Stoffobeads

Fordite

2011-04-03T15:37:00.001-07:00

Upon request for more info on Fordite.....

Fordite is the name for paint chips from the ford factory. I guess it has come to refer to any automotive paint that has built up and can be used like this.... You could have Dodgite, Chevyite, Subaruite.... etc...

Basically overspray from painting cars - which implies an older technique as now its all plastic and static bonded so there is no overspray....

Any old car factory that sprayed paint in theory could have this laying around... and I also guess not just car factories...

Maybe the Macco car paint shops, etc.... Boat shops, bike factories, anyplace the colored paint built up in layers and hardened.

Click on the title and it should take you to fordite.com

Hope that this is of interest.

Beads for Sale Again Locally

2010-07-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

OK - well it was a nice overcast day here in AZ. Sun masked behind clouds and kind of cool, well at least not the sun beating down.

I have a new consignment arrangement lined up and beads on had at a new store. Crafted Luxuries located at 108 El Camino Real, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-2808 (520) 439-4487. Its a neat store with lots of variety of crafting mediums.

Dropped off some beads and looking forward to having more on hand soon.

If you are looking for my beads, this is one of the locations that will have a fresh supply of handmade glass beads and will continue to get new ones hot out of the kiln.

Sierra Vista is a pretty long days drive from San Diego, and about 1.5 hours south east of Tucson AZ. If you come down there are lots of things to do in Sierra Vista asides from picking up a few beads.

http://www.sierravistachamber.org/

http://www.svherald.com/

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Glass billet table top- nearly finished.

2009-11-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, the finished table top. The whole project is done. I will say that at present the glass billet chunks or blocks simply rest on the rails and thats not working well. They tend to shift and drop through... I think a trip to the dreaded Home Despot or maybe Ace or Lowes will get me a very thin piece of plexi or some other clear plastic type sheet and that will go underneath all the blocks. Maybe even a drop of clear silicone to "glue" each block down to the sheeting.

Photo looking down through the glass

Im happy

welding table/cart project

2009-11-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

Part homegrown brain child part inspiration from the miller welding site, projects area.

This welding cart has 2 wheels up front. Its got 3 removable welding shields on 3 sides. In the photo only the back side is up.

Top is 1/4 inch plate steel unpainted so you can weld without having to clamp each piece. Under the table top is a ground pin and 2 pipes for metal bending.

On the wheel end there is a "holster" for the mig gun and loop for pliers

The chain is welded to the card for holding in tanks of gas.

Fire table project

2009-11-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

OK this is next up....

Here is a link to spark fires

Their outdoor linear burner system is kind of what I have in mind only down the center of a table.

Call it the modern smores table or something like that......

The glass top table

2009-11-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Been holding onto this idea for a while....

Here is a photo of the table all formed up, welded and rough ground.

I have some glass billet samples from Bullseye glass.
The idea was/is to have a small coffee table with the billets on top.
Initially I was going to make a small grid with a "tray" for each block of glass.

I drew this out a number of times, measured, pondered and mulled it over for a while.

Finally yesterday the idea burst forth and I didnt sketch or plan.

Just grabbed the metal, welder, cutter, grinder and went to work....

Here it is after a coat of black satin krylon paint. I will let the paint dry over night and then put the glass blocks on top to finish it off. I even was able to get some small plastic "feet" or end caps from Ace hardware. I will also pound those in just near the end.

Hope you like - it will be even better with the glass blocks on top... I will try and post a photo tomorrow of the project done....
Im kind of proud of it soo far. Maybe there is a future for me in making some furniture stuff...

Crazy goblets

2009-04-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

OK so I am trying to make goblets. I have some here that I made a while ago.... using the same tube as the chandelier.

My sister give me some pointers over the phone, and I studied up in the glass mags to refine my technique.

I want to get decent enough at this to make an actual functional goblet.... or at least one that doesnt look like it was made by a craay person.....

Still they are getting better but kind of like a bunch of crazy drunk glass fairies made them.

The ones with the clear feet are the newer ones with better technique.

I want to get decent enough at this to make an actual functional goblet.... or at least one that doesnt look like it was made by a crazy person.....

Not bead related but poetry

2009-04-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

A well known local kid reading her own poetry at the local elementary school......

Chandelier Project Finished

2009-03-26T19:02:00.001-07:00

Well, after a long wait and 2 weeks off to make and work on this... its done.

This is one of the longer projects I have undertaken. I had to remove the old chandelier, and remove the electrical wires.

Then I put in new wires, and a new bulb.

Then I finally assembled the whole chandelier and hung it.....

Im very pleased with is and happy that the project is over....

Must be well over 200 individual pieces of glass in this thing !

Chandelier project wip

2009-02-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

So, its been a while. Here is what Im up to.

Chandelier project- I want a Dale Chihuly style chandelier for the house on my budget. So, why not make one.

Here are some photos....

Cremains project- I had a special contact who asked me if Id make beads and marbles with family cremains. Sure, Why not try it.

The cremains project was a hit. Actually worked out well, the cremains made very nice inclusions.

Moved and set up- running again

2008-02-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well if you are still out there in cyberspace following the saga of stoffobeads...... we have finally gotten the studio up.

We moved in September and it was a sea of boxes and takes about 6 months to settle in.

The staff electrician, and carpenters were busy doing a retrofit on an existing structure in the rear or our "grounds".

A few weeks ago, workers managed to get things wired up, and installed in place- the studio was opened.

I made a few ceremonial beads which I cast about the neighborhood as a signal to future archaeologists that this was the site of a bead studio.

Today, I made the third or fourth batch of beads. Its been a while but like riding a bike the flow of glass in the torch was a welcomed feel, like welcoming an old friend back.

Sierra Vista, AZ is now the new home of our studio and we are already very happy with the weather and anticipate many more bead making days here than we had in Ajo, AZ. Cooler climes, about 10-15 degrees cooler are what we are expecting.

Sierra Vista has a great bead shop, Barefootgirls Bead Emproium on Wilcox st., Sierra Vista, AZ (520-459-5400) and we have some beads for sale there. I will begin taking on students for one on one beadmaking instruction. Email me if interested.

Musings on moving, studios, and glass

2007-09-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

As we pack up the stoffobeads studio and head to the east, I am pondering a new shop set up. I have toyed with several ideas. The new stoffobeads compound is located in a residential area, more so than in the past. The compound is equipt with a storage shed, which may be retro-fit into a studio. No power, no windows, no AC or heat which will mean some serious retro-fitting will be necessary. So it may also remain simply a storage shed......

A quick search of the net... I found everthing from ideas of making studio space out of buses, railcars, cargo boxes, vintage trailers, and a variety of prefab shed formats. The recent edition of Dwell magazine has some very nice high end stuff, but a bit out of our price range. $10K for a small studio, that is a lot of beads. Im open to suggesitons form those of you in the blogsphere.

I am thinking about renting studio space and will also explore that option. Maybe a self storage shed or industrial space in town will fit the bill. I will be exploring a bunch of options.

This weekend, since the studio is shut down and in a state of disassembly in preparation for packing and moving, we watched some cool videos. Thanks to Netflix who have several Chihuly videos. We watched two fabulous videos "Chihuly short cuts" and another one "Chihuly Gardens and Glass" that had some amazing footage of great hot glass work. Im inspired to create a Chihuly style chandelier for the digs. Once I set up the new studio, I will buy some profile tube and get cracking on making my own mini-chihuly.

Found a wicked torch for sale for about $600 and it looks just huge and killer. Perhaps when we get settled in, I may still have some $ left to buy a new torch. It looks like a CC burner but half or a third the price. Hmmm got to keep that site bookmarked.

This will likely be the last posting for a bit while we close down here and set up there......

Stoffobeads moves !

2007-08-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Well,

Another chapter in the semi-noadic travels of Stoffobeads. The great moving van will show up, pack load and move the entire Stoffobeads empire to Sierra Vista AZ.

There is much excitement as the Stoffobeads staff, begins to conduct clean up operations in Ajo. Lots of yardwork, cleaning and prep, sorting glass, packing up beads, tools, and other equipmet and supplies in advance of shutting down operations here. The best news is that temps are acutally about 10-15 degrees lower in Sierra Vista making year round lampworking a real possibillty.

While we may not be heard from for a few months as we relocate things, know that we will be back at it in a much better location with year round operations in a better facility.

Thanks for your support

Curley School gets on PBS

2007-08-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

AZ PBS out of Tucson shot a short segment on the Curley school project.

Here is the link so you can watch it if you like.

http://kuat.org/misenplace.cfm?ID=744

Matt

The Show !

2007-07-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

The show is set up and here is a preview of what it looks like.

http://www.alleganyartscouncil.org/static.php?page=10

Upcoming show !

2007-06-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well, is been a while since I posted up anything. I have been sweating away in the 105+ temps here in Ajo getting ready for this upcoming show. I have made up some great glass beads for this show, as well as some other glass items.

I shipped off 3 huge boxes of beads, bead related items, marbles, etc....

This collection of Stoffobeads "goodies" will make up half of a 2 person show at the Saville Gallery in Cumberland MD.

Show will open on July 19th, the opening reception will be on the 21st.

See the following link to the show SHOW LINK

Matt

Glass beads used in flys-ala Ronn Lucas Sr.

2007-02-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

Folks,

I have posted some photos of glass beads used in flys and they are all the work of Ronn Lucas Sr.

Ronn is a master ! Plain and simple, he can take a hook, glue, feathers, thread, and a bead and create a masterpiece.

Some time ago, an article featuring Ronns work was to be published in an exclusive fly journal, in never made it to print.

Ronn has rescued the article and it features not just my beads but beads by others, and lots of beautiful photos of the finished

product. Its amazing and I urge you all to link over and check it out.

Ronns article http://www.ronnlucassr.com/bead2.htm

Get a clue

2006-11-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

Well, the response to this contest has been totally underwhelming. Perhaps its my fault as a lackluster blogger.

A few folks have chimed in here and there asking for additional info and clues so here it is.... 3 clues

-Rhymes with surf
-Ravioli
-New Orleans

Now if you use that above with the prior clues, Im certain someone with more time on their hands, awake at night surfing the bandwidth and hungry for a glass bead will manage to solve the puzzle.

