CiM, Zim and silver....part III

This is the third instalment of my CiM/Zim series of posts and this trio of glassy combinations all involve Messy Color ltd runs.

The beads on the left are made with Zimmermann Z921 Aquamarine frit and fine silver foil over CiM Obsidian ltd run. I have flashed three of these beads through a propane rich reduction flame. The focal was flashed quickly through a light reduction flame and it has taken on a kind of Peacock-ish sheen. The smallest pair have been wafted quickly through a heavy reduction flame. As you can see the organic effects of the fine silver are dramatically stronger and the Aquamarine frit has been has been reduced to a rich terracotta.

This next set is made with CiM Pimento ltd run - a stunning vibrant orangey red that makes me think of ladybugs every time I see it. Two of these beads have a core of Pimento, a touch of silver foil burnished on and burnt off which has then been encased with Effetre 006 clear glass. The other three are solid Pimento, fine silver foil and then have been rolled in a touch of Zimmermann Z7911 Orange Yellowish frit. The colour of this scrummy frit puts me in mind of tinned peaches.

The third set I have to show today is CiM Ruby Slippers ltd run with Z701 Emerald Green Blueish. This set has 3 beads with a core of Ruby Slippers which has been rolled in silver foil and then encased in Effetre 006 Clear. and Ruby slippers strikes very easily and has a lovely strong reaction with the fine silver foil.  To finish this set I have made two beads which are Ruby Slippers burnished silver foil and then rolled in Z701 Emerald Green Blueish frit which looks super dense over rich dark red base glass.

Jolene x
Frit N Chips lampwork supplies and Kitzbitz Art Beads

My first crack at fusing........

I took a trip to Devon last summer with my family and sneaked a day away to have my first fusing taster day with expert tuition from Samantha Capeling of Venus Art Glass.

This is my first ever dish design created using some innovative techniques which Sam fired and then slumped for me. There was time in the day for me to make a second piece too. A sweet little coaster for my daughter Ruby.











I am a huge fan of Sam's work and own several pieces. Her Etsy shop is loaded full of beautiful one of a kind glass work including this gorgeous dish.





Jolene xx

Tutorial - Raked reactive bead

I was mucking about with a few ends of glass rods that I had on my desk at the close of my bead making session yesterday and made this round bead.

 
It's a very simple but colourful bead that makes use of the well known reaction between Effetre Petrol Green 218 and Effetre Purple 272. I thought it would make a nice tutorial to share on my blog so when I fired up my torch today I made another one similar and took some pics.

To start with you will need a rod of each of these colours and something to rake your glass with. You could use a tungsten pick or some sort of stainless steel dental tool. I like to use a very thin stringer of glass to move the hot surface of my bead about. I have also used a graphite bead roller for shaping my bead - a bead roller is not necessary to make a beautifully proportioned bead but I do like my one a great deal - especially for making sets. The one I have is from CGbeads.

First you need to pre-warm your mandrel which has been dipped in bead release to make sure your molten glass will stick to it then place a single wrap of your petrol green glass on the mandrel.

Place a second wrap next to the first and roll out the glass on the back of your graphite roller paddle to a length just short of your bead roller cavity.

Next wrap a second layer of petrol green over your first  layer to build up the bulk of  the bead core then roll the bead in your roller cavity to start to round off the corners.

Next use your rod of 272 purple to wrap one thick continuous wrap around your bead core at either end just where the base glass starts to taper towards the bead holes.

Melt all of the glass down until it is smooth and get it roughly in to shape with your bead roller. You will be able to see multiple stripes of colour where the purple and green glass have reacted together.

The next job is to heat a small section across the surface of your bead. Aim the flame at just a small area of your bead then take it out of the flame when it starts to glow and the use your glass stringer or dragging tool to rake the surface of the bead. Here you can see that I am distorting the soft glass by dragging a very thin clear stringer gently across the surface of it in a straight line.

Repeat the spot heating and raking process several times, working your way around the surface of your bead and raking in opposite directions. Finally heat your bead through one last time and smooth off the surface of your glass in the bead roller cavity.

You can now add further decoration, dots, spots, lines, spot heat and twist to distort the surface more - anything you like really.

Have fun!

Jolene xx Frit N Chips lampwork supplies and Kitzbitz Art Beads

Hanging out in dictionary corner

A cheeky gallery of some of my latest makes - I've been on a "cool" 5 syllable words hunt and have collected together some corkers! I've a few more on my want to make wish list including congratulations, inspirational and monosyllabic :-D Jo x

Jolene xx
Frit N Chips lampwork supplies and Kitzbitz Art Beads

Buzzword bead comp prizes gallery

I have just finished and photographed the custom made prizes for the 8 lucky winners selected from last weeks Buzzword bead comp on my blog. I thought it would be wonderful to show all of them together in this little gallery type post. This first set is for Linda, a trio that reads Bead-a-holic. This deep plummy striated purple glass is a absolute favourite of mine and I hope that Linda likes it too.


 
The next set I have to show in the prize gallery is a fabulous phrase suggested by Vic. It reads "You are never too old to storm a bouncy castle". Vic wanted a her prize beads made in blues and greens and so I raided my special stash Effetre opalino colours which look delicious!






The third set reads "Don't follow the crowd, lead it", a truly wonderful suggestion put forward by Lucy. It's a wonderful piece of uplifting advice. Lucy told me that she loves bright colour so I have selected this vibrant orange and lime colours for her.






This teeny tiny 15mm round bead reads "It's only impossible if you think about it" which is a bit of a quote from the film The Pirates Band Of Misfits. I couldn't resist the temptation to fit it all on the one bead just to see if it could be done. This one is winging it's way off to Sam in the post.











This next uplifting phrase "Dare to dream" seemed just right to become a Buzzword focal.  This wonderful phrase was put forward as a suggestion by Tina who wanted a purple bead to go with her hair.











 Next a trio mini set that I have made especially for Tish and reads "Diabetic Insulin Dependant" in gloriously red CiM Maraschino glass.










Kathleen wanted purple too for her winning slogan "what comes round goes round". This one was handpicked as a winner because I so wanted to write that on a bead.












You only get a teaser of a glimpse of this last set because my blog is U rated and these beads are...well they are just not! KJ got her name picked out of that hat for a string of her favourite swear words and that lady sure does know how to curse. For those of you who know KJ, it just had to be rainbows innit :-D I just love these beads, they were born to be cheeky and bad!





My What's the buzz.... customise your own buzzword bead set option is now live in Etsy. Thank you once again to everyone who left and entry in my competition, it has been a lot of fun. I think I'll have another buzzword blog comp around Christmas time/

Jolene x

Frit N Chips lampwork supplies and Kitzbitz Art Beads