AngelHeart
2005-07-29, 2:13am
As a few people have been waiting on the stamen tutorial I promised in conjuction with my encased floral tutorial I have just written up a quickie to tide you over until I get the time to do a proper one with pics etc.
As I did this in a hurry there are bound to be things I have missed so any questions, suggestions etc please just ask.
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1. using a thick rod of clear (doesn't matter what glass) I make a punty.
2. I start with the middle color for the stamen which I generally make a different color than the rest. Take a fairly thick stringer, about 3mm, and melt it to the centre of the punty so it sits pararell to the punty sort of like this:
------------[------
The magenta lines are the stringer.
3. Using clear apply around the whole stringer until it is totally covered. You have to watch the heat here as the stringer melt pretty quickly and bends all over the place.
3. Take a stringer of the color you want the next lot to be, using the same size - 3mm, and lay it against the clear. Continue to do this until you have 4, 5, 6 or how many you want around the clear.
4. Now take your clear and cover all the stringers you just applied and smooth it down a bit so it is easier to apply the next lot.
5. You can use the same color stringer for the next lot or choose another color that would look nice. I sometimes like black as the outside ones as it gives the stamen a bit of definition but it does depend on what it will be used on. Apply the stringers around the clear as in step 3 but this time put each one in between where you put the previous ones. You could also put a stringer in between as well as in the same place, it depends on how full you want the stamen to be.
6. Now you just cover the whole thing with clear, smooth it out a bit.
7. Get another punty ready to attach to the end of your cane or you can use pliers but the punty is much easier as you will have a thick lot of glass to grab.
8. Heat the stamen until is is glowing red, attach the punty and take it out of the flame. Wait a couple of seconds and start pulling.
I do mine in sections as my arms are definitely not 10 feet long. :wink: Also you will find that you need different thicknesses of cane for your flowers depending on their size. So I pull some very thick, very thin and in between. When you cut it into lengths don't make them too long as it makes it more difficult to manipulate them when plunging into the flower. I usually cut mine about 5" long.
This is time consuming but the cane will last you a long time as not much is used in each flower.
As soon as I get the visual tutorial done I will post it here.
Have fun! :mrgreen:
As I did this in a hurry there are bound to be things I have missed so any questions, suggestions etc please just ask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. using a thick rod of clear (doesn't matter what glass) I make a punty.
2. I start with the middle color for the stamen which I generally make a different color than the rest. Take a fairly thick stringer, about 3mm, and melt it to the centre of the punty so it sits pararell to the punty sort of like this:
------------[------
The magenta lines are the stringer.
3. Using clear apply around the whole stringer until it is totally covered. You have to watch the heat here as the stringer melt pretty quickly and bends all over the place.
3. Take a stringer of the color you want the next lot to be, using the same size - 3mm, and lay it against the clear. Continue to do this until you have 4, 5, 6 or how many you want around the clear.
4. Now take your clear and cover all the stringers you just applied and smooth it down a bit so it is easier to apply the next lot.
5. You can use the same color stringer for the next lot or choose another color that would look nice. I sometimes like black as the outside ones as it gives the stamen a bit of definition but it does depend on what it will be used on. Apply the stringers around the clear as in step 3 but this time put each one in between where you put the previous ones. You could also put a stringer in between as well as in the same place, it depends on how full you want the stamen to be.
6. Now you just cover the whole thing with clear, smooth it out a bit.
7. Get another punty ready to attach to the end of your cane or you can use pliers but the punty is much easier as you will have a thick lot of glass to grab.
8. Heat the stamen until is is glowing red, attach the punty and take it out of the flame. Wait a couple of seconds and start pulling.
I do mine in sections as my arms are definitely not 10 feet long. :wink: Also you will find that you need different thicknesses of cane for your flowers depending on their size. So I pull some very thick, very thin and in between. When you cut it into lengths don't make them too long as it makes it more difficult to manipulate them when plunging into the flower. I usually cut mine about 5" long.
This is time consuming but the cane will last you a long time as not much is used in each flower.
As soon as I get the visual tutorial done I will post it here.
Have fun! :mrgreen: