Available for sale in my Etsy shop or you may inquire via email.
Approximate dimensions:
• 3 beads, 15mm
• 1 bead, 21mm
• 2.5mm hole
Mar 122012
Jul 282011
Without a doubt I know you are thinking, gosh I can’t believe she named this bead after that ridiculous movie they made about the Smurfs. It isn’t so, Creation Is Messy actually makes a color called Smurfy, and a creative title just isn’t coming to mind this AM.
Glass:
• CIM Smurfy & Blue frit
Metal:
• Brass
Approximate dimensions:
• 11mm ⨉ 12mm
• 4.5mm hole
For Sale Via Etsy.
Jul 272011
Metallic, fumy, oily colors bloom while reducing Psyche Double Helix frit. I have yet to order rods of Double Helix glass, they cost about 12 times as much as basic Effetre colors. One small jar of frit will suffice for now. This glass is highly reactive. After experimenting with a few base colors, I found it looked brilliant on Crocus Unique.
Brass couldn’t look more like king aside this pallet. My Impress Bead Liner and I are becoming good friends.
Glass:
• CIM Crocus Unique, & Psyche Double Helix Frit
Metal:
• Brass
Approximate dimensions:
• 9mm ⨉ 15mm
• 4.5mm hole
For Sale ViaEtsy.
Mar 182011
Quantity:
• 3 Beads
Color:
• Blue
Approximate dimensions:
• 14mm × 18mm
• 10mm thick
• 2.5mm hole
Mar 172011
Color:
• Blue
Approximate dimensions:
• 11mm × 13mm
• 2.5mm hole
Feb 262011
My New Zoozii press just came in the mail! It’s a Medium+ Duo Straight Sided Lentil and Nugget Press. Also they give away a free sample of Valcox frit with every order. What lampwork bead artist wouldn’t love that. Mine came with Straw Fire. Can’t wait to go try it out. The kiln is heating up as I type.
This is my third press, I know I won’t be able to stop myself from buying more. I’m already contemplating what I will buy next.
Sep 232010
This is the frit I made for the Mountain Sky Lentil Beads. I made the Autumn Woods Frit the same exact way.
Sep 112010
This is the remaining frit from the Autumn Woods Lentil Beads. I made this frit by smashing colored rods with a hammer. I like making my own frit for a few reasons.
If my frit consists of the same type of glass as the base bead I am applying it to, I am eliminating a major problem that can occur in the finished bead – CALLED CRACKING. My main pallet is Moretti glass with a coe of 104. There are all kinds of pre-made frit available for sale and a lot of them warn you that the coe may not meld well with other glass. The tip is to use the frit of a different coe sparingly and chances are it will be ok. I didn’t want to play with fire while making my lentil beads since they are so large and require so much glass. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Isn’t that what I do, play with fire? Ha ha, I’m so funny. Ok, so the point I am trying to make is that making frit from the same glass as your base bead is playing it safe.
Making your own frit is also nice because it has an original look. If you use a hammer you can achieve a very large variety in particle sizes creating a very organic looking frit. Although, I do not have this hammer thing quite figured out yet. I have been smashing the rods in plastic bags and the bag becomes pulverized. I will need to try sandwiching the rods in some thick sheet metal or something. Also there is a technique described in Beads of Glass that I surprisingly have not tried. A pretty simple concept really, all you do is heat the rod and place it in water. The glass will shatter from thermal shock. There are endless possibilities for making your own frit, experiment and be creative.
Sep 092010
The Lentil press that I ordered came last weekend. I spent a portion of that Saturday morning making lentil beads, it was a lot of fun. I did have trouble removing my beads from the mandrels though, I bent almost all of them. Other than that the beads came out very well for a first run.
Orange, green, red, and topaz glass would be my Autumn pallet. I smashed the colored rods with a hammer to make frit. Frit was a good choice for decorating the beads during the learning process. Distortion can help frit application look interesting rather than making the bead look messy or flawed.
Dimensions:
•Diameter - about 31mm (1.2″)
•Thickness – 17mm (.6″) tappers to edge
•Hole – 2.4mm (.09″)
Aug 112010
Honey Marble is just like the Blue Moon Marble but warm in color.
This marble is about one inch, it’s coiled in caramel borocilicate glass and rolled in clear frit.
Aug 092010
At last, my Mom has sent the marble photos and I love them! I made a few of these just a couple weeks before I became pregnant. This is a good example of an old school marble application of mine, a one inch borosilicate marble coated in blue moon and clear frit. About 5 or 6 years ago I made dozens of marbles in this size and style. This is not a technical marble application, in fact it is one of the easiest, but I find them to be memorizing.
Blue moon is one of the best colors in borosilicate glass. It has a high silver content and in a bushy flame it becomes fumy and color changing. Working with heavy fuming is definitely something I will have to hold off on until after I have the baby.
Mar 072010
Set of 9 cobalt glass beads encased in Lauscha clear.
Dimensions:
• About 9mm × 12mm
• 1.7mm hole
Dec 302009
To my disappointment I found that this bead was filled with cracks, if you look closely you should be able to see them. I work mostly with Moretti glass, the COE (coefficient of expansion) is 104 and they have a large pallet of colors. I am not sure, but I think I may have incorporated some glass from a different company that led to a compatibility issue. Possibly the bright red frit in the center.
Different types of glass have different COEs, sometimes even within the same company. Lauscha’s glass ranges from 95-105. If I am going to use different types of glass together they have to be of the same COE or be within 2 or 3 points of difference to avoid cracking. I am working with Lausha’s clear (COE 104) for the first time and it is so clean and clear. Lauscha clear seems to work fine with Moretti glass. Moretti clear can be filled with bubbles and look very dirty and foamy. When investing as much time as I do in a bead like this, I have learned to pay more attention to what kind of glass I am using and what the COE is.