Lampwork bead stringer control tutorial, video

The description on this video says:  Applying stringer to a lampwork glass bead. Demonstration by UK glass artist Laura Sparling.  This video is excellent for those lampworkers who need help applying stringer decorations to their beads.

Click here to watch the video!

Snowman tutorial, for lampwork beads

This tutorial was written by Donna Trull and was found on the Lampworketc page.  Below we have included a link to Donna's Etsy page and Lampworketc.

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This is my first tutorial. I've gotten so much help from LE over the years that I wanted to give a little something back. I hope someone can use the tips I offer though they are pretty elementary.

I've been kicking these little snowmen out by the dozens the last couple of weeks and thought maybe some of you might want to make some before the holiday season is over so here goes. I took the pictures myself while torching so if any info seems unclear just let me know and I'll try to clarify.

Here's a group shot of the snowmen.


You will need 
several twistys 
white
black
black stringer
orange stringer


I usually begin my torch session making twistys of different colors for the scarves. This can be a lot of fun coming up with different color combos. Everyone seems to like the white/transp. aqua and red/white the best. If you have a hard time making consistent twistys it's ok here. You can utilize several scarves from one pull. One scarf may be a tight twist and the other looser. But try to make your pulls small and tight as your snowman is small and a large scarf will overwhelm his body. 


I'm no expert on twistys for sure but I've found the easiest method for me is warm a base rod (say black) swipe on contrast color (say red) possible swipe in a stringer of white. Heat, wait just a few seconds, grab with tweezers, twist and pull at same time. I usually keep right hand still while twisting with left. The faster you pull the more stretched out the twist will be. Start out slow then speed up as glass stiffens.
Sorry no pictures as I haven't found a way to make a twisy with one hand and take pictures with the other. 




To begin you snowman make a large white bead about the size of a grape. You can try larger if you want a gigantimous snowman but this is the general size I've been working with.



Add a smaller white bead next to it almost touching. This one is touching but that's ok too. 


Melt round then hold vertically so "head" will softly intersect with body.


Now take you black rod (or you can use your black stringer if you feel more comfortable) to add another smaller round bead next to the "head". This will be you hat.


Gently heat only the hat and then marver to make a top hat. If you don't marver enough you will have a bolo hat.


Now it's time to add that cute little scarf you made earlier. Heat tip of twisty and lay on body. Work in the upper flame and direct the heat under the twisty. Begin roping twisty around the neck of snowman till you come back to the front and lay it across the twisty to the other side of body. Make sure to add some heat to the scarf so it attaches but don't melt it in. BTW I hope you've been doing insurance heat on the whole bead in between steps as you're working so your snowman doesn't explode!



Take a complementary scarf color and add dots to the end of the scarf. 


Time for buttons and eyes. Use your black stringer for this.


Hats need a brim. Black stringer again.



Last step is the nose. Use your orange stringer and put a small dot between the eyes. If you're really good (or lucky) it'll line up with the buttons. But if it doesn't, don't sweat it. He'll still be cute. See the dot of orange glass on the tip of my mandrel? I like to heat a small blob of orange and pull me a very small stringer, still attached to the rod, to make the nose with. I use this technique all the time if I need just a few dots of a color and I don't feel like pulling stringers at the beginning of the session. Cause you don't always know what colors you're going to be working with all the time when you bead, do you? Or for those times like now when you need a smaller dot than a commercial stringer might give you.

It's orange, you just can't tell cause it's hot.

Voila! Finished bead. Don't forget insurance heat occasionally. Don't admire him too long. Pop in kiln. I put bails on my little snowmen and sell them as pendants.




Feel free to embellish him more. Try three balls or add holly to his hat. I would love to see your snowmen.

More snowmen

The author of this fun tutorial is Donna Trull, her Etsy link is included below!  We found this tutorial in the free tutorials on Lampworketc.  

My Etsy (this is the link to Donna Trull's Etsy shop)

Multi layered rose petal lampwork glass beads tutorial

We found this tutorial in the free tutorial section on Lampworketc by Fine Folly Glassworks.  For lampworkers, it is excellent to follow.  For non lampworkers it allows you to see how glass beads are really made!  


This tutorial will show how to make a multi-layered rose petal bead using dots instead of spreading layers of encasing between each layer of petals. It is an easier method to make multiple layers of petals. I am using a Hothead Torch to make this bead and it takes about an hour, more or less, depending on how you work.


