Jellyfish Mantles

[Moth]

I recently had someone ask me for tips on how to get good jellyfish mantles so I thought I'd share. I don't have any pictures of the process...this is simply a copy/paste of my response to that request.


First, I pull a striped cane that is exactly like the cane you would pull to make raised florals. Take a rod of white or other pale opaque and stripe it with a darker transparent. I used teal or rubino for the stripes quite a bit, and the teal worked really well over sky blue and the rubino looked really nice over dark rose. Once you have it striped with the darker transparent, melt the stripes smooth, then encase it with either clear, or a lighter transparent. I always tried to keep the color family the same. Clear encasement is not my favorite...it looks gappy. I would try sky blue base, dark teal stripes, medium blue encasement. Dark Rose base, rubino stripes, amber rose encasement, etc. I like yellows too, but they never sold well for me.

Pull that striped cane down to about 2mm or less. Set aside.


Once you have your base bead done, use a thin white stringer to draw 'C' shapes on your bead. Be careful to orient the 'C's so that the tentacles will be coming out of the open part of the 'C' and still have room to flow out before hitting another jelly.

Soften the raised 'C's one by one in the flame and use a small flat tool like a dental spatula to press down on them to spread them out and thin them. You should get a rather shaded effect this way, and it makes them substantially larger while still keeping a sharp edge. Melt them smooth.

Now, take your striped cane and 'paint' onto the white 'C' following the left outside curve of the white. Next, paint another stroke straight down the center of the 'C', then paint one last stroke down the right side of the 'C' following the curve of the white.

Once you have painted stripes onto all the white 'C's, melt them so that the ridges are gone between the strokes, but not completely smooth.

Turn your flame as sharp as you are able and after the bead has stiffened, spot heat the center of one of the 'C's and push the tentacle cane into the open part of the 'C'. I liked to push into the 'C' and down into the base at the same time. Move your heat away from that spot and concentrate it at the point of the tentacles where you want to melt them off. Burn off the tentacle cane and then you can use a tool to press the tentacles down onto the base of the bead, but don't press them flat, just make sure they are stuck well.

Once you have all the jellies 'tentacled', I like to twirl the bead in the flame a while til all the ditches and ridges are melted smooth, but not completely flat. I like to leave them raised up as much as possible because it gives them a more 3-D look after they are encased.

Then, just use your favorite method of encasing the whole bead in crystal clear and do your final shaping.


Hope that helps somebody, and as always, fire away with any questions. I'm more than happy to answer.

If I really need to add some pictures, I'll do that later on. I just wanted to get this up here since I've had quite a few people asking me.

Hugs.
~~Mary

[hummingbird3172]

Mary, you are really kind to share that...I never thought of making the c-shapes, I do them kind of different....no wonder your jellyfish are so awesome!

My tentacle canes have really bugged me lately, I think I am going to have to try your tutorial...they keep disolving on me!

[ukiacat]

Mary I'm always impressed with your willingness to share.
J

[Flamechick]

Mary:

You are so kind-hearted to share! You are racking up some good Karma!

[SuzFromOz]

Thanks so much Mary! Great tute. There are a few bits im confused about though, so i am goign to ask my questions in red within your quote, ok?.....

First, I pull a striped cane that is exactly like the cane you would pull to make raised florals. Take a rod of white ok, so here you say white....or other pale opaque and stripe it with a darker transparent. I used teal or rubino for the stripes quite a bit, and the teal worked really well over sky blue and the rubino looked really nice over dark rose. Once you have it striped with the darker transparent, melt the stripes smooth, then encase it with either clear, or a lighter transparent. I always tried to keep the color family the same. Clear encasement is not my favorite...it looks gappy. I would try sky blue base ok, but here its a coloured base, so I am a little confused..., dark teal stripes, medium blue encasement. Dark Rose base, rubino stripes, amber rose encasement, etc. I like yellows too, but they never sold well for me.

