Floral Compression Pendants and Marbles [Archive]

Mary K

2013-04-28, 7:47am

8/5/2017
So amazing to look at this very old thread I started....to see where my journey had lead me.
I have made some progress in 4 years, I look at this and I think, Gosh I sucked. Hopefully
I will feel like that again in another 4 years. Ha! please be sure to look at the last pages for my work.
And thanks for everyone who contributed to this thread, you all inspired me and you still do!

Feel free to show your Floral Compression pendants and marbles.
Please be willing to answere any questions about technique and colors used.
This is a study in Flowers in Glass! Here are some of mine!
285423
This one is backed with Jackpot Frit from Magpie Glassworx, oh I love that Jackpot frit
you can sort of see the sparkle here, but in person, it is just amazing! Love, Love that Jackpot frit!
282412
282411
276338
285908

Eileen

2013-04-28, 8:03am

Lovely work!

jhamilton117

2013-04-28, 11:37am

Would you be willing to write a tut?

AmorphousDesigns

2013-04-28, 11:39am

really nice florals!

MagpieGlass

2013-04-28, 2:02pm

Beautiful florals Mary.

And I'm glad you really like the Jackpot frit (which size do you like best?).

Have you played with the Andromeda at all yet. My first outting went to poo ... the second was better but so not what I was dreaming of. :lol:

Jeremy ... check out Ron Bearer, Jrs. implosion tutorial ... it's actually mostly compression style and tons of great color mixing tips and he is really great with support of additional information and help. (one of the add on pages was all goodies I was looking for). Here is the link to Ron's Tute: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183218

jhamilton117

2013-04-28, 3:25pm

Thank you much Laura

Mary K

2013-04-28, 4:02pm

Hi Laura, I like the smallest size, but that's because I am using it as backround in my pendants. I have had some really pretty effects with the andromeda as a backround, in the medium size, it looks great behind a blue or purple flower, then followed with fine jet frit. I'll try to work some and get pictures.

Jhamilton I will work on writting a tut, but honestly, whether it is written tuts or the one's you get on CD's or even Utube, there is nothing that will help you more than an actual class with a good teacher. I really owe John Kobuki so much more than I paid him for the class I took from him years ago. ( don't tell him that, he might send me a bill!)
John is the very best teacher (I think) out there. If there is anyway you can ever take a class from him, do it. I had to fly all the way to Colorado to take the class, was taken in by a very sweet lady who also is an LE member, and stayed at her house, she even picked me up at the airport, God I hadn't gone on an airplane in over 30 years and I have lots of trouble going away from home, I'm not good that way, but I am so glad I did it.
My skill level has improved thru the years, and it's like riding a horse, you gotta just ride, no one can really tell you how, you gotta do it. Learning how to focus the heat, and how to hold the angle of the maria makes such a big difference in the results you get. I always suggest starting with something really simple, and practice, practice, practice, and then practice more. I melt glass 4 or 5 days a week, and things are looking up! I have been melting glass for about 10 years, and I never get tired of it. There is always something new to learn.
Thank you all for your kind comments.

MagpieGlass

2013-04-28, 4:35pm

Interesting on the Jackpot ... I like the smallest size the best too ... at least so far. I'm bouncing around doing a bunch of things at once ... so haven't had an focused play just testing the frit grinds.

I'd post pix of some of mine but my computer tanked a couple months ago and I'm still using hubby's spare laptop. I have pixs backed off onto a cd around here somewhere. :rolleyes:

galabuffalo

2013-04-30, 11:44am

Hello Mary K.

Love the pendents the second one is marvelous. I have been doing compression marbles obsessively for the last 6 months. I have developed some control over the implosion of the color in the marble but I can not figure out how to make the leaves in the back of the flower look like leaves. Do you have any advice to share. Kobuki gets those really nice leaves and I am seeing them in your work.
Here is a recent flower for example. Hate those leave unable to control a real form.

istandalone24/7

2013-04-30, 12:04pm

poke the center of each "leaf" you add with a tungsten pick or a butter knife.

you want it to look like this { not this [

galabuffalo

2013-04-30, 2:15pm

thanks istandalone, but that does not work, seem like it should but no, especially as you get to the leaves which are further out on the maria, a different kind of distortion happens.
The image above shows exactly what you are suggesting. I have tried many variations on this all failures. I am looking for that maple leaf pattern that you can see in Mary K. second pendant and in most of the leaves in Kobuki's flowers.

galabuffalo

2013-04-30, 6:30pm

Greetings again,
Here are two more examples. One shows exactly the best I could expect using istandalone's method, still far from the maple leaf pattern I would like. The other shows what happens with just using eight arcs for the leaf cane no picking. note how the center gets pulled in to form a vee.

Any help / suggestions to get me past this frustration.

Much appreciated
Thank you

GlassAlias

2013-04-30, 9:03pm

Judging by the blue one above, it looks better. Some of the leafs look like you poked in the wrong direction but they have imploded/compressed out nicley towards the edge of the flower. I think that you will nail it in time, because the flowers look very nice.

deb tarry

2013-05-01, 7:14am

Have you tried a 'v' shape for your leaves it might be more of the shape you are looking for. Make your 'v' shape and give the point a little pull with the pick at the point for a even sharper look.

caliglassguy

2013-05-01, 8:02pm

What colors did you use for the petals and leaves for the first one pictured? I love the ghostly type leaves they look really gorgeous. :DFeel free to show your Floral Compression pendants and marbles.
Please be willing to answere any questions about technique and colors used.
This is a study in Flowers in Glass! Here are some of mine!
285423
This one is backed with Jackpot Frit from Magpie Glassworx, oh I love that Jackpot frit
you can sort of see the sparkle here, but in person, it is just amazing! Love, Love that Jackpot frit!
282412
282411
276338
285908

Mary K

2013-05-02, 1:54pm

Hey Martinez, I used to live there when I was in my 20's, on Alhambra Blvd. Right across from the High School.
On that first pendant, the staymens are ruby 4 covered with indian green then covered again with jet, and pulled thin.
First layer petals is MP plum thin line and then thin line carmel on top of plum.
Outer layer petals is Green Morado, thin line.

You can get that ghostly look with lots of the silver colors, and the MP plum by itself will do it nicely too.
One note: twist the plum tightly for petal cane. Gives it a really natural look.

Mary K

2013-05-02, 2:42pm

galabuffalo

2013-05-02, 7:02pm

Very cool Thank you can't wait to try it.
Much appreciated

caliglassguy

2013-05-02, 8:18pm

Thanx Mary K for the awesome description of the floral pendant instructions :D

Dragonharper

2013-05-03, 2:51am

Good thread. I'm going to try some compressions today, I havent done any in over a year.

Mary K

2013-05-03, 6:54am

Cool Roy! Hope to see lots of pictures on here! If they don't go right,post em anyway and I'll try to help you see where you went wrong if I can. Want to see everybodies pictures! Aren't pictures hard to take? Glass so hard to photo, yet some do it very well, not me.
I added a little info on exacto blade size at end under last diagram.

Liquidsand

2013-05-03, 12:27pm

Thank you Mary!
I just tried some floral compressions the other night, inspired by the pics posted by you and istandalone in other threads. I've done lots of frit and dot implosions and compressions but never tried the florals. They came out pretty weak. I have to get better at stringer control on the Cheetah. I'm accustomed to the Lynx. All my lines ended up too close together. I guess starting with a bigger maria would probably help, but I was trying to stick with a smaller finished product. The advice about picking and raking will help.
I'm wondering if you do anything in particar to get that color bleed on the petals, other than layering? Do you ever use a "twisty"?
Martha

Dragonharper

2013-05-03, 12:45pm

Unfortunatly my kiln malfunctioned and all I have for today are puddles.

VooDooVixen

2013-05-03, 2:52pm

some are done with frit, dot, and petal shaped. I am really excited to try out some of the new flower types that were posted earlier in this thread! It's been challenging figuring out how to shape different types of flowers.
286332
286333

galabuffalo

2013-05-03, 4:05pm

VooDooVixen nice work, that is a beautiful blue what color glass is that?

Mary K

2013-05-03, 7:44pm

Miss Vixen your website is Fab!
Those cabs look nice on metal, nice job.
And "Yes!" to the twisty question. I love twisties, but
they are brittle and fussy so you must take care when making
small diameter ones. Make only a small one, you will have more control,
and the whole darn thing won't get broken on your bench
before you use it.

Ok LiquidSand do this, and post picture please.
Make Floral as in my diagram, LEAVE out the first layer of
petals. Just space there, more room to get comfortable
with this technique. Then do leaves. Like this:
282412
That be what this is. One layer petals. For these petals
I lay down really thin layer of Loki and even thinner layer
of MP Violet Hue. Yum. Love that color combo.
That also gets that veil like edge. Silver color.
Some colors are easier to control in stringer than others.
To learn new techniques, find the glass that works easiest
for you, with your torch. Then practice.

deb tarry

2013-05-04, 8:08am

here is a link to a bunch of flower compression/implosion marbles that I have posted in the marble room towards the end of the post there is some flowers made from twisties Liquidsand. the trick with using them is to twist as you are laying them down.
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236926

Mary K

2013-05-04, 2:44pm

I just so not good at twisting as laying it down, so I just pretwist. someday I'll get to where I can twist as i lay it on, but, for now happy to do what I am doing. Your work is beautiful deb tarry.

deb tarry

2013-05-04, 7:16pm

I do twist before hand also but as I am laying it down I twist it some more and it just seems to tidy it up even more not really necessary but I like it. :)