Photo of Clover kitten hanging out in a wall mounted flower pot and a photo of some recent boro marbles.

First Clue !

2006-10-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

OK,

Here we go.......

1) Tool for making an Italian pasta dish
2) Hurricane Katrina

Thats the first installment of clues. Good luck !

Win a trip to the Carribean Blues !

2006-10-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Actually, the carribean blues can come to you, if you win the contest. The bead selected will be the waves bead. By a narrow margin it garnered the most votes. No hanging chads or Florida style re-counts necessary.

This will be the bead.

The contest will be this.....

I donated two beads to a charity and they were used to adorn two items. These items were useful for something else. Tell me what that is and the bead is yours.

If necessary, I will provide clues....

First clue- no wait, not yet......

Good luck to all !

Glass bead give-away contest

2006-09-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well, based upon a totally underwhelming response to the last post on selecting the next bead prizes for the give-away, Im going to try and re-invigorate things.

See the below post about lava and Caribbean waves. Sorry to clutter things up with kittens and all. I mean after all this is about glass, and more importantly glass beads.

I have posted 4 photos, two if each "design concept" there is one vote for each bead as of today. I will run this until Oct. 1st. The bead that gets the most votes by then will become the next two give-away prizes.

The Stoffobeads contest committee is also working hard on the next contest. They are taking suggestions but are working out a series of challenges that will make survior island look like a walk in the park.

So, please leave your comments, emails and let me know which 2 of the 4 beads you want a chance to win, or should I remake the prizes totally. But please let me know by Oct. 1st.

The rest of the contest details will also be released on Oct. 1.

Thanks to those two folks who logged in with comments so far.

Contest continued-Lava beads

2006-09-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

Its nice to put up photos of beads again. Its been too long. A package arrived today from Olympus, I placed the order yesterday (fast shipping) and in it were 2 smart media cards, both instantly fired right up in the camera and work like a charm. Thanks Olympus.

First bead is a tab shape. Its about 10x25x35mm in size, made on a larger mandrel. Base color is black with lots of red and amber yellow. The red and yellow are flowed together like lava and the whole deal covered in a thin layer of clear. It more of an abstract interpretation of lava than anything, but its for sure lava inspired.

Second bead is a nugget shape. Flat on two sides from lapidary. Core or base color is magma yellow, covered in lava red, then a layer of ash grey, rolled in black crumbly nubs for a rough lava like outer shell, the outer crumbles are slightly reduced for a raku like ash tinge. The bead was then ground down on two sides to cut through to the layers and make two flat sides to the bead. Then polished up to a glassy finish. Size is about 20x20x30mm and made on a larger mandrel.

Part two of the contest-lets hear some comments on this bead concept......

Contest continues ! Caribbean Blue

2006-09-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is the next step in the bead give-away contest.

Im going to post up a photo of the bead design concepts. The original design concepts can be found back in the blog archives. You have the option of voting for one or the other, or you can tell me that I missed the mark entirely.

Depending on votes from you all, I will remake a new set, or proceed to the next step which will be giving these beads away.

First two are the Caribbean Blue beads;

Bead one (right) is base cobalt blue, made on a larger mandrel. Its got silver balls that look like stars. There are waves of light colors both opaque and transparent, all under a pretty heavy coat of clear. Shape is kind of a tapered barrel 25mm tall and 22 mm wide at the widest point.

Bead two (left) is a tube, 53mm long by 16mm wide, made on a 3/32 inch mandrel. Its got an opaque core, then its got 3-4 colors of blue, opaque and transparent that are kind of swirled about wavelike and also under a pretty good layer of clear.

So, now that you have seen them, let me know what you think ?

Lila and Clover

2006-09-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Who amongst us doesn't love a kitten let alone two of them.

Here they are the much loved and talked about Lila and Clover.

Lila is the tortoise shell and Clover is the orange tigress.

Lila has some spunk, she is the adventurous one, runs full bore around the house, jumps higher, leaps from ledge to ledge and swings from the lamps. More likely if your toes get bit it her.

Clover is mellow, she's the one the little girls dress up in doll clothes. Turn her over and she lays on her back and purrs. She gets toted around the house by the local kids and is basic kitty putty in their hands.

Not on the same topic as kittens, the smart media cards arrived today and the new ones wont work, at least I cant get them to work but the old ones suddenly started to work. Who knows what's going on there. So, tomorrow I will try and post some bead photos and work out how to make the new cards work.

Hunting SmartMedia ...

2006-09-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well,

If you have a device, camera or something else that relies upon this type of memory card, watch out ! Rumor is that they will cease production of this style of card within the month and they are already hard to find.

Got to love the disposable society we live in where scores of folks can rely upon something to work and the manufacturers can change 1 part, stop making that part, or otherwise engineer it to fail at a certain interval.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with my digital camera. It works great, one of the first Olympus models, the Camedia c3000 zoom. Its a fanstastic camera and takes great photos. PROBLEM-now the smart media cards that it stores the photos to soon will no longer be made.

Got to love the online retailers who list stuff on their sites but dont bother to tell you they dont have any more of that item. So after placing an order with an un-named retailer who actually did email me the next day to tell me they were out of stock. I have had to conduct a more intensive search for these cards.

If you need one try these guys, at UpGradeNation they said they were one of the last few to still have some in stock.

Should be getting my new cards in about a week so once they arrive, provided they do arrive and work, I will get some photos up.

Of course, its Smart Media....

2006-09-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I was ready to wow the world with a few new items. But, I cant get my digital camera to work.

Problem seems to be the smart media flash cards. Both of them, worked yesterday and now I cant format them. Been through this before and into the manual several times. Nope, none of the old standby tricks seem to work...... Anyone got any suggestions ? So, the joys of living in a small town means that I cant get it here. I have to go online to seek out obscure vendors who carry this critical yet outdated wafer of technology.

At this point its almost cheaper to buy a new digital camera than these cards for the old, almost an antique camera (Its about 6 yrs old).

Two new cards on order and $100 lighter in the wallet, nothing left to do but wait....

What I wanted to do was post;
1) photos of the two new kittens, "Lila" and "Clover" named by the local 5 yr old girl.
2) photos of the four beads I have made under the molten lava and Caribbean blues themes.
3) photos of my 2 new bead sculptures. Cantilever glass ala Frank Lloyd Wright.

Speaking of Wright we managed to make a much anticipated and long awaited trip to Taliesin West about a month ago. Well worth the trip ! What a cool place. Very inspiring. If you are ever in the Phoenix area, you have to go.

Sorry but you will have to wait....

My intention is that once able again, I will post up photos of the 4 beads and you all will pick which ones best represent the themes. Then we will proceed in wrapping up the bead contests.

Hopefully the cards will arrive soon and I can be photo capable, with smart media.

Oh ! -in the local newspaper, Ajo Copper News, under opinion poll, you can vote for a highway bypass or against the bypass. Im against the bypass, maybe you can visit also and vote against the bypass. Got to keep traffic going past local businesses.

Finally !

2006-09-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well, to those of you who try to follow this blog, Im back !

Its finally cool enough to melt glass again without copious amounts of sweat gushing about.

Temps have dropped down to high 80s and low 90s so we are able to tolerate some torch time.

Recently back from a gorgeous wedding trip to Michigan. Had a great time in the East Lansing area. Ate some of the best ribs ever ! Thanks Tom Hopper, the chef who prepared these amazing little creations ! A true feat of flameworking. A sugary crust over a peppery interior, grilled over flames ! It was a nice trip to cool off, and visit an old friend and celebrate his wedding.

Enough of that. Here are few of the many treats that awaited me this morning as the kiln was opened up.

I have to get going, need to try and work on the promised sets for prizes. There are two beads Im supposed to make as part of the last contest ! Im negligent in getting this done and owe two people some torch time with their ideas as my intended product.

Some show and tell, finally !

2006-07-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

So eager readers....

Here is the eyecandy that I made the other day. I melted down some boro into marbles. These are two marbles I made. I was using techniques I had learned about in a magazine and I honestly cant recall which it was in. Both of these are great glass magazines. The flow and glassline anyone interested in lampworking should get both of them to round out their library.

So these two marbles, one a colored dot marble (to the left and right above) and the other what I will call a honey comb (below) are both made from borosilicate glass tube. The process I will never be able to describe as well as its done in the magazine, a virtual photo tutorial which is why I love the magazines. Id say for the first and second time trying the technique, I did pretty good.

The same day, I also made some warring states style beads. This type of bead is time consuming in the precision placement of the dots. As you can see from the photo, the one bead on the right, I messed it up last minute. I always put the center dot in the florettes last. Im not sure why but I do. I accidentally bumped the dot and it pushed into another dot, just barely and when the two touch, they begin to melt together and that in my opinion ruins the bead.

Hopefully this mini-photo show and tell is a welcomed contribution to what has otherwise been a rather bleak blog.

Today I Melted Glass !

2006-07-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day in months that I melted glass and didnt melt myself.

I woke today after a full day of 4th of July festivities to a blissful 78 out. Yesterday, was full of the local parade, 4th activities at the local park (I won a skateboard in a raffle !), social gatherings, fireworks. All in all a wonderful 4th of July.

It rained last night (we are officially in monsoon season now) and when I woke at 6am it was 78 out, a temp not seen here in months. Of course, I grabbed my java and went out to the studio. I quickly made two boro marbles, and a small batch of about 6 beads before the temps soared again over 105, this time with some nasty humidity.

Working in the studio today was tougher than normal. We are mid-tumble on a batch of 12lbs of desert quartz that we are trying to tumble polish up to something neat. So Im making beads over the sound of rocks tumbling, slosh, slosh, slosh over the steady whirr of the motor.

Perhaps if the marbles and beads come out well enough, I will photo them and post them up here.

It was fun and difficult at the same time to get back the knack of working glass. Its kind of like riding a bike, you dont forget but you do loose some fine technique skills that need to stay honed.

