Sunday, May 13, 2012

More Discs To Fit Staxx Brand Rings and Pendants

I saved my favorites for last - and then I will be caught up with all beads that I have made!!!  These disc beads fit the Staxx Brand Rings and Pendants when used with the style of topper (in any color or metal) shown in the photos.  I love making these and recently had  a request to make some with aqua colors.

This first disc has a different design and color on each side.  The first side is not a traditional Aqua but a color called Ink Blue and has a bit of a gray tone to it but I would still classify it as in the Aqua family.  The second side is classic Black and White - a popular favorite!!!  The edge on this disc, and a few others I made in this batch, is different than ones I've made before.  The edge is flat and I really like this look and feel.  I would describe it as a thick coin.
Disc 1 Side 1 - Ink Blue, Black & White
Disc 1 Side View - Ink Blue, Black & White
Disc 1 Side 2 - Black & White
This next one has true Aqua on one side and Fuchsia Pink on the other.  This has the new flat edge creating the thick coin shape but this disc does have some texture to the edge.  The last layer of dots are flat but left raised just a bit.
Disc 2 Side 1 - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 2 Side View - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 2 Side 2 - Fuchsia, Black & White
Disc 2 Side View - Fuchsia, Black & White

The third disc has aqua on both sides but a different design for a variety of choices depending on what you feel like wearing.  This disc bead does not have the new flat edge but a traditional curved edge.
Disc 3 Side 1 - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 3 Side View - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 3 Side 2 - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 3 Side View - Aqua, Black & White
Another disc bead with the new flat edge and I've used Ink Blue again on this bead.
Disc 4 Side 1 - Ink Blue, Black & White
Disc 4 Side View - Ink Blue, Black & White
Disc 4 Side 2 - Black & White
Disc 4 Side View - Black & White
Almost half way done.  The next disc has the traditional rounded edge and is made with French Blue and White Glass.
Disc 5 Side 1 - French Blue & White
Disc 5 Side 2 - French Blue & White
Disc 5 Side View - French Blue & White
This bead is made with Aqua, White and Emerald Green transparent glass.  Often these transparent discs are thin enough that the Staxx brand accessories can be used as shown in two of the photos in this set.
Disc 6 Side 1 - Aqua, White & Emerald Green
Disc 6 Side 1 (different angle) - Aqua, White & Emerald Gree
Disc 6 Side 1 - Shown with Staxx Brand Accessory Layer
Disc 6 Side 1 - Shown with another Staxx Brand Accessory Layer
Next is the 7th bead which has almost the same design on both sides and the traditional curved edge.  It has a nice cool watery feel to it.  I used the same colors as in bead number 6 but the use of white glass under the transparent colors allows me to create a dot pattern bead.
Disc 7 Side 1 - Aqua, White and Emerald Green
Disc 7 Side 1 - Aqua, White and Emerald Green
Disc 7 Side 2 - Aqua, White and Emerald Green
Disc 7 Side 2 Side View - Aqua, White and Emerald Green
I used French Blue again in this bead along with White and Black.  This disc has a free form shape and design on both sides and just has a playful feel to it.
Disc 8 Side 1 - French Blue & White
Disc 8 Side 1 Side View - French Blue & White
Disc 8 Side 2 - French Blue & White
Disc 8 Side 2 Side View - French Blue & White
This is the last disc bead I have to share today.   It's a free form shape with the traditional smooth edge.  Each side has similar Aqua, Black & White designs.
Disc 9 Side 1 - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 9 Side View - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 9 Side 2 - Aqua, Black & White
Disc 9 Side 2 - Aqua, Black & White

A few more photos of some other beads and I'll wrap this up for now.  As many of you know, I made beads last year for my friend's Race For The Cure Team and I'm doing it again this year.  The color of pink my friend chose was Fuchsia!!!  Here are the beads I have made so far for Team Tag's, Change A Bead Necklaces.  I just sent her a photo of these today so I don't have final approval on the entire set so some of these may end up for sale after she selects which ones she wants.  These beads have lots of dots on the sides too which you can't see very well but I just needed to get a single photo of them all together.



These are a few CAB necklaces that will soon be for sale.
I did it!!!  I accomplished my goal to get everything photographed, edited and blogged over the weekend!  Didn't quite make the midnight deadline but close enough.  I even managed to have a nice Mother's Day!!  I had a fun scooter ride this morning and a nice evening with my daughter.  We made a vegetarian pasta dish together that was awesome!  It had artichoke hearts, olives, garlic, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, onions, sun dried tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini and some spicy red pepper flakes, along with other seasonings.  Then we went to Yogurt Vi for dessert and watched all our favorite Sunday night TV shows together!!  Some great series and season finales tonight too!!!

Thanks for reading my bead blog!!!  Have a great week everyone!
Chris

Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com - to make an appointment to see my beads and jewelry at my home studio.
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:  
1. Mermaid's Bite 472 5th Ave. South, Naples, FL 34102
2. Will be returning this spring to 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 (Remember to click on the "like" button for updates)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glass-Lampwork-beads-and-Jewelry-by-Chris-Sanderson/175334185825493


 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Love Those Bright Pinks!

Pink beads are popular these days and the Clio formula is always fun to use. 