PICTURES OF TWO FINISHED BEADS
 

FINISHED BEAD NOTES: Both beads have three layers of petals. The bead on the left has the first two bottom layers of petals placed directly on top of each other, and vines around the core. The bead on the right has each layer of petals staggered and Goldstone around the core. The second bead is the one being made in this tutorial.


TO BEGIN:


You will need to make the following stringers to work with. I used the effetre glass listed below and the tools shown to make this bead.

Mandrel dipped in bead release (I use Sludge Plus)
Tools as desired to work glass
Clear
Bead Core Color (Pea Green)
Vine or Goldstone (Goldstone Adventurine was encased in clear and then pulled into a stringer)
Flower Petal Base Color (White)
Transparent Petal Accent Color (optional - Pink/Rose Opalino)
Flower Center Stamen Stringer (optional)

A simple Stamen Stringer can be made using a rod of clear and drawing 3 to 5 opaque stripes on it's side for 1 to 2 inches with a yellow/gold stringer, and then heating and pulling it to a stringer thickness. The yellow and clear stringer above on the far right was made this way.

FLOWER CENTER NOTE:
You can also use a pointed tool like the stamen stringer is used, to press in the center and then apply a tiny dot of clear. After melting the clear dot in you will get a bubble in the center. For another option, you can apply a CZ in the center of each flower.



LET'S GET STARTED!


1. Wrap your core color one stringer-wrap around. Smooth it out and let it cool a bit (second picture). If you don't let it cool before wrapping with the clear stringer it may merge into the clear. Wrap your slightly cooled core with a clear stringer. Slightly over-wrap with the clear so that clear goes around the mandrel on both sides. You are encapsulating your core color. You don't want your core color to come up through the clear on the sides or in the middle (see third picture). Melt the clear smooth and let it cool a bit.



2. Wrap your vine or goldstone stringer if you want it on the bead next. Melt it in, cool slightly and then wrap with a clear stringer (third picture). Make your clear wrap a barrel because it will give you the right amount of glass as it rounds into a ball. Melt the clear round and let it cool a bit.

One way to get your bead to come to a round shape is to heat it to a glow and then take it out of the flame and keep turning it. As it starts to cool it wants to pull into a round shape. You can repeat this process to bring it round, or use your graphite roller to make nice rounded ends. You want a nice round shape at this point because your dots will melt across this shape and continue it.



3. Using your Base Petal Color stringer and make 3 or 4 or 5 small dots, depending on the flower shape you want (second picture). The size of “O” around and tall is a good size. Dots really spread and keep on spreading with each layer you add. Place your dots ½ to 1 “O” size apart around the imaginary circle of the flower space. If you place them to close they will merge.

The first picture shows a stretched tiny amount of glass being added to that dot to make it the same size as the other four dots. Take time to add teeny bits more to make all the dots on the flower circle the same size. Melt in your dots completely (fourth picture). Allow the bead to cool slightly.

NOTE ON PLACING YOUR FIRST DOTS
 
To space your flower rings evenly you can add teeny clear dots where the centers will be. Use your mandrel as your guide. Put the top dot on and then roll it to the bottom and add your next top dot. Then turn your mandrel so that you can see the top and the bottom dots. THEN place a dot right in the middle using your mandrel to center it. Repeat on the other side.

If your teeny clear dots are to big use your tweezers to pick off the extra. They will push your petals apart if they are to big, but will make no impact if they are just a tiny clear spike-dot.


NOTE ON CORRECTING DOT PLACEMENT
 
When you look at your dot placement around your imaginary circle sometimes one dot is to close or to far away. I heat the dot a bit and use the flat edge of a brass tool to scoot the dot over a teeny bit. You can almost always get away with it because each dot sits on a layer of clear, which gives protection to the petal underneath to prevent it's distortion as you move the dot gently. I move it on 2 or 3 nudges to keep the dot as round as possible.

The bead on the right shows a large clear dot to close to the top 2 white ones. I would scoot it to the center and/or pick it smaller if need be before proceeding.


4. Place dots of the transparent color for the shading in the same size "O" or a touch smaller in the middle of the flat white dots. Take the time to adjust your dots to be the same size so they spread the same.

If you want solid colored petals don’t add the transparent dot layers. Just do solid color dots and clear dots between.



5. Melt in your transparent dots completely (first picture). Keep melting to shape the bead as round as possible. Let it cool a bit and then apply clear dots like you did the transparent dots. Melt in completely (third picture). Make the clear dots at least as large as your initial dots.