At one of yesterdays parties, I was reminded that Im one of several local artists "featured" on the Curley School site. They are working away furiously on the school. I think its hot and then Im reminded that Im not up on the 3rd story roof, working on the roofing of the Curley school when its 110 out. Ugh ! They have gutted most of the classrooms from what I can see as I drive by and are really making some progress.

Well, thats about all for now, when the kiln cools down tonight I may be able to put up some new photos!

The Blast Furnace

2006-06-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well,

I have returned. Im back home and not sure I like it. Temps have crept up to 116 today. Its like living inside a blast furnace. Even the cactus in the yard is telling me by its droopy limbs, enough already. We are all awaiting the return of the monsoons, sure they add humidity to things but they also cool down the inferno.

WAY TOO HOT to make beads. I lament that and longingly recall the last time I was able to melt glass, like a dream.

2 weeks were spent up in Mesa Verde and Canyon De Chelly area. Trips into Telluride, Durango, Silverton Colorado where I was in snow. It snowed, hailed and was cool. How refreshing. Those areas seemed resplendent with shades of green. It seemed an emerald world compared to here.

Pipes are all fixed, the house is back to normal. Its as if the whole thing never happened. The only reminder is my bank account which is missing a substantial amount of its balance.

So in many or most ways Stoffobeads is back to its normal routines. Save for the heat, which isnt about to let up its great to be back.

Summer Vacation

2006-05-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, not like it sounds, we are not going on vacation rather, Stoffobeads blog is taking a summer vacation. With the staff on assignment all over the nation, the studio is cold (not literally as summer temps are now spiking well into the 100s). While no one is really off relaxing, operations at the Stoffobeads compound are in summer siesta.

So far, the major plumbing job has not even commenced. Its the SW border mentality of tomorrow, or manana with one of those "~" over the first n. Which is, Im led to believe, kind of like the Caribbean or island mentality. Tomorrow -it both holds promise and is a way of prolonging things.

The effects of increased heat, bad plumbing, and the opportunity to get out of dodge for about 3 weeks in my other job and we are shutting down. Im still working, hence no real vacation, just not at the Stoffobeads portion of my life. Its not for good but until the temps and pipes can equalize, no more beads and blogs.

Rest assured though friends, we will return with the bead contest, refreshed from our travels, perhaps more $ in our pockets and ready to melt glass and put up postings.

Bear with us while we get our house in order literally. Use the time to go outside and enjoy your weather if its not 100 out and think of the poor plumber who will be under the house in the sweltering muck and say to yourself, at least Im not that guy.

See you in June.

The Pipes and all about them

2006-04-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

So, here they are, photos. First task was the spelunking trip. Going under the house in the 18" crawl space, joining the territory of scorpions, black widows, and snakes, not to mention large roaches. Yuck. So, I wiggle around under the house looking at broken pipes.

Finally, I manage to find a spot where I can dig, in the 18" crawl space. Like a caver or miner, I have on my headlamp and laying on my belly, using a garden trowel, dig out around a pipe to try and figure out where the sewer line exits the house.

I manage to find what I think is the exit. So we go outside and begin to dig. Digging in the desert is a mix of rocks and very light dust, but mostly rocks or so it seems. After digging down about 3 feet, we manage to find the pipe. Its old cast iron and pretty well corroded through.

The contractor took one look and said rather matter of factly, just dig back another 10' and find the junction. If its more cast iron, thats bad, very bad. If you can find asbestos pipe, thats good. So we extended the trench. Digging sewer lines is no where near as much fun as working in the bead mines.

Here is the trench, in its full 15' long glory. Its about 3-3.5 feet deep and two days work. You can see the rust and corrosion from/on the pipe. Im afraid of whats just on this end of the cast iron, is it more cast or asbestos ? In this case, fear =$.

This is what 60+ year old pipe looks like after being buried in the desert. No holes in this section but dont press your luck by scraping it too hard with the shovel either. Pitty they didnt use something more rust resistant then.

And the result is... HOORAY !
Here is the tie in with the asbestos pipe. So now, once we replace the all the pipe to here, no one will ever need to worry about this again. Course it will bear a heavy burden on my checkbook but whats done is done. As our favorite honey dipper used to say, "its a shitty job but someone has to do it".

Well, now the real work can begin, laying the line back under the house, re-plumbing all the fixtures, cutting into walls and floors to replace all the old line. I just cant wait !

If you bought my beads recently or bid/bought from the PTP sale (Pay The Plumber) on Justbeads.com, Thank You. This is where your $ is going..... into this hole in the yard. It will also explain a lack of new beads, my time is being spent on this. Hopefully the next post on this topic will simply report we are re-plumbed and making beads again !

And the winner is....

2006-04-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Caribbean Blue and molten Lava !

I like the idea that these two winners are so different. A kind of fire and water contrast.

Shamrock, I have your address and will be mailing you your calendar asap.

Trek, email me your address or post it up here so I can send you a calendar.

To the rest of you, the contest is not over yet. I will now try and make beads worthy of the names above. Those beads will then become the next contest prizes, if they come out well.

Thanks to all who contributed to this contest. Im now off to do some subterranean excavations under the house still working on the plumbing.

Contest and stuff

2006-04-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

The contest is now moving to phase II.

Stoffobeads contest board has compiled the following submissions for voting. These will be voted on and eventually a winner selected.

Entry 1- Dawn said...I would like you to create a faux gemstone carved scarab bead. Something that resembles lapis lazuli with lots of pyrite or Chinese jade, creamy white and green. I like the boro glass. Don't know any techniques, just like handmade lampwork and boro beads. Dawn, bdluvr from justbeads

Entry 2 -Shamrock at JB (justbeads.com for the unititiated) submitted the following, "Ok, after pining over a losing bid on one of your lapidary donuts, here's an idea: "Molten lava/hot coals". Inner colors of firey reds,oranges, yellows banked beneath an outer (textured?) crust of charcoal gray or black -- lapidary cuts into the crust reveal the smoldering core within. This would also work well on a barrel-shaped bead.

Entry 3- Trek says; "How about a cobalt blue bead with swirls of green - reminiscent of the ocean - then kind of S shaped facets/cuts in it to be reminiscent of fish jumping in the waters. "Caribbean Blue"

Entry 4- anonymous (But I know who you are) Prickly pear beads.

So, please cast your votes for 1, 2, 3 or 4 . We can even go by their names, Jade Scarab, Molten Lava, Caribbean Blue, or Prickly Pear. Please cast your vote ! Send me an email, leave a comment, however you want to let us know which you would like to see. Remember that the bead selected will eventually become a contest prize that I will give away. The two above selections with the most votes will secure the submitters a 2006 collectible bead artist calendar. You have until April 15th, Tax Day, to cast your votes!

On the topic of cool stuff, here is part of a project I participated in and is worthy of support. Its called the Gather project and is worth a visit. You can buy a ticket to win these amazing bead sculptures made around rolling pins. Fantastic stuff and for a worthy charity.

Unfortunately, there are some major plumbing projects planned here at the stoffobeads compound. The whole sewer/drain system needs replaced all the way out to the city line. YIKES ! May need to sell off some beads at cut rate prices to pay for some of this work......

3rd Entry

2006-04-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well we have a 3rd entry now in the contest but still need more.

Trek says; "How about a cobalt blue bead with swirls of green - reminiscent of the ocean - then kind of S shaped facets/cuts in it to be reminiscent of fish jumping in the waters. "Caribbean Blue" ". Well Im think we can do that, or give it a try for sure.

S shaped facets remind me of the s shaped bend in the pipe under the house.......

Currently the entire Stoffobeads staff is in the crawlspace doing some "tunneling" we have sprung a leak on some of our plumbing. As is bound to happen in a 64 year old house, pipes, like the equivalent of a coronary artery inside a person, tend to plug up.

The house was built by the mining company, built on the cheap and probably before codes came into effect and certainly before they were enforced out here in the hinterlands, is difficult to work on. So we must tunnel under the house to get at the pipes in the kitchen.

So put on your work clothes, bring your paper plates and cups, and grab a shovel. We could use your help, submit an entry for the contest or get dirty in the crawlspace, you pick.

Contest and other stuff

2006-03-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

Well, here is a recent addition to the contest, bringing the total of submissions to two. I need more folks. The Stoffobeads contest board is unsure what to do to generate more submissions but two is kind of a lowly number.

Shamrock at JB (justbeads.com for the unititiated) submitted the following, "Ok, after pining over a losing bid on one of your lapidary donuts, here's an idea: "Molten lava/hot coals". Inner colors of firey reds,oranges, yellows banked beneath an outer (textured?) crust of charcoal gray or black -- lapidary cuts into the crust reveal the smoldering core within. This would also work well on a barrel-shaped bead. Possible?" Way to go Shamrock ! I think I can do that.

Here are some close ups from the latest beads I have up for auction.

I think these are the firey reds Shamrock is making reference to. Suprisingly technique is only possible on one of my two torches. Something about the particular flame chemistry that allows me to make this on only that one torch. I have tried and tried on the "faster" torch but have not been able to get it to happen. I have heard that certain torches even among the same model of torch just work differently enough to have their own unique characteristics. There will be more beads with this type of pattern on them as I continue to refine the process.

SOLD the beadscope, Model 3 is on its way to Alaska ! Sad to see it go but I know its going to a very good home !

More paint chips, cause they are cool. I have bids in on some and should find out today if Im going to own some of it.... Im excited.

Fordite

2006-03-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to post on this for some time. One of the most beautiful things to come out of the motor city in a long time, Detroit agate. Its also known as Fordite, some apparently coming from the motor city and some from London or Dagenham (in reference I gather to the auto plants where they were "grown or harvested").

This spectacular material is a formed by the overspray in the paint booths where they paint cars, or where they used to paint cars. This overspray accumulated in thin layers of various colors when they changed colors on the factory line. Then the enamel paint was baked over and over to create (Im told) very hard and light material. The material was then harvested by someone very clever from these paint booths. The paint slag is then cut into smaller pieces and worked on a lapidary like a rock or gem.

I went through a moment of puzzlement where I thought, paint chips, I mean thats what these are after all, paint chips from car paint. How can that look good. When I hear about paint chips, I often think of battleship grey paint layered up on a school wall or something but this is obviously not the same.

