Art of the Firebird » beads

Quickie

Julia — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:29:56 +0000

No, not THAT kind of quickie ::frown::. I spent all evening doing all the show prep stuff that I know not to put off until the last minute but do so anyway. I always end up cleaning the last batch of beads on the last night, and then they have to be sorted, culled, placed into sets, inventoried, placed into the right place in the display boxes. Everything has to be fit into as few boxes and totes as feasible, and then eventually put into the car. Oops? Did I say put into the car? That didn’t get done yet. It may wait until morning.

Heck, I’m not even sure what I’m going to wear tomorrow! I just know that I better be at the Cobb Galleria by 8 a.m. ready to unpack and set up because the doors open at 10, and we HOPE there will be lots of customers looking for unique handmade holiday gifts…

Quickie is a post from: Art of the Firebird. Some Rights Reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

ALMOST Indestructable Mandrels

Julia — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:19:54 +0000

I work mostlywith borosilicate glass (better known as Pyrex), which tends to make me a mandrel-killer. These mandrels are stainless steel TIG welding rods so are meant to handle heat…just not the kind of heat I need to make that glass MOVE where and how it’s supposed to move.

I burn through 3/32″ mandrels routinely when working on bigger/more complex beads or when trying to do two or three basics on a single rod. I can even burn through a 1/8″ mandrel without any real problem. I haven’t quite burned through a 5/32″ mandrel (the ones I use for Pandora/Troll type beads) but I’ve come unnervingly close.

Trying to make small beads with small holes for earrings and such calls for a 1/16″ mandrel. With ordinary mandrels they are an exercise in futility for me. Fifteen seconds in the flame and POOF! PLOP! There’s my molten glass on the tabletop with a mandrel bit sticking out each end, destined only for a watery grave.

Then AuraLens came out with their “Almost Indestructable Mandrels” in a variety of sizes, including that impossible 1/16″ size AND two even tinier sizes. Their website states “Imagine being able to make three or more borosilicate beads on a mandrel and not having the mandrel melt from excessive heat.”

“Suuuuure you can,” said my Inner Skeptic.

I asked Mike Aurelius if that claim was for real. He assured me it was, so I promptly ordered three dozen 1/16″ Almost Indestructible Mandrels. I don’t make tiny beads every session, so it’s taken me a while to really give them a workover.

The verdict from here? “Almost” is the operative word. I’ve destroyed several of them so far, but I’ve had to work at it harder, quite a bit harder, than with regular mandrels. If I use a little common sense and turn my flame down a bit (which I should do for the smaller beads anyway), I really can make three nicely shaped 9-10mm or so earring beads on one mandrel and not melt through it. For me, they are worth it. If you find yourself being a mandrel-killer, you may want to
check them out yourself.

ALMOST Indestructable Mandrels is a post from: Art of the Firebird. Some Rights Reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Crystals & working BIG

Julia — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:47:14 +0000

Last night’s crystal-shaped beads were more successful than they’ve been in the past. Definitely I don’t need to be making encased crystals until I get the unencased ones down, though! These also look better in lighter colors, and in transparent/translucent colors.

Also, I love my two Zoozii’s XXL presses (the Kalera XXL and the Straight-Sided Lentil SSL), but boy are they a headache to make anything with in borosilicate glass with my smallish torch! I made ONE Kalera XXL last night, and no matter what I did I could not quite get it pressed down all the way. It still looks good but it’s a little fatter than it’s supposed to be and the corners aren’t nice and crisp. That’s not enough to send me back to soft glass, though!

This weekend has to be my last big bead-making push for a bit, since I’ll be in Roanoke next weekend. I wish I was going to have more new items for week after next’s show, but it’s just not going to happen. I’ll have to ponder some interesting color combinations to work with over the weekend — any ideas?

Crystals & working BIG is a post from: Art of the Firebird. Some Rights Reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Another “Catch-Up” Best Blog Posts Post

Julia — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:22:09 +0000

Since we’re still not caught up with the backlog of blog posts, here’s another installment of the catchup series. Today, we’re featuring some “eye candy” posts!

Karolen has been making some new silver gemstone beads that are incredible!
Marcy Lamberson talks about the creation of Keely the Peacock, er, Peahen.
Yep, you can always count on Karolen for eye candy — this time it’s leaves.
Sweetwater Designs (who won’t give her real name) shows some EDP magic.

Another “Catch-Up” Best Blog Posts Post is a post from: Art of the Firebird. Some Rights Reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Best of the Week ending 1/25/2009

Julia — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:08:00 +0000

Here you go, the best of the lampworking blogosphere this week:

Most of us have beloved pets, but sometimes their mischief in our studio can wreak true havoc. Andrea Winkler’s four-legged guest caused quite a panic when he got into her lampworking supplies last weekend.
Sheila Morley shares some of her recent murrini experiments at Watch Me Create.
Andrea’s been experimenting as well, in her case with color mixing.
Amy begins a new series on starting an online business with some words on business names.
Kandice Seeber shares the results from a color experiment that, well, just worked.

Best of the Week ending 1/25/2009 is a post from: Art of the Firebird. Some Rights Reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.