Liquidsand

2013-05-05, 5:02pm

Mary,
I will try it with just one row of petals. A big part of my problem is struggling to control the heat on tiny stringers with the Cheetah, and ending up with really globby, shapeless lines. I've only been using it for a few weeks and I was on the Lynx for 8 years before that. If I get really determined I will re-attach the Lynx and have a go. Really wishing for torch-side quick connects.
It occurred to me that I might try it as an implosion on a bubble. That allows for a lot more real estate. Does anyone do it that way, or is the effect all about the compression? Also wondering if you go for a particularly thin or thick maria.
Well I should just go find out for myself, huh? Off to try both ways...right now! And thanks for the color tip, I just so happen to have Loki's and Violet Hue on my bench right now, for a little while longer at least.
I'm guessing the "bleed" I was referring to must come from layering one line of stringer over the other, and it is just part of the magic that happens with boro - why we love it so much. And it is probably about experimenting and practicing until you hit on the right color recipes.
Deb - I love the MC Escher twisty florals! It almost looks like infinity loops piled on top of each other. And the realistic flowers are really impressive. I almost never get that intentional in my approach. I tend to just "throw color at the canvas".
I will post some pictures in the near future of tonight's effort.
Thank you for your suggestions.
Martha

Liquidsand

2013-05-05, 10:12pm

Update from the bench...So far it's not going much better than before. Even if I am able to lay down nice, even stringer lines, they seem to be balling up before they actually melt in all the way, leaving me with globs instead of petals. As the glass starts to sink into the clear, the lines gather themselves from the center high point of each line, and if I flatten the maria to try to maintain the shape of the line, it blurs, even with very gentle pressure. On top of that, when I get it all compressed, the clear lens seems to press down on the flower from the top and smoosh the colors all into a flat plane when I go to shape the bottom.
I'm obviously not expecting an instant miracle, but it's a little confounding because I've practiced most of the techniques involved for quite some time; compression/implosion is not a new concept to me, and I've made hundreds of pendants and marbles with murrini, dot patterns, and frit. But when I look at the lacy, delicate and well defined petals and leaves you folks have achieved, I think there must be a basic glass mismanagement issue going on here. What am I missing - any further suggestions?
Thanks
Martha

Mary K

2013-05-06, 7:08am

Martha some glasses will do that ball up thing more than others. Do you have a color that is cooperative for you? practice with that one till you get happy with what you get. I have a feeling the problem for you is your angle of maria in the flame, and where you are concentrating the heat. This is nothing I can describe here, It's better learned in a class where someone can show you what to do. Where do you live? Can you take a class? One class changed my life. if it's the right class, it will for you too.

Dragonharper

2013-05-06, 8:01am

Try getting your maria a little hotter so that the stringer sticks to it, that wa it won't ball up when you add the heat.

Liquidsand

2013-05-07, 4:00am

Thank you both for your advice. Next time I will focus on the maria, keeping it hotter when I apply the stringer, and trying different angles and approaches to concentrating the flame while compressing. It just occurred to me that laying down a really stiff transparent, such as Turbo Amethyst, for the first petal layer would probably help with the balling up problem.
The next class I'm saving my shekels for is Sally Prasch - neon sculpture, tube bending and lathework. So I doubt we will be doing floral compressions in that one, although a class is always a good opportunity to learn all sorts of unexpected stuff.
Thanks again,
Martha

Mary K

2013-05-07, 4:54pm

I would not recomend Turbo amethyst for a petal alone, you will not see it when thinned that much, it will pretty much dissapear. At least the Turbo amethyst I have would. Your balling up is just as Roy says, try flashing the area where your petal will go with your flame heating it up a bit, before applying the stringer. With more experience you will work faster, and you won't need this as much, but always a good habit to keep your maria hot. You can make a lovely petal by taking a teal color, aqua azul or any and coat about an inch of it with the turbo amethyst and pull that out thin, makes very nice petals that are easy to work. Will give edges of petals a dark outlined look, nice.

Liquidsand

2013-05-09, 2:40pm

Mary
I didn't realize you had made this last post!
Thanks for the color advice. I work a lot with Star White encased with DAP and any color encased with Warm Yellow, so many of my floral petal attempts had these elements. I like the Turbo over Aqua! Weirdly when I tried the suggested recipe from your pendant from above, the Lokis made the Violet Hue kind of wash out. Still looked nice, though very pastel compared to just the Violet on its own which went red.
Perhaps I'm trying to melt everything in too quickly. When I have a chance to try it again, I will see what happens if I go super slow. In general I have been trying to work faster these days. Maybe I was rushing it subconsciously.
Martha

Mary K

2013-05-09, 2:52pm

Pictures Martha! would love to see what you are doing!

Mary K

2013-05-10, 6:42pm

These turned out very colorfull.
286791
286790
These are not photoshopped in any way.
I don't knowhow to photo shop anyway.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-11, 4:59am

Gorgeous Mary. Love the striped petals especially!!

deb tarry

2013-05-12, 10:13am

Beautiful

hestias_hearth

2013-05-14, 8:08am

My biggest question is how do you get such depth using rod. I'm only able to get real depth with tubing. I think it's in how I compress it. I am nver sure exactly the right compression/implosion technique to do. I usually hold my rod paralell to my table and just let the heat and rotation do the work. I know some people heat their worked maria and keep pressing in the color. Some do it at a 45 degree angle and some do it perpendiclular to their table. Not exactly sure how to get the most depth. Any suggestions.

istandalone24/7

2013-05-14, 9:22am

one of the most important things when doing compression flowers is to have a large, thin maria. the thinner the maria, the deeper the implosion.
also don't press/marver it too much....just enough to keep the dimple of death off of the maria. if you compress too much your flower (or whatever design your imploding) will look "squashed".

Mary K

2013-05-14, 12:50pm

Lol istandalone "the dimple of death"
I say "Fear not the dimple of death" easy to remedy that once you know how.
Try this: Do just a clear maria, no design, no nothing on it. Melt it so you get this dimple of death going. Forgive crude drawings, this is susposed to
represent that indentation, not a dog bone.
286920
Now change the angle of your maria holding the rod that the maria is on at angle so that the flame and gravity pulls glass out to the side of the maria
,then finish with flame on the center again to tighten it all up.
286921
Once you master this, you will never, ever get that dimple of death again, and you will be able to add more layers and get things to tighten up better
with more control.

Mary K

2013-05-14, 4:27pm

Here is one from this morning. Hyacinth for inner petals, and my secret weapon for outter petals, MP blue treasure twisted and pulled out thin.
Love MP glass, saves me lots of time and beautiful and easy to work with.

286958

Will.T

2013-05-14, 10:43pm

That is really beautiful!

I have been trying these. Just started flameworking recently and love it so far. I have been making one of these each time I go to the studio. Still having a really hard time drawing the lines on. Getting a little better but trying to control that tiny stringer without it melting all over is tough! Really impressive control you folks have. The middle one got off center and started getting smashed. Anyhow going to keep trying.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130514_173014_zps3518810a.jpg

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130514_173001_zps7febcb5b.jpg

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130514_172952_zpsdcd070eb.jpg

istandalone24/7

2013-05-15, 2:45am

MagpieGlass

2013-05-15, 6:16am

Another option for dimple of death is to uses a small dia. rod (I use a 3mm) and heat and gently pull the glass to the middle to close the flower base and dimple. This is actually a John Kobuki trick that was shared previously.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-15, 6:17am

Love all the pictures. If I ever get a sunny day ... I take some and post what I have been working on.

Mary K

2013-05-15, 6:42am

Would love to see some pictures from you Laura!
I used to do as you pointed out - the small diameter rod in devit to pull it out, until I got the hang of using gravity and heat to pull it out. Sometimes I also just put a blob of clear in the hole (dimple) and pull that off with my small paddle mashers. The cleanest method of compression, that doesn't distort my design, for me is just using heat and gravity.

Thanks Will.T for your pictures, please keep sharing. Looks like you have a good start, can be frustrating when you are first learning. If you ever get an opportunity to take a class with John Kobuki, you should. Meanwhile just keep melting glass, the more you practice the more control you will have.

Liquidsand

2013-05-16, 4:02am

Mary
I know you asked for pictures, Sorry it took me so long, I haven't had my photography stuff set up this week. I just got a new torch, so I'm spending every waking moment in the studio. So I just snapped a few with my cell phone. They're not terrible for cell phone macros, actually, but the work is pretty rough.

Here are two that were really globby-
287024

And here are the only two that I thought were somewhat worthy of public viewing-
287022
287023

...I have a lot of practicing to do before I get any real control...

And just for fun here are some tube implosions I did around the same time-
287025

Thanks for all your help!
-Martha

Liquidsand

2013-05-16, 4:11am

Will.T

2013-05-16, 8:05am

Martha, I think those look great! Can I ask what you mean by tube implosion? I really like the yellow one.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-16, 9:08am

Hey Will ... welcome!! :waving:

Tube implosion vs. Maria compression

Take a tube, pull a point, heat and blow bubble, decorate said bubble with dots and squiggles and implode it onto itself. Implosion pendants and marbles are made this way.

Many use implosion for the term for what is actually a maria compression as described earlier in the thread.

And I agree ... I think they look great. I can't do a tube implosion that looks half as good as that to save my life. So for now, I stick with the compression method.

istandalone24/7

2013-05-16, 9:20am

Istandalone, how do you get your big, thin maria? Any particular method/tricks? For me, the bigger it gets, the thicker it is. I've tried mashing it all around the edge, but that just ends in a hot mess.

while your marvering your maria, take a handheld marver and smoosh around the handle is one way.
another is (if you have an L marver) to use your L marver...it's tough to explain. watch this vid to see how Boxfan (Menzies) does it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih60DlrHELU

Liquidsand

2013-05-16, 1:55pm

I guess technically the tube implosions are a kind of hybrid of the compression and implosion techs. (There's a tutorial in the Boro thread for newbies but I'm on my phone right now.)
I don't start them with a bubble; they are 4 rows of alternating dots on the very end of an open tube. The innermost ring of dots is right on the edge of the tube. You want a clean, even end to start with. I always use the pre- polished ends of my tubes for this, because it saves a step, but if you cut or open up the tube in the flame, as long as you use a clean, thickened edge it will work just as well.
I like to stack the dots with different colors get a little more volume in the implosion. Then you just melt in the dots with the same angles as a compression, closing up the end of the tube, and gently puff to get rid of the dimple which is inside the tube in this case, and flatten the bubble to spread the dots, heat the center to pull them all in to the middle. Put your backing color on and punty to the flattened end of the tube, heating and blowing just above your "disc" to make the glass thin enough to pop a hole and flame cut the edges. (This is known as a disc flip.)

Mary K

2013-05-16, 3:56pm

Hey Martha ~ Thanks for pictures! What is the red, the very red in the one at the top right? I love red, but most of them are a pain in the a**. I also hate tube. Hard to store it and keep it clean, then hard to clean after it get dusty, etc, etc. I'll stick with rod. I will try that technique that boxfan showed on flattening out the maria. I have that kind of marver on my torch. But size is not really a consideration for me, I work small. My pendants are small, I have made some bigger ones but the small ones sell better.

Liquidsand

2013-05-16, 5:44pm

Mary, I think that's Violet Hue .
When I put the Loki's over it it washed out, but when I used it straight on the clear, it struck really red. Unless I got the wrong color somehow.I bought both Violet Medley, which is similar to Stormy Weather, both the rod and it's effects, and Violet Hue, which I didn't label but put in its own jar. What color is your Violet Hue rod?

I also have tried MP American Beauty , Cherry Brandy, and Scarlet Pink. They're all really similar - great reds, but they all seem to do that thing that Amazon Bronze does, where you occasionally get a little chunk of metal on the surface of the glass that fumes around itself. Sometimes looks cool, and sometimes it messes everything up if you're looking for uniformity. But I would recommend any of those three for reds. Also GA half blood and Cherrywood are pretty nice, similar to Cherry Brandy.

Mary K

2013-05-16, 7:58pm

My Violet Hue is sort of salmon color this batch. I have had batches that were more red pink and they are the ones that
I got the most red from. I love all MP glass, it's always beautiful and easy to work.
I also love Stormy Weather, but the rods I have look nothing at all like the Violet Hue. Stormy weather is sort of
putty colored and I use it for the center petals of this flower, and carmel for outter petals. Staymens are
3 different layered canes. Stormy Weather can be influenced by what glass you put around it, I have found.
287045

If you use stormy weather for one layer of petals and then use
Hycinth for second layer the Stormy weather turns to a pale lavendar, and is beautiful.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-16, 8:37pm

I've been getting good color from TAG Reef Red. I'll have to see if my mini compression is out at the studio gallery and bring it home and photograph it.

My best pink so far has been Pink Cadillac (TAG) dipped in Momka American Beautry frit and pulled to a stringer. Another picture I should go find ... lol

Here's the pink: 266490

And this one is paramore peach that I think I lightly cased in Exotic Citrus
271157

Mary K

2013-05-17, 6:44am

Hi Laura, thanks for pictures, nice pendants and love the mellow colors. Especially love that peach one. Don't think I have any paramore glass, might have to remedy that.

LarryC

2013-05-17, 8:02am

Istandalone, how do you get your big, thin maria? Any particular method/tricks? For me, the bigger it gets, the thicker it is. I've tried mashing it all around the edge, but that just ends in a hot mess.

Sounds like your not getting it hot enough. Also, the evenness of the starting shape is critical to getting a good on center thin disk. When I start off my implosions I start with a 1.5" solid sphere that already has had a trip to the mold.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-17, 10:07am

Thanks Mary. I've been trying to lighten my colors up. The "mature" ladies seem to like those best. This was my first outting with Paramore. The Peach is lovely. I tried the pink last week and it thinned completely out in the compression :frown:

Here is the reef red pendant and a couple new designs I'm still working on fine tuning. A sunflower on the left and a hibiscus flower on the right.
287055
287056

Mary K

2013-05-17, 6:40pm

Wow, like those Laura, especially that reef red one, nice. Is that the color?
Reef red? It doesn't look like it tried to boil on you, I have fits with red.

Will.T

2013-05-17, 7:57pm

Thanks for explaining the tube implosion. Still trying to understand what's going on there. I haven't done anything with tubing yet so it's hard for me to picture.

Couple more, not sure I'm getting better at making the lines but I am adding some different color so maybe they are a little more interesting.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130517_193609_zpscf9e5c06.jpg

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130517_194029_zpsdaccc487.jpg

MagpieGlass

2013-05-17, 8:38pm

Yup ... the first one is a TAG color called Reef Red ... I luvs it. It does seem to get darker (liver) if you work it too long.

Hey Will. That was my version of a really quick explanation. If you are interested in a tutorial...I highly recommend Ron Bearer Jrs. implosion tute. The last addendum he cover tube implosions.

I should also add the link that was they "a-ha" moment for me with compression style implosions. I have/had both of Chad Trent's pendant books but this free tute and how it was explained just set me on the correct path. (off to find the link)

Okay ... as luck would have it ... the link is in LE's free tutorials area ... but Anakin's Eye website is no longer up and running. Sooo...being the packrat that I am ... I found a back up disk that still had the pdf on it. However ... it is too big to upload here. Anyone that wants it ... pm me with your email address and I will forward it.

Mary K

2013-05-17, 8:59pm

MagpieGlass

2013-05-17, 9:05pm

Actually, there is so much to watch and learn from just on Utube. I have learned a lot by just googling what I was interested in, like fuming etc on Utube. And I'ts free.
Sometimes I get watching one after another and watch marble making for an hour.

I watched Brent Graber's video of a flower compression repeatedly. It's cool how each person has their own style and even though we are doing the same steps ... each piece of art has it's own character.

MagpieGlass

2013-05-17, 9:06pm

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130517_193609_zpscf9e5c06.jpg

I really like this one ... the red backing is a unique and very effective choice for highlighting the flower!!

Will.T

2013-05-17, 9:59pm

MagpieGlass

2013-05-18, 6:23am

I did a search for Brent Graber and found a tube implosion video in his free section. I understand now and wow that's crazy! Amazing to see a piece of tubing melt down like that. Don't think I'll be trying that anytime soon.

Brent ... aka Mr. Smiley ... used to hang out here alot but he moved out to the Oregon coast and doesn't hang as much. Check him out on Facebook though ... he spends a good amount of time there posting what he is working on. His work is phenomenal and his son, Ian, has his own studio and line of glass that is really cool too!!

Liquidsand

2013-05-18, 2:02pm

Sounds like your not getting it hot enough. Also, the evenness of the starting shape is critical to getting a good on center thin disk. When I start off my implosions I start with a 1.5" solid sphere that already has had a trip to the mold.

So you gather and round all the glass that is going to be in the maria and flatten it at once? I'll have to try that approach again. I've gotten into the habit of softening the glass at the end of the rod, then flattening it so the edges squish out, reheat, and repeat until the maria is big enough and then reheat the whole thing to get rid of any marks before applying color. It seems just as likely to get off center when bringing a large molten gather to the marver and pushing down on it, and I wonder how you avoid having the glass ballooning out from the middle very thick? I guess that's where the paddling around the edge step comes in.

LarryC

2013-05-18, 2:20pm

So you gather and round all the glass that is going to be in the maria and flatten it at once? I'll have to try that approach again. I've gotten into the habit of softening the glass at the end of the rod, then flattening it so the edges squish out, reheat, and repeat until the maria is big enough and then reheat the whole thing to get rid of any marks before applying color. It seems just as likely to get off center when bringing a large molten gather to the marver and pushing down on it, and I wonder how you avoid having the glass ballooning out from the middle very thick? I guess that's where the paddling around the edge step comes in.

No paddling and after the initial marble is formed it is all done in one move on a graphite plate. Gravity is all thats needed to keep this perfectly centered. This setup of a perfectly centered and evenly heated disk is critical to an on center implosion and if you paddle unevenly or make multiple moves to flatten the disk you will mess up the heat base. I mastered this first before moving on to actual implosions. This works for me everytime but use whatever method makes sense to you.

Otter's Flame

2013-05-18, 4:06pm

Liquidsand,
As LarryC says, whatever method makes sense to you, use it. I do marver a few times during my implosion/compression but each time is brief so as not to lose my heat base.

One thing that works for me that I teach is:

After you have gotten your gather rounded out, concentrate some heat near the end of your gather. I allow the area toward the rod to cool slightly (cool is a very relative term) just cool enough to stiffen a bit, it helps spread the maria evenly and a bit thinner. I add heat toward the tip of the gather. That way the glass at the end is softer and will spread evenly and spread out thinner. After i add sufficient heat I press it against the marver pad and this gives me a wider, thinner maria.

It is one method I use to help overcome an issue I was having that my marias were not thin enough. It may or may not prove useful to you. Give it a try, experiment with heat control and see. Here is a little illustration that may help clarify what I mean. I add heat to the top 1/5 or so of the gather.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i119/Otters_Flame/torchmaria.jpg (http://s70.photobucket.com/user/Otters_Flame/media/torchmaria.jpg.html)

Mary K

2013-05-18, 8:12pm

Thank you Otter for your post, & I want to say that your way is the way I was taught, and the way that I work as well. Your illustration puts my cave woman drawings to shame tho. I never use a marble mold when making a maria. But of course what ever works for each individual in his or her way of doing things. I also never use a paddle on the maria to flatten it, I have experimented with trying that a few times and it always got me an off center design. With the heat base in the correct part of the spere, as shown quite accurately in your illustration, the maria will flatten and be thin. I cool my gather by counting the rotations as I spin it, a habbit I was not even aware of, untill I realized I was doing it one day. Then I heat the inner surface the same way, counting usually to 20 or so. I work with the same size rod, and my pendants are all about the same in size.

Liquidsand

2013-05-19, 3:00pm

Wow thanks guys for that little info-burst!

Paddling the edges was recommended elsewhere to make the maria thinner, but it never works for me. I will definitely try the gather-to-maria process you all have described here. However the maria is actually not the main obstacle I've been having with the florals, as discussed already. The particular problem I am having is with lines of color balling up during melt-in and the petals looking globby, like dots. But some good suggestions have been made for that, like getting the maria surface hotter before applying stringer and using a stiffer glass for the first layer of color for petals. I think also it's about stringer control, including the initial size of the stringer. It makes sense that the smaller it is, the more delicate your designs are going to look.

It also makes sense to me that those who have mastered soft glass techniques in their career will have better stringer control because of the subtlety inherent in managing the heat base of soft glass. I've sort of trained myself away from that type of detail work with boro; more recently doing hollow, functional, and making murrini.

I'm supposed to be making beads for my local shop, but I keep procrastinating because I've gotten to the point where I can't stand the post-process; cleaning the beads. I seem to remember the soft glass beads were even more difficult to clean.

Mary K

2013-05-19, 4:08pm

I know Liquidsand, beads......hate making them anymore. Only if they made mandrels that you could heat the snot out of, and they wouldn't melt. And self cleaning. A long long time ago I think I remember reading about someone who soaked her beads for like a week in coca cola to remove the bead release without any work, but yuck.

LarryC

2013-05-19, 4:11pm

My method is essentially the same as John's but I use the marble mold to center the gather up perfectly before flattening.

It also makes sense to me that those who have mastered soft glass techniques in their career will have better stringer control because of the subtlety inherent in managing the heat base of soft glass.

Interesting point of view. Did Kobuki get so good at this by accident? He only works in boro.

Will.T

2013-05-22, 10:06pm

Here's a couple more. Colors didn't turn out exactly like I hoped but still like these.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130522_215722_zps3fac7980.jpg

dlando1

2013-05-24, 10:12am

One from me.
Dave

BellaBean

2013-05-24, 2:03pm

Here's one of mine. 138401

torchgirl

2013-05-28, 8:49pm

Thank you all very much for such helpful information. Especially for the tip for how to fix the dimple. I've been working on floral implosions for a year with mixed results. This information really helped me improve. Here are some of my latest marbles.

287978
287977

Mary K

2013-05-29, 4:45am

Yes! Nice work Julie! Glad my tip helped. Otter's drawings are the best at explaining.

Max Hardcastle

2013-06-01, 8:51am

Ahhh Mary you seem to start all of my favorite threads - great info here! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute if I can find my camera... I know I had it recently..... doh!

Borrowed one... haha. Here are some of my implosions, and there are some implosion based jellies on the jellyfish thread. I use 3/4 inch heavy wall tubing and I tear all the labels off my rods so I have no idea what colors I'm using... sorry!

288232288233288234288235

Will.T

2013-06-03, 8:51pm

So many great flowers! I really like the orchid. Very beautiful.

Here is one from me:
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130603_202911_zps5fe0fb5e.jpg

Baywinger

2013-06-03, 11:44pm

what I great, there is lots of wonderful tips and info here.
makes me wish I could torch more.
these are a few of mine, a recent marble and a large paper weight I did a while back
288311
285350

deb tarry

2013-06-04, 9:13am

That last one that Morgan posted is in my collection now so beautiful.

BellaBean

2013-06-05, 6:23pm

Here's a bubble trap Strawflower from yesterday.

138823

And a chrysanthemum bubble trap from Tuesday.

138824

This one isn't a flower, but the technique is the same. Splash!!!

138825

Mary K

2013-06-06, 7:01pm

So Cori....love your work much. How do you do the big bubbletrap? & what size clear are you using? You must have alot more heat than I do, those look big. I love the chrysanthemum bubble trap from tuesday, is that glass MP Plum? Love that one.
Actually I love them all, very nice.

Max Hardcastle

2013-06-07, 3:08pm

Are bubble traps done with a pick? Can they be done well on tubing or is it mostly a rod/compression technique? I've not tried them yet but they are oh so cool... especially the single bubble - the reflection on the first one is totally awesome!

BellaBean

2013-06-07, 4:32pm

Thanks for the compliments! They really mean a lot!

Mary- I am using 19 mm clear. The chrysanthemum is actually GA Triple Passion frit (coarse).

Max- the bubble pattern is created using a flower arranging "frog" from ACMoore craft store. After smooshing the Maria onto it, I cover each hole with a dot of clear.

Mary- The big bubble is a large hole made with either a brass tool I have (Trey's poke and tamp tool) or a graphite rod. Both work, it just depends which is closer to me on the bench at the time. I then cover the hole with a large blob of clear and melt it in.

Max- I am only using rod right now. My tubing skills stink. I'm hoping to improve them this year.

Mary K

2013-06-08, 6:54am

For those of you who use a pinfrog, I have to show you this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vin-Pin-2-Dia-Glass-Implosion-Graphite-Free-Ship-/221217686678?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33819a0496
I have this and many other tools from them, LOVE them.
The pinfrog is the best, you can really push that glass into it and even flatten it down with a paddle, the glass just doesn't stick like it could to a regular pinfrog.
And you can take some pins out to create a pattern if you wish, this is a quality tool,
and the other things I have bought from them are really nice too.
I know it costs more than other pinfrogs, but worth every penny.
Thanks Cori for information, can't wait until I am healed enough to torch,
this is killing me. I usually torch at least 5 days a week.......oh well.
Cori....what torch do you use?

BellaBean

2013-06-08, 8:21am

I have a Wale Firebird and am running it on an M-20 OxyCon. I would prefer tanked but it's way to expensive around here.

MagpieGlass

2013-06-09, 7:27am

I have a Wale Firebird and am running it on an M-20 OxyCon. I would prefer tanked but it's way to expensive around here.

Cori ... clean out your mailbox please ... it tried to send you a PM of someone somewhat local to talk to about selling your marbles.

BellaBean

2013-06-09, 8:16am

Cori ... clean out your mailbox please ... it tried to send you a PM of someone somewhat local to talk to about selling your marbles.

Just cleaned it. Thanks!!!

kokeshikitten

2013-06-11, 5:19am

what I great, there is lots of wonderful tips and info here.
makes me wish I could torch more.
these are a few of mine, a recent marble and a large paper weight I did a while back
288311
285350

Are these paperweights made the same way as an implosion pendant, but on a bigger scale? What size rod (or tube) did you use? Very lovely and inspirational.

Will.T

2013-06-24, 10:01pm

Still making these, here is a new one that I liked enough to post. Have made some really terrible ones lately. I watched the John Kobuki video so I have some new things to try out. Hopefully that will help me a bit.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130624_214231_zpsda3610fd.jpg

Mary K

2013-06-25, 6:23pm

I have been getting a little torch time in, Here are some of
my latest efforts. Flower petals are just Carmel, I love that color.
289661
289662
289660
The backs of these are finished in Jet black with a sparklie layer of
paprazzi frit and then clear.

Rough_necked

2013-06-25, 7:09pm

What clear are you using that gives those halos? Really like that look.

Mary K

2013-06-25, 8:04pm

Simax is all I ever get. I do have a little left of some Schott 8mm clear that I use for beads and puntys, but will never buy it again. I get the best results with simax, I like pyrex too, but it always came all scratched up, I only buy by the case, so never again for that. Getting ready to buy some clear, just waiting for a sale.

Echobaby1

2013-06-26, 4:22am

They look like gorgeous little sunflowers Mary! So pretty! Glad you are felling well enough to be torching again. :-D

Mary K

2013-06-26, 5:44am

Thank you Arryn, I feel lucky to be torching or anything besides watching TV!
Never been a TV watcher, so hard to sit still, but no choice sometimes.
Really looking forward to feeling good enough to walk my dogs.

MagpieGlass

2013-06-26, 6:22am

Wonderful Mary and I love that they have just a touch of Kobuki to them but are different than anything I've seen of his.

deb tarry

2013-06-26, 10:18am

very nice sun flowers.

Mary K

2013-06-28, 6:19pm

Will.T

2013-06-28, 8:35pm

those are really cool, love the blue halo and center implosion

MagpieGlass

2013-06-29, 7:00am

Have to laugh at your comment Laura, I'm happy if they even have a faint touch of Kobuki to them, lol. I am so lazy, compared to his style, he is a perfectionist with the skills to back that tendency up. Me......I call my style "casual" ... .
Sometimes my DH says "why don't you get that flower perfectly centered, it would look better" I just tell him that someday when I am John Kobuki it will be so, untill then.... it is what it is.

If you're casual that must make me sloppy. Nature is not "perfect" ... One petal is turned wrong, a stem is misshapen.

I've never understood the desire for perfect petals and perfect center ... I'd rather have someone look at it and say ... that is that flower (aka go for some level of realism). Just my personal hang up (one of them anyways :wink:)

Mary K

2013-06-29, 3:57pm

I understand the desire for perfect petals and center! I have it! Damn! I never get my true desire! But I get close enough to keep my desire alive. I have a done a few pendants thru the years, ( and years) that were perfect. I have kept them, and they fit in a very, very small box. I have an absolute ton of pendants that are from years ago, that I dont know what to do with? Can I sell like a box of pendants in the "Garage Sale" area? someone would think they're cool, but ones I do now are so much more "evolved".

mandoziller

2013-07-01, 11:18am

I like to 'hide' pieces that aren't top notch in spots close to the ground so kids will find them. Last year at a show a family turned one in to Lost & Found thinking someone had lost it. The little boy got to keep it. (good job Mom)

deb tarry

2013-07-01, 6:57pm

love that idea I take my 'off' marbles to the local beach and dropped them behind logs rocks and such.

BellaBean

2013-07-02, 1:37am

I leave my "rejects" in little baggies containing a note along hiking trails. The note contains instructions for the finder to keep it for a while and enjoy it, and then release it back somewhere for someone else to find.

cheng076

2013-07-02, 9:59am

Love the way you did the centers, Mary.

The 'halo' around the pedals is typical when using a high silver content glass. The silver in the glass 'fumes' the clear around it when imploding, or condencing if you prefer.

PJ

Mary K

2013-07-02, 7:45pm

Thank you PJ, now if I could just get my centers in the center.
Sometimes I like to put a frame of Jet around florals, gives them
a vintage look. Adds a hecka lota time too lol!

290062

290060

290061

cheng076

2013-07-03, 9:37am

I like the bottom one the best; love the center.

The other two give the feeling of having grown while vertical as the staymen and upper petals are reaching upwards 'to the light' or maybe to the wearers face?