I have to thank Cindy of Goldilocks Jewlery Designs , she also sells on Ebay. All the photos came from her and she was kind enough to let me post them. If you click on the link, it will take you right to her website. She is selling some D. Agate on ebay under the name, ebay ID: cindimus. Take a look at her ebay store, where there is some of this wonderful stuff for sale right now. I tried a bunch of times to link to it but cant, sorry.

For insight into some of Detroits politics, and the goings on visit RiverRant and hear the musings of my pal who lives just out side of the D. There is always something interesting happening there.....

I like the sparkle colors in these which I think are the Dagenham ones. The metallic car paints that have ended up on the walls and rails make some of these very attractive to me.

I often wonder who was the first to venture into some of these things. Who looked down and said its sure not pretty but ate the first lobster or clam, who brewed and drank the first beer (yeah lets ferment oats, barley, yeast and water that sounds good), who first saw the potential of this material ?

Some of these pieces look like the Japanese Mokume Gane technique to me. The process comes from simulating wood grain and is often done in layers of different color metals. This one on the bottom left is my favorite, love it !

Contest Stuff

2006-03-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

OK,

Only about 2 weeks left and so far only one contest submission. Here is what we have. Sure would like another contestant entry, more suggestions for the contest.

"Anonymous said...
I would like you to create a faux gemstone carved scarab bead. Something that resembles lapis lazuli with lots of pyrite or chinese jade, creamy white and green. I like the boro glass. Don't know any techniques, just like handmade lampwork and boro beads. Dawn, bdluvr from justbeads " - Thanks Dawn !

Bead photo for the sake of a bead photo. By the way this is up for auction on Justbeads.com starting 3/19/06
(this beads about 2" long, black with fumed ivory on it)

Speaking of contests, here is another one worth looking at. Its at the Bead Addicts site. You can win a very nice bracelet, a stunning prize !

Get those entries in !

The Next Contest !

2006-03-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

Ok here we go....

Im not sure the stoffobeads contest board has fully worked out all the details yet but here goes....

The prize;
1) Win one 2006 collectible bead artist calendar (an approximate $15 value with free S&H) or just visit the above link and buy one. 2 calendars to be awarded.

The Contest:

Phase I-Write a description of a bead into the comments section. Description should include color, size, techniques to be used, glass, shape, etc... After 1 month, on April 8th, no more descriptions will be allowed.

Then we will move into Phase II a voting phase. You all will select which bead designs I will make. The winners (there will be two) will be the two people who send in the 2 best bead descriptions that receive the most votes. Votes will be tallied up after one week, ending on April 15th.

Phase III- I will attempt to make the beads as described and post their resultant photos.

Phase IV -If worthy, these beads will then be the prizes for the next contest.

No limit on entries and if the same person receives the two highest votes for two bead descriptions that person may win two calendars. The main limit to this contest is my ability to make the beads as described, or my ability to interpret what is described. Therefore - no beads requiring electroforming, enamel painting, or other complex process I may not have the capability to perform. Please feel free to clarify with me in advance what is feasible. Diagrams, sketches, clip art, or other electronic media is acceptable to be attached.

Scopes Pt. III- 5 Points Achieved !

2006-03-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still on the cusp of recovery from this awful cold. I spent a few hours today, taking the sun in the studio, when I felt up to it. Getting my vitamin G as well as E, and C (G for glass).

I assembled the third bead-scope and achieved my attempted 5 point symmetry. Much more concentration and use of techniques I have built making the other two scopes came in handy.

The shot on the outside shows the exterior of the scope and the bead-viewing attachment. This scope isnt really any different on the outside than the other 2.

Where it shows is on the inside, the mirrors line up better with no black gaps, the glass is cleaner, the whole deal is a bit more refined. This is again a 2 mirror system and one sheet of black. Were I to do this again, Id work hard to find a better flatter shiny black, not the somewhat wavy black Im using. Id also attempt to angle the mirror system into a taper to create a sphere image. However, I have satisfied my curiosity and desire to make scopes and capture the 5 point star.

I shot this rather dark image with the digital camera right down the scope and though you cant see much of the detail or complexity of the image, you can clearly make out 5 points ! Mission accomplished. Hmmm, now what next ?

Now here is a real glass bead contest !

2006-03-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

I thought my little win a bead contest was neat, and I guess it was. Now this is a REAL contest ! Fire Designs listed this contest in Bead and button magazine (page 47). I flipped right by it but later, found it and visited the site. The proprietor is retiring and has elected to "give away" the business at the end of an essay contest. A very Charlie and the Chocolate factory type event. How cool.

It does cost $250 to enter but when you consider that its a chance for a turnkey operation, or so it sounds at least, sounds pretty good to me. $250 entry to possibly win what they indicate is a $350K business, not a bad return.

Visit the site and join me in entering, if you win, I get to come and make some beads ! If I win, you can come and make beads at the open house....

I did make some beads in this manner, once. Once as it was a very labor intensive method/process. In retrospect, a rather amateur attempt of it yet not bad for a first try if I may say so, certainly nothing like those of Fire designs. I rented some studio time with a glassblower who my mom was taking lessons with. Together we pulled some cane, very elegant stuff with fluting on the outside of the tube. Once the tube cooled, I cut it into 3 foot sections, then brought it home to slice it up on a borrowed diamond band saw. That wasnt too hard.

Its this next step, where things get tricky. All these slices have sharp cut ends. I endeavored to 'finish' the ends by flame polishing each one. So, I arranged all my little bead slices on a metal tray, poped them into the kiln. Ramped them up to temp, then using long tweezers, I pulled them out, one at a time, flame melted each end of the tube and put them back into the kiln.

To this day, they remain the only ones that I have seen with a fine texture on the outside. I still have some (a few ounces) available for sale if anyone is interested.

Now, Id imagine that the sort of bulk operation that Fire designs has, involves some sort of mass production type deal. I figured, it was a tumbling, or vibratory process like tumbling rocks to knock off the sharp edges.... This type of process would have worked for mine but then I figure would have knocked off the great spiral texture on the outside. Since I had to hand finish each bead one at a time, my labor, time, and the other expenses, I know why these furnace beads sell for about $75 per pound. Worth every penny.

Scopes Part II

2006-02-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of a Beadscope ? Well, if you followed the last part, marblescopes, here I have made a beadscope. These are 2 mirror systems which means the third side of the triangle is just shiny black glass. Using the same math formula trying to get 5 point symmetry, I was able this time to get perfect symmetry but it was 4 point, not the sought after 5 point. Here is the finished beadscope.

I took a mandrel, threaded it, bent it and slipped it into a piece of copper tube I had. It fit perfectly, I tinned the tube and stuck it (soldered) on a corner of the scope. Now I can change the beads at the end and get different images inside the scope. Its adjustable as it slides to and away from the end viewing glass. There is no rubbing of the beads on the glass, to scratch it. I can change out the beads. This design allows much more light in so the image is much better.

Id have to say that this, Make one, model two is much better. If you hold it just right you can spin one bead one way and the next one down the other, and it creates some great images inside the scope. I think the bead holding end is a bit long. I figured that better too long, any extra space can be taken up with spacer beads than to have a perfect bead that wont fit because the rod is too short. Im hopeful that on make one, model three I manage to get 5 point symmetry.

The soldering looks a little bit better but still not what Id like it to be. I think my wimpy little solder iron is too small for this kind of work. Hop liked this one soo much he asked me to put it up for sale in his new bookstore, so I did.

Im excited as I still have enough mirror and glass to make a third one and Im sure it will only be better than these first two.

Got any comments, do you make scopes, suggestions welcomed, need help making your own scope, I will share what limited info I know. These were some fun projects.

Awful Sick

2006-02-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

There is something particularly bad about feeling sick, like throw up, body ache, sore throat, coughing sick. In the rest of the world thats a bad enough thing and I gather that with wintertime, its going around and kind of normal, routine sick time. However, when you get sick the the desert, its 80 out, sunny, a nice warm breeze blowing, you feel even worse. I have never minded a bad sick when its cold out, grey, rainy, and you can cuddle up, turn up the heat, put on a fire, watch TV or videos.

However, when sick in the desert, the windows are open, you can hear kids out playing, the breeze blows by, the last thing you want to do when its 80 out is get under a blanket and pull the covers up over your head.

So here, it looks like this and you should be out golfing or romping around in the sun. Instead you are cradling your head above a garbage can wishing youd throw up so you can get it over with and feel better. Wishing it was all over.....

"Mommy, help me make the bad sick stop !"

Scopes part I

2006-02-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a marblescope I made a few weeks ago and finally have gotten around to taking a few shots of it. This was the prototype, model one, make one. I was attempting to get to 5 point symmetry in the scope. I was not successful despite the best mathematical mind and work in town helping me out. Its not the math it was the assembly where I went wrong.

My pal, Hollister "Hop" David whos website is worthy of a visit, an extremely talented artist and mathematician managed to put together the math for me in a matter of minutes. I went home and assembled the scope. This marblescope uses some specialty parts to hold the marble end in place. I later figured out the specialty part is actually a split key ring that I could buy anywhere for about $.50. Oh well, live and learn. So, inside the stoffobeads studio, I assembled this bugger up and made the marblescope. I really like the idea that the viewing object is removable, changeable and I happen to have a surplus of marbles, not as many as I have of surplus beads, but more than enough.

Its pretty cool but since the marble covers the end of the scope, there are two issues I needed to work out. One, the visual image inside is too dark. Solution number one, use clear marbles or marbles with more transparent colors in them. Solution number two, I need a way to move the marble or viewing item away.

Issue number two, the marble is pressed onto the glass at the end of the scope, slowly scratching it up as you turn it to move the design. Again leading me to a design where the viewing item is moved further away. I wish I could take credit for the idea but I cant. Reviewing every book, well the one, I could find on making scopes at the local library. I was led to the design of what Im calling the Beadscope. More on that in a later post.

Issue number three, not really a tribute to the worlds best soldering or my skill at it. Solution, practice and more practice, after all this was make one, model one. Part two will show some of these things hopefully solved or at least improved.

We have a WINNER !!!