6. Place your second ring of base-color dots on the divides/edges between the petals about in the middle of the petals or in just a bit toward the center (first picture). It is more important to get a round circle of dots then to sit exactly on the petal divides. Repeat the process of melting in and then placing your transparent dots and your clear dots.


PROBLEM NOTES:
In the top picture on the left you can see that the very top (melted-in) dot is bigger than the other four melted in dots. This is because the first base color dot was bigger than the other four. Beware of this or you'll have mixed sized petals. To counter it a bit, put a smaller dot of Transparent and Clear on the larger base dot and it should spread less compared to the others.

In the bottom right picture you can see the right edge of the mandrel has a tiny spike area. A small amount of clear can be run around the bead, not touching the mandrel, and then carefully melted and pressed toward the mandrel with a small brass or graphite tool to fix this.





7. Repeat the steps for your third layer of petals, including the clear dots at the end. Round the bead with more heating (half in and half out of the flame).





8. After rounding the bead let it cool a bit and then if you are doing the stamen centers do the following:

a. Take your stamen stringer and pull it into a point in the flame - to a small point shaped like a sharpened pencil. This is so that when you push it into your rose center it doesn’t punch through your petals and make a round hole in them, but instead it pushes them down and in with the stamen stringer - so that it appears only as stamen coming out. Take the time to pull and re-point your stamen stringer for each flower center.

b. (First top left picture above) Heat one flower to a glow. Move it out of the flame a bit and take your pointed stamen stringer - carefully center it and gently press it in toward the mandrel.

Take the bead with it still in the center out of the flame and blow on it gently until the stringer easily snaps off. Return the bead to the flame and roll the bead to reheat just a bit. Repeat this cycle for each flower until all of them have a stamen center.

Then apply a tiny dot of clear on top of the stamen spot if the break is below the surface of the bead, which it almost always is. You can pull your clear stringer to a point to be able to place it in the center on the stamen if it is a wider stringer. If you put to big a clear dot on, gently pinch/pull off excess clear with tweezers. You want a tiny dot of clear to fill the center indent hole, not one that over spreads your petals (see the two pictures on the bottom left).

After all of your flowers have stamen inserted and a tiny dot of clear on top of the stamen, gently melt in the dots. Keep half your bead out of the flame as you turn so you are heating the surface of the bead, not the core. You do not want to overheat and shift the inside of the bead or make your petals slide or elongate.


DIFFERENT CENTER OPTIONS: You can also use a pointed tool and after heating the center, gently press it in and then apply a tiny dot of clear. After you melt in the clear you will get an air bubble in the center of the flower which is a pretty look, or you can apply a CZ for another center treatment.



9. You are done at this point unless want a layer of clear on the outside of your bead to magnify your flowers. If you do, then let the bead cool a bit and apply your final encasing layer and melt it in.

ENCASING LAYER NOTE: If you don't allow your bead to cool before applying the encasing layer your design with smear or shift with the melting in of the encasing layer. Be sure to keep your bead half in and half out of the flame as you melt in your encasing layer or you will still overheat your inner bead and cause it to shift. Even if your bead gets cool enough to get a slight crack before applying your encasing layer, it should heal in the flame as you melt in the encasing layer.

10. All done now… so smile at yourself, garage the bead or put it where you normally do.


SOME FINAL NOTES:
If you can’t seem to make this bead at present, practice your dot control - practice learning to place dots where you want them and in the size you want them. It will get easier with practice. Pay attention to how the glass stretches when you add more to a dot, and how long to take to lift off your stringer to get a set size of dot. Almost musical or like a dance step, there's a rhythm to it.


ON BEAD SHAPE:

If you are getting to much of a donut shape, you can widen your base bead a bit, like this picture shows. It will give a wider bead base as you add layers of dots and round the bead up.


ON MORE DEPTH TO THE ENCASING DOT

I added 2 layers of clear dots to each petal layer on this bead - except for the final single layer of clear dots. It gave a bit more depth to the encasing, and it also increased the spread a bit.

Then I used a pointed brass tool to press in the centers of the flowers. Brass drags glass and I wanted to see if it would take the petals in and down with it. It did a bit. I added a goldstone Adventurine dot to the plunge hole, tamped it in a bit, then covered it with a teeny dot of clear and melted it all in.

