A New Exchange!

This time, it's a vessel exchange. 

I love making vessels, but I haven't made them in a long time.

Here's the first one I made for this exchange.

I blew this vessel.

I have more in the kiln right now, and I'll show those later.

Any way..

Ta-Da!!!

 

 Side 1

Side 2

Do you like to wear vessels as jewelry?

I love to wear them, especially with a drop of essential oils in them.

More to come later.

My Beads Came!!!!

They came!!

I am so excited, and I love each and every one of them!

I joined a bead exchange on Lampworketc called

You Pick!

Each of us submitted a picture for inspiration and everyone in our group made a bead based on our photo for inspiration.

Wow!  The results were spectacular!

Take a look at what I received.

The only thing I forgot to do was to show you a copy of my picture.

It came from a JC Penney Catalog, but you'll get the idea.

It's a group photo!

Now for some more organized ones.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3!

and you might want to check out Marcy Lamberson's blog!

She was in this one, too.

Click 

HERE to see her blog post about the exchange!

This was really fun and challenging.

The creative juices were flowing!

 

Another Exchange on Lampwork Etc.

After a couple of years, I have started to participate in exchanges again on Lampworketc.

Right now, the Big Hole Bead Exchange is going on and it's been fun!

I use these exchanges as an opportunity to hone my skills on a particular type of bead.

Big Hole Beads

this time.

I also enjoy getting to know my fellow participants.

Everyone ends up with lovely beads.

The rules in this exchange say that we should send 5-10 beads.

We will receive the same number in return.

I realized today that I am one bead short for this exchange.

Luckily,

I have more time to make that bead.  

How big do the holes have to be on these beads?

The smallest holes should be around 1/4 inch or big enough to fit the Euro Style bracelets.

Other than that, the sky is the limit.

These are the beads that I am sending as a hostess giftie.  I hope Cori likes them.

Vanilla ice cream anyone?

Want a chocolate ice cream cone?

How about a chocolate covered cherry?

I even managed to core one bead?  Can you believe it's cored with aluminum tubing?

Here's what the bead looks like.

I love the way the twistie melted in this bead.

How about an animal skin bead?

Murrini melted and encased.

The hole on this bead is 1/2 inches.

Here's a group shot.

Now there's only one bead left to go!

I'll post that later.

I've joined another Exchange on Lampworketc!

I've decided to take a slight detour in my bead making journey.  I've decided to slow down.  I'm only going to participate in one 1 bead show this year.  I have a lot on my plate, and I need new inspiration.  One of the things I've decided to do is to join more exchanges on Lampworketc.  I used to have a great time participating in exchanges on that site!  I'm looking forward to having fun interacting with other bead makers and exchanging beads.

For this beach themed exchange, I've decided to make some fun fish.  What do you think, so far?  I need to make one more fish and one for Beads of Courage.

I'm glad that Irene decided to ask us to include a bead for Beads of Courage.  It's my privilege to participate!

Finally, Getting Serious about The Exchange!

SuzyQ aka Susan Sheehan

started a murrni exchange on Lampworketc.

I joined, and, truly, I have been playing with murrini making because I wanted to develop my heat control skills again after being off the torch for so long.

Well, it's finally time to get serious about this because it will be getting time to mail those babies pretty soon.

Well, actually, I have plenty of time, but, if I don't get serious now, I might miss the deadline!

So, I'm finally getting serious about this exchange.

For those of my non lampworking friends,

murrini are small bits of glass that are shaped and formed in the flame and used to decorate lampwork beads.

Here's a sample from my shop.

These murrini are made from glass encased in silver and dark black lines on the side.

I won't be using them in the exchange unless I make more.

Murrini is made from cane.

After you form and stretch the glass, this is what the cane looks like.

The nippers are what I use to slice the cane.

You apply small chips to each bead you decorate with murrni.

This is a head shot of the cane and what the pattern looks like before it's cut.