2006-02-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Jo Hoffacker who correctly solved the puzzle ! Stoffobeads contest board had no problems ruling this a clear win.

Here is her winning email;

"Ok, Josh sends you 2 marbles. You hide one and you keep one. But that doesn't really answer the question"Eternal, portals, planets, and orbs I once had two, I sill have one, tell me where I put the other ?"So the question is really where did you hide your marble. And that would be in the Big Bend National Park on the US/Mexican border in Texas."

This is in reference to glass artist Josh Simpsons Infinity project. An internet search (VP Gore claimed to have invented the internet) and Simpson (bart simpson from the TV cartoon show) combined with infinity project would lead you to josh simpsons infinity site where Im listed as getting a set of marbles under accepted proposals and describe where I hid one of two orbs. Way to go.....

Thats it for this contest ! Her winning deduction has netted her the contest bead !

A special thanks to Jo for solving the puzzle.

Dot precision and some observations

2006-02-24T08:50:00.000-08:00

I have been working on my dots for a while. Not as long as some folks like Tom Holland, Brad Pearson and the likes of some real dot experts. This Stoffo bead to the right has some real fine tiny dots and lots of them packed into this bead less than an inch long. Not only dots but pulled dots and hair fine lines. Lots of time, a steady hand and eye-straining work here.

Here are my observations on dots. They are finicky and don't always want to go where I want them to go. Some tricks and tips I learned from Tom and Sage. Make em. Gently coax them into place. I will never forget watching Tom and Sage move glass around, I had never seen anyone do things like they did. Below right is an example of some well spaced, formed precision rosettes.

Perhaps some of this is basic stuff you already know or maybe don't even care about. However this is the essence of precision bead making. A dot can be pressed down flat with a marver or tool to help set it into place. I find that marvering dots works well on larger dots not as well with the tiny dots.

As the dot is freshly attached like this }0 with that representing the connection of the 0 as the dot and the } as the base bead, the connection between the two is very small. The dot 0 can be moved around and pushed in the correct direction to make it go where its supposed to for pattern uniformity or design "correctness'. Dots can easily be made larger by adding more glass, thats easy. Dots can be made smaller by pulling a thread of glass out of the dot. Thats an amazing process and hard to describe but once you see it, you are amazed and forever changed.

Close dot placement is one of the trickier deals going. If you get a close/tight rosette of dots like 4 or 5 or more, any one dot can blow the whole thing. If the dots touch, forget it. Once your dots touch, the glass will melt together and leave an ugly multi-dot blotch where they join. This guy on the left is about as close as you can come to really messing up some dots but just barely keeping it from turning into a mess. This is what Im talking about when two dots touch. A bit more heat on this and those two dots would have melted into one ugly mess.

Placing tiny dots with a hair fine stringer can be a nervewracking process. Some folks use a triangle hand position so one hand stabilizes the other. Some just wing it, I sometimes steady the bead on something like the torch and then steady my hand on something else to place precise dots. The smaller the dot, the easier it is to get it wrong. Picking dots off the bead before they go haywire is also an important trick to know.
This bead I made yesterday has a series of 3 rows and 5 rosettes per row and 3 dots per rosettes. These dots are placed with satisfactory precision for me. I manage to get the dot orientation set so that in each row the dots orient with one dot on the outside, two towards the center.

I like to twist the dots and often do. I find that 3 dots look better when twisted. At least, they are more visually appealing to me once twisted. In addition, heat control is critical. Melting dots down to a point where the glass is joined and there are no "undercuts" on the dot. Its also a fine line between leaving a dot raised and melting it down smooth. Not much more heat is required and the ability to control this is only learned by much practice and experience.

Well there it is a fairly brief overview of dots, my ideas about them, what to look for with them, some ideas about how to get them to go where you want......

Contest Update

2006-02-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest;

Got an email from that the stoffobeads contest committee insists I will share out fairness and to provide an update.

One reader has moved the clues closer to solving the contest.

"I was looking at your auctions on Justbeads. Then I looked at your web page and found the contest. Has anyone solved it yet? If not, I assume you are talking about Josh Simpson's Infinity Project, and how you make one marble to send to him to hide, and he sends you one to hide."

No one has solved the puzzle/contest yet...... You could be the one !

Bead Totems

2006-02-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Not really an original idea but here are a few of the bead totems I have made. I have about a dozen or so of these guys. The base is made directly onto a mandrel with no release on it so the glass is stuck right to the metal rod. I then use a tap and thread the top so the beads are screwed on. Otherwise, if when they tip or are moved for cleaning, the beads could fall off. Sometimes I thread the rod first, before the glass base is formed, sometimes after, it doesn't matter much. I then use small nuts from the hardware store to top them off. I did manage once to cover the nut in a thin layer of glass which added to the visual appeal by not having an 'ugly' not on top. It was way more work than I wanted so now its back to nuts. You can see the one with glass over the nut on the left hand side. I have thought about selling these guys but never have. Its also not something I want to produce so I don't. Anyway, its neat enough that I have wanted to post a photo of some here for a while.

Random words

2006-02-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

Reading a few other blogs, I was referred to this site where you can have a web-bot scan your blog and create a photo of the site based upon the words it pulls up. This random photo they will then make into a T-shirt for you for a small price. A neat idea but one that Im not ready to pay for. I dont think my fashion-sense is that poor that I need to wear my blog, re-assbmled into an artful representation around town. I dont mean it as any dis-respect to the creators of the site that does this as I certainly think it was neat enought to post here.

The Wooden Spoon

2006-02-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Another posting in the series of things to do with glass beads that you wouldn't normally associate with the use of glass beads.

My long time friend Mark Spier carves amazing wooden spoons out of exotic hardwoods. Using hard woods like Mesquite, Ironwood, and other unique and unusual woods, Mark carves these into beautiful spoons. I know each one of these spoons is a labor of love as Mark often sports more wounds to his hands from accidental slips than Dick Cheney's hunting partner. Just kidding Mark.

Enough background, here is the one photo of a spoon he has sent me so far.

Overload !

2006-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Like a pinball machine that got bumped a bit too hard, and TILTs. Sometimes I get inspiration overload. Its a very depressing feeling that comes from an excess of other peoples creativity.

Perhaps my glass is always half empty. I can understand and see the half full side of things but never-the-less I get a blah kind of depression from seeing too many books at Borders, reading a book like 1000 rings, or 500 beads.

What I do is get all worked up that there is soo much creativity and unique art out there, the variety and quality (some good, some not as good) is so expansive that its hard to see where you fit in as an artist or potential artist and even if you manage to fill a unique enough niche then how do people pick you out of the enormous selections of stuff out there.

Thats sort of similar to what was/is happening on Ebay. When I first listed on Ebay there were about 400 people listing glass beads. Now its probably at or about a thousand. So even if you have a good product, unique and desired art product (I guess it does not even need to be art but just any product) but are one of thousands, how do you get out there, selected, known.

I dont mean this to be a huge bummerfest that is in a dark and downward spiral. Need/want some cyber involvement.

#1 Question is; "Do you ever get that feeling ?"
#2 "How do you overcome it ?"

Fortunately this doesn't happen often.

Post here....

No Beads here !

2006-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

So,

I have been hopeful that someone would solve my contest and Id be able to post more on that..... No such luck. Apparently the mental gymnastics are not as easy as I imagined. One more clue-infinity project, there I said it.

The inlaws are in town and I spent the day roofing the bead studio so when it rains the ceiling wont leak anymore. Not that it has rained in oh say about 125 days or so. Thats the beauty of a desert, plenty of time to fix the leaky roof. Spent the day posting bead auctions and roofing.

Last week I made this wicked kaleidoscope, more of a bead scope it has a device to attach beads to it as the viewing objects. I showed it to my friend at the grand opening of his gallery and he demanded to put it on display/up for sale right away! I suppose it could be worse.

My day job has been super demanding and the beads have taken second place. I miss the flame and think about lots of stuff I could be making. Its hard to balance the time, between the family, beads, work, beads, paying the bills, beads, making lunch, beads you get the idea.

Im back to work tomorrow and do have a short weekend coming up Tues/Weds and already know I have a Phoenix trip planned so thats a whole day without beadmaking. Perhaps, maybe I will get to make beads on one of those days. Aside from making beads, I need to take photos and post some more beads.

If you want to see some beads, check out whats up for auction right now....

Snake skin

coming in the next couple of days, Green dots

a warring states drum and a few others.....

To bid on these and a few other beads, visit my website at Stoffobeads and then click on the link to my auctions........

Hopefully in a few days I will be able to put up some new photos. Use the clue...

Solve the contest ! Mega Clues !

2006-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Ok,

Im Bending over Big time here with some mega clues.

Use a tool "invented" by this guy, Al Gore.

Searching out to infinity based around the last name of a popular cartoon character, who says. "Krustys my idol, Ive based my whole life on his teachings.".

If you still cant solve the puzzle, apparently Stoffobeads constest board is going to be seeking a new puzzle master !

Neat Stuff Part II

2006-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

Scott Bouwens of Bearfoot Art, maker of the EMS was also showing off a new item or two. I dont have any photos of this but Scott has created a tubing spinner. Its like an oversize EMS that spins glass tube. Im sure that this will be a hit in the boroscilicate glass crowd. Scott hinted at the fact that there are lots more things in the works. In addition, he has a few other cool items and improvement.

Some magnetic handrests that are adjustable and easily moved yet when in place, lock down to a metal base. A jumbo rolling marver that is larger than the standard rolling marver, Im told it can take much more heat than the smaller one. I just roll mine over wet papertowels to cool it down. Scott told me that if I wanted to restore it to a shiny brass color, a touch of metal polish will bring it back to the shiny color. We have a link to the EMS here already but have one in this post to make it supereasy to visit Scotts tool store. Hes a great guy who makes a bunch of cool stuff.

I picked up a few samples of some Glass Alchemy boro glass new colors that will be coming out soon. Two blues and a white that I will try out in the next few days.