Nice.
PJH

istandalone24/7

2013-07-03, 11:15am

@ Mary K.......take your black, and coil pot a thick bubble. melt down, blow out, repeat until uniform wall thickness.
then take your pendant in one hand the bubble on a blowtube in the other. get the bubble ripping hot and while applying the center of the bubble onto the center of the pendant back, puff gently.
then pop a hole and tear off the rest of the bubble trash and clean up around the edge. it's a quick way to get a nice even backing on a pendant or marble.

Mary K

2013-07-04, 1:39pm

Wow istandalone that sounds hard. Rememember, I am lazy. What I do is 3 or 4 dips of jet black frit, then run a small line of jet around edge, takes me about 1 1/2 min. For the last few pendants I posted here, I just kept running the line of black around more times to get that ridge, and there the tricky part is keeping it even.

menty666

2013-07-08, 5:54pm

It's not too hard, you can just coil a little on the end of a piece of 10 or 12mm tubing, even out the wall and leave it hanging out of the kiln until you're ready.

It all depends on the look you want and how think you want the glass on the backing. I like the frit method too, but sometimes it climbs too far up the sides for my liking, or I wind up with the half hamburger bun look.

hestias_hearth

2013-08-03, 9:22am

Still having trouble with tube implosions getting a bubble in the middle. I blow a bubble fairly thin. Draw my stuff. Heat it all up at the back of the flame until all the stuff is melted in. Then bring it closer to the flame to contually implode and use the rest of the bubble. Most of the time I am holding my point parallel to the table. Any suggestions?

Mary K

2013-08-04, 6:23am

I have tried tube implosions, with no luck. I stick to cane and do compressions instead. Also, I have a real hard time keeping the tube clean while stored, and cleaning it...almost impossible.

MagpieGlass

2013-08-04, 6:59am

I'm another one that just cannot get the hang of tube. Mentally I'm trying to blame it on the torch ... not a bushy enough flame ... but reality is it's most likely operator error. :lol:

Maybe I should admit defeat and sell off my assortment of tube. I have heavy wall, medium wall, regular wall.

The only tube I have any success with is the small tube for making glass straws. But I honey pot the glass I want on the end and use it as a fusible blow tube. So I'm not pulling points or blowing bubbles directly with it.

jhamilton117

2013-08-04, 10:14am

Hey Laura, my self or a friend of mine would likely be interested in the boro and could pick it up if you decide to sell for a good price.

I'd also be interested in any scraps you'd want to get rid of as well.
Thank you
Jeremy

earlbacher

2013-08-04, 10:40am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBmoV2Y33UQ
spend 52 minutes watching this, then go make a marble... my marbles improved instantly...

MagpieGlass

2013-08-06, 3:27am

jhamilton sent me this link for tube implosions. Asked me to share for him:

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152955982025158&id=540260157&set= a.10152955980355158.1073741825.540260157&l=af19fa3 baa&refid=13

Also, I find a vid on youtube from Bashi Ale and he does his totally different than I had seen ... no point blowing, no bubble blowing. I think I might be able to pull that off!!

hestias_hearth

2013-08-06, 4:33am

Ahh, still no answers. I don't know if the thickness of my tube is the problem or the angle at which I am imploding everything or the rate at which I am melting. Anyone?

deb tarry

2013-08-06, 7:58am

What is going wrong? Send me a pm, maybe I can trouble shoot you through it

dehoffa

2013-08-09, 7:45am

Love this flower.

Here's one of mine. 138401

Kalorlo

2013-08-13, 12:36pm

I made a rather bad flower marble at the weekend. Went off-centre and my cane was too diluted and has also got all kinds of bubbles everywhere. (It was clear, star white, stripes of rust and persimmon strike, then encase - possibly should have left out the initial clear core). These are the better angles with the dot of rust on the bottom showing more colour, it's a bit washed out otherwise.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3699/9505210392_b137719079_n.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalorlo/9505210392/) http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5443/9502412539_afa6ff2ef0_n.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalorlo/9502412539/)

Mary K

2013-08-13, 9:18pm

I hate star white for most things. Do you have Chinese white?
Only white I really use. Only way star white is useful to me is in
that serendipity rod, I think it's star white with amber purple over.

Kalorlo

2013-08-13, 11:40pm

No, no one seems to have any of the Chinese colours in the UK. One supplier used to have black and white, but was out last I checked. I'd get some if I was doing a big order from the US, but I'm going to work with what I have for a while before doing that.

Mary K

2013-09-25, 4:31pm

293984

293985

293986

dehoffa

2013-09-30, 6:05am

Loverly !

dlando1

2013-09-30, 8:03am

Hey Mary, Nice implosions. Is the halo effect from your colored glass, or is it a property of the clear glass you are using? I used to use Teal carnival, and I got that effect. I wasn't sure if it was that color or if it was the Kimball clear I was using. Any thoughts?
Thanks, Dave

Mary K

2013-09-30, 4:28pm

Hey back at you Dave, the halo effect is caused by the silver glass, double amber purple. For those florals, I lay a very thin line of DAP then another line on top of that of Ruby 4, and inevidably I wind up basically fuming the DAP's edges while melting it in, that is what the halo is ~ fume.The yellow looking layer of petals is just straight carmel, it halo's out too.
I have no experience with Kimball, I've only ever worked with pyrex, schott, and simax which is all I use now. Lots of glasses will do this. Like blue moon, it gets a fuzzy look, sometimes I like it, and sometimes I hate it.
Your work on the fuming thread is amazing, kudo's to you. Tomorrow I am working on Jellyfish again.

Will.T

2013-10-13, 11:29pm

A new one, even with the little bubbles I think this is the best one I have done. Anyone know why I got all those little bubbles?

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131013_231909_zps21faa72c.jpg

Mary K

2013-10-14, 6:32am

Hey there Will, nice marble. Your bubbles are caused by air in the glass. Some glasses just have air in them already, but some glass tends to boil just a bit if you get it too hot while melting it in, then the bubbles are there. I find a lot of the lighter colors do that easily. Notice that the bubbles are more on the lightest petals? Just air, won't hurt a thing, I think the little bubbles are pretty.

earlbacher

2013-10-14, 7:51am

the bubbles are from overeheating, try melting the lines in slower (like to the point of you getting mad its so slow)

Will.T

2013-10-14, 10:05am

Ok, thanks for the help. I'll try slowing it down.

mightymike

2013-10-15, 3:17pm

the bubbles are from overheating, try melting the lines in slower (like to the point of you getting mad its so slow)

I agree and as you see in your flower, white is one of the worst color as it has both tin and cadmium both that bubble easy.
One tip is to use Asian white. I know there are other problems with Asian glass but the Asian white is a very strong white that don't thin out and become transparent and will take a lot of heat without bubbles. It can broil on the surface but not as bad but as others so take it easy melting it in and then it will take tons of heat after it melted in while you implode it with out bubbling.
Its the white that John Kobuki used in the youtubein post 121 at the top of this page.

But i will add that a few surface bubbles on a flower looks like dew on the flower.

hear is a Asian white rose.
294619
294620
294625
294624
294622

Mary K

2013-10-16, 6:43am

Really nice marbles Mike. What color combo did you use for the orange petals?
So pretty.

mightymike

2013-10-16, 1:15pm

thanks

its Northstar Cherry Red over Northstar Canary Yellow and i don't know how noticeable it is but the outer row of peddles is the opposite Canary Yellow over Cherry Red.

fixed it sorry for the confusion.

Mary K

2013-10-16, 6:54pm

thanks

its Northstar Cherry Red encased in Northstar Canary Yellow and i don't know how noticeable it is but the outer row of peddles is the opposite Canary Yellow over Cherry Red.

Ok, ok I read and reread these directions a couple of times, don't these both make the same combination?
Cherry red encased in northstar CY
is same as:
Canary over Cherry

Right?
Looking at it, looks like the red is the outer color on this stringer?

dehoffa

2013-10-17, 6:01am

I love the subtle difference. Some have edges of red and the outside ones have yellow edges. It gives more dimension. I will try some cobos.

mightymike

2013-10-17, 11:21am

sorry i fixed the other post #139.

Mary K

2013-10-17, 4:46pm

Tried out your color combo today, very pretty.
This is yellow over red.
294720

This is some Aqua & turbo cobalt I have been playing with.
294721

deb tarry

2013-10-17, 7:24pm

I like the green combo, nice choices.

walk2233

2013-10-18, 5:25am

Beautiful work there Mary.

Mary K

2013-10-18, 6:15am

Thank you for the comments. Also thanks for the inspiration,
always looking for new color ideas.

dlando1

2013-10-18, 8:00am

Great pendants Mary! The peach color in the first one is fantastic. I would love to see the second one in sunlight! If I ever come up for air from fuming, I'll have to try some flower pendants. Very nice work(play)!
Dave

mightymike

2013-10-18, 1:42pm

looks great Mary
heres another combo that is my favorite today. its NS cherry covered in GA Sapphire look better in person as the sparkles looks like white speck but has great sparkle in light.

sparkling rose

294732
294734
294733

Mary K

2013-10-18, 6:04pm

Oh Man Mr Mike that is pretty, and I can guess how it looks in person...gorgeous.
Gonna give that a try when next I can torch, that is killer.
Wow, great job on that flower, really nice. I like sparklie...a....lot.

mightymike

2013-10-19, 12:50pm

thanks Mary, now i have to find a new favored color combo

Glasstastic Treasures

2013-10-23, 6:49pm

Wow. Amazing! I made two pathetic implosion flowers last weekend. I have a long way to go. But then again, I haven't been able to torch for almost a year, so I've lost my touch. thank you for sharing, everyone!

Mary K

2013-10-23, 7:35pm

Hey jamie don't feel bad, I make pathetic implosions sometimes and I torch almost everyday.lol. If I get even more than 2 days off I feel rusty. I think it will come back pretty quick, you just gotta spend some time with the fire. Start with things that you remember being easy, choose easy to work with colors, do simple things, make frit implosions with large frit to get the rythm back of how to heat the maria to make that happen. Sometimes it seems like all I make is crap, especially when I experiment, then I go back to what I know I'm good at and get back on track that way. Glass is funny I think. Somedays everything I make is just perfect, then somedays it is pretty sad, really.
You just need to melt some to remember.
And lets see some pics. yes.
Here is what I did yesterday
295088
I know these are not floral, they are just frit, simple but pretty.
these are cabs for rings.
295089
these have paparazzi frit and some jackpot frit in them and they spar kel.

