Okay, I finally following up as promised, although I’m a little late in doing so. This really is a just a follow up learning idea for those that wanted to try making all of those spacers. . .I think once your confident in your ability to make them, the next step should be learning how to shape your glass beads. As I was thinking about a shaping exercise that may help you become familiar with the process, I remembered that Kimberly Affleck released a tutorial months ago that teaches how to create and properly shape a barrel bead without using tools. Given that Kimberly has such a wonderful reputation as a glass bead maker and a teacher, I’m sure this tutorial will be a fantastic resource for new bead makers. You can read more about here tutorial here. Once you’ve got the shaping down pat, move on to working with color and trying simple designs. This is where the book that I suggested a few blog posts back comes into mind, “Making Glass Beads”, by Cindy Jenkins. I learned a lot from this book and I think it’s a great resource. I still have mine and it’s doubtful that I’ll ever part with it.
At this point, I hope that I’ve given some of you new folks a little bit of help at least. If any of you have questions, feel free to ask them here in my blog. I’ll answer them as quickly as I can. Happy torching!!
June 7, 2009 at 9:41 pm
3. Newbie questions for you and us:
1. What bead release(s) do you use and why?
2. What size mandrels do you use for most work?
3. What impact does rotating fast or slow have when shaping a spacer bead?
June 8, 2009 at 7:59 am
1. Bucket of Mud, because it works better than any other release that I’ve ever used.
2. 1/16″
3. I always rotate slowly, regardless of what shape I’m working. When you’re learning to make spacers, focus on the footprint and work slowly. You can speed up the process after you’ve had practice. It’s all in the footprint. . .If it’s uneven, so will your spacer be.
June 10, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Thank you kindly. So gracious of you to help and make yourself available. YOU are the actual jewel here.
June 11, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Tena, you’re a real doll! Really, it’s my pleasure to help and I’m glad you’re having fun!
June 13, 2009 at 9:43 am
Lydia,
I wanted to tell you about an amazing bead book I just found. It has VERY specific and detailed info and great pictures on virtually EVERY step of bead making – and all styles of bead assembly. Just wonderful.
It’s called “Passing The Flame” by Corina Tettinger. ISBN 0-9726602-0-8
It is wire-spiral bound for flipping and reference use. What a must for a new Lampie!
Just wanted to share it with you and yours.