Seems like a long time since I've blogged so this is going to be a lenghtly one - just warning you. I had quite a bit of time away from the torch due to a short trip the KY for The Gathering - WOW! What an experience that was. Then my daughter came for a weeks stay, which was totally wonderful and then it was catch up time with all the usual responsibilities I had set aside for the other fun stuff - you know how it goes. I finally got back to the torch about 5 days ago and must confess I had a couple rough days just getting back in the zone. I had so many ideas I wanted to try after being so hyped up by all the inspiration at The Gathering so I picked one area to start working with and that was Silvered Glass. It's tricky and I've tried my hand a few times before but this time I got some results I am really happy with. Not consistent yet but I'll take what I can accomplish with this beautiful glass any way it comes. Want to see some pictures?
I'm going to post pictures backwards this time because I can't wait to get to the cool DH Silvered Glass:
This first bead is nothing like what I expected and is not one of my "exciting ones" but I'm going in order so I keep my notes strait for future use. This has a base of regular clear, encased in DH Triton, clear coils of Aether (my first time to use that stuff - oh baby!!!,) reduced, and Aether clear encased. It has that green cast I had read would happen with Aether and while that is nice for some effects I think I would prefer regular clear over Triton in the future so I get more of the blue.
This puppy was was tough to photograph because of the super shiny surface so I'm showing a couple different views. It is a way cool bead and I need to work on photographing this type of bead as I think I will be making more of these soon!!!
Base is Cobalt Blue, coiled with DH Triton, thin wraps of clear (center wrap is Aether and outer wraps are regular clear) which have been raked and twisted. I left the decoration raised, flashed it in a reduction flame and that's it. I like it and it's even better in person!
Here is another one that the photos do not due them justice and I'm hoping between the two photos you can get an idea of the "oil slick" appearance on this bead.
I made it the same way as the second bead but used DH Psyche and flattened the decoration this time.
This is one of my favorite beads of the day. Black base, Opal Yellow wraps, DH Psyche wrapped over the OY, melted flat, reduced, Aether clear dots, reduced again for quite a few times then all encased in Aether.
Okay so this bead I'm allowing 3 photo spots because there is so much going on in this bead.
This is another favorite of the day for me!
Cobalt base, horizontal lines of Opal Yellow, wraps of both DH Triton and Psyche, Aether squiggle wraps, reg. clear horizontal lines, reduced, encased in Aether with a raised dot of Triton in the center on either side. I left out the melting sequence from my notes here but each layer was melted before the next one applied.
This is the same type of application as in the prior beads and I used Elvis Cezanne over a base that is 1/2 Black and 1/2 Cobalt. I placed OY dots in a wrap type design, then wrapped EC over that making sure to hit the dots and also let it go on base colored areas, aether clear stringer squiggles and the reduced. Elvis Cezanne is a glass I bought at The Gathering and I really don't know anything about it so this was a total experiment. I've searched the lampworking forums but haven't found any information yet so I don't know if I'm working the glass correctly but I like the bead anyway!
This is the same application and use of glass as the one above but it is encased - I think with regular clear but darn it I left it out of my notes :-(
This purple-ish bead I made using DH Clio and tried the free tutorial given by Pegasus on the "Frit Happens" Forum. She suggests using Kalypso but I grabbed Clio by accident and it was a nice accident I think!
The purple-ish Clio bead is shown here again as I was trying different backgrounds and lighting while trying to get a good picture of the next pink-ish bead. This bead shows nicer on the coral I think.
So this pink-ish bead has a base of Clockwork, encased in reg. clear, wraps of DH Clio over the clear. I used the tips given by Hayley on the LE site for her "Game 3" fun. Thanks Hayley!
Okay this next bead is my absolute favorite of the day!!!! You can't tell by the photos and believe me, I tried and tried to get the colors in the bead to show up, but it is a gorgeous glowing purplish, orange pink. The top photo here is as close to the real thing as I could get - I know it's not in good focus but I had to use it for the color example.
When I pulled this out of the kiln, I said "WOW" and was the most excited as I've been about a bead - I think ever. I was so thrilled with the color. I hope my description helps because these photos just do not do this bead justice at all! I made it with Orange Transparent 591422-T base, encased in clear and then wrapped with Clio, melted, and squished - again using the tips from Hayley as in the bead above.
