Monday, October 17, 2011

All Caught Up!!! Finally!

After this post I'll be all caught up - I think, I hope!!!! It may be another long one but here goes....

This is a focal bead I made to fit my Burgard Pendants.  I think it's pretty.  It has a black base, rolled in silver foil, dots of white that have been covered with aqua and teal and finished with raised black dots.

I am still working on making "CIM only beads."  I am really excited about the cosmic swirl beads I made with all CIM glass.  I sold one or two of them at my recent open house!!!!
The first two are CIM Only beads.  The 3rd one has a base of effetre.
The first and second cosmic storm beads are made with CIM glass only.  The one on the far left has a base of CIM Tuxedo http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=57 rolled in silver foil - burnished and burned off, dots of CIM Stone Ground http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=38 left partially raised, dotted that with CIM Zachary http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=77 - melted in a bit but all is still left raised so I could apply CIM Simply Berry http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=14 to one side of the stack and CIM Great Bluedini http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=78 to the other side of the stack of dots.  Then I melted all flat, swirled randomly wherever it looked appropriate, then melted back to a round shape and encased with CIM Clear http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=24.  This was my first time to use CIM clear and I really liked it!  It went on smooth with great coverage and no problems with boiling or scumming. 
The second bead in this photo I like even better.  The formula of colors is a bit different but the application is the same.  I'm calling this recipe, "CIM Cosmic Swirl Formula 2:" Tuxedo base rolled in silver foil - burnished and burned off, dots of CIM Canyon De Chelly http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=6 left partially raised, dotted that with CIM Glacier http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=16 - melted in a bit but still left raised so I could apply CIMSimply Berry to one side of the stack and CIM Pulsar http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=51 to the other side then finished the same as in the first formula.
The last bead in this group is the exact same as number 2 but has a base of Effetre Black.  It is interesting to me that the Tuxedo seems to swallow more of the transparent glass and push the silver to the surface than the Effetre Regular Black does.  The Tuxedo creates more sparkle milky way swirls and I like it a lot!!!

Remember that bead that cracked?  Well I had to test that formula again to make sure it wasn't the combination of glass.  The first bead here is that exact same formula: CIM Hades base rolled in silver foil - burnished and burned off, CIM Peace dots - melted flat and CIM Caribbean on top of that and melted in.  I forgot to top it off with a raised black dot but I doubt that is going to make it crack.  So good news --- it didn't crack this time!!! 
Second bead here is the same application but I used CIM Tuxedo for a base - notice the reaction isn't as great and the white dots get a little dirty.  I like the Hades better for this effect.
Last bead in this set is the same as the first bead but I used CIM Twilight instead of Caribbean and I don't really care for that combination here.

Hades rolled in Raku Jitterbug Frit

This bead has a base of CIM Hades and I applied a Raku Zebra Twisty and capped those with CIM Clear.  The twisty was made with Raku frit and Effetre Intense Black.  I think I prefer the base to be made of Effetre Regular Black when I make this style of bead.
CIM Peace base with CIM Tuxedo for large black dots and Effetre Black for small center dots.
I love CIM glass but I really don't like to use the CIM black and white glass for my masked pattern beads.  The bead above and the following bead (two photos) show that I can't get that nice crisp line I like with this style of bead. 
Tuxedo, Peace and Pulsar
Tuxedo, Peace and Pulsar
These 3 beads all have DH Aurae silvered glass over the following bases; Vetrofond Topaz light, Effetre Rose Quatz and CIM Mojito.  Pretty little beads - I like the shine!
Base of Mojito with poked Aurae dots covered with Aether clear - way cool bead!!!!!
Lt. Ivory, a bit of Commando, twist of CDC/Raku/Intense Black - struck a bit.

