Snowflakes, second try

Ok,.. these are a bit better I think. I didn’t even think to pay any attention to making sure the dots were all the same size and the blue one really shows that.  The pink one is much better, but I think the next time, they will be even better if I watch my dot sizes. 

I achieved a finer, more lacy look that I was trying for, so I’m really quite happy with how these turned out.

Hmmm,.. what shall I try next?….um..encased plunged dot florals???

Snowflakes

I haven’t been able to get in any torch time for a few days,. and was hoping to get to the torch this morning, but three little people had other plans for how I would spend my time today :). So despite being very tired this evening (I promised myself I wouldn’t torch while tired,..very silly thing to do),.I went up to the studio and made these.

This is a first attempt at stacked dots and snowflake style beads. They were heaps of fun to do. The round bead is an imploded snowflake.

I’m very happy with these for my first go at them,…but my brain is now fried. 8]

Studio

Well no time for torchin yesterday,.. or today *snif*. Will try and grab some time on it tomorrow if possible.

I bought some mini-orb (mini profile corrogated iron) to put at the back of the workbench,. which looks great because it matches the high pitched roof of our house and it appears to flow right through the wall to outside.  The view out the right of this picture overlooks our large courtyard which is almost enclosed as it is surrounded by 3 1/2 walls.

Day 7: Van Gogh revisited

A second attempt at the Van Gogh flower,.. a lot better,. and I learned a lot between this bead and the last attempt.  I know how to make improvements and will have another crack at it again soon.

At this point in time,. calculated generously, I have had 17hrs in total at the torch.

Day 6: Encasing with clear

A second attempt at encasing with clear. Much better,. but still a few small scum patches.
This bead is a big sucker,lol. I mixed my own colours for this one.

Day 5: A busy day at the torch

Starting the day off with making my first twisties. Too much fun.

This set was a second attempt at implossion beads and a first attempt at encasing with clear. Unfortunately unknowingly, I cooked the snot out of the clear and it turned brown and icky *snif*.

Playing with different colours. I love the topaz and black. It took all my strength to stop myself from popping that round one in my mouth and chomping on it,lol. Mmm mmm delicious creme caramel.

erm…the top one, a piece of chewy I pulled off the sole of my boot ;}. and the other two were made from one of the first twisties. 

This one is suppose to be a Van Gogh style flower phrrrt!

Day 4: Trying new colours and dots

Oooh,.. getting brave and playing with more colours,lol.

A couple more lentils, not sure what I was thinking when I made the bead on the top right,.. erm, I must have changed my mind half way through,lol. The bottom bead was an attempt to get the dots to spread and make a cool pattern.

The pics are a bit zagged because there is no way to keep the dimensions restrained when resizing,.. so to get a better look,.. click on the pics to go to the actual images.

Playing with dots. Hmm very fun.

Day 3: What’s cookin’ today

Well yesterday I was stunned when my turquoise turned this really cool terracotta colour,. and while I thought it was pretty cool,.. I needed to find out why it happened and how to prevent it (or how to make it happen deliberately). So today was all about trying to make turquoise beads without the terracotta ‘copper’ coming out. Also it was about dots,.. and how to make dots big enough to join up and make a cool pattern.

Well,..almost no terracotta,lol and the dots still need some work .

Okay,.. erm…. well hello terracotta. This one was meant to be. My first lentil shaped bead and my 11yr old son decided he’d like to have this one,..said it was ‘waaaaaay cool’, lol.

Day 2: Torchin in my own studio

This is awesome,. so much to learn,.. so many pretty glass rods, frits, powders and sliver to play with,.. oooh what to do first.  hmmm play it safe and stick with black and white for a bit,.. erm,… I have plenty of black and white and can afford to make some mistakes in that colour,lol.

Third set

Okay,..moving right along,….lets try another colour combo…
Fourth set … oooh these are nice,.looks like I needed a bit more Oxygen in the mix,. then the copper may not have popped out of the turquoise,.. but I kind like the effect nevertheless.  Think I might even do this deliberately one day,lol.

Day 1: torchin’ in my own studio

LOL,. I can hardly believe it,. sitting in my own studio,. torch lit, music loud and lost in a world of molten glass and a new and exciting journey of beadmaking.  Whoot this is so much fun.

First set

Second Set

Gas Connected at last!

It has taken me 3yrs and 2months(since I ordered my Bobcat torch from the US) to finally getting my studio set up for lampworking. 