When visiting my neighbor who was set up at the True Blue Bead show, she gave me one of her tools. She is the inventor of the Magical Crimp tool. Now really, this thing is amazing. I have mentioned it before but she was so kind and despite not having enough of these to sell retail, they were only taking large orders. She gave me one to try out. It works great ! Jaws are pretty narrow to allow them into the tight spaces at the ends of bracelets and necklaces. The handles are comfortable, the tool appears to be well made structurally. This is going to be the only crimp tool folks will be using soon. It truly is a better mousetrap. I have a photo of some of the crimps I tried it out on. This tool takes a 2mm crimp tube and on .019 wire, turns it into a round crimp so it looks just like a metal bead. No more ugly crimps ! Yay !

I predict that this tool is going to be the revolutionary tool for bead crimps. They are predicting that they should be hitting stores around June. Get yours right away, you heard about it here first. This thing is great ! In fact, I was showing it around to some friends and everyone I showed it to wanted one. I could have taken orders for it, or sold it easily for double what it will retail for. Everyone wanted one ! For those who dont know from earlier posts, I live in a very small town 2-3000 people and my neighbor two houses down invented and patented this tool. How cool is that ! More about the tool can be seen at Magical Crimp Tool. Plans are in the works I understand to make a smaller size that will work with .014 size wire. It does also work on elastic cord, which is super cool !

Neat Stuff Part I

2006-02-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

Im back from Tucson and it was a blast. I saw old friends and met some new ones.
One person I met is John Winter, of Winterglass. I had corresponded with him by email when I made a submission to his 2006 Collectible Bead Artist calendar. I highly recommend it as a bead calendar and it does include my bead as well as many other great beads. Buy this calendar ! Available from the link to Winterglass.

Mr. Winter is a nice guy and we talked for some time about beads and stuff. Id like to show off his new product which I believe he was introducing at this show. Its called the Bead Spring. It’s a unique product and very quickly and easily solves a problem of what to do with a bead for those who are not good or familiar with how to use lampwork beads. The clip inserts into the bead hole and spring pressure holds it tight. I bought one and I believe it will retail for under $10. For those of you who say, I can make that, sure but can you beat it for the price ? It looks simple but there is some work involved in bending the wire, getting the ends flat, and putting the right amount of spring in it.

Im showing the Bead Spring inside my other acquisition, a Japaneese bead. The Japaneese are amazing beadmakers, using a very soft glass that is made in an amazing color pallete. The detail in these beads is just amazing. I had to force myself not to spend too much $. There were these beads with goldfish in them and dragonflys with detail so intricate you can barely see it all with a magnifying glass ! This flower bead is just striking in its complexity of detail yet simplicity of design. John also has a few other super cool bead accessories. One I really like is a button converter. Takes a bead and makes it into a button. Its only $4, that’s amazingly reasonable price for such a cool device. Its Fantastic ! Also available from his website.

Not only does John make cool metal bead accessories, hes a great beadmaker and photographer. So if you have the time, visit his website, with the link above or off the link on the side.

Gone to Tucson !

2006-02-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight Im off to Tucson. The city is packed right now with rockhounds, jewelry makers, bead fanatics, and tons of vendors selling everything from truckloads of rocks, to tiny fine gems. You cant get a hotel room for miles around and the prices are all jacked up so it costs a fortune if you can even find one.

I have the luxury of a friends futon, in his guest cottage. The price is certainly right. There is plenty or room for the Stoffobeads team to come home from a day of lustful bead gazing, tool envy, and to crash out.

So far the contest appears to have kind of stalled out..... Danno gets some serious credit for working the clue angle. I know he is a sleuth of the first degree so he may be the one to crack it. I guess I have stumped everyone so far. I do have a clue to give out but Im not sure enough time has gone by and enough time and effort has been expended on it to merit the clue yet, yet.....

I will say its not really a riddle, its a question that with some research can be easily answered.

Well, I should be back in a few days 3-4 and perhaps will have some purchases, trades, or other stuff for some show and tell.

The Prize ! And the rest of the info...

2006-01-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Here it is. This will be the prize !

Win the contest and this bead will be yours. Stoffobeads will even send it to you for free.

The bead is a very nice example of a modern interpretation of Warring States style bead. Its made on 1/8 inch mandrel and is about a half by one and half inches in size.

The rules, keep going until you win. I will accept "entries" for lack of a better term, via comments on this blog, or emailed to me at info@stoffobeads.com Enter to win as many times as you like. I will take the first winner, and will go by the time of email or comments posted if more than one person wins, first one with the right answer wins.

The problem or puzzle.......

"Eternal, portals, planets, and orbs I once had two, I sill have one, tell me where I put the other ?"

It is soo on !

2006-01-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

There will be a contest. Hooray !

I will post the bead prize, and the rules in the next day or over the next several days !

Im waiting to hear back from the legal department at Stoffobeads to clarify and indemnify all the legal mumbo jumbo as it relates to liability releases that may be required for all the entrants to ensure there is nothing that will come back to haunt us as we send you all off to the ends of the earth looking for clues !

Get the dictionary, encyclopedias, and web browsers tuned up and be ready !

A contest ?

2006-01-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Im contemplating the idea of a sort of bead-hunt contest. The committee of amateur cryptologist at Stoffobeads would devise some sort of puzzle to be unraveled by you the readers and at the end would be the prize of one of my large warring states beads or something like that ? A sort of Nick Bantock Egyptian jukebox style project.

If interested in the concept of such an event, leave a comment, send me an email or otherwise let Stoffobeads know, no purchase required, no down payment, no credit, no problem !

Maybe a a custom bead at the winners request, maybe a days worth of bead production, maybe a lapidary donut bead... let me know.

Some cool bead places to go

2006-01-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the bead places I like on the net. Either cause I have been there, like to visit there, they have good beads to look at or just neat stuff.....

BeadxChange I participated in the SGB #1 -15 bead exchange. Lots of fun and some neat beads. Not as wild and large as some of the subsequent ones.

Here at The best bead artist, I had "Bead of he Week" beginning March 7, 2005.

Love to look at the show and tells on Wetcanvas under the glass showcase, tons of great bead stuff and lots of wonderful folks making beads. Not limited to beads, a great place to look at all kinds of art. A duplicate from my links column but well worth it.

Believe it or not but a guy I went to high school with and was friends, named Atticus with is now also making beads and glass items, mostly from boro.

Another glass site, Glassartist org where I have a small gallery but there are tons of other folks on here doing amazing stuff.

If you haven't hit one of these links above and seen some really cool glass, you really don't know what you are missing.
Just to tide over those of you who didn't link out or simply are here for the photos, hope it was peppered with enough shots.....

Beadless.....book suggestions

2006-01-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

OK,

So I havent melted any glass in a few days and Im getting cranky.... Second best to melting glass is reading good books with lots of photos of folks who are melting or have melted glass.

Fortunately, I happened to get a note from the local library that my book request was in. My request was The Complete Book of Glass Beadmaking by Kimberly Adams. Published by the wonderful folks at Lark Books . These are the folks who published the Cindy Jenkins book that I cut my teeth on and studied for hours with amazement trying to figure out how they did this or that. They also put out 500 Glass Beads and 500 or 1000 Rings that are neat books also and very worthy of adding to any collection.

Also on the list of recent books about glass.

The Encyclopedia of Modern Marbles, Spheres, & Orbs, by Mark P. Block. Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. Id also consider adding Contemporary Marbles and related Art Glass also by the same publisher. Some really cool photos in the encyclopedia and lots of them. Its an expensive book but I like the photos.

Lots of glass eye candy in all these.....

Forming an arts community

2006-01-18T18:24:00.000-08:00

The small town where Stoffobeads has its corporate headquarters, and beadmines are located, Ajo, AZ (postal code 85321) is an old mining town, formerly a large copper mining area. The copper mine, an open pit now with large tailings piles is a constant presence looming over the town.

Town has many amenities here that you wouldn't find in a town this size otherwise. We have a newspaper, actually two now. The copper news and The Corridor Times which doesnt have its website up yet. Not too many towns with a summer population of 4000 and winter of about double that who can boast two weekly newspapers these days.

There are about 4 Mexican restaurants, a deli/internet cafe, a Pizza hut, Dairy Queen, Asian restaurant, liquor store, 2 grocery markets, Radio Shak, and various other assorted local businesses. We have a golf course, a public pool that's fantastically clean and wonderful if it were only open more, a great public library, bank, Florist, health clinic, many different churches, and Im sure Im missing some critical stuff...

The county services are fantastic as this is a remote part of Pima County, same county that Tucson serves as a tax base for. So in many ways we reap the benefits of a huge tax base but are still small town. Many outdoor recreational activities and opportunities exist here as the gateway town to Mexico in specific Rocky Point. Gateway to the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge , Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument , and plenty of BLM land.

The Ajo Chamber of Commerce has a webpage with some really great photos of the town plaza. Built in the Spanish colonial mission style (I think) the town plaza is one of the best features of the town. It serves as a focal point for the library, deli, pharmacy, and post office. Its very picturesque and alot of community events are held here.

Santa comes in on his sleigh, greets the local kids and gives out treats to everyone who shows up in this amazing Norman Rockwellian event and the whole town does show up for that. Folklorico dance lessons are held here, some folks enjoy the sprinklers when they turn on to water the grass and its over 100 degrees out.

Oh yeah, not to paint too idyllic a picture, it does get hot here, I didn't mention that earlier. Our high temp recorded here is 119 in the shade and thats not lie. Far to hot to make beads !

Well, one of the focal points of the town is a historic cluster of buildings that were/are The Curley School and its parent organization, ISDA .

Where am I going in this rambling epic.....

One of the last places we lived, Cumberland MD, also an area where the local economy had been based upon a now defunct industry. At the time we were there, it was economically depressed but forming an arts community. We left just as the transformation was taking shape and they are well developed as an arts area now.

So we at Stoffobeads are hopeful and active to some extent in promoting Ajo, our current Bead-epicenter as a newly forming arts community. Though my involvement in this promotion is not organized or formally aligned with any organization, I pledge that I will force the Umpa-Loompas to take a break from the beadmine and send info to anyone who wants it, electronic or otherwise about this area.