This has a Cobalt and Black base, small dots of OY, coil of DH Kalypso, clear stringers (center is Aether, outer is reg. clear,) reduced. Didn't get as many colors as I'd hoped for but it's still a nice bead!
This is another favorite bead of the day for me!!!! Clockwork base, reg. clear encased, DH Kalypsho wrap, reduced (I really cooked this one nice and hot) and encased in reg. clear. Wow-za! I want to go make more of these right now!!!!!
This bead is made with a glass called Pacific Lotus and I think it's made from TAG but I clearly couldn't get it to do anything cool. I have tried to research this glass but can't find anything so I'll have to ask one of the Silvered Glass experts on LE. I made this bead with a Black and Cobalt base, Opal Yellow wrap with the PL wrapped on top of that, Aether dots, reduced, encased in reg. clear. I tried another bead using PL alone, clear encased and raised reduced dots of PL and it shines a little on the decor but the rest is just a dark blob. Hmmmmm....
Base of Silvered Plum, encased with DH CE352, let cool, lt. reduction flame (1/2" candles) 4" away from tip till shiny, clear encased. Clearly it didn't do anything special. I used the suggestion I read about in the free suggestion area but I think I need to try again - or try something different with this glass.
Another bead that deserves two photos I think. This is in my top 5 of the day for sure.
Lt. Plum and Black base, rolled in Luna 2 frit, reduced, reg. clear stringer, Aether clear encased. Love it!
Same as bead above but it's squished. Also showing two pictures because this one was a little harder to photograph.
Oh and this bead had Aether clear stringer work instead of reg. clear and it has a final encasement of Aether.
This little bead is worth talking about even though it was a bugger to photograph.
The small bead is a base of Bleudin, DH Kalypso, dots of Aether, reduced and reg. clear encased.
The larger bead is Bludini and DH Triton using reg. clear squiggles and encasement.
This bead has a base of Bluedini but beyond that my notes are lacking. Must have been getting tired at the end of my day at the torch.
These are beads I made from the second day at the torch (remember I'm working backwards here) and they were my experimental Silvered Glass beads leading up to my big day at the torch using all the silvered glass I blogged about at the top. 1. base of Clio - soupy hot, cool cool cool, reduced, clear encased. 2. Opal Yellow base, band of clio, reduced, encased. 3. Periwinkle base, clio, red., encased. 4. Ivory base. 5. Milky Pink translucent I had laying on my work space - very nice bead. 6. Same as 1st bead but with raised reduced dots of clio on top - LOVE this bead - pretty little wisps inside and has a nice golden glow!!!! 7 & 8. These are made with a test batch I bought at The Gathering from DH. It's TH 473. Kind of pretty - has a pearl blue finish but I may not be working it correctly. I worked it as a standard reduction glass. 9. This is my "yucky" bead of the day - base of ivory, sangre center dots testing the TH 473 over the red and ivory. Just pure yuck so at least I know not to use that glass on sangre or ivory now.
I made some new jewelry for myself! I needed something to wear with brown and my first day back at the torch I made brown tone beads. I made jewelry later this week and came up with these two pieces and I love them!!!
I didn't write down the glass I used the first day back at the torch so I don't have detailed information on what I used here. I know it was a brown, coral and ivory though. Usually when I get back on the torch after a long break I don't bother taking notes - I just try to have fun and get the cobwebs out.
Hey good news! Staxx Brand Jewelry now has a pendent that can be used with my disc beads!!!! Of course I bought one for myself. The pendent and chain are sold separately and are very reasonable!!! I picked up two extra chains and pendants to have in my studio for display and purchase - that's how reasonable they were.
Here is the pendent and a topper without a bead:
And last but not least is a photo of a key chain my friend Sue G. made using some of my beads. Nice work Sue!!!
I warned you it would be a long post so thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog. I love blogging about my beads and it helps me learn from my mistakes as well as my successes but most of all I love hearing what you all have to say and suggest. Summer is coming to an end and while that makes me sad (weather wise) it means more days at the torch are right around the corner!!!! See ya soon!
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