SA Silly Etsy Sale now on!

It is November and it is time for a silly sale! All SA Etsy team members is taking part in this.

Please visit my shop. My work is discounted and you get free shipping anywhere on this planet!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DianaGlasEnKeramiek
http://www.etsy.com/shop/NurturingFibres
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jezzeprints
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dizzydezign
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pavia
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FreshPotatoes
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColourSpun
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mamma4earth
http://www.etsy.com/shop/glassrootsdurban

Friday pretties

I made this necklace a few days ago, after I sold a similair one. I would love to have one of these myself!

And some hearts that I etched. Ivory glass, some with coral and silver shard decorations. It still need to get a sterling silver bail bonded into the glass.

Play date with silver leaf and shards

Some new focal beads from the kiln this morning. I played with shards and silver leaf yesterday. I blew the shards myself. And all the beads are hand formed by me. I was very happy getting the round shape right for a change!

I got an e-mail this morning from someone who wanted some information about one of my beads. I might think about doing a tutorial on it ...

Glass Hoop Earring tutorial

So you would like to make some of these cool hoop earrings? This tutorial explains how I make them. I would imagine that there is lots of ways to make it, and you can go out and buy some fancy cutting tools, etc. I made them, using standard Lampwork tools that I already had in my studio. Please use this tutorial as a guide, and remember to always put safety first! I wear glasses, but should you have perfect vision, please wear safety glasses. Since you are cold working the glass in water, I do not think that there is danger of inhaling glass powder ...

Let's start, OK?

You need to have at least a 5 mm thick (minimum) disk bead. I used a 16 mm ring mandrel to make my disks. If you need help to make a ring/disk on a ring mandrel, please view my ring tutorial, also in this blog. (http://deesignedbeads.blogspot.com/2008/11/rinig-tutiorial.html)

I am going to cut a 1/4 wedge out of the ring. With my first attempt, I just cut a ring in half. It really did not look good. If you look at most hoop earrings with a stud post, you will see that they are about 3/4 of a circle. I drew a circle on paper and crossed it. This allowed me to mark the cutting lines correctly.


Since I use my normal diamond bit that I normally use to clean beads, it will eat about a mm of glass. For this reason I start cutting the ring a bit inside the 1/4 area that I want to remove from the ring. It will also allow me to clean up the ring after I completed it, and ensure that both rings is the same size.

Start by cutting just a small groove in the glass.

Now cut on both sides of the ring. The reason I do this, is to ensure that if the glass breaks while cutting it, there will not be a chipped edge.

One side grooved.

Repeat the same groove cutting on the other side. Remember that you need to cut inside the line ...

Now it is time to cut through the one side. At this stage it is important not to hold the glass in the 1/4 area that you will eventually remove. That area is your 'Weakest Link'. I allow the diamond tip to eat away at the glass, with minimum pressure on the glass. Move the diamond tip in the groove as you cut.

(Normally I do the cutting under water but for the sake of clear pictures, I have captured images in the air.)

The first cut is complete. You can see a slight butt of glass. That will be smoothed out later.

Repeat the same on the other grooved cutting line. Remember not to hold onto the ring in the wedge area that you are trying to remove. When I cut the second area, I take my time. Just allow the diamond tip to eat at the glass. Do not put a lot of pressure on the glass.

Now it is time to clean up the edges. I gently roll the diamond tip over the surface, Visually eyeballing it to see if the edge is straight.

Change the angle at which you clean the surface, make sure that your surface is flat. Repeat the process on the other edge. Measure the ring on your drawn circle, to make sure that you have removed a 1/4 wedge of glass.

All done. But is it really done? That is a tiny surface to glue a post on, and if you bond your ear post to the 5 - 6 mm area, how secure will it be long term? I think we need to do some more work!

Using my 1 mm diamond tip I start to drill a hole in the centre of the ring. Start slowly, allow the diamond tip to slowly open up a little hole.

Continue to drill a little hole inside the glass. I try to drill at least a 2 - 3 mm hole.

All done!

Now the easy part! Normally I make my own posts.

If you do metal work, it is real easy! I cut a small disk from sheet silver (diameter of the glass surface), drill a hole in the centre, the diameter of the post, insert the post rod in the hole, letting it protrude a bit. Solder, pickle, and polish ...

But, I found some earring posts online that is used for pearl ear studs. Just SO much easier! http://shop.rings-things.com/cart/pc/Cup-Pad-Posts-with-Peg-c960.htm is just one of many online suppliers. My posts-with-peg is on it's way to me!

Use a good quality 2 part bonding agent, and cement the post into the drilled hole in your glass ring. I normally use Areldite, but I have been told that TRIOLYSE Glass Fusing Jewelry Metal Craft Glue is a very good bonding agent. And a little birdy have told me that Malcolm from http://www.artcoinc.com/ might stock it.

Allow the bonding cement to cure, and enjoy your new Hoop earrings!

p.s. If you feel that this tutorial (or any of my other tutorials) will benefit you, and you feel so inclined, please feel free to make a small donation.

squiggle necklaces!

Summer has arrived in Cape Town. Every afternoon when I reach the station I first slip into a food outlet and get myself a vanilla cone. By the time I board the train the cone has cooled down my tummy, jummy!