This bead has a base of Effetre Striking Orange and then the Clio formula.  I tried something new with this bead by cutting into the Clio, with the magic tool that I learned about in a paid tutorial, before reducing.  I used a couple different encasement applications with this bead but it does not have a complete final encasement so you get the darker striations coming through.  Some customers like this and some don't.  Personally I like it.  This bead has a bit more purple than I could capture in the photo.  It's not a bright glowing orange pink but softer and has a nice lavender sheen to it.  And of course it looks different in various lighting so basically it's a way cool bead, eh!?!?!?!

Shown on my Change A Bead Necklace

This bead has a base of Clockwork, layer of Super Clear, Clio and Super Clear.  This bead is a beautiful orange pink and glows like you can't believe.  BUT it has a huge thermal crack in it and that makes me so sad when it's such a large pretty bead.  I am thinking it's because I encased CIM with Effetre clear but just not sure.  I've used this combination before but never on a bead this large.  I'm hoping it was the cooling process I used in between layers to see if I could get the striking/reducing tricks to work better than usual - which they sure did.  I'll try again with CIM clear and see if that makes a difference and if not, then I'll go back to my old shorter cooling/heating process for the striking/reducing.
It was so pretty I had to put it on a Change A Bead Necklace anyways but this bead is going into the trash :-(
 This bead is made with the formula shared on a free tutorial site. I've used it before and I call it the "Okay Peeps" tutorial but I used Clio instead of the Kalypso as recommended in the tutorial.  I discovered this by accident a while back when I just grabbed the wrong rod of glass and found it created some very nice purples.  This bead did not come out as nice as when I made them a year ago - just goes to show you that I can never create the same bead again!!!  I still am happy with this result though. 
Shown on my Change A Bead Necklace
This next bead is an experiment and I sure hope I can keep making this bead.  It's made on a base of Vetrofond Seaweed which can only be purchased in small amounts so I'm using this glass for special applications.  I used the same Clio formula.  Isn't it pretty?  I am including two photos that look the same but I'm hoping you can see all the different colors by doing it this way. I love this bead!!!


You can see more of the light yellows and light greens in this photo
This photo shows more of the dark blues, dark greens and purples.
A quick test using the Seaweed over Clear and Seaweed encased in Clear.
Now back to the pinks again.  After I had the crack in that beautiful pink bead, I tried again the next day at the torch only this time I encased these with CIM Clear over the CIM bases hoping that would solve the crack issue.  No cracks on these so that is good!  But I'm still going to try it again with the effetre clear and test my heat/cool strinking/reducing cycles to see if I can still use the super clear because the brands of clear to make a slight difference in the shade of pink you get.
My favorite bead of this torch session.  Love the shade of pink and the swirled wisps are so pretty.
Shown on my Change A Bead Necklace
Since I had good luck with the Seaweed I tried it on a larger bead.  This is one hard bead to get a good photograph of.  It is pretty but you can't really tell by the photo so you'll have to trust me on this one.  If you like blue-green and shiny, wispy finishes you will like this bead.
Shown on the Bergard Pendent System
This next bead has a base of Light Aqua with a stripe of Light Emerald Green and I applied the Clio right on the base without a Clear layer between then finished up as usual with the Clio formula.

The Light Aqua bead is shown here with two other beads on a Change A Bead Necklace.  I like the three of them together.  The top bead on the chain has already been described above.  The center bead has the additional encasement layer before the Clio (not sure what base I used as my notes got a bit confusing - ooops, but I think it's Seaweed.)  The bottom bead has a base of Light Aqua and I used the regular Clio formula.  This one looks very celestial and wispy.

And at the end of my torch session I had some frit still on my workspace from another session so I tried it on a few different transparent bases.  Some came out great and some not so much but I find that people like things that I don't sometimes so I'm showing them all but not telling you which ones I like.  You can tell me which ones you like and don't like though!!!!
Aqua and Light Emerald base with Triton and Psyche Frit
Shown on one of my Change A Bead Necklaces
Light Amethyst with Triton and Psyche Frit
Light Emerald with Triton and Psyche Frit
Seaweed with Triton and Psyche Frit
Seaweed with Triton and Psyche Frit shown on Change A Bead Necklace
My last bead to share on this post is a bead style I'm making for my friend's Race for the Cure team!!! This is the second year I've made beads for her team and she decided she liked the fuchsia pink for year two.  Go Team Tag!!!  I already have 10 beads made in all different designs but all with the black, white and fuchsia colors.  Can't wait for Teresa to see them all!
Second year: Race for the Cure - Team Tag!!
I'm still not done catching up if you can believe it.  I have two more torch sessions to photograph before I can edit them and get them uploaded and blogged.  Hopefully I will have them done this weekend but since it's Mother's day on Sunday I may just relax and enjoy my day with my family.
Check back soon and as always, I can't thank you all enough for your support, encouragement, and purchases over the years!  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog!!!

Chris

Contact me: chrissandersonbeads@gmail.com - to make an appointment to see my beads and jewelry at my home studio.
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:  
1. Mermaid's Bite 472 5th Ave. South, Naples, FL 34102
2. Will be returning this spring to 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 (Remember to click on the "like" button for updates)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glass-Lampwork-beads-and-Jewelry-by-Chris-Sanderson/175334185825493