NEW BLOG SITE

I have started a new Blog site. Please find me here:

http://firedancerbeads.blogspot.com/

Sunday Torching

Not much to say today. Sunday is my day off, although, working at the torch does not count, now does it? Anyway, it is still so hot, in Florida. I have to get up early, and go out to the back Sunroom, before it gets too hot. I am so ready, for the cool days of Fall, and Winter to get here, and then I can torch for longer periods of time. Ahh haa, then I can post more bead sets to my Etsy account. I usually torch in the morning, and make a few pieces of jewelry, inside the house, during the heat of the day. By the late afternoon, the kiln, will be done, and then I have the wonderful pleasure of cleaning the Bead Poop, out of the beads. So how boring is this, hearing a run down of my daily activites. Sometimes, I swear, that bloggin' is more for the benefit, of the person writing the blog, and not the reader. Well, enough of my Sunday Ramble. Have a wonderful weekend fellow Torchers, and everybody else.

Encasing with Clear, and Bubble Thoughts

I am so thankful, with the economy being so slow, that I am busy making custom orders. The sad thing, is that I don't have enough time, to add new items to my Etsy site. I did add a nice autumn bracelet yesterday. I encased all the main autumn colored beads, with clear. I have been experimenting, with keeping the bead hot, when I add the clear. It makes a thinner encasing, and I did not have any bubbles. Now to learn how to do this, over florals. Not sure it would be possible. Anyway, I kinda like the bubbles. In fact lately, I have seen some beads, that lampworkers, are adding Brass Frit. This technique, creates a lot of beautiful bubbles. When I get time, I really need to try this.

From a Lampwork Customer

This is a copy/paste, of a message sent to me, from a customer, who purchased a bracelet from my Etsy Site, right before she went into the hospital. She also, purchased it on her Birthday. I do not know what her medical problems are. The message, put me in tears. Here is what she wrote:
Dearest FireDancer,
My lifes name symbolically, this is Nikki aka Nicoletta.. Iam sorry I didnt write sooner about how much I treasure the beautiful butterfly braclet you created fro me.. I wil never take it off except for xrays or surgery.. a truning point in my life that started with buying these from you.. they are Beautiful,,, Peace and Love, Nikki.. dontmind the typos.. in a hurry and the butterflys are on the move here....

This is one of the biggest inspirational, things, that has happened, since I started making lampwork Beads. All the hot summers, in Florida, working at the hot Torch. This message makes it all worth while. I can not find the original picture. It is, similiar, with one already posted here on my Blog, archived, as Eye Candy.Only the one I made for her, was made with straight sided Spree Beads.

StudioMarcy Blog One of my Fav Artists

If you like lampworking. This is one of my fav artist.

http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com/

How To Etch Lampwork Beads with Cream

I made a trip over to Michael's Craft store, and purchased some Etching Cream. So I wish to blog a little, about using the etching cream with Lampwork Beads. They did not carry the solution. I live 50 miles away, from the Coast of Florida, so I purchased the Cream, instead of the solution. In the Lampwork etc. forum, they all talked about using solution. Said it was the best way to Etch your beads.
I used one of my 50% coupons, that I received thru the email list, I joined for Michaels. The price for the 16 oz Etching Cream was about $33.00. After I used my coupon, it was quite affordable.
Now I was hesitant, about how to use it after I arrived home. I was afraid, maybe I had wasted my money, because all I had read was how wonderful the solution works.
When I got home, I strung my beads on monofilament, and just put them on the top of the cream, and pushed down a little bit,with a plastic spoon, to make sure they were emerged. Kinda like quicksand, I guess. LOL Anyway, I left them for 5 minutes. Then I took them out, and rinsed with water. Viola! Perfect.
Now a few CAUTIONS. Use plastic with your Etching Cream. And if you have any spill, remember that Baking Soda, will neutralize the acid. I really liked the cream, as I can imagine spilling solution, compared to cream. I would say, that the cream, would not be such a big mess, as thin solution. Also, Use disposable gloves, and do not let the cream touch your hands. IT IS ACID, remember. oh! Also, makes sure your beads are perfectly clean, and try NOT, to touch them after cleaning, and submerging, into the cream. I have heard stories, about residue, can cause uneven etching. I was lucky, I cleaned mine with Windex, rinsed with water, and then submerged into the cream. I had wonderful success, and it is not as scary, as they all were saying.
So, if you want to try etching your Lampwork Beads. I recommend the Cream, you can get it at Michaels.