The film festival starts soon, featuring 3 movies that I believe were all shot locally. There are interesting lectures at the library. The arts council brings in wonderful cultural events like Tucson Symphony Orchestra who is also coming soon.

Want to move to a really neat South Western small town with about 350 days of sunshine, fantastic weather in the winters and warm summers, let me know and I will tell you more than you want to hear about Ajo. Its on the verge of becoming the next Sedona, or Patagonia and you heard it here first.

Fabric Boxes

2006-01-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, todays, here are two fabric boxes that were/are embellished with beads I made. These boxes are made by sandwiching layers of fabric, batting and more fabric together, its heavily stiched up and sewn all about. The pattern, is pretty basic, and making a box like this is really less work than you might think, or so Im told....

Two boxes, both made by the same maker, Suzanne Theriault, and both have my beads on them (on the lids and on the front of one, small beads). Small amount of beads and at least three of the beads on the lids are made on copper tube to help color match the boxes. Its not really about the beads here its more bead as subtle interest element to the box. Beads could be used as feet, latches, or other functional elements in addition to decoration as they are here.

Since we are in the fiber arena today, I should mention that I can, and have made buttons out of glass. Some of these buttons have found their way to family sweaters and such. Some were sold in MI several years ago. I have not made a button other than a demo one in some time.

There are at least two basic ways to make a button. One is to make a small bead and make a lollipop type disk and join the two. One is to make a large bead, and just before it drops of the mandrel "catch" it on a marver and you have formed the button (I believe this method is what Tom Holland calls the "bozo-drop button"). Making buttons is fun and different diversion from making beads. At one point, I probably could have focused on buttons, I was asked to do that by one retail outlet but decided not to. There is, like many things, a specific collectors market in buttons that may have been profitable to some degree but I wasnt at a point where that was what I wanted to do.

Next I will show off some of my bead totems. Im working on an altered book that will incorporate beads and an art box that will showcase some marbles. However those are some more distant projects.

Necklaces

2006-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of necklaces made by Stoffobeads customers, using Stoffobeads. Its obvious in some that the craftsmanship of the beaders is far beyond anything I have created as far as the bead goes....

If you see your work here and are not given credit for it, I apologize, I have not kept as good a record of who made what as I should/could have. Email me, leave a comment here and we will ensure you get credit where credit is due. Its not due to any disrespect or with any intent not to credit the artists, the Stoffobeads front room office is simply a mess when it comes to stuff like this.

Well, a week long 'bead camp' with my sister left me with a few new beads that I will be selling. I also made two glass bracelets which she has taken with her and they were crude attempts at the fine work you can see/buy from folks who make a living making bracelets. Bottom line, I can do it but not well, like soo many things.

These photos include a custom set of beads made of a little girl who was about 3.5 years old, and she is showing it off below. In addition, special custom order for beads made directly on copper and brass tube.

Today I will spend cleaning up the studio, and getting things ready to go back into solo production. My experiment with a kiln crucible was a failure. I may add a post on that later a failure post might be cleansing. The goal was to dip vessels and marbles into a crucible of clear. Well it didn't work out. If you have any experience in this area, let me know, I could use some advice....

Hope you enjoy this gallery of necklaces. Stofobead seal of approval ;)

Storia Necklace

2006-01-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

This necklace was made by Victoria Storia of Storia Designs. I have not been in touch with her in some time but she made this necklace. Its a marvelous and unique design that highlights the beads I made. This piece is in my personal collection and my wife wears it regularly and always gets comments about it.

The beads are a mix of lampworked and lampworked and then lapidary worked or cold worked beads. This necklace also contains vintage glass beads, that Victoria managed to come up with from her bead stash. Victoria used the large disk bead and another bead to make a very unique toggle and I must say, this is an awesome piece.

In addition, this necklace is my one entry in Cindy Jenkins Beads of Glass book. It has given me great pleasure to get into the book since it was Cindy Jenkins first book, Making Glass Beads that gave me such inspiration and instruction. I studied the book and I think I copied or tried to copy everything in the book.

Before I leave, last night I read about an artist, jelwery artist making jewlery with "Detroit Agate" this is chunks or chips of auto paint from the Ford factory spray booth. On the one hand, Im a bit horrified and on the other Im incredibly fascinated by it. The paint is worked so you can see the layers of different color and it does look like agate.

More to come......

More Flys by Ronn Lucas

2006-01-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

Here are more flys by Ronn Lucas and I said that Id post some other stuff made by other folks. I will, please be patient. Im in the middle to "bead camp" my sister is here and Im teaching her to make beads and marbles. Im also getting in some torch time myself. Not to mention the fact that these are simply amazing and absolutely wonderful to look at. I really love the pairings of feathers and other materials that Ronn combines.

I know, because he has told me that he literally spends days, weeks looking for exotic and perfectly matched feathers and other ingredients. He is a master !

Yesterday was soft glass only, today we are starting out on Boro then at lunch time will ramp down the kiln and move back to soft glass. Auctions wrap up today also which will take me a bit of time to close those all out.

So, long story short, Im cheating and putting up one more of Ronns amazing flys that didnt make it into the last post and going to go play with glass instead of putting up some work by a new and different Stoffobeads user.

From beads to flys

2006-01-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

As the beginning of posts on where my beads have ended up, I want to show the work of Ronn Lucas. He is a fly-creating master (fly-maker or tier may be more correct). These flys that Ronn makes do not end up in the water. They are part of a category called fancy dress flys. As I gather it, they are the ultimate demonstration of the fly tiers art, creating large flys often on custom hooks to show off their skill and showcase exotic design elements and components. Above are some of the beads before getting worked over by Ronn.

Ronn is pretty much out there in the lead as far as I can tell among other folks creating fancy dress flys. He has a whole bunch of flys tied with glass beads, some that I have made and some by other beadmakers. He just informed me that he expects some photos of his work to be showcased in June in Bead Style magazine. I wont be able to show every photo of his flys I have but this sample is surely representative.

Im going to show some of the photos I have of his flys that use my beads. I can tell you that it was a challenge to meet Ronns requirements for size while maintaining some of my design elements. I have never really been asked to make a particular bead only much smaller. Now some of these beads are not really small like you may think should be fishing fly size. Again, custom hooks and fancy dress flys are not for fishing.

I tried in a few cases to make beads that look like insect cocoons or things a fish may like to eat. In part however, I think what makes some of them look soo good is that they don't look anything like what you would expect to find on a fly. Once I kind of got the hang of the size of beads, shape, design elements that Ronn was after, I made him a good batch of beads. He continues to amaze me with the obvious mastery he has of pairing glass beads with feathers, hooks and other components to create these stunning masterpieces.

Here is another fine example of his flys. This one and a few other rely heavily upon my use of silver leaf and/or foils. This is what gives the glass the unusual silvery sheen. I an only imagine what inspires Ronn when he creates these. He told me once how much time he spent making each one of these and its amazing. Lots of these use highly specialized and exotic feathers which he culls for exactly the right colors. Custom hooks which he or his friends make. All these elements add up to some real special stuff.

This next one is one of my favorites. Its custom bent hook really adds a lot to the design. All I can think of is that this is sort of the fly version of a Jesse James or OCC custom bike. Every time I get an email from Ronn with photos of one of his latest creations, Im amazed and flattered to be part of such beautiful work.

EMS-electric mandrel spinner

2006-01-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

I made this bead using the only really cool tool invented for lampworking in the last I dont know 20 years.... Its the EMS or electric mandrel spinner. I also have the dual marver, two rolling brass barrels that effortlessly shape the glass.

These amazing gizmos are made by Scott at Bearfoot Art. Hes linked on the right hand side here. At his site you can see photos fo the tools, videos of them in use and even order them.

This tool has been featured in the bead release by ISGB, and I think a few other lampworking publications like the flow. For me its doubled my production. I can make a bead "blank" in far less time, its like making pots by coiling the clay or throwing a pot on the wheel. (If that helps anyone). In addition, there is less stress, strain and fatigue to my hands, wrists and I aviod any repetitive motion injuries or at least limit them to typing.

Id be more than glad to answer any questions anyone may have about this tool or combo of tools. I cant recommend them enough.

A bead-less day

2006-01-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Well, auctions are going well for the studio sale. Im very pleased with the way its going. The first auction closed today with I think 9 bids. I was asked yesterday, invited really to participate in a gallery show. Im excited and best part is that its not until 07 so I have lots of time to make up some really really good stuff. Thats the future, I promised old beads in the title of this post.

Here is some early boro, some amber purple and some thing else, I have no idea what it is.....

I do like the way the green squiggles appear to be floating or swimming in the swirly stuff. Thats the beauty of boro as far as Im concerned is that you get this primal organic stuff that for the life of me I have a hard time reproducing.
I really like the look but its not for everyone I know that.

There will be a few more random old bead photos tossed into this at opportune times. I was thinking that Id do a few posts on stuff folks have made with my beads. From the necklace published in Cindy Jenkins book to fly fishing lures, to who knows what folks have got out there made. I will probably ask a few folks to send me some photos and if any of you out there have made stuff with my beads send me photos and Ill put em in a posting. Maybe depending on the response I will open it up to anything anyone made with any beads.....

The new issue of Bead and Button magazine came out in the mail today. My ad is on page 144.

On page 177 there is an ad for the Magical crimp forming tool. Now this thing is AWESOME. Believe it or not my neighbor in this small town of Ajo, AZ invented and patented this tool. It takes a 2mm crimp bead and forms it into a silver, or gold looking bead, it does away with the old flat crimp and turns it into what looks just like a metal bead. This thing is going to take off ! I have tried the tool and it works great. My neighbor who invented it will be in Tucson at the Bead show bringing out the tool on its debut.

Otherwise my day was fairly beadless today. I spent some time getting the bead studio set up for 2 torch stations. I have some folks coming to learn how to make beads next week so I have to set up a second torch at a second station. I normally have the torch set up but keep them both at my workstatio, so I can switch back and forth between them. So, I got that done and then spent some time on yardwork. Maybe tomorrow I will get in and melt some glass.