This bead has only 3 flowers, so it has gone toward the donut triangle shape a bit, but you can see the layers and the press into the center fairly well.

Lampwork Silvered Ivory Stringer (SIS) tutorial

We found this excellent tutorial on the blog Spawn of Flame and had to share it with more readers!


All material contained within this Tutorial is protected by Copyright, “Spawn of Flame” Rosemarie Hanus, 2009; all rights reserved.


Rosemarie Hanus makes beads in her home studio. Almost all of them use Silvered Ivory Stringer – Look at these beads at Etsy,  Art Fire, or her Spawn of Flame website.

By rosemarie hanus.

This is a tutorial, not an expose!  To say that I use a lot of Silvered Ivory Stringer (SIS) is a huge understatement, and I thought that I would show how I make my version of the stringer.  It would give non lampworkers a look at one of our techniques, and it would give away my trade secrets to allow me to share with my fellow lampworkers.
What is SIS?  I’m quoting Lori Greenberg as explained at Glass Arts on Craft Gossip:

It’s ivory glass, rolled in fine silver foil and then pulled into long glass strings (stringer). These stringer are used as an artist would use a pencil or paintbrush…to melt on fine designs.  The reaction of the silver and ivory form a webbing and curdling effect that is both organic and mesmerizing.

Hidden Glade - Bead using Silvered Ivory Stringer

Items used:

• Ivory Glass ( my go-to glass is Effetre Dark Ivory) – 1 rod
• Clear Glass (Vetrofond clear) – 2 rods
• Fine Silver Foil (this is important – Foil, not Leaf)
• Sharp Knife (such as Exacto brand)
• Graphite Marver
• Water
• Mashers
• Torch & flame!

The short version:

• Prepare the foil
• Make an ivory plug
• Apply the silver leaf to the ivory
• Burnish the silver
• Heat
• Pull

These are the same steps that many lampworkers would use (I would say alllampworkers, but I’m an engineer too, so I just can’t bring myself to make that strong of a statement…), however, I do some things in my own specific way, so that I have a repeatable and reliable result.
This tutorial also quite long, so I’m splitting it into several posts.  For a teaser, here is how I prepare the silver foil.
First of all, notice that I use fine silver foil.  It seems to give a better result, and it is easier to work with than fine silver leaf.  I get one piece of foil and place it in the front of the foil booklet.  I then cut it into 8 mostly equal pieces with my razor knife.  I slice it in half, then I slice one side into halves and finally each of those quarters in half. I hold the foil with my other hand so that it does not bunch up.   I just estimate where the cuts should be – that is close enough.  With practice, it is easy to tell how much pressure to use to make a nice cut.

Silver Foil cut by Razor Knife

Next, I place a tiny amount of water onto my marver, with the water concentrated on the side away from me.  The water holds the foil down so that it does not blow away or fold onto itself.

Graphite Marver with Drop of Water

Finally, I put one piece of the foil onto the marver.  I try to make sure that the edge of the foil closest to me is not on the water;  I want that edge loose so that it will stick to the glass easier.  If the edge is on the water, as it is in the photo, it just makes it a little harder to pick up the foil.  Even more important, there needs to some room on the marver on the edge closest to me.

Graphite Marver with Fine Silver Foil

So now the foil is prepared.

Continuing the tutorial, here is another of my “secrets”.  I use a clear core in my stringers.  It gives me a little more control when applying the stringer (clear is more stiff than the ivory) and I think that it makes the ivory bubble more when finishing the bead.  Besides, clears are notorious for having bad batches and it is a good way to use it up!
I should mention that if you are not used to pulling a large gather of glass that you should definitely wear a leather apron at the very least to protect yourself.  I also will mention that it is your responsibility to take other normal studio safety precautions, including adequate ventilation.  This process involves burning fine silver.
Notice that I use a thicker rod of clear – approx 6 mm.  Sometimes I use smaller, but I like this size.  Starting about3/4 inch (1.5 cm) from the end of the clear,  I start wrapping the ivory around.  The wrap thickness itself is pretty thick.

Wrap Ivory Glass onto Clear

This is what it looks like immediately after finishing the ivory wrap.

Finished Ivory Wrap

Now I want to smooth the bumps.  I heat the ivory wrap and use my mashers to smooth it out into an even plug (my term).  I use a very light touch here, because I don’t want the plug to get longer and thinner; I want it to stay nice and thick.  I usually heat and mash several times.  I also rotate the clear rod around so that the plug gets pretty smooth.  Using the mashers instead of rolling it on a marver assures that both ends of the plug are the same size and it keeps the glass up near where I can see it better.

