Big-Hole Bead Obsession!

And no, I am not talking about 3/16" / 5mm-hole beads for Pandora style bracelet or my Ginormous Capped and Cored Series which also only have 3/16" hole!

It started with just 5/8". I had fun incorporating my Leaves Series using the large-hole mandrel. I put it on one of our crochet necklaces and will probably send this in for the Bead Invitational at Pismo Gallery.



After making a few more,I got ambitious and decided to try my hand on using a 1" mandrel (just happened to have one laying around)! I had so much trouble keeping the bead from cracking - for the 1" metal mandrel acts as a huge heat sink - that I had to modify my design a bit. Tried it on the 5/8" first . . .



. . . , then was successful in making two 1" ones!





Here is to show how really big they are . . . I don't have very big hands! :)

Double Helix Murrinis - February 2011 Mix

If you are interested in seeing what many of the Double Helix murrinis from its February mix look like applied, I have put the following together. I apologize in advance that some of the images are slightly blurry but they should still give you a good idea. I also want to point out that I haven't extracted the full potential of many and will be playing with them more. There are some I haven't gotten to trying yet. Check back for more pictures!

Examples of murrini close-ups follow murrini rods positioned from left to right:


Please note that the middle murrini rod shown above is dark blue (not reddish).








Please note that the far right murrini rod shown above is dark blue (not reddish).








Please note that the far left murrini rod shown above is dark blue (not reddish).












Hearts!


Please note that the far left murrini rod shown above is neutral in color (not reddish).





Check back for pictures of the last two heart ones! :)

Using my butterfly murrinis on my beads!

In my last post, I showed the quarter-size butterfly murrini for my paperweight along with some smaller ones for my beads. I finally had a chance to use them! Two of my Ginormous Capped and Cored series with the wee butterflies! Both made with Double Helix test batches.



Many of my students and customers are always surprised when they actually see my beads in person for they are usually bigger than they thought! Here I put a bunch of my spherical beads in my hand so you can get a point of reference. The smallest one may even be a wee too big for Pandora bracelets! :)



Speaking of GINORMOUS - here is one that just kept growing! The largest capped and cored bead I have ever made.

Five Days with Loren Stump

It was last November at the B.A.B.E. show at the Oakland Convention Center where Toni Lutman, Pam Killingsworth, my sister and I had our tables within the same pod. The topic of taking a class with Loren Stump came up. Loren had started offering "semi-private" classes for group up to four students instead of the normal eight. For $200 more, we got to have more one-on-one with Loren, it was an opportunity we couldn't pass on.

We recruited our friend, Nanette Scott, to join us for a five-day Loren II (butterfly) workshop at Loren's studio in Elk Grove. Toni and Nanette had taken Loren I (face) and Pam actually had taken Loren II, while I was a complete novice at this. After many emails back and forth amongst ourselves, we finalized on a February class.

I have taken classes from many excellent teachers but I have to say that Loren's workshop exceeded all my expectations. Not that I had many expectations considering that I signed up knowing that it was the "butterfly" class and wasn't until the week prior when I actually looked up the class description on Loren's website! :)



"For people who have already taken Loren I or have extensive flameworking experience. The techniques covered are similar to the Loren I class but at a more difficult level. The Murrini portion of the class will concentrate on creating repetitive patterns which will be used to construct a butterfly. Murrini cold working techniques includes sawing and polishing Murrini chips to be included in the paperweight. Sculptural techniques will examine several different methods for achieving human body and animal sculptural forms that offer more challenges than the Loren I class. The techniques include cold assembly, hot sculpture, detail overlay, temperature control, tool use, drilling holes with hot tungsten pick, and the correct application of murrini. Encasement involves a larger amount of Schott crystal and several layers within the paperweight so the butterfly appears to be hovering over the floral setup."

Loren's class usually runs from 10am to midnight and beyond. When the master of glass wants to teach us 14-15 hours a day for five days, sleep can wait. Loren is an amazing artist who can control the glass in every situation - from large sculptural pieces where he assembles them inside a ginormous hot kiln to itsy bitsy delicate floral creations and everything in between!

Here are some of the components Loren showed us how to make for the paperweight:





Here is Loren's arrangement:



Instead of keeping it as a paperweight, Loren beveled his into a pendant for his assistant, JoElla!



Here are my extra components:



Here is my butterfly - the large ones are bigger than the size of a quarter:



Here are our arrangements:

Pam's


Toni's


Nanette's


Mine


Here is my finished paperweight - I have to confess tho that Loren did 90% of the work on this! :)



If funds permit, I'd love to take a class from Loren every year! Under the Sea, In the Jungle, Sculpture, etc. etc. I hope to practice peeling the Schott pucks so I will be able to do the paperweight process next time. ;)

Our NEW Silver Glass Murrini Favorites Winter 2010/11

We have had requests for murrini collections with a handful of the same murrini chips for making sets, etc. Thus we are launching our murrini favorites winter 2010/11 collections! There are two collections at the moment - reducing and striking - and we are working on two regular ones that will be available shortly.


$12 for each pack containing five chips of five of our favorite murrini recipes. The chips are hand picked so five of the same will be similar in size, ranging from 3mm to 5.5mm. These are limited editions so order yours today at our online store!