C'mon inside the studio

2006-01-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

I know that this is supposed to be mostly beads, but this is where they get made. Studio tour starts now. The studio was here in most part when we bought the house. It had been a garage when Phelps Dodge built it as a company house in the 50s. Phelps Dodge ran the local copper mine which still dominates the local landscape. Our house was I believe for the mine accountant or managers of some sort. Then at some point a former owner transformed it to a watercolor studio. So, its complete with running water, a fridge (for cold beverages), a swamp cooler, a nice sliding glass door with shades to let in or keep out the light, and a pegboard. Pegboard is great for hanging beads to complete orders, designing sets, and generally displaying beads. Now all that was here already.

You can see the pegboard with some beads on it, I didnt paint it red and wouldnt have, Im too lazy to repaint it so red it is. I put the beads on bike spokes, so they can be hung easily. There is a screw on end cap and the metal rods are bent over to hook the pegboard easily. A convenient trick that I picked up from someone else. You can see a mix of beads, strands of beads, and a few necklaces. You may also notice how empty some of those spokes look. Im clearing out space to make more beads. Got to make room to fill the board up. I will have to take a few more shots when the board gets really full, to compare to this.....

Inside the studio you can see that its organized chaos. But this is where it happens. I have two torches, a bobcat, and a Lynx both by GTT (Glass torch technology). Both of these torches work off propane and oxygen, I use tanked oxygen.

My annealing kiln is on the right side of the bench. I work on a stool where I can stand or sit to fight off fatigue and get better angles on beads. There is not a huge amout of stuff to point out in the studio.

My new/latest acquisition, a crucible kiln that I will use to melt glass in a crucible. I will then have a small pot of glass to dip marbles or pendants into, make latticino, or do other glass related stuff with... Im not sure what all I will be able to do or not do since I have never had one of these, but Im excited. Its all still in bubble wrap as I have to find a place for this still. No doubt there will be more postings on this and the results from this added piece of equipment.
Hopefully there will be some great new stuff made with it.

Hope that you enjoyed this mini-studio tour and have a better idea of where my beads are formed.

Clearly- Clear beads

2006-01-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

Well,

I said that Id put up a few photos of the new clear. Here they are, one a very heavy coating, about a half inch thick.

It acts like a lens and makes it appear that this guy is really fat with color. Perhaps not everyones choice in colors or design but as you can see the clear is clearly without smoke, soot, or any major bubbles.

Number two in the clear is this fellow who was some transparent colors that was covered in clear, then a fine web xs of ivory and then more clear. Kind of a unique design that just happened and I like the way it came out. Bot this and the above bead were made on the EMS (Electric mandrel spinner). More on the EMS in another post.

Quest for a clear clear

2005-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

Well, no photos as of right now for this posting.
The quest for a clear clear is much more elusive than one may think, a sort of holy grail for beadmakers.

The old Moretti/Effetre is known for being sratched in shipping and handling and then it scums up and bubbles and that simply isnt what we are after. Working it colder and slower it does work OK. Thats not the american way however, we want to blast the glass with tons of heat and make it, no force it to melt now, faster. This is not the best way to do it apparently.

So folks have wandered around looking at clear from other manufacutrers like Vetrofond, which I do like and is a pretty good clear. However, lots of clear is dramatically impacted by the flame environment. Its in the flame where the propane mixes with oxygen that soot can develop, burnt or unburnt fuels, unless this mix is just right your clear will look smoky and streaked with black soot, again, simply not acceptable. I have boxes of beads that would have otherwise been show-stoppers , museum quality beads or so I tell myself if it wasnt for the sooty smoky streaked clear.

Those folks who work on oxygen concentrators are plagued by this even more, so Im told since they dont get a pure 100% O2 from a tank. They are working on an already diminished supply like 80-99% which means they are starting out handicapped. Its starting to sound as though no one could ever get clear, really clear glass onto a bead.....

Latest player on the scene is Kugler. I bought some as it was touted to be the, I mean THE solution to bad clear glass. Its compatible (big issue but not the point of this disucssion) and was/is supposed to be scratch free from better handling. All the posts I read about it at first were great. The solution to the clear issue. So I bought about a pound of it to try out. I was late getting into the run on it. So, when I ordered, I was only able to get 10mm rods. These rods are bigger and have a tendancy to break apart violently when put into the flame even if you do it very gently warming it up slowly.

SO, the glass sat there for a few weeks. I read a few more posts and folks were complaining that it wasnt the magic bullet now. It didnt make the beadmakers less depressed like some zoloft they were apparently looking for. It took marks from tools and left black spots. It also got black streaks and sooty. IT was not what they said it was ! I left mine on the bench for a few more weeks.... Depressed that I did not have the magic solution in hand.

Yesterday, (I know get to the point already) I tried it out. The large rod poped and cracked when put in the flame as I knew it would. The clear did get sooty and streaks of black. The death knell to clear. However when my flame was properly adjusted, and I got it on there properly it was and is very nice and clear. I will post photos. As they say, "it is a poor craftsman who blames his tools". What I found was that its like any glass, as good as those who use it. Yeah it seems to come delivered with less sratches and bubbles in it, it works well in the flame as long as its correctly set. Its no magic bullet but its not bad either.

To end the quest for clear I will have to say, its not the magic bullet that some people may want but its not a bad glass either. It appears to me to be very clear when properly applied. Photos to follow later in anther posting for you to see.

Some more beads of course

2005-12-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a few older beads....

These are organics of the first variety I made. These have a heavy coat of clear and are barrel shaped or tubes shaped. I still like the way these look. In fact, perhaps I will make some today ! The one on the left has a neat band of blue that really is hard to create.

Here is an older lapidary bead. Its hot worked and then after its kiln annealed its cut or ground down on a lapidary wheel. Then the grits are moved up in size until you polish it up to shiny again. Note that this beads is ground flat on two sides which are pointing up and down. If they were facing the camera, you could see through the bead. Compare that first generation lap bead with this one here....

Id have to say that this guy is like 3rd or 4th generation lap bead. Is square and has a window ground into it and you can see through it. Not a bad bead. There is something missing from it though. I should also mention that making a normal bead takes me about 30 min in the torch, then there is the time in the kiln. These then have added time on the lapidary grinder which means that by the time these are done, I have quite a bit of time invested in creating these guys. I like the green over top of the ivory and clear. There are actually two different colors of transparent green used in this bead to give shade and complexity to the green component of it. I kind of wanted to put something inside the ivory to look at so you wouldnt see that mandrel hole running left to right there....

5th generation lapidary donut right here !! Drum roll.... Ta da ! Now on this baby, Im using a large mandrel to get that large hole. This is about 30mm across total, and its already sold. Each of the round transparent windows is a separate piece. I make the round "cane" then nip it into 1/4 inch pieces and assemble them around the mandrel. They are all round the mandrel, I melt the whole piece up well, round it out and shape it. Then once its cool, I get to work grinding. When hot, the ends of the windows tend to close up. Grinding them 'opens' them up again. I have to thank my bead daddy Tom Holland for showing me how to do this. Sage and Tom Holland are in my opinion the mom and pop of American beadmaking. Im sure that there are others who deserve lots of credit but since I love them, they get the credit here.

Now a few places to check out if you havent already seen them.....

AZ bead museum-http://www.thebeadmuseum.com/

ISGB (international society of glass beadmakers)-http://www.ibead.com/visual_arts.aspx

Ibead-http://www.ibead.com/visual_arts.aspx

Wetcanvas- www.wetcanvas.com

Glass artists.com-http://www.glassartists.org/

My bead pal and awesome beadmaker Terri Caspary-http://casparylampwork.com/buy-beads.php

Awesome artist friends of ours who make very nice jewlery, and paintings-http://www.bethpiver.com/

Non-bead related blog by my web buddy about all things MI and river adventures- http://www.riverrant.blogspot.com/

Thats all for now....

Here I am at the torch

2005-12-29T15:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of me about to create beads in one of my former, out-door studios. It was really a 3 sided car port. Loved working outside in TX and weather rarely kept me from working. The wind wreaked the most havoc with my work and sent the torch flame dancing about and would make me chase bits of silver leaf about the studio as if I was some deranged butterfly hunter.

Warring States beads

2005-12-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

Now this is really one of my favorite kinds of beads. These beads have tons of history and the style is very attractive to me. I love the precision of placing all the dots and getting things laid out very orderly, its the anal retentive in me.

Id like this blog to be about beads and mostly bead photos of beads I have made. Here are a few more warring states style beads....

This one is made on transparent amber glass, the turquoise kind of bled in with the black but this ended up being a cool bead.

I like the way the turquoise looks agains the amber. I do mostly 3 dots and twist them, more looks too cluttered I think. Less and you dont get a good design that fills a dot.

Timing for the twist is critical. If the glass is too hot, your twisting device (usually a thin piece of glass) melts and you get no "pulling" of the design dots, it just spins around. If its too cold, you also get no "pulling" it breaks and nothing pulls anywhere.

Here is a set of warring states style beads in a "traditional" cobalt glass color scheme. I sort of prefer to melt all my dots down and in smooth. Its far more difficult to leave them raised up and get them to stand up straight and be even around the bead.

www.stoffobeads.com

Organics

2005-12-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

More photos of beads, just got to love the beads !
Most of these are what I would consider ogranics. They are created by the ivory glass which is chemically reactive with other colors mixing around in the flame and then you kind of come out with a chemical goo that hopefully works for you.

Kind of tricky sometimes as they require a bit more heat or just the right amount of heat to make the mix happen but that kind of heat generally means that you will loose the shape of the bead and have to rework it a bit.

Finally you end up with something that if you are lucky looks decent. These beads often look good acid etched to create a matt finish and then they look like rocks or something other than glass. I like to cover them in clear glass to give them depth and magnify the underlying design or matrix.

www.stoffobeads.com

Boroscilicate beads

2005-12-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a nice batch of boro glass beads.

These guys were made in sets of twos and threes, except for the larger focals.

I really dig the colors you can get if you know what you are doing in boro. Im learning what works with what but more often than not my boro beads dont come out this well. This is about 2 sessions at the torch for me. I normally work in soft glass which melts at a lower temp, colors are different, price for the glass is different, and I can melt soft glass faster.

www.stoffobeads.com