PhatPat

2013-10-24, 10:13am

I love those flowers Mary!

Glasstastic Treasures

2013-10-24, 11:47am

Mary, thanks for the encouragement. I started a new thread if anyone would like to give advise, I sure need it! I used coe 104 glass, that's all I have.

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4440638#post4440638

Edited to add: sad pictured included in the above thread. lol :(

Mary K

2013-10-24, 4:03pm

Ah, well these days I know not much about 104 and especially for pendants etc. When I used to work 104, I only did beads.
And thank you Miss Pat for the compliment. Flowers are my favorite thing to make.

Will.T

2013-10-25, 10:18am

Mary, I always like your flowers and really like the frit implosions! Very cool, I tried a couple yesterday. I'll post some pictures tonight if they turned out at all. Thanks for sharing.

Will.T

2013-10-25, 8:26pm

Here is the frit implosion. Kind of became a flower, pretty fun to try. And another new flower.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131025_201021_zps64e61b22.jpg

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131025_201210_zpsd6054f34.jpg

Dianne Gleaton

2013-10-26, 3:36am

And the petal shapes are wonderful. And I love how you framed in black. I think I am saying8)how impressed I am with your work. If i could do half as we'll I would be pleased. Love your stamens also! Dianne

VooDooVixen nice work, that is a beautiful blue what color glass is that?

Thank you PJ, now if I could just get my centers in the center.
Sometimes I like to put a frame of Jet around florals, gives them
a vintage look. Adds a hecka lota time too lol!

290062

290060

290061

Dianne Gleaton

2013-10-26, 3:40am

Could you share where you saw the John Kobuki video please? TIA, Dianne

Still making these, here is a new one that I liked enough to post. Have made some really terrible ones lately. I watched the John Kobuki video so I have some new things to try out. Hopefully that will help me a bit.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20130624_214231_zpsda3610fd.jpg

Mary K

2013-10-26, 6:53am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBmoV2Y33UQ
spend 52 minutes watching this, then go make a marble... my marbles improved instantly...

Here you go, this is the J.Kobuki vid. I would take another JK class in a heartbeat if I could.

Mary K

2013-11-06, 8:06pm

295851
295853
295852
Was a good day.

dehoffa

2013-11-07, 9:00am

The video is terrific. His technique is impeccable.

Here you go, this is the J.Kobuki vid. I would take another JK class in a heartbeat if I could.

dlando1

2013-11-07, 9:53am

Beautiful flowers Mary!

imagesinglass

2013-11-09, 8:40am

Mary, beautiful batch of florals!!!
May I ask what colours you used in this last batch? Petals and stamens?
Thanks so much.
Suzanne

Glasstastic Treasures

2013-11-09, 8:53am

love seeing the implosions.

Mary K

2013-11-09, 10:07am

Mary, beautiful batch of florals!!!
May I ask what colours you used in this last batch? Petals and stamens?
Thanks so much.
Suzanne

Hey thanks all for the comments.
Staymens ~ basically two different ones, with the green one around the edge of staymen area.
Green: coat that indian dark green with turbo cobalt or jet black and pull out.
Aqua-ish: coat any med. aqua glass with turbo cobalt and pull out. here I think I used aqua azul.
staymen dots must be very, very tiny, & I mean small. I cover the whole area with the cane behind it (looking into the maria)with dots.
Petals:
all the fushia looking ones are DAP - small thin line then another small line of
ruby strike 4 or carmel, or violet hue, they all turn out similar.
The yellow flower is carmel petals in the middle and outter petals are line of purple lustre and then the carmel. with only green staymens.
The top left pendant has violet medley inside petals.
backing is one dip into paparazzi frit and then one dip into shamrock frit and then about 8 dips in jet fine frit.
the timing of how you heat and cool the glass and then strike it makes a big difference in what colors you get.

imagesinglass

2013-11-10, 9:02am

Thanks Mary,
Your colours are always so vibrant!
Suzanne

Will.T

2013-11-11, 12:40pm

Some more from me, these are for a holiday art sale. My first sale! Hope I do well.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131110_212223_zps23be9644.jpg

Glasstastic Treasures

2013-11-11, 3:09pm

very cool!

dehoffa

2013-11-11, 4:55pm

good luck. Sell them all.

what colors did you use?

Some more from me, these are for a holiday art sale. My first sale! Hope I do well.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131110_212223_zps23be9644.jpg

Will.T

2013-11-12, 10:24am

thanks! Colors are sunburst orange for stamen. Northstar white encased with red elvis (upper left). Lines of red elvis on top of a line of white. Then one dot of a medium cobalt. Can barely see the red on this one. And white encased with a crayon yellow.

Glasstastic Treasures

2013-11-12, 6:00pm

Good luck with your first sale, Will!

Mary K

2013-11-12, 9:51pm

Good luck and have fun with your first sale. Be sure to bring a note
pad and pencil to write down things you would do at the next sale.
Showing is a learning experience, main thing is to enjoy the people
who look at your stuff, be friendly and tell them how you make it.
If you can, bring some photographs of you working, people are always
amazed by that, have fun!

ArtifexVitri

2013-11-14, 10:55am

Beautiful!
What shape are your petals when you draw them? How do you get the pointy ones and the ones that have a sharp point coming out of a wider petal?
I usually press the lines in the middle with a blade, but they do not come out that way...
Thank you!

295851
295853
295852
Was a good day.

istandalone24/7

2013-11-14, 12:11pm

after you press with your blade, reheat a bit and give it a poke with sharp tungsten ;)
poke in the same spot your swiped your blade.

istandalone24/7

2013-11-14, 12:13pm

that will give you a sharp point in the middle of the pedal.
now if you just want a narrower pedal, instead of putting a ) down for the pedal, put more of a > .
alternated )>)>)> looks good too.

ArtifexVitri

2013-11-14, 1:37pm

Thank you!!! I will try that :)

Mary K

2013-11-14, 3:36pm

Here is a diagram of placement for lines and dots for pendant with
2 layers of petals and leaves.
286265
Black ink represents glass, red ink represents tooling.
I try for a tiny dot in center of maria then surround it with 5 dots.
then 5 more tiny dots spaced between first 5. That creats a kind of a
star shape, with the dots. Can you see it?

Using your dots as refference, lay 5 fine lines evenly around center dots.
They can just be straight lines.
Heat to just barely melt in, then GENTLY poke center dots with small
pic. not a lot just a touch. Too much and it will go like for a jelly fish.
Then I use an exacto knife, I have 4 of them with different size blades in them, use a small one here, and just barely score the middle of each of
the 5 lines. Then go back and drag your small pic in the line you made
with the exacto, drag it outward away from center, heat the area, small
focused flame, drag, go around till it looks like this:
286268
Then lay second thin line
286269
score drag etc repeat
286270
third line, that will be your leaves.
score drag center then add light scores as shown,
that gets that edgy leaf look.
286271
I use biggest exacto blade on leaves,
all my exacto blades are just square, not pointed.
Basically what I hope everyone notices is that the top
drawing is what you lay on in thin lines of glass.
This last drawing is what you should look like before
you compress. The Pendant that is.
sometime I partially compress the petals then add leaves,
play with it and post what you get.
This from an earlier post in this thread. I use mostly straight lines. My pendants are so small there is not room on the maria for > type petals.
I NEVER poke the PETALS with a pointed pick. I only poke the staymen dots. Poking the petals sends the glass up too high for the flower to look natural, I want those petals to stay flat and rise. I only DRAG the pick on the line to give the petal a pointed tip, if that is what I want.
For the smaller more pointed petals, like that yellow one, I just make my line shorter smaller and drag the small pointed pick on it untill it is how I want it. I never do this all in one step, I keep going around the petals evening them out untill they are how I need them to be.
Everybody has a different way to do florals. My goal is to get flowers that look more realistic.
using a cuticle pusher like you can get at Sally's on a straight line will give you a lotus style petal, that will cup around the staymens.

AudreyDe

2013-11-18, 11:51pm

295851
295853
295852
Was a good day.

Mary I have been studying your florals ad infiniititum and still feel hesitant to take the plunge. I have studied all the you tube but when I get to my torch, it all goes haywire. Unfortunately I will never be able to attend a workshop, too far away! (Africa south)
However I will continue to gaze at your work - thank you.
I de Haast.

Mary K

2013-11-19, 9:54am

AudreyDe I do not know what your skill level is, are you just starting out or???
Have you worked with boro or soft glass? I have worked with boro for about 10 years, I started out with soft glass and abandoned it for boro. Also sucess depends on your torch, you need enough heat to properly work this glass.
So, that said, you can't run before you crawl. Start with easy things to get the feel.
I always reccomend doing simple frit compressions to find out how to melt this glass.
Or simple dot compressions. I have only had 2 classes in the years I have melted glass. The first one, I could have taught the teacher a thing or 2, so was dissapointed with it. The second class was life changing for me, but there is much you can learn on YouTube,so don't give up, just try simpler things to increase your skill. Don't feel bad either about things going haywire, I get my share of those kind of days too. Keep melting glass, that is the way to learn, really.
What is meaning of "I de Hasst"? I am curious.
Thanks for gazing.
Mary

Will.T

2013-11-19, 10:08am

using a cuticle pusher like you can get at Sally's on a straight line will give you a lotus style petal, that will cup around the staymens.