A few weeks ago my replacement Oxygen Concentrator arrived,.. strapped to it’s very own pallet for the trip in the truck. Not a mark on it,. perfect!. Today, my natural gas line was extended to my studio yaaaaay finally.  Not pretty,.buuut who cares,lol.  I am however, going to buy a small cabinet (cd type cabinet possibly) and cut a hole in the back an fix it permanently to the wall to cover this.  The plan is;.. the door/s will be key locked(with key placed high on top of bookcase) so that small visitors, animals and other curious hands cannot turn the tap on.  Although we don’t allow small visitors to roam around upstairs in my studio(too many other dangers there), I fear that it might happen one day when I am not home to make sure of it. So I think my idea of a little lockable cabinet will keep my mind at ease, as well as also serve as a nice place to store my torch lighter, my lampwork safety glasses (would hate to have to replace these because a little person decided to play with and break them *gasp*), and anything else that is a potential risk to keep out in view of the little ones.

Yaaaay,.. I’m cookin’ with gas!

Week - 52 YAY another year done!

Wow,..what a year,.. those weeks seemed to keep coming faster and faster… I could barely keep up for most of the year, but I made it *thud*.

Here is my finale piece. My first necklace, made with my own lampwork beads. Whoot!! What a buzz that is.

Just a little Gas & Oxygen is needed.

Then I’ll be able to melt glass in my studio at long last.  Well it seems like it’s never going to happen for me. I’m no longer kicking myself for not getting setup three years ago because trying to setup now, brings back all the memories and reasons why I gave up back then. It was hard back then,.. but it seems that even though I have less obstacles three years later,..there are a few things (which really should be simple to do),.that are proving to be problematic. 

Gas,.. well I’m still waiting to hear back from the second gas plumber. He did say a week ago that they’re running three weeks behind on the jobs already on their books. He also said he would try an pop in last week to inspect the job,.. *snif*.. haven’t seen him yet.

Oxygen,..hmmm.. last week my Oxygen Concentrator arrived and for a few precious minutes I was thrilled that I was getting a step closer to having my setup complete. That thrill soon turned to,.. ho hum *heavy sigh* when I inspected the OxyCon after seeing a big dent in the box. It looks like it took a bit of a pounding (most likely dropped) in transit with it suffering dents, bruises and a gouge out of the plastic body where the power cord plug was smooshed into it.  It has to be returned ,.. and I’m still waiting for a phone call for someone to tell me they are coming to pick it up. I have no idea when I will get a replacement. I’m fairly sure all units that came in this shipment were already spoken for and going to new homes (I just happened to be the lucky one to get the short straw for the damaged one). I believe another shipment has been ordered, but know nothing more about when it would arrive in Australia.

Here is a little pic of the smooshed power plug,. couldn’t even plug the unit in if I wanted to,.. see how bent the prongs are,… have you ever tried to bend these prongs??  Hmm this suggests to me that this Oxygen Concentrator received some pretty heavy force.

Soooooooh,…. I’m now aiming to be setup before Christmas,lol.

Second session at the torch.

Yesterday, 18th Sept 06,.. I had my second session at the torch and this time, I brought my own torch (a Bobcat) along and used it for the very first time (I’ve only had it three years *rolls eyes*). 

I had an absolute blast. This torch was a little harder to work with,. it was a lot hotter and so I had to work further out in the flame. It also was very directional (not as bushy) and for some reason,. the flame kept going gradually smaller and hotter, which required readjustting a few times.  Just a matter of getting used to it though,. it’s an awesome torch, I love it.

Here is my first bead set. I’m going to make my finale FSOJ piece out of these.

Since one bead from last session (bead 11) missed the photo shoot,. these beads in this set are beads 13 to 20 in order of making.

and bead 12 (first bicone), then beads 21 & 22 were messing around with another technique,… a little outta shape,. cos I think I got excited about the cool happenings inside, I forgot to get them back to shape, oops,lol.

Well,.. I’m ready to go and make beads in my own studio,.. I have all my tools and supplies and all I need now is a couple of minor things like oxygen and gas. :)  See my setup progress next post *snif*.

Simple Pendant with a first bead

Ok here is the first piece I have made with my own lampwork beads,. whoot! what a buzz. A simple little pendant just so I can wear it myself. This bead is really cool,. it has funky bubbles and organic looking formation in side which is hard to capture in the picture. There is also a deep red in the centre which blooms out on the top and bottom of the bead. All accidental of course, because I had no idea what I was doing apart from including three deliberately trapped air bubbles which worked ok.  The rest of the funky bubbly inclusions I’d guess were created because I worked too hot and boiled the glass,lol.