T is for Torch (and how to POOP)

Well if you're making glass beads you need something HOT to melt the glass... I use a Nortel Minor Burner which is a fairly standard entry torch.

Propane and oxygen are mixed at the surface of the torch to produce a hot flame, one that is hot enough to melt glass so I can make my beads.

The torch has two valves, so I can control how much propane (red valve on the top) and how much oxygen (silver valve on the side) are fed into the flame at any given time.

When you make glass beads it's not only how much heat and how it's applied that you need to think about but also the ratio of the gasses you use to produce certain effects, most of the time you work with a Neutral flame, but sometimes you need to add more propane (or reduce the oxygen) to make a Reducing flame or vice versa to produce an Oxygen rich flame.

I did worry I was going to blow myself up or set fire to everything when I first started... however I always remember it's Propane on 1st, Oxygen on 2nd, Oxygen off 1st, Propane off last.... and that is how you POOP safely!

What important info do you need to remember for your hobbies?

The World of Mars and Skewiff Scheduling

Well thought I'd better pop in and let everyone know what I'm up to at the moment as my blogging schedule is a little skewiff!

Side Stage View from Humber Street Sesh

I've been a busy bee in August; hanging out with my husband and friends when they all played a festival - they had sofas in front of their stage... and cover (it rained a lot in the afternoon) so guess where I stayed for most of the day!

Wales... for once in this pic it wasn't raining!

I did a bit of Pandora shopping before heading off on a whirlwind trip to Wales to catch up with family, celebrate a special Grandmother's birthday and generally chill out, with good food & drink and more bad weather unfortunately.  I also came home with some very special pieces of jewellery... but I'll save that story for later!

New Glass!

In other news - I bought some more glass and I've had my 2nd lampworking lesson - only 2 years after my 1st one! 

Pootling along by myself for the last few months, I decided it was time for some expert guidance in getting shot of some bad habits and attempting to learn some good new ones.

My own torch!

I've also taken the plunge and bought my own torch, after much umming and ahhing and driving friends and family insane with my constant, Shall I? Shan't I? questioning.  And, er, that is where the rest of my time has gone this month... I've been creating a little space for myself in my kitchen so I can make beads at home!

Alex Cramariuc - Elements Silver Set

Oh and I've also been gazing adoringly at my new bracelet made up of Alex Cramariuc Elements Silver Set... I did mention that Alex was the one designer that might break my New Years Bead Resolutions Budget and I was right, worth every single penny though!

So that's what I've been up to so far, I have a few things planned for the blog but my scheduling will remain a little skewiff whilst things settle down and I concentrate on not setting fire to the kitchen, or me, or the visiting cats, or anyone who tries to make a cup of tea at the same time... More on my progress later!

So that's me, what have you been up to?

Making Glass Beads ~ Taster Session

I can't believe it's taken me so long to write about this!  

To those of you who follow me on Twitter, or regularly read the comments, or indeed read G is for Glass during the A to Z Challenge this will be slightly old news, albeit with more photos!

Back in January I signed up for a glass bead making taster session, I felt confident my shoulder had recovered enough to be up to the job and spurred on by my trip to Trollbeads Cambridge I made the booking for "sometime" in February.

Dates decided and with a friend in tow who had always wanted to try lampworking, we met Victoria at Oresome Gallery's workshop ready for our glass bead making taster session.

For 2 very blissful hours that positively flew by, we made lots of beads, shrieked as bits of glass pinged off rods and said oops a few times as we experimented... not always to a positive result but surprisingly more positive results than you'd expect considering this was Billy's first attempt and only my second... I think we did brilliantly!

Am I going to try it again? Glass bought and sessions already booked used!

What have you waited for a long time...

only to be super excited once you actually got started?

Any beadmakers out there who can give us some tips?!

L is for Lampwork

Lampwork is the term used to describe the process by which the glass beads are made.  I've included a video for today's post as it really is the easiest way to show you.

This is one of the Trollbeads official videos and for the collectors amongst you it's not one I've seen before as it shows some of the small and beautiful uniques being made!

I have to say that wasn't quite how I made them when I had a go myself last year... mind you it was my first time!

Torch Talk - Don't set yourself on fire!

The start of the new month, a few days booked off work and time to treat myself to something new... a class in lampworking!

I'd booked 2 hours of 1-1 tuition, the minimum recommended for a complete beginner and my aim was to not set myself on fire, anything else was a bonus!

The Studio was about an hour's drive away in a lovely rural setting and I was made to feel immediately welcome when I eventually arrived, as my Sat Nav decided I really wanted to go to the Vicarage instead!  Luckily knowing how quirky my Sat Nav and village postcodes can be I'd set off early so I wasn't actually late.  I'm told that the Vicarage are quite used to directing folk up to the Studio!  Cup of tea in hand and safety glasses on (after throwing them under the bench, I hoped I wouldn't remain this clumsy for the rest of the session) we got straight to work!

The session was organised so a bead would be demonstrated with my lovely tutor explaining what she was doing stage by stage.  Then it was my turn to either replicate this or do something very similar, we started off with just the basics of wrapping the glass around a mandrel.  This is akin to rubbing your tummy and patting your head... as you have a mandrel that you're turning in one hand, and a rod of glass you're melting in the other whilst trying to remember which bits need to be in the flame, and when, and also where... it was GREAT!

The 2 hours just whizzed by and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, time to clean the beads off and see what I'd made - for this session we cooled them in cooling bubbles so I could get some instant feedback on how they turned out.

The results?  Well you can see for yourself below, mine are on the bottom row...

The neat beads on the top row are my tutor's, the slightly messy ones on the bottom row are mine!

The first two beads on the bottom row are actually the last two that I made and I'm so pleased with how they turned out.  They both have larger holes so will fit on my troll bracelets, although they are not cored yet and have been flame annealed rather than kiln annealed but I had to try them out to see how they would look!

I definitely want to do this again, not only was it fun, but working with the glass and the flame was incredibly relaxing.  If you get a chance to ever have a go yourself or watch it being done I'd definitely recommend you try lampworking!

I did intend on taking some photos as I went along as I've always intended to blog about this experience... however I did book the class primarily for the pleasure of learning something new.  When I arrived, I realised I didn't want to lose any of my tuition time taking photos, or indeed miss anything my tutor was showing me because I was too busy taking a photo!  Maybe next time...