Hi Mary, I tried this and I got a really nice rounded petal but not really cupped like a lotus. Could you give some more detail perhaps? I made a short curved line like ) which is the shape of the cuticle pusher and pressed into the middle of the line matching the curves up. Maybe it's the angle of the press? Thanks-

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131117_111028_zps25bf7d00.jpg

Mary K

2013-11-19, 3:34pm

Nice flower Will.
Try this.
First make the line STRAIGHT, not curved.
Use the cuticle pusher to curve it, and sort of gently
push the petal away from the staymens. Lightly,
and I mean lightly, indent the cuticle pusher.
Make your staymen area larger, like twice as large as
what you did here. Use jet black for staymens, or layer
jet black over the color you have here( or green ) and pull out for
staymen cane. Lightly prick each staymen dot with
tiny very sharp tungsten pick.
The staymens that are lightly indented are going to want
to travel up as you heat the maria for the compression,
As they go up, they will also drag the petals along with them,
producing a slighly cupped effect. Sometimes when I push the
petals out with the cuticle pusher there is room for another row
of tiny dots, so I put those on and don't pick them at all.
Actually most times I only use the pick on the center dots.
Try this and post what you get, I'll talk/type you thru it.

Will.T

2013-11-19, 7:06pm

thanks, Ill try this out.

Will.T

2013-11-23, 9:19pm

Here is the next attempt. Had a hard time with pushing the lines out. Went way too far on a couple petals. I haven't done much raking so doing that sort of moving is tough. I also went too deep with the pick on the black dots. It's good to know I can get something that far above the petals. This was interesting to try.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131122_195842_zps75db893a.jpg

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b621/BIGGY_TREEZ/IMG_20131122_195727_zps18699563.jpg

Jonny B

2013-11-27, 7:05am

Here's a few of mine, I did these a few month ago.

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s449/JonnyBtreed/flowerpendants_zps3a82c1b9.jpg

dehoffa

2013-11-27, 8:25am

Those are gorgeous. They are so ethereal. what colors did you use.

Jonny B

2013-11-27, 9:52am

Thank you so much! That was Loki's lipstick on the left and I believe Blue Moon on the right. :)

Mary K

2013-11-27, 9:53pm

Beautiful pendants Jonny B. What color did you use on the bail's of those? it really sets them off well.
Will T its coming along there. I think you would
be happier with another color for petals, if you are not going to make a layered cane. Most all my flowers are layered canes for all components. Got any turbo cobalt?
Layer that over that pink glass and you will love the effect you will get. Just make sure your coating of Turbo cob. is on the thin side.
If you want a good color that makes nice petals without layering try peacock.
Be sure your staymen dots are tiny, yours could still be smaller, and use a
really fine pick, mine is tungsten 5/16 and I sharpen it daily. That gal from
england is using a sewing needle that she bought, must be long.
Good job there on getting your design to rise up nicely.
What you are discovering here will help you design more interesting pieces.
Good job. Keep Melting Glass, & Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Will.T

2013-11-28, 12:09am

Thanks for all the help Mary. I appreciate it. I ll try your color suggestions. I am not sure about turbo cobalt. I still use northstar shorts mostly and they arent labeled. I definitely have some cobalt though maybe I'll try that. I have a somewhat fine tungsten pick. Smaller dots are really hard for me though. I must have some depth perception problem but if the dots are too small by the time I can line up the pick they have cooled too much. I'll see what I can do though. Happy Thanksgiving all-

Jonny B

2013-12-02, 8:29am

Thank you, I think those bails were also blue moon.

anniedoski

2013-12-07, 8:12pm

296373This is the marble i sent my swap buddy, I am very proud of it, even if it had a slightly flat side. Hope you guys like it too.

Mary K

2013-12-08, 7:54am

Very pretty Annie, do you remember what color you used? Are the staymens the same as petals? Nice.

anniedoski

2013-12-08, 8:24am

Hi Mary. I am pretty sure that the staymens were crayon yellow and the petals were Silver Creek. I'm pretty sure that was what I used... But mostly I use other people's shorts that don't have tags on them, which was what the yellow was.

FiredDesires

2013-12-15, 2:58pm

I'm the lucky ducky who got Anniedoski's marble pictured above. It is so stunning, and I think it is just perfect.....excellent job swap buddie!

ArtifexVitri

2014-01-31, 4:14pm

ArtifexVitri

2014-01-31, 4:18pm

After a month break, I tried another implosion yesterday. I'm trying to make them really small, because I don't like the bulky pendants, but I don't think I get enough glass to flow around the floral drawing...
My main concern right now is the fact that the stamen goes out like the petals instead of straight up. And then, even though I implode and marver the the petals once or twice before applying the leaf cane, the leaves are so tiny, they are never seen unless you turn over the pendant.

Should I start with a larger maria and remove excess glass after I'm done with the implosion? How do I fix the stamen issue?

Thank you all!

Mary K

2014-02-04, 9:59am

What size cane are you using Artifex? Smaller is not easier, at least for me. I use mainly 14mm clear rods for my work, and I control the size of the pendant with the gather size I start with. To fix the stamen issue - to get the stamens to go up instead of out - keep the dot you make as tiny as possible, then give it the smallest poke with a tiny point, I use a very small tungsten pic that I got from ABR, but I have read that some use a larger sewing needle in a pin vise to do this.( don't put it in the flame though). Post a picture of what you are getting and perhaps I could be more help.
299505
ON this one I have the stamens going up.
299659
this one has the center stamens going up and then I didn't poke the blue ones around the center, so they go out instead of up. See the difference?

hotglass

2014-03-12, 7:42pm

I've been trying to get a similar effect on small marbles but get only the yellow color.

Mary K, would you mind sharing how you strike your colors? Thanks in advance!

- Alpha

Mary K

2014-03-13, 7:35pm

Ahh.... .. ... Alpha. I had a great Aunt named Alpha, and she was a kick in the butt, married 8 times, never divorced. Now back to glass.
I have been wondering when this subject might come up. It's a big secret, and
I can't tell you, unless you torture me. Ok, I hate torture so I will try to tell you.
My information may be wrong, misunderstood, and way off base but this is to the best of my ability what I know about why glass changes to different colors, otherwise known as striking. That's my disclaimer in case I am wrong, which I may be.
Know anything about crystal growth? That's what I know as what is happening when the glass goes from say - clear - to red or purple, or somewhere in between like yellow. The molecules in glass move and change composition at different temps, as they cool they change from one type of molecule to another. The glass needs to be brought up to a certain temp for a certain amount of time to achieve max crystal growth, and it also needs to be allowed to cool for a certain amount of time and then reheated only so much to achieve the colors we all strive for, the pinks purples etc.
Each glass will have different striking temp needs, in my experience. For instance, you are getting yellow from DAP and you know it can also go purple, so why are you getting yellow? It could be that you never got the glass hot enough for the strike, or you didn't keep it hot enough long enough. Secondly it could be that you didn't then let it cool long enough, assuming that you had it hot enough for long enough, before you reheated it. Or...the most common reason for me is that the glass stayed in the slightly overstike temp for too long. Jeesh this is hard to explain.
Think of those little molecules in the glass, wiggling and moving and forming crystal formations, when the glass is very hot they are moving very fast, as they cool they slow down,(but in fact glass molecules never stop moving) if you keep them in the middle speed - mid heat - too long they lose their ability to connect into the dark purple crystals that DAP can make.
I doubt that I have that explained that right at all, so in short this is what I do:
For a pink petal:
Lay down a very thin line of DAP, Silver creek, purple lustre, etc
on top of that line I want like something like MP violet hue, scarlet, half blood, ruby, light ruby, a red, another very fine line on top of the DAP.
I make sure I use an oxy flame when laying down the DAP, and that my maria is hot too, I flash my flame over the area I am going to lay color down so it will keep the haze off as I lay it down. After whole floral design is made, I will punty up and then wait. Take a drink of water. I have a big clock in my shop that has a second hand, I watch it, make sure that it is over 1 min before I even consider burning off the rod I made the compression on. Hold it up to the light, does the glass look like the crystals are starting to form? Just keep it spinning. The clear around the design will start to almost look slightly green, just a tint. It's almost ready. Then after the right amount of time, and it's just something you learn from experience, I get the whole thing very hot, burn off the rod I made it on, pull off enough glass for the pendant to look right, and if you do this quickly your piece will strike perfectly. Then I chose a place for a bail, or loop, and use jet black mostly because it's an easy glass to shape, I want to get that bail on quick and not have to overheat the pendant to ruin the strike, sometimes if a bail gives me trouble it unstrikes the area near it, oh well.
I hope this makes some sense, I am taking allergy medication, I hope you understand.

Pickledkitty

2014-03-15, 5:28pm

Thanks Mary K for such a detailed process. One thing I recently learned is that you can kiln strike a piece of glass multiple times. That never occurred to me before, and with some colors, especially deeply encased colors, that is the only way I can get the colors that I know are possible.

hotglass

2014-03-20, 11:33pm

Thank you Mary. When I get home I'll practice and post results.

Another question: do your colors look this way going into the kiln or after annealing?

PK - I'll have to try that

Mahalo!

Mary K

2014-03-21, 6:50am

Hi again Alpha, my florals pretty much look struck when they go in the kiln, the colors are usually more vibrant when the annealing is done, but if they aren't struck going in, they won't be when they come out. My kiln has a preset boro program, and I don't know how to change it, I could call arrow springs and change it I suppose, but I've been doing things this way for 10 years and it works for me. I am not very good with things that need programing.
The only colors that develop in the kiln for me are the red ones like halfblood, the old ruby4, dragon's blood and the other colors like that. I love to put those kind of colors as a backing for the DAP type colors, makes really beautiful petal colors. Looking forward to seeing some of your pictures.

hotglass

2014-04-07, 10:48am

Aloha!

Mary K, I did try again and I figured that I am not getting the glass hot enough. I've a Bravo on an H-1 but.... I am at 5000 ft above sea level. I believe I need another concentrator or add a tank for my outer ring. - what do you all think? Is my line of reasoning sound? I usually work with coe 104 and this had not been a problem until my venture into boro :)

So when I do get a chance to torch, I've been practicing on laying down really thin lines of color and compression. Thank you all for your advice on this board - it is helping this boro newbie immensely. Here is my latest.

302532

Celestial B

2014-04-07, 4:31pm

I've a Bravo on an H-1 but.... I am at 5000 ft above sea level. I believe I need another concentrator or add a tank for my outer ring. - what do you all think? Is my line of reasoning sound?

I am still working on the idea for homefilling myself and am about to move from basically seal level to @ 4K feet.