Butterfly Lampwork Eye Candy

Update on the Cricket Torch

I just heard this morning, that effective September 1st. The cricket torch is no longer available for the introductory price. Ahhh, I missed out. Its still on my christmas list though. Did you hear that Santa?

Lampwork Cricket Torch

This is a picture of the Gtt Cricket Torch that everybody is raving about. It is very efficient with fuel and oxygen. You can even custom order it in different colors. You can use it on a 5LPM, and also the larger Oxygen concentrators. It works, ever better I suspose, as I do not have one YET!! After visiting the site, I see that it is still on Inductory price for $139.00 The site is here http://www.glasstorchtech.com/torches.html , so sure hope I can get one before they go up to the $167.00 price. Christmas after all, is right around the corner.
The torch is a surface mix, with 5 jets. I seen one, when I was in Cape Coral, for a lampworking session. You can make a very small pin point flame with this torch quite easily. I can easily see this torch replacing the Nortel Minor, as an industry standard for the first step up, from a Hot Head. Some have claimed as far as efficiency, this torch has outperformed the Betta, and Paranha. I even read in a blog somewhere, where somebody stepped down from a 7 jet torch, the Bobcat, to this oxygen efficient Torch. SANTA, Please don't forget me this Christmas!!!

Lampwork Bead Set

Here is just a short post showing some eye candy. It is a new set of straight sided Lentils, made with Brown, and then I used a mint, and pink frit blend. It has been a challenge learning to use the lentil press. Not for the faint of heart. But as they say, practice practice practice. PPP You can view them on Etsy at FiredancerBeads.etsy.com

Lampwork Focal Bead

My Newest Focal Bead just listed on Etsy, at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29645701 or the main website is http://Firedancerbeads.etsy.com. Thanks for looking.

Promoting your Etsy Site

This is the greatest site, to read about promoting your items on Etsy.

How to Get Your Jewelry Seen on Etsy

Marketing Lampwork Beads Short And Sweet Advice

I saw this today on the Featured artist link on the main page of Etsy. I think this is some very good advice, as to how to run your Etsy Shop, and in fact, any kind of internet marketing. The address for this article is (http://www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php) , and I will post a short snippet right here, as follows;
Post great pictures of your products. They are more likely to be picked up by bloggers. Make quality products at a variety of price points. Keep enough items posted to keep people in your store longer. Post items regularly to keep your store fresh. Be attentive to your customers. Answer their questions, pack your products well and ship them quickly. Include any necessary instructions on care and use.
His shop name is Wood Elements.

Still on vacation, Adding the Cricket Torch to my Christmas List

Just a quick note, to let you all know that I am still on vacation, in Oakland Nebraska. This wonderful little community, was rated 38th best town to raise a family. by Business Week Magazine. I did have a Gallery pick up some of my work.And the local newspaper featured me, with an article about my Glass Artistry. The art Gallery is called Creative Collection. When I get back to Florida, I will post some pics, and more information. My Etsy site, is on vacation for now. I will have to get back on the Torch as soon as I return, I have some custom orders, I have picked up, while traveling. I saw on Lampwork etc. today, that the GTT Cricket Torch is about to go off the inductory, sale price. Many are raving about this New Torch compared to the nortel Minor, or nortel mega minor. They say it is much more fuel efficent, and works better on the smaller oxygen concentrators. It's all the RAVE, and I hope Santa remembers me this year. For now, I am still on a Hot Head, and it takes forever for me to complete my custom orders.

Making a Large Focal Bead with a Hot Head Torch (Tips & Tricks)

This Bead is almost two inches long, and 1/4 inch thick.It is quite difficult to make a Large Focal Bead with a Hot Head Torch. They do not have as hot a flame, as the other more expensive torches. I know lots of people, who have always, and still do work on a hothead torch for many years. This Bead took a long time, to make, and a lot of patience. Keeping all sides of the bead hot, is also a challenge. You can move it side to side in the flame, and rotate it always. Quite the juggling act, but you kinda get it in time, and lots of practice. If you are a beginning bead maker, or just want to try working with glass to see if you would like it, then a Hot head Torch is the way to go. It is a good torch for teaching some newbies, as it is easier to control the heat flow of the glass. Be aware though, that some of the kits they are selling, at the supply websites, are not a good torch. If you ever need assistance, in selecting your torch, you can contact me thru my website here. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5928514 I will, help you save some money by purchasing the correct torch. Believe me, I know, I made the mistake, of buying the wrong torch, when I first started.