Ivory Glass "Plug"

I use the mashers to flatten the end of the plug too.  It’s not necessary, but I like to keep it tidy (the glass – not my workbench, as you can plainly see).  One tip here: compare the length of the ivory plug to the width of the silver strip.  They should be close, with the foil being maybe just a little wider.

Tidying the Ivory Plug

Now, the next step in this Silvered Ivory Stringer Revealed tutorial is to apply the silver to the ivory.  (In case you missed it, part 1 is here and part 2 is here.)
I gently heat the plug, concentrating the heat near the outside.   I try to keep the inside from getting warm or the plug will start to stretch out.  This is not a good thing, because if it gets too long, the foil will not reach the end of the stringer.  So, if it does get too hot, just tidy it up with the mashers again until it cools.
Ok, so now I finally have the outside of the plug hot, and the inside just right.  Tip – I keep the mashers in my “not rolling” hand in preparation for the next steop.  I place the plug onto my marver next to the foil.  Doing it this way helps to assure the the end of the foil is attached.

Position Plug on Marver Next to Glass

Then I start rolling the plug toward the foil, onto the foil, and continuing to roll until all of the foil is on the plug.  The photos are taken by my lovely assistant, Katie, so they are from the perspective of an observer.  My position is actually so that the direction of the rolling action is away from me.  I would guess that this whole rolling sequence takes about 3 or 4 seconds.  I would like to point out also that the foil does not go all of the way around the plug – I consider this to be a good thing, I believe that it introduces more variety into the final bead.

Roll the Plug onto the Fine Silver

Now I have the foil onto the plug and I use my mashers to secure the foil onto the plug.  I want to work fast, so remember at no point in this process have I put the mashers down.  They are also still warm from the plug making operation.  Mash firmly, but not so much that the plug gets squished out.

Use Mashers to Set the Fine Silver on the Plug

As the plug cools, I use more pressure and also begin to roll the plug a little in the mashers.  Then I use the edge of the mashers to finish burnishing the foil onto the plug.  I like that foil firmly attached.

Burnish the Silver with Masher Edge

Silvered Ivory Plug Puntied with 2 Clear Rods

Now, I punty the second clear rod to the end of the plug.  Just heat the end of the plug and the clear rod and push them together.

I promise – I will finish this  Silvered Ivory Stringer Revealed tutorial in this post.  (In case you missed it, part 1 is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here.)

Now, I heat the plug.  I heat from the bottom – my rationale is this: the silver is going to burn off, and it might as well fume the ivory while that is happening.  I really have no idea if this makes a difference, but that is what I do.

Heating the Plug

When I heat the plug, I always try and aim toward the center of the plug.  It is hard to explain and the pictures don’t show it very well…  But when I’m heating the right side of the plug, my right hand is closer to me, and when I’m heating the left side, my left hand is closer to me.  The motion is sort of like steering a bicycle.  When the glass starts to melt, my self talk changes the name of the plug to a gather; I’m sure that this makes all of the difference [said with a touch of sarcasm].

More Heat - Let's Call it a Gather Now!

When the gather is thoroughly heated, I bring it out of the flame, and wait.  How long?  Until it is ready.  I know when it is ready, because I have made lots of them, and I just know.  It is mushy and soft, but not runny – it also looks different; I have heard it described as “forming a skin”.

I often stand up at this point.  If this gather drops, I do NOT want it on my lap.

Gather Out of the Heat - Wait!!!

Then I pull, just a little, and wait.  It will begin to droop on its own.   If I didn’t wait long enough in the last step and it starts to droop too fast, I blow on the punty ends.  CAREFULLY!  Burned lips are bad. Letting the center droop before pulling keeps the ends from being real thick and being like “dog bones”.

Pull the Gather Just a Little - Wait!

Once it stops drooping on its own, I start to pull harder and faster.  The slower the pull at this point, the thicker the final stringer will be.

Pull a Little Faster

Finally, I pull firmly on the finished stringer.  I wait 10 or 15 seconds at the very least to make sure that the stringer stays straight.  See the nice lines on this twisty?  Perfect!  I finish by flame cutting it in the center and then trimming the stringer from the punties with my tile cutters.

Silvered Ivory Stringer