the lumps, weak, and hard to clean out of the beads. But it is quite inexpensive, as you get it in powdered form and mix it yourself.

Frantz has some other decent bead release, though I haven't used it in years, so I can't tell you which I like best. I'm still waiting to try the Foster Fire. I have heard good things, but can't say until I actually get a chance to try it out myself.

So why get all the sludge out, anyway? Some people don't, so why should you? Well, it's a powdery clay, and you're not really supposed to breathe it, so why make your customers do so? And how would it be if someone wore one of your bead necklaces into the shower, and it started weeping an icky grey slime all over them? I look at it as the last necessary touch to my bead-making, that shows how much I care.

For more on getting all the sludge out, check my other blog post out! https://isinglassdesign.blogspot.com/2018/02/clean-clear-holes-for-your-lampwork.html