Lobolita » lampwork

Beads and a Haircut, Two Bits

Lorraine — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:26:47 +0000

Today’s post is brought to you courtesy of my new haircut. I’ve been experimenting with hollow beads today:

Hollow CIM Chalcedony, DH Triton and Gaia frit, CIM clear dots.

Hollow Vetrofond Smoke Rings

Hollow CIM Sangre with Triton frit

Effetre transparents and opaques with Triton frit

Hollows: CIM Kryptonite with Effetre Periwinkle swirls, Unknown Frantz box pink with Effetre dark lavender swirls

The crowning glory! Trans grass green with leaf cane and applied flowers. On a hollow bead!

Poor Photography Syndrome (PPS)

Lorraine — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:15:51 +0000

Do you suffer from Poor Photography Syndrome, as I do? Do you live in a cloudy climate, rushing out to take pictures in the only spot of sunshine for miles around, only to discover that the batteries in your camera have died? Do you forget to take a picture of your work during the daylight hours, only remembering after the sun is well down and your only sources of light are the discount lightbulbs of various kinds currently living in your light fixtures? Do your hands shake? Does your macro zoom to the wrong object?

Fear not. You are not alone. I, too, feel the pain of PPS, and have for many years. Today, we have two sterling examples.

Example #1: The unidentified fuzz

Though this is not an irreversible problem, unidentified fuzz plagues those of us with PPS.

I’m fairly proud of this bead, which I made on Friday afternoon. It’s Sky Blue Effetre, decorated with Transparent Aqua stringer. The bead itself is hollow, built on the mandrel in two disks, which I teased together, allowing the air inside to puff the bead out to round. It’s about 12 mm in diameter.

Example #2: Random stuff in the background of the shot

These are my new murrini. Aren’t they nice? Also, random junk on my kitchen table, including the bead I took a picture of moments before.

My First Murrini

Lorraine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:31:57 +0000

COE 104, not perfect, but hopeful! I’m going to try to put some in beads tonight.

Horseshoe Lampwork Bracelet, Part 2

Lorraine — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:40:13 +0000

Please ignore the puffy pregnant hand. Focus on the bracelet.

The fun part about this bracelet is that it looks like it should fall apart, because of the open horseshoes, but if you make your twisted loops smaller than the flared ends of the links, it’s perfectly secure. Now, for the assembly.

1. Using the 24 gague silver wire, create a wrapped loop around the first horseshoe link. Test it to make sure that it will not slide off.

2. Thread one round bead, one lampworked bead, and one round bead onto the wire. Make another wrapped loop around the next link, orienting the link in the opposite direction from the first.

3. Continue as established until all the links and lampworked beads have been added. End with a bead link, attaching a handmade or storebought clasp. Attach the opposite side of the clasp to the first link. Et le voila, the completed bracelet: