Stress and Murrini

When I get stressed I make murrini.

I have found that to be a zen activity for me.

My mind flows away from the stress and drifts deeply into the glass.

The designs flow as I work past my stress.

I find myself relaxing and more able to cope with the stress as I make murrini.

Can you tell I have been a bit stressed these past few weeks?

I'm getting ready for the art show.

I won't be taking these with me to the show,

but,

they will be coming to my Etsy store, eventually, along with all the other 

murrini I will have made by show time!

Stay tuned!!!

This is it...My Great Stress Reliever!

I know it's different strokes for different folks,

and this is one of mine!

Making handmade lampwork glass murrini!

It's a work of love for me.

I don't really need the stress relief now,

but it sure felt good to make these

silvered ivory murrini today!

It felt really good.

I am going to be making more murrini very soon.

Stay tuned. 

You will see me in a zen state!

When I get Stressed, I Make Murrini and I've Sure Been Making A Lot of It Lately!

It's so many things.

I wouldn't even know where to begin,

but

I have been stressed,

and,

I have been making murrini.

For me, that is the great stress reliever.

As a result,

I have a lot of murrini listed in my Etsy store,

with more to come soon.

For my non lampworking friends,

murrini are small chips of glass that were formed by layering glass together to form a cane.

From that cane,

small chips are snipped.

These chips then become decoration on a bead by melting them in all the way or leaving them raised.

Here's one of my favorite murrini.

The result of applying these chips is a touch of silver and a floral pattern which may or may not interact with the glass below.

I love these murrini melted into the glass!

Murrini can come in all colors and even in shapes.

These hearts look great in red!

I think you can use hearts any time of the year.

 A barnacle murrini is one that has a transparent center and will fold in on itself.

See the example of this murrini?  I like this one, too.

It's called Barnacle Blue and I like the way it looks on glass.

 

Smudges is a multi colored cane.  The finished result has been compared to a beach ball.

It certainly has enough color, doesn't it?

 I've also started to twist murrini for a tornado type of finished look.

This is a barnacle twisted murrini.  It looks great on a bead!

I'll be adding more murrini to my Etsy store soon!

You should see my stash!

Anyway, I also hope to begin to add mixes!  They would be fun!

So, this is what I do to destress.

How do you destress?

PS:  Not to add more stress to your lives, but it's only 19 days until Xmas!

Yikes!

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!

The Glass Zone - De Makes Murrini!

I have seen some amazing murrini made by some amazing glass artists!

De, of The Glass Zone, on Etsy,
is another artist who makes amazing murrini!
One of the things that fascinates me is that De makes her murrini using a torch called a Hot Head.
This torch is a single fuel torch that is commonly considered a
beginner's torch.
De has taken this torch up to a new level and makes murrini that would be considered
collectible.
Her shop is full of murrini!
You must take a look and check it out!

The Divine Image of Jesus is available in her shop.
What did I say about amazing?
When you visit De's store,
be sure to read the description of each item.
She tells a lot about her work.
This is called "Lion's Paw Shell", and it's also in De's store.
Amazing!
The detail in De's murrini is amazing!

This is another one of my favorite murrinis in The Glass Zone!
I love flowers,
and these orchids
are
exquisite!
Don't you agree?

Remember sock monkeys?
De even makes those for her store!
Amazing, isn't it?
There are so many other wonderful works of art in
The Glass Zone.
Take your time when you visit.
You don't want to miss anything.

My Personal Challenge

No, this challenge is nothing spiritual or even related to cancer. See this box of "shorts." There are a lot of beads to be made. Using this box of "shorts," and only this box, I plan to make beads, shards, murrini for two weeks, unless, the box empties sooner.

In a couple of weeks, I'll show the results of the work and the empty box, I hope.

I strongly suspect that Beads of Courage will benefit from this box!

Transformation!