Effetre Black base, CDC stringer applied in Raku Zebra Recipe, reg. clear.
To clarify a few things about the last two beads - I made a twisty using a blob of CDC, smashed in some Raku frit, applied some black intense stringer and pulled it all out into a twisty.  The last bead has this twisty applied in place of the regular Raku Zebra twisty but the rest of the bead uses the same recipe.  The second to the last bead just has this CDC Twisty applied randomly.  I like the CDC twisty for a nice change.

Okay well I did it, I'm all caught up until I get back at the torch.
Thanks so much for sticking with me and wading through all the boring stats just to see the pretty beads. 
Chris
Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com
Follow my life of Lampworking: http://beadsbychrissanderson.blogspot.com
Purchase my beads and Jewelry: http://www.artfire.com/users/BeadsByChris
Finished Jewelry sold on site at: SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON 114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 - In the Country Charm Shoppes.
Just for fun: Facebook: Glass Lampwork beads and Jewelry by Chris Sanderson




A Bunch of Beads From October 10, 2011

I made over 20 beads on this day at the torch and I have some good notes, some good beads and some not so good beads but I keep track of those too so I remember not to use those combinations again.

I am a huge fan of CIM (Creation is Messy) brand glass and I usually mix it in with other glass but I wanted to try a few beads with CIM only  - to see how their blacks and whites work in applications that I'm used to using Effetre brand.  This first bead I was not sure I was going to like - while I was making it, I noticed an odd reaction and you can see it around the holes of blue.  Well, when I took it out of the kiln I was flipping out - what an awesomely cool reaction!!!!!  The bummer of it all was, the bead cracked right down the middle when I took it off the mandrel.  I hope this doesn't happen each and every time I use this combo and I did try it again (you will see in  a future post) and the beads did not split - thank goodness!!!
Bead 1 - I LOVE the burst around the edges of the circles!!!!
Technical data of bead 1: Base of CIM hades http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=17, rolled in silver foil, CIM peace dots covered with CIM caribbean and raised dots of CIM hades.


Beads 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
These next 7 beads I made so I could compare CIM and Effetre glasses using the application from from the bead above (the one that cracked) and also without the foil. Different whites and blacks react differently so let's see what I found out... 
Data:  Bead 2 - Base of hades (no foil), peace dots covered with caribbean http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=101 and raised dots of hades.
Bead 3 - Base of hades (no foil), effetre white covered with caribbean and raised dots of hades.
Bead 4 - Effetre black base, peace dots covered with caribbean and raised dots of hades.
Bead 5 - Effetre black base, effetre white dots covered with caribbean, raised dots of effetre black.
Bead 6 - Effetre black base, peace dots covered with caribbean and raised dots of effetre black.
Bead 7 - Effetre black base rolled in foil, effetre white dots covered with caribbean and raised dots of effetre black.
Bead 8 - Effetre black, effetre white dots covered with CIM journey http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=98 and raised dots of effetre black.
So what I have found is that effetre white leaves a cleaner/sharper edge with both of the blacks I used but that awesome reaction is not as pronounced with the effetre glass as it was with all CIM.  I'm very glad that I found out through further testing that the crack in the first bead must have been a fluke.

The rest of what I experimented with today but I will only talk about the ones of interest to my future use.
I don't have a close up of the first bead in this series but it's a base of effetre black with dots of CIM heffalump covered with CIM journey.  The heffalump helps coax out the purple side of the journey.
The second bead in this series is a base of CIM heffalump  encased with CIM journey http://www.creationismessy.com/color.aspx?id=98 with dots of effetre black and effetre white.

Now we'll skip down to the 5th bead in this set.
Base of black with dots of DH 455 melted flat, sm dots of reg. clear randomly applied and melted in, reduced and corner capped with aeither clear - melted flat and reduced one last time.  Pretty cool bead but is a little on the dark side.

I made this bead the same was as the one above only this one has a base of aqua.  This is a pretty cool bead!!!


Another dark one but worth keeping my notes on it!  Same application as the last two beads but on a base of CIM sangre.  I like the way silvered glass reacts on sangre!!!!