A little something, about the materials,and techniques, used to make this bead. I started with Dark Ivory, and added some frit. Then I used silver foil stringer, that I pulled myself. I added some spots of silver glass, that I kinda swirled with the tip of the rod. Then melted all in, super heated the silver glass,(That's another subject I should blog about later), and squashed it flat. Shapeing and centering the hole thru the middle is also a trick to be learned with PPP(practice. Keeping the weight centered when making the bead, helps with even centering of the hole. If you shape it into a barrel shape, before flattening, it keeps the bead from bunching up in the middle, and stealing glass from the ends. This way you keep the center flat, and you have nice ends. Finally re-heat the whole bead, so that all parts are hot, cool just enough that when you put it into the Kiln, it does not stick to the fibers. (The Chili Pepper Kiln, has a fiber lining)then garage it in your kiln, and properly anneal it. This is the only way you will have a strong durable bead. Let me add that it is almost impossible, to make a large bead like this, without putting it directly into a kiln. I started out, trying to put my beads between fire blanket fiber, to cool. This is fine for small beads, but believe me, I wasted a lot of time, and money on glass, when just starting out, only to end up with broken beads. It is well worth the money to go ahead and get a kiln, if you are serious about doing Lampwork. Hope some of these tips, help. the beginning bead makers.
FiredancerBeads, Handmade Hot Glass Lampwork, by Nell Stanley

Firedancerbeads Torching This Morning.

I was awake early this morning, researching other sites, such as Lampwork etc, and free tutorials. I wish to make some different style beads. maybe more that are just a focal, and not full sets. Also, I am thinking about NOT posting any lampwork jewelry on the site. Maybe only beads. I have some new pics here, of a few of my most recent listings on Etsy, at my shop called Firedancerbeads.

Beaded Creatures

I found this wonderful site, where you can learn to make some interesting, and fun creatures with Beads.
check it out, Here!

My Lampwork site on Etsy

Check it out, if you get a chance, this is my lampwork site, on Etsy. You can email, from the site, if you ever want any special orders. I am quite busy making and selling to the local people, I know. Christmas time, was quite busy for me, doing custom orders, as I am the only lampwork artist in my area. So I had my website on vacation mode, and just recently re opened it. The link is as follows: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5928514

Glass Bead Groups to join

Some groups I belong to, although,I do not belong to the ISGB yet.

International Society of Glass Beadmakers (http://www.isgb.org/ )
Lampwork Etc. (http://www.lampworketc.com/)
The Angry Mandrel (www.angrymandrel.com)
WetCanvas! Cyberliving for Artists (http://www.wetcanvas.com/ )

Lampwork Books=Some of my favorites

Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins
You Can Make Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins
Beads of Glass by Cindy Jenkins
Passing the Flame by Corina Tettinger
1000 Glass Beads by Valerie Van Arsdale Schrader and Cathy Finegan
The Art and Soul of Glass Beads by Susan Ray and Richard Pearce

lampwork beads Kiln Annealed

By annealing the glass beads, they are guaranteed hard as rocks, durable enough for everyday wear with long lasting heirloom quality. When a glass bead is finished, the hot bead (while still on the mandrel), is placed in a kiln heated at 960°F. The annealing process releases the stress from the glass and slowly cools the beads down to room temperature. Cooling the glass beads too quickly will cause them to crack.

What is Lampworking Anyway?

A variant of the wound glass beadmaking technique, and a labor intensive one, is what is traditionally called lampworking. In the Venetian industry, where very large quantities of beads were produced in the 19th century for the African trade, the core of a decorated bead was produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures, a large-scale industrial process dominated by men. The delicate multicolored decoration was then added by people, mostly women, working at home using an oil lamp or spirit lamp to re-heat the cores and the fine wisps of colored glass used to decorate them. These workers were paid on a piecework basis for the resulting lampwork beads. Modern lampwork beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.
Modern beadmakers use single or dual fuel torches, so `flameworked' is replacing the older term. Unlike a metalworking torch, or burner as some people in the trade prefer to call them, a flameworking torch is usually "surface mix"; that is, the oxygen and fuel (typically propane, though natural gas is also common) is mixed after it comes out of the torch, resulting in a quieter tool and less dirty flame. Also unlike metalworking, the torch is fixed, and the bead and glass move in the flame. American torches are usually mounted at about a 45 degree angle, a result of scientific glassblowing heritage; Japanese torches are recessed, and have flames coming straight up, like a large bunsen burner; Czech production torches tend to be positioned nearly horizontally.