Blogs

Today's Beads

I ordered some Triton Double Helix glass because everyone is raving about the colour effects it can produce. Here's a bead with just Triton glass
Triton mirrored glass beadTriton mirrored glass bead
The two lighter patches in the middle are the reflections of my daylight light bulbs and shades so you can see what a great mirror finish you can get.
Triton over Canyon de Chelly glassTriton over Canyon de Chelly glass

Wirework fibula and star bead

Now that I've got my photography set up back to normal, I can post a few more pictures. Here's a fibula--a type of pin once used by the Romans. FibulaFibula
This is a first attempt and really the curvy bits are a bit too large. I'll make them smaller on the next try. I also wasn't picking out my best beads as this was a trial run. Next time I think I'll make it about 2/3 size and see how that looks.

Peyote cube bracelet

This bracelet was the project from last month's meeting of the Anglia Bead Group at Colchester. The first two rows are ladder stitch and the rest is peyote. I decided not to use the usual clasp but devised something else. Not sure whether I like it yet, I may swop it for some other clasp. This pattern took two and a half tubes of cube beads at £1.90 per tube.Peyote cube braceletPeyote cube bracelet
I took the photo with the bracelet around the lip of a wine glass.

Recent playing with glass- Pictures

You may have noticed that I don't usually stick to one type of bead but love to play around and try everything in the hope that it will improve my skills. Here are some photos of some of my latest efforts. The Faff ones are just to see how I can manipulate liquid glass into various shapes. They'd be no good as beads that are worn as they are too delicate but they could be inserted into clear crystal using the methods invented by Loren Stump.

Ollie Owl

Here we go again. I forgot to put his wings on but nevertheless here he is.
Ollie Owl frontOllie Owl front
and
Ollie Owl sideOllie Owl side

Freddy Frog

Not quite there yet but a better attempt
Freddy Frog sideFreddy Frog side
and
Freddy Frog frontFreddy Frog front

Dorothy

Here's my feeble attempt at a turtle after Julie on Frit Happens Forum supplied the link to the tutorial for me. I've taken about 10 photos so far and none of them are good. I did have a good setup before Christmas but had to dismantle it when the kids came home. She's called Dorothy on account of her pale pink toenail polish.
Dorothy Turtle/TortoiseDorothy Turtle/Tortoise
You are allowed to laugh, that's the whole point of the exercise.

Seed Beading and Cabochon

Once a month, I attend the Anglian Bead Group in Colchester. It's a seed bead group but I went because I think some of the techniques are useful for my lampwork beads, particularly if I make some lampies up into jewellery. Last meeting, we were discussing what project to do for the next session and someone suggested a cabochon beading tutorial as one of the members had brought in a malachite type pendant with green seed beads made from a kit bought from Pandorion.

Curved Bead

I bought some curved mandrels from Zooziss and this is the second bead I've made with a curve. It's not very long as I was a bit hesitant to use the full length of the curve in case I couldn't get the bead off after annealing. It's recommended that you use Foster Fire Smooth and Tough bead release with these mandrels as obviously it's impossible to twist the bead to get it off the mandrel. After soaking overnight, the bead came off the mandrel reasonably easily.

Five Flowers

Spring has sprung and I've made a few flowers with my new press.
Five FlowersFive Flowers
I intend to make a set of the same colour and intersperse the flowers with glass leaves. These flowers were just to see how the new press behaved. I bought the press from Spheres of Glass
Some of the Canada Geese on Canvey Lake have started nesting,Nesting GooseNesting Goose

Syndicate content