Shards, Pt. 1

I've finally made some shards! Here is my first attempt, a Dark Silver Plum bulb, slightly collapsed!This is my most recent shard bulb, Triton Odd(r). This one turned out better:My boyfriend Steve came up with a great way to break the bulb. First put it into the coffee can to cool. Then, hold the blowpipe straight up and down with the bulb resting on the bottom of the can and tap gently on the end of the blowpipe with a piece of wood. It breaks the bulb nicely and it's easier than trying to crack it with a hammer or some metal tool. Here are some of the shards Steve got from breaking it that way:Emboldened by Joe of Avenue Beads' shard techniques, I broke the shards up the rest of the way with my bare hands. So much easier than trying to wield a tool to crack off small pieces! And no, it never cut my hands.

Stay tuned for "Shards, Part 2" where I'll post photos of beads made with these Triton Odd(r) shards.

Stringer Pullers

There are lots of ways to pull stringers. I used to grab the blob of molten glass with my tweezers and pull, but that was only occasionally successful since the glass usually slipped out of the tweezers, drooped down to the bench and gave me a very curvy stringer. My preferred method now is to melt two rods of the same color together into a blob and pull. However, when I don't have a second rod of the same color handy, I reach for my trusty "stringer pullers":They start out as a short of one of the stiffer 104 c.o.e. colors, usually clear (visible in the upper left corner of the photo), which I use as a punty to grab the molten glass blob. Then I just continue to use that clear punty as a stringer puller time and time again. It's fun to see the history of what colors I've used. The stringer pullers stay on my bench for years, sometimes breaking, but I just pick up the biggest piece and keep using it as a stringer puller.

The stringer pullers are so colorful now, they're inspiring me towards some bead design but I can't quite figure out how exactly to translate their random colorful-ness into beads.

Silver Plum Vessel

It's been a long time since I've attempted a vessel. There is a little small-scale glassblowing at work here, as I used a hollow stainless tube and blew air down it to puff out the body of the vessel. The handles, top and scrollwork are Silver Plum, and the body is CIM Simply Berry and Effetre transparent Sage Green. I like the results... maybe I'll try a few more!

Wikipedia: "Lampworking"

There is a Wikipedia article on "Lampworking" which you can read by clicking here. It has a lot of good info, but it's kind of sparse and it could use more content. If any of you out there are so inspired, check it out and add your seasoned wisdom and knowledge. The subcategory called "Soda-Lime" under "Types of Glass" needs more info. The information already on the page may need updating, too.

History of Lampworking

Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the history of lampworking, from ancient times to the present:
"History of Art Glass Lampworking" by Robert A. Mickelsen