Midnight Lantern

When I saw the the picture in the Fusion Beads catalog I knew I wanted to take the midnight lantern class.  It was taught by Janice Berkebile who is an excellent instructor and a whole heap of fun.  I thought it would be a good way to use up some of the glass beads I have been making.  After looking at my collection, I knew I needed to make a custom set of beads.  I wanted something that looked like a glowing lantern.

This is what it looks like when the sun is not shining.  It's a large piece measuring 95x30mm (3.77x1.25").  I've been wearing it  since I finished it Friday night.  It's just strange enough to keep for myself.

I am a big fan of Belvedere Beads blog, so in Lucida's tradition, I'm going to list specifics about what goes into each piece.

The wire is silver filled (which is like silver plate only more durable) and an affordable choice for a first go at this style of wire wrapping.

Starting from the bottom:  the charms are Pewter, there is a brass bead cap you can't see (And another at the top of the large bead). The bottom of the large glass bead is Effetre dark amber, the rest is clear.  It's rolled in R-218 Iris Yellow powder then finished in a reducing flame to bring out the luster and colors.

The top bead is clear glass with Double Helix "Aurae" another reduction glass that leaves the bead more see through than the the Iris Yellow.

Atop the small bead is am enameled disk which is capped with a purple stone bead.  All components are from Fusion Beads.  I must say it's fun to create during class where you have the entire inventory at your disposal!

Swingy, dangly things

These earrings have a vaguely equestrian feel to me. I love the way the glass moves on the crossbar. I'm still working out how to photography small objects, so for now I am just using things around the house.

The birthday girls seems to like them the way they are, and she pulls them off with great aplomb, but I think I might make the glass part smaller.  For glass people, they are Effetre black with Raku frit, rolled on cold brass to cool quickly, and finished in a reducing (low oxygen) flame to develop the colors.

The metal is hammered sterling silver.

And now for my glass and science friends, here is an amazing demonstration of the Prince Rupert’s Drop: The Curious Properties of a Molten Glass Blob Dropped in Cold Water at www.thisiscolossal.com.  Thanks to glass artist Bob Hoffmeyer
for posting it on his Facebook page.

Be sure to watch the high-speed video.

Welcome

I like to make small things--shiny, pretty things out of metal and glass.  Mainly, I enjoy the process of making things so I tend to give them away.  The raven-like part of me, misses the shiny things, so I thought I'd create an archive of them.  Hence this blog.

I mainly work in glass as I love working with molten things and the metal, well, I like hammering things too.

Here is a piece I made for a friend's 50th birthday yesterday.  It contains five links--one for each decade.

The hand-formed links are made of boroscilicate glass and the chain is sterling (I didn't make that part).

I love wearing glass against my skin as it heats up and if you like to fiddle, it's really quite lovely to the touch. This one makes a nice jingle sound too.