Pull that striped cane down to about 2mm or less. Set aside.


Once you have your base bead done, use a thin white stringer to draw 'C' shapes on your bead. Be careful to orient the 'C's so that the tentacles will be coming out of the open part of the 'C' and still have room to flow out before hitting another jelly.

Soften the raised 'C's one by one in the flame and use a small flat tool like a dental spatula to press down on them to spread them out and thin them. You should get a rather shaded effect this way, and it makes them substantially larger while still keeping a sharp edge. Melt them smooth.

Now, take your striped cane and 'paint' onto the white 'C' following the left outside curve of the white. Next, paint another stroke straight down the center of the 'C', I dont get what you mean by centre - away form the 'c', so it looks like an 'E' now?then paint one last stroke down the right side of the 'C' following the curve of the white.

Once you have painted stripes onto all the white 'C's, melt them so that the ridges are gone between the strokes, but not completely smooth.

Turn your flame as sharp as you are able and after the bead has stiffened, spot heat the center of one of the 'C's and push the tentacle cane into the open part of the 'C'. I liked to push into the 'C' and down into the base at the same time. Move your heat away from that spot and concentrate it at the point of the tentacles where you want to melt them off. Burn off the tentacle cane and then you can use a tool to press the tentacles down onto the base of the bead, but don't press them flat, just make sure they are stuck well.

Once you have all the jellies 'tentacled', I like to twirl the bead in the flame a while til all the ditches and ridges are melted smooth, but not completely flat. I like to leave them raised up as much as possible because it gives them a more 3-D look after they are encased.

Then, just use your favorite method of encasing the whole bead in crystal clear and do your final shaping.


Hope that helps somebody, and as always, fire away with any questions. I'm more than happy to answer.

If I really need to add some pictures, I'll do that later on. I just wanted to get this up here since I've had quite a few people asking me.

Hugs.
~~Mary

[Moth]

Hi Suz!

Well, your first one is easy. That sentence says 'white or other pale opaque'... experiment and see what color combinations you like. The important point is the the stripes of dark transparent will show up on whatever color you choose as the base for your cane.



When you are using that striped cane to paint the strokes onto your white 'C's, your goal is to cover the white over completely, so the striped cane is being swiped on in three strokes over the white 'C' to completely cover it. The only reason you even put the white 'C' there is to make your final colors more true and brighter. Since your striped cane is encased, if you didn't have that white 'C' down first before you painted the striped cane onto the bead, you would get gaps in the coverage and it doesn't look right. It is comparable to putting dots of white down before you put your dots of color for flower petals. It is just there to reflect light and to brighten whatever you are putting on top of it. None of the bare white will be visible once you have painted on the striped cane.

Here is a diagram. Your three strokes would be all the same color, of course, I just did them three different colors to help differentiate them.

This diagram shows what you should have after you have added the 3 strokes of striped cane over top of the white 'C'.

21847

This diagram shows the angle and the spot where you heat the bead and push the tentacle cane into the 'C'.

21849

Hope that helps!! Any other questions, feel free to ask. :-D

~~Mary

[misfit]

is the tentacle cane the one you pulled earlier? the one in the picture looks like colors on clear. is it actually a colored base with a darker transparent and a paler encasement??

A.

[bead-licious]

Thanks SO MUCH Mary for this tut! YOU ROCK!
I have been trying to win one of your jellyfish beads on Ebay for ages....due to the time difference I always get sniped.

Carli

[Moth]

is the tentacle cane the one you pulled earlier? the one in the picture looks like colors on clear. is it actually a colored base with a darker transparent and a paler encasement??

A.

Yes, I had already given the instructions on pulling the tentacle cane before, so I didn't include it with this post.

Basically, take a fat rod of clear and encase it with white. Pull that down into fat stringer about 3mm diameter.

Cut it into 1" sections...however many you want, but at least 5.