So it is time to get out all those bright summery colours. Here is 2 necklaces that I have made in the last 2 days. They are fairly short, and the squiggles open up in a fan pattern over your chest. It was fun making them too!

I am in another treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4ca3933ec9fe8eefdffbe8c3/small-scale?index=0

Something new

I have been quiet for a while, but believe me, I am busy!

Here is some images of my new design, I hope you like it! This one and it's mate will stay with me. The ceramic base and top part is hand build and a bit on the wonky side. I have since made some mould to be able to replicate the design evenly. I will add different coloured ceramic bits to future candle sticks to compliment the glass beads. I also plan on making them in different heights.

A Perfect round bead again and again ...

I had posted this tutorial some time last year on Lampwork Etc, and decided that it was time that it was moved to my Blog! This is just a small tutorial how I am able to achieve the same sized round beads again and again ... If you use the standard information to make a round bead, you really need to melt the dinges out of the glass for it to spread on the mandrel enough to make a round bead vs. a doughnut shaped bead. This is where frustration lead me. I normally never use any tools while making a bead, no marver, etc. except for my mashers when I want a round or tube shape.

My tools that I use is just a parallel masher, my trusty surgical scalpel and my torch. AND the bottom part of a brass press!

Step 1:Make a small disk on your mandrel. I normally do about 3 - 4 windings of fairly thin glass.

Step 2:Melt the disk into a small doughnut, allow the glass to melt well onto the mandrel to set a nice footprint.

Step 3:Take your mashers and press lightly, turn the mandrel 180 degrees, and press the same amount, so you end up with a square/rectangular bead. By pressing the same weight, you will spread your glass evenly on the mandrel, to secure an even footprint. Then I normally turn the mandrel about 90 degrees and press again, turn 180 degrees and turn. if the glass is still soft enough, I will continue to press and turn, take the mandrel back into the flame to heat up the gather a bit, and press, turn, press, you get the idea ...

Step 4:Now to make sure that your footprint is wide enough, I place the mandrel over the base plate of a press and measure one of the hollows that I would like my round bead to be. If I need to get the footprint a bit wider, I repeat the press process for a bit, measuring it every now and then. After a few beads, I can eyeball the width quite easily so that I do not really need to measure and press the whole time.

Step 5:Now I need to load more glass onto the footprint bead. Again, rather start with to little, rather than too much glass. (it's much easier to add than remove glass!)

Step 6:Melt it in. You will notice that your footprint is now slightly narrower than it was when you had placed the original footprint down. I loose about 2 mm in width doing this. Eyeball the top and bottom curve of your bead. If it is too narrow, you will have sharp edges on you bead holes. If you have too much of a curve, you will end up with a not round bead, but lovely dimples. I aim to get somewhere between these 2 extremes.

Step 7:Now you have a neat round bead that you will be able to reproduce time and again. Remember that when you add glass for decoration, you might loose your neat roundness, so start with a bit of a not 100% round bead before adding decorations, should you aim for round!

Step 8: Pop bead into the kiln!

Problem solving:Should you have difficulty to obtain neat edges in step 3 and 4, use a sharp knife/blade and cut about 1,5 mm from the edge of the undercut to push the glass to the edge and level to the rest of the footprint. If you do this closer to the edge of the glass footprint, you will end up with an uneven edge again!

Design and inspirations

This past week I volunteered (OK, I was actually paid to do it, ...) to work at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. And the carrot? One of the biggest and best Design Expo's in the world!

With my staff card (which I got late last year, and consider one of my prized possessions!) I have almost unlimited access to venues in the building. So some days I will just walk around looking at all the exhibitions, sometimes spend money on interesting stuff, and just absorb. But last week, oh last week!

Top trendsetters, designers, even a top chef, all gathered in the big auditorium for lectures. All the trendiest who's who from South Africa and abroad were walking around, just looking and taking the atmosphere in. So was I. I bought a few books on pattern and design. And of course I sat in on the talks, hehehe! The delegates paid almost $400 for the opportunity, I got for free while sitting open mouthed just absorbing!

On Thursday night the Expo opened, and moi was there. I was gobsmacked, to say the least. Fabric, wall paper, jewellery, ceramics, clothing, furnishings, you name it. The top names in new and innovative design in South Africa was well represented, and they were all busy with the lots and lots of foreign buyers who were clamoring to place orders.

What did this do to me as an artist and crafter? Major rub-off ... Inspiration seemed to drown me as I jostled with the crowds of people flocking to see beauty. On Saturday night I rushed home, said hallo to Leo and disappeared into my studio. An hour later I had made a couple of rings and started to prepare some 130 beads and stuff for ceramics. At about 02 Sunday morning both me and Leo crashed in our bed, fatigued, but me with a happy and content smile while I drifted off to unconsciousness. Sunday Leo and a neighbor joined me as I once again did the rounds in the Expo. We saw lots of friends, and knew quite a lot of the ceramic exhibitors. I wore my new cluster ring, and got stopped a few times by people who wanted to know who sold it at the Expo!

Not a lot of drama happened from a nursing viewpoint - one broken wrist, a laceration that needed sutures, another wound that needed daily dressings from me at the clinic, and a fainting lady. All in all a week worth working ...