Here's a shot of another cane that I made.

The ends are irregular.  I usually keep those chips for me.

Once I begin to nip the canes to make chips, the shapes become more regular.

It's amazing some of the murrni that people are able to make!

If you search Etsy, you will find some amazing works of art!

Mine is much more simple.

Here are the blue murrini chips.  They look better shaped as I cut into the cane.

I don't know what to call them.

What do you think?

These green ones have a little more of a pattern.

What should I call them?

Anyway, I am serious now.  I want to get this exchange finished and mailed to Susan before the end of September.  I sure hope I can!

This really has been fun!

It finally worked! Copper Etching with Salt!

One of these pieces of copper is the final, successful result of etching copper with salt. I wish the photo were better. Which piece of copper do you think was successful?















Let's take a closer look.


I found a tutorial on Lampworketc about etching copper without harsh chemicals. The writer of the tutorial used salt combined with low voltage electricity and an aquarium bubbler. The name of the tutorial was Copper Etching with Salt. Included in that tutorial was another link to another tutorial on etching copper with salt in Art Jewelry Magazine. I wrote my list and headed out to Radio Shack, Walmart, and Menard's to obtain the objects on my list. I came home and saturated the water with salt to begin the etching process. The water was saturated, the battery was hooked up and ready to go. I dipped the anode in the water and I waited. This photo was the result. All I did was to corrode the copper because I had put the battery into the battery holder BACKWARDS! Oh, well, time to try again!





















This time, the battery was hooked up correctly. The resist was applied, and I began the process of etching again. Unfortunately, my brushing was too vigorous. Piece #2 was sent to the copper graveyard. I gave the process a rest until today. This time, I changed the salt I used. In the last two tries, I used the salts that were recommended in the tutorials. I didn't realize that these 2 salts had an agent added to them to prevent clogging. I found another batch of sea salt at the store. This time, the salt did not have anything else added to it. The result, a beautifully etched copper bead!




















The design was simple. Dots. It is lovely! I hope to try more complicated designs in the future!

My December (Christmas) Exchange

Those of you who know me on Lampworketc and Wet Canvas, know that I truly enjoy participating in exchanges on these two forums. I am presently participating 4 exchanges, one of which is due in less than two weeks. Of course, that's the Christmas exchange!

The way most exchanges work is a hostess posts an idea and people sign up. Usually the requirements are 3-5 beads be sent in to exchange along with an envelope and postage. There is a due date. The beads must be in the hostess' hands by that date. I will mail these beads out tomorrow, since the mailman surprised me and delivered our mail quite early today.

I am sending in 3 beads for the exchange, but if you count them, there are 5. Well, the mittens will be a set. There is an extra bead for the hostess. She gets to choose which bead she would like for a hostess gift. The person sending in the beads needs to label the beads with her/his name and forum name, too. For example, my forum ID is rosebud101. I also include my real name too. Some of us include business cards. It all depends on how you choose to identify your beads. I put labels that I have made on the plastic bag I send each bead in.

Once you have sent the beads in, you wait for your return mail. I have had many bleak days brightened up by my returning beads! They are usually absolutely awesome! What we do with them our exchange beads is totally up to us. I often put them in jewelry for me. I also take them down to the studio to work with to see if I can learn a new technique or two.

I have learned so many glass related things and have improved my skills from participating in exchanges. I have met many wonderful new "friends." Of course, they are all online. I hope to meet these people in person one day. Anyway, now that this exchange is finished, I'm on to the others. I am in a heart exchange, a cat exchange, a reactive bead exchange, and a scrolled bead exchange. I warned the hostess on that last exchange that my scrolling is terrible. Anyway, I hope to improve my scroll work by participating in that exchange. There is the possibility of one other exchange, but I haven't made up my mind about it yet. We shall see. So, there are the beads for December. Tomorrow, I mail them out. I hope their new owners like them. I've learned new things, again. I'm glad I was in this exchange.