Get another rod of clear and heat the last inch or so, not to molten but get it to almost glow. Pick up the precut sections of white-over-clear stringer and one by one flash them in the flame and attach them to the clear rod.

Here is what it will look like from the end (cross section):
21888

When you have all the precut pieces attached to the clear rod, melt them in the flame til the ridges smooth out enough for you to encase this bundle without trapping air. Encase the bundle with clear, and evenly heat until it is smooth and even. Punty up to the end to help control it.

Pull this cane down to about 4mm, but I like to pull fast at first and then slow down so that I end up with several different diameters of tentacle cane to use for different sized jellies.

Have fun!
~~Mary

[hummingbird3172]

Wow, those are really great pictures! I feel really dumb...I never thought of making those c-shapes....Mary you are a wonderful teacher! Planning any trips to Florida? ;)

[Ro]

this is a great tutorial, thanks! i tried one the other day before reading this, didnt work so good.
ro

[collectiblesbyrose]

Thanks for all your time giving this tutorial!

[Laurie L]

Geeze - would it be fun or what t just spend a whole day watching you torch Mary !!!!! You need to come to Canada. Honestly !!! If your ever interested contact ART GLASS STUDIO in Edmonton, Alberta - Canada. They would love a teacher like you there !!!

[theglasszone]

Hi Everyone and Mary!!!

Although this Tutorial was posted for the first time almost two years ago to the day, I have looked at it a hundred times!!! I've been fascinated and inspired all this time - and I've finally given it a try!!! I've still got quite a way to go, but I sure have had fun trying! Here's three attempts from me:

First Try, on an "Oceanic" base:
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyFirstBHB2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyFirstBHB1.jpg

Then I did this one on a Cobalt Base:
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBlueBHB3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBlueBHB2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBlueBHB1.jpg

I did this one last night - it's quite a bit more complex in the "decoration" and size, too! One side of the bead has the Jellyfish - the other has a bunch of "barnacles" to keep it balanced:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB1.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB6.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/theglasszone/Ocean%20Beads/JellyBHB5.jpg

All were made on a 3/16" mandrel and will fit on my Pandora! Thanks so much, Mary, for sharing your hard work and keeping me trying new things!

DeAnne in CA

[danelady]

WOW Deanne those are amazing! WOW~~
Your beads are stunning!

Mary thanks for the tut, I need to learn to make these too, I have been doing "ocean" beads for over a year and have never been brave enough to try. Maybe when my arm starts to cooperate I'll give it a shot, thank you for the Tut!
HUgs
Lynnie

[Troll Lover]

What a great tut, I've got to try this! Thank you so much Mary, you're to kind!

[Moth]

Yay!!! What a great way to bump a thread, DeAnne!

You did a great job with the jellyfish and I love the one with the barnacles!

Thanks for sharing your work, can't wait to see more!

~~Mary

[theglasszone]

Oh my gosh!

Thank you so much, Mary!!! Coming from you ~ for all the kindness, encouragement and support you've shown ~ not only to me but to us all here at LE....I'm just tickled pink!!!

I've made a couple more - I'll hope to post photos soon!

Hugs from here,
DeAnne in CA

[Mountain Snail]

I can't wait to try this now!

[theglasszone]

Hey Bran!

As you can see from the date of the first post in this thread, Mary has done an amazing job of refining and perfecting her Jellyfish making since then! Although the techniques she describes in the first few posts are wonderful and a great way to begin to understand the process of making Jellies in beads, Mary offers this incredible Tutorial now - which is a different technique and results in outstanding and realistic Jellies! http://www.etsy.com/listing/76094721/jellyfish-seascape-lampwork-glass-bead

If you can spare it and are super interested in making the best Jellies possible, I recommend this Tutorial 100%!

:)

[Mitosis Glass]

I highly, highly recommend that tutorial! All of Mary's tuts are outstanding and that one is a must-have.

I also like this freebie here. I couldn't imagine what the heck you meant until you provided the illustration, Mary. Thank you for this one also!