This one was tough to photograph as it seems many of the silvered glass beads are.  Same application as the previous beads but used a base of light silvered plum and raised dots of DH 455 that are reduced to a pretty shine.  I don't really think I will use the silvered plum under 455 but I do like the 455 as a finishing accent!



These two beads I'm testing DH OK455 using the Fire Opal Recipe.  The top one has a black base and the clear used is regular on the inside and aether on the final encasement.  The second bead has a base of silvered plum and the reverse use of clear brands.  The silvered plum is not doing it for me with this application either.


These were so cool but neither of the photos really show them well.  I included both backgrounds hoping to show as much of their iridescence as possible.  All 3 are bases of OK455, rolled in triton and gaia frit, reduced with random dots of aether clear and aether encasing.  The last one has a base of aqua that was encased with the OK455 and it is my favorite of the bunch.



And last but not least are these pretty bright pink beads.  I really like these!  I tried the OK455 glass using the bright pink clio recipe and added some frit too and it worked great!  These have white bases, striking orange, clear, OK455, triton and gaia frit all melted in at each level then dotted with regular clear, reduced, encased with regular clear (first bead has regular clear, second bead has aether clear encasing) or clear capped on the triangle sides.


Well that was a long post and I'm not even done catching up.  But I am done for now.  I have at least one more blog post before I'm caught up.  So hang in here with me.  Thanks for reading my blog!
Chris
Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com
Follow my life of Lampworking: http://beadsbychrissanderson.blogspot.com
Purchase my beads and Jewelry: http://www.artfire.com/users/BeadsByChris
Finished Jewelry sold on site at: SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON 114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 - In the Country Charm Shoppes.
Just for fun: Facebook: Glass Lampwork beads and Jewelry by Chris Sanderson

Still Catching Up!!!

These beads were made back on October 9th.  Now most of the information listed with these beads will just be technical information for my log but you still might enjoy looking at the pretty beads.  There are many photos of each bead in different lighting because this silvered glass shines so differently in the various settings/lights.
Overall group of beads to follow.
Bead 1
Bead 1

Bead 1
Bead 1: Gelly's sty base, dots of ivory, capped with DH 503143 Kalpso, reduced and bubble eye capped with regular clear, reduced once more.
Bead 2 - Sold.
Bead 2 - Sold
Bead 2: Same as number 1 but worked it with extreme cooling before striking and reducing.  See detailed notes of 10-9-11.
Bead 3
Bead 3
Bead 3
Bead 3
Bead 3
Bead 3 is my favorite of the day: Same application as bead number 2 but has a base of pink bubblegum.  I love the different colors that glow from those bubbles on this one!!!
Bead 4
Bead 4
Well bead 4 is an example of when silvered glass turns poop colored.  It is a base of 24K, with Kalypso dots applied hot and melted down hot, let cool before striking and reducing and clear capping but I think when I reheated to poke the dots and capped again, I must have lost those nice colors.  Oh well, live and learn right? 

That's it for the beads from this day at the torch.  Be back shortly with more of my log inventory catch up. 

Chris
Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com
Follow my life of Lampworking: http://beadsbychrissanderson.blogspot.com
Purchase my beads and Jewelry: http://www.artfire.com/users/BeadsByChris
Finished Jewelry sold on site at: SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON 114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 - In the Country Charm Shoppes.
Just for fun: Facebook: Glass Lampwork beads and Jewelry by Chris Sanderson

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Silvered Bead Exhange In Progress

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on so here we go....
First off I want to thank everyone who came to my open house and made it a successful and fun day!!!!!  I told one friend tonight, that I love making beads but, seeing my friends wear and enjoy them is just the best thing ever!!!  I remember back in the beginning of my bead making, I felt that each bead was one of my babies and I often had a hard time letting go of them.  Now, I love having them go to you all - they are still my babies but I like them being out and about and enjoyed by others!!!!