Once upon a time, there was someone who loved to melt glass. She also loved to make murrini. One day, she made some very UGLY murrini.
In stead of throwing it away, she decided to use it to make frit, and, no.
she won't show you the ugly murrini. You'll just have to trust her. It was ugly! Here's the frit, and, trust me, it is beautiful!

frit #1 ---------------------------->






















frit #2 ---------------------------->





















frit #3 --------------------------->

Featured Artist De from the Glass Zone on Etsy

The Glass Zone - De

De is a lampwork artist in Arcadia. She works on a Hot Head Torch*, which makes me even more impressed with her skills, especially when she makes her murrini. I make simple cane murrini, but De makes things with her murrini. For example, look at this awesome orchid murrini! ---------------------->
I am so impressed! How does she do this?





De shares a secret or two in this wonderful tutorial on making her Citrus Slice Murrini.
------------------------------------------->
This tutorial is well written and full of wonderful photos! De is so talented!










De makes beads, too. This is a big hole bead that she has listed in her store. It used some of her very own murrini! Wow! I'm impressed! De calls this bead Purple Pansy and Wildflower Big Hole Bead. It's beautiful!
Be sure to visit The Glass Zone. You won't be disappointed!


*A Hot Head Torch is usually considered a beginner's torch because it is a single fuel torch and it doesn't get as hot as other torches. There are those amazing artists who do these wonderful things with their hot heads. De is one of them!

Shameless Self Promotion TuesDay!

Free Shipping in my Etsy store until Mother's Day or around that time. It all depends on when I remember to change it back. The only items where I can't offer free shipping, and I wish I could, are on mandrels!




This-------------------------------->
is a new item in my store. It's a flower button. It's glass. It's lampwork, and it's beautiful! I can see this used on a felted purse! Wouldn't that be beautiful? In the winter, you could move the button to a scarf! I think that would be wonderful!











How about a skull-------------->
with a red hat? Remember the red hatters of a couple of years ago? Could this be a red hatter who wanted to be buried with her hat? I think she'd be fun being worn as a pendant or added to a red hat!












Need some bright and colorful headpins? Here's a dozen brightly colored headpins. I made them using 20 gauge copper wire. The wires are about 4 inches long. They'd be great for earrings or small pendants. I have to make some with 18 gauge wire. Those would be ideal for your larger pendants.








I added this murrini recently. It's made with Magic glass by Reichenbach. It's their equivalent of raku glass in coe 104. Someone just convo'd me on Etsy suggesting that she would be interested in purchasing some murrini, if she could see some photos of the murrini being used! Yikes! I'm not good at applying and using murrini, but you can bet your buttons, I am going to do that now!







Well, enough for now! Enjoy your Tuesday. Free shipping ends after Mother's Day or as soon as I remember to change it!

A Down Day and a Friend Made My Day

Isn't this just the sweetest little turtle you've ever seen? Can you imagine my surprise when I opened up an unexpected package and found this wonderful little guy in it? Wow! This really brought a smile to my face and lifted up my soul on a very down day! What a special treat! Not only that, I found a package of murrini from a much treasured stash by Lauren of Maybeads on Etsy!

Thank you, Lauren, you have no idea how much your sweet gift meant to me, and it came at a time when it was most needed.

Check out Lauren's shop for more great turtles and other wonderful critters and jewlery!

Murrini and More

I've started to carry a new product in my Etsy store. For my non bead making friends, murrini is used for decoration on a bead.

Murrini can be made with many different designs. This ------------->
is a very simple cane. I used a silver glass called Elektra and intense black for the stripes. This murrini should blossom beautifully into flowers.












This murrini is made with intense black for stripes and Blue Chalcedony made by Gaffer.






















This murrini is made with chalcedony glass and intense black. Like Elektra and Blue Chalcedony, Chalcedony is a silver enriched glass.


















This murrini is called Crazy Quilt. It's a mixture of different murrinis that I made. Some are more complex than others, but they were fun to make!
















Anyway, if you are interested, check out my Etsy Store! I have a lot for you to see!

Look What Lauren Did with My Murrini! Wow!

Aren't these adorable? You can find them in Lauren's shop, Maybeads. This is Charlene.
-------------------------------------->
Isn't she sweet?


















I couldn't find this little guy. I hope that Lauren will list him soon, but, in the meantime, you can enjoy him.
He's cute!




Lauren, thanks for sharing!