I am taking part in a Silvered Glass exchange with other bead makers on one of the forums I follow.  My hope is that I will learn as much as possible about this glass.  There are so many awesome silvered glass bead artists and I would love to make beads on their level.  It will take a while and I may never get it - it's a tricky thing for sure.  So we will see.  I've already been frustrated by the challenge and it's only been 2 weeks.  The challenge/exchange will be over Feb. 1 - so lets hope I'm not a silvered glass drop out.

The colors were not what I was hoping for but I still like this bead!!! Technical info: Base of effetre black, OY corners, rolled in Psyche Frit, reduced, encased with Aether clear in corners, dotted with Aurae on raised corner dots. 

This bead is fused to the mandrel so instead of a bead it is now a flower pot stake. 
Technical info: It has a effetre black base, OY wrap, rolled in Triton and Gaia Frit, added a few random small clear dots before reducing and wrapping it in Aether clear - left slightly raised.  Nothing special here but I'm starting to pick up some color.






I know I probably have way too many photos of this bead but it has so many cool things going on each side plus I liked the different backgrounds as they seem to enhance different features of the bead.  This is not a frit bead but is a silvered glass bead.  I love these pink ones and my customers seem to like them too.  Now when I can be consistent in achieving this color I will be a happy silvered glass bead maker!!!  Technical info: Base of striking orange, reg. clear encased, Kalypso swished on - worked till droopy hot, cooled, cooled, cooled, struck a bit, reduced a bit then reg. clear encased.

That's it for the bead portion of this post but I do have a bracelet to share with you that I finished for a customer.  It's made with those cool Black Sting Ray beads - inspired from my recent trip to the zoo.  I have a few more to make similar to this one - seems to be a popular item.  I may have to make one of these for myself too!!!


More blogging coming soon!
Thanks for reading!
Chris
Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com
Follow my life of Lampworking: http://beadsbychrissanderson.blogspot.com
Purchase my beads and Jewelry: http://www.artfire.com/users/BeadsByChris
Finished Jewelry sold on site at: SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON 114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 - In the Country Charm Shoppes.
Just for fun: Facebook: Glass Lampwork beads and Jewelry by Chris Sanderson

Friday, October 7, 2011

Finished Jewelry & Christmas Bazaar Information!!!!

I had a great time at the event last evening!  Met some wonderful people, found a few old friends to catch up with and made a few sales as well.  It was a beautiful evening and Shelly, the event coordinator, has to be exhausted today because she put on one heck of an event! 

As you know I had been busy making jewelry pieces and beads for the event as well as finishing up a few customer orders.  I did take pictures along the way but haven't had time to post on my blog until now.  So this is a little catch up time.
Sold - Rainbow Bangle
Sold - Fire Opal Earrings 
This next earring pair is from my inspiration day at the Zoo - remember those beautiful rays?
Black Ray Earrings - Sterling silver components.

Tie-dyed Earrings - Sterling silver components.
Pink & Brown Earrings - Sterling silver components.
Foiled Colors - Wine Bottle Stopper
Black Ray - Wine Bottle Stopper
Tie-dyed - Wine Bottle Stopper
Here is a very poorly lit photo of my table set up at the event last night.  I need a larger table/space or some risers I think.  

That is all I have to post today. Seems like I have been spending most of my time on the jewelry making end of things these past few weeks so I can't wait to get back to the torch and make some beads again!!!!

As promised, here are the details of my next event - this one is open to the public and has a good variety of vendors attending.  Come join us and get your Christmas shopping done in one place!!
Christmas Bazaar
November 12
9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON  
114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
In the Country Charm Shoppes.

Thanks for reading my blog!
Chris
Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com
Follow my life of Lampworking: http://beadsbychrissanderson.blogspot.com
Purchase my beads and Jewelry: http://www.artfire.com/users/BeadsByChris
Finished Jewelry sold on site at: SALVATORE CAPELLI SALON 114 W. South Boundary Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 - In the Country Charm Shoppes.
Just for fun: Facebook: Glass Lampwork beads and Jewelry by Chris Sanderson