I used to sell air compressors and vacuum pumps for industrial use. What I can tell you is that at your altitude, if you are compressing air to a different pressure than ambient...which you are. You are only getting @ 84% of the performance from your concentrator compared to if it was working at sea level. Higher altitude means the air molecules are farther apart. At sea level the air pressure is pushing on everything at 14.75 pounds per square inch. At 5K feet it is pushing at 12.2 pounds per square inch. A way I used to describe this is imagine your compressor/concentrator is a factory scooping up 3ft x 3ft x 3ft boxes of air and squinching them down to a smaller size. At sea level your compressor is grabbing 100% full boxes of air (This is what the factory rates the performance on....humidity and temperature play in here too, but that gets complicated) At 5K feet, the same compressor / concentrator is only filling the box to 84%. This is for straight up compression of ambient air. Add the filtering to get only oxygen, and there could be more loss.

I have a torch that is basically like a Carlisle CC which I generally run the oxy at 20 - 25 psi. The trick is to determine the cost of enough concentrators to run full out to make the cubic feet of oxy you need (Need to factor in life span if filters, repair and such). A tank will buy you some time and is cheaper all way around than another concentrator. Say you need oxy at 20psi and your concentrator makes 40psi, but your concentrator blows that pressure at 8 liters per minute and your torch will eat 12. A 80gallon tank filled up with 40psi oxy gives you time as when you start pulling off the tank, the concentrator will start up and push 8lpm into the tank while you pull out 12lpm. Now it is a race between if you will stop your burn before the tank falls below the psi you need for optimal torch chemistry. Now, what if you could get an oil free compressor that takes a direct feed from your concentrator and fills your 80 gallon tank to 100psi. You bough more time. Is the compressor which you are essentially using as a booster going to cost less in the long run to maintain than a second concentrator? Then if you go with two concentrators and one goes down, you have one left to limp along on. Lots of factors to decide what is most cost effective. If you can get good ratings on your torch and find that what you need is less than a second concentrator, a tank might do the trick.

LynieG

2014-04-26, 9:23am

Hi Mary! DH has been making floral pendants for a while now but every time he uses silver glasses for them, they wash out to basically white! Is there a method or a reason why they would wash out? We know that he is probably washing out the color / silvers and have tried several different methods trying to keep them from washing out including lowering the heat, upping the heat, flame consistency ie: carborizing and reducing and trying the methods you mentioned above. Nothing seems to work. Most of them come out like the 2 light blue ones! The color is a dark blue. He has gotten pretty good at these but very frustrated because of the washed out colors! Because of the heat in having to melt these down does he need to stay away from the silvers? We just ordered a Bravo and are currently working on a mini cc which, I know, isn't a big enough torch but the pendants aren't very big either - maybe an inch or less. The colors he has been using are NS Blue, Blue Moon, Alaska Thunder. But there are a few others also.
Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated! :D Thank you! (Sorry for the blurry pics! These are HARD to get a good focus on LOL)

Will.T

2014-04-26, 10:13pm

I have been wondering about this too. I have only had good luck with using the metallic colors as surface decoration. I think if those colors get worked for too long the metal get burned out? That's my guess. I have pretty much given up trying to use them in marbles.

The yellow pendant looks pretty nice. Could you post a close up of that one maybe?

LynieG

2014-04-27, 11:03am

Thank you Will! Yeah that's kinda what we decided too but wanted to ask in case there was a trick to it that we couldn't figure out! Ron is so frustrated with it LOL!

Here are a couple of pics that he has done including a close up of the yellow one! :D The flecks in them are another problem. We got hold of some crappy clear that no matter how he cleaned and picked off the gunk he couldn't get them all out! :rolleyes: That glass has since been replaced thank goodness!

LynieG

2014-04-27, 11:07am

Just have to say that "Dang there are some beauties in here!"

Will.T

2014-04-27, 11:56am

Nice work! That yellow one is really nice.

There might be a trick to those colors. If there is I don't know it though. Maybe someone will chime in with a definite answer.

LynieG

2014-04-27, 11:59am

Thank you! :D

Mary K

2014-04-28, 8:39am

Hello LynieG, I think I can shed some light on your problems with those colors, NS Blue, Blue Moon, Alaska Thunder. Thru the years I have settled on certain colors for floral compressions, some work well, some do not work so well for this purpose. It's not really you or the torch, those colors NS Blue, Blue Moon, Alaska Thunder do not work well for me either. If I want blue I like to use non silver colors. I make floral canes from colors like indian purple, hyacinth, colors like that. The trick to a pretty blue is to start with a base opaque color and coat it with turbo cobalt and pull it out for your floral cane. Almost all my floral canes are 2 or 3 glass colors layered and pulled out. Try hyacinth and coat it with turbo cobalt pull it out and see how you like that. For lighter blue I like chinese white that has been premixed well, coated with the turbo cobalt. The blue colors can be so dark that they don't show up well, ( too dark) for florals, so you need to back them with something that brings them out. And then there are other issues (refer to post 199 in this thread) about crystal growth that can occur.
There are few colors that I can use alone - as is - for a petal cane. Carmel is one of them, love carmel for petals. In you pictures the green on some of the flowers has compatibility problems, that's why you are seeing that effect around the edges. There are a few greens that don't do that, indian green is the one I use mainly. If I want it darker, I coat it with turbo cobalt. Hope this helps.
Here is a nice blue for petals, it's aqua with turbo cobalt over. The green is shamrock & indian green.
303297

LynieG

2014-05-01, 8:58am

Mary K

2014-05-01, 3:30pm

Hi Mary! Thank you so much for this info! Glad to hear that we aren't struggling with this in vein! He can now quit beating his head against the wall knowing it's not him LOL! We are ordering a few of these colors at the same time as we order our torch as he is still building up his color pallet. He has only been doing florals since Jan and learning a TON!

Appriecate all the help you have given in this thread and others! We really admire your work!

PS He wants to know if you give classes! :D
Glad I can help you a little. I have never given any classes, don't know if I really am qualified to do that, I am still a student. That blue moon you have, that makes a cool jellyfish tentacle color, top it with more blue moon and dip the cap in some paparazzi frit before you but the top glass on, it's great for that. Keep posting your pictures, and feel free to like my glass page on facebook if you have a facebook acc, you can follow my work there, as well.

BeckyNoe

2014-06-01, 8:17pm

Hi Mary. I'm looking for a bit of insight. I'm new to glassworks and love the implosion/compressions but have some trouble with the finish. I don't know if I just don't have the right tools or if I'm doing something wrong with the lense or both. I have attached a pic or two. I think I'm getting the depth on the compression for the petals but I think the stamens are getting smoothed and I can't get a smooth rounded lense.

Is ther a special tool that is needed when you separate the rod to do the finishing work?

Thank you for any assistance and advice. Oh and I don't use boro yet...just soft glass

Becky

Ps I can't get two pics to upload from my iPad so will post theh side view in a minite

BeckyNoe

2014-06-01, 8:18pm

Side view

Mary K

2014-06-01, 8:47pm

Hi Becky ~ I can't really help you with soft glass, I only made beads with soft glass. I do not think it is much fun anymore, so I have decided to sell it. It is so different from boro, I don't think I would have much luck making compressions with soft glass. My advise is either make beads with the soft glass, or get some boro, if you have enough torch to melt it, is that a cricket? The key to being happy with working with boro is having a torch that will melt it fast enough to make it fun, and then years of practice. There are no special tools to make things work better, I use a small paddle, and a simple reamer to shape the bail, and a few simple tools to make indentations in design, but it's really just practice, getting to know the glass. You need to punty the back of the pendant to separate it, but really the problems you are having I think are because it's not boro, boro is better for pendant making, at least for me.

BeckyNoe

2014-06-01, 9:03pm

Thank you Mary. Yes that is a cricket...I use it with natural gas and a concentrator. May have to go to tanked oxy and propane of I get boro.

Thank you again. Your work is beautiful

Becky

Mary K

2014-06-02, 7:02pm

Realistically Becky, until you get more torch than a cricket, you will be a lot less frustrated if you stick with soft glass. People will say they work boro with a cricket, but it will be slow, and you will not be able to get the heat you need to really make something. The center fire of my scorpion is a cricket, and I only use it alone to apply small dots and to heat an area to be tooled, but if that was all I had........no I would be unhappy. Once you move to boro, it's all about always wanting a bigger torch so you can do more. I have so much arthritis in my hands and wrists from years of spinning glass, that I realized I can not go bigger than my scorpion, my tired old wrists would not take the weight of a bigger heavier piece.

Lezi

2015-04-27, 2:36pm

Hello everyone. I love this thread, many beautiful flowers to see and a lot to learn for me ! Thank you very much :)
This is a flower I made 3 days ago with 3 layers of fume, first one only with gold and the rest with variations of gold with silver.

https://igcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11191099_1570564113232024_2042290624_n.jpg https://igcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11142397_829570663788686_52214709_n.jpg

Mary K

2015-04-27, 3:17pm

That is very lovely Lezi. Have you thought of using well mixed china white instead of clear when you do your fuming? have seen some beautiful flowers done that way.

Lezi

2015-04-28, 10:31am

Thanks Mary :)....and yes, two weeks ago I tried to make a rose pendant with Snow white and gold. I made only 2 because the colour I have is the sample pack I bought from GA when I started 3 months ago. In my next purchase I will add white colour to do more, I would like to improve my floral technique.
This is the best attempt I made and the colour of the petals came out very nice.

https://igcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t51.2885-15/10914383_1459442097679984_1520615313_n.jpg

ginkgoglass

2015-05-13, 8:04am

I love this thread! Thank you Mary so much.

A friend Of my daughters is graduating in a few weeks and I want to make her a sunflower pendant. I'm at a loss for the design on the Maria, to get the overlapping long petals, and short seeds in the middle. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Mary K

2015-05-14, 11:27am

Lana, for a sunflower design I would make a stamen cane of indian (glasstronics) dark green with jet layered over it and pulled out to a point, like a pencil with a long tip, you can keep pulling more out as you need it, but one point is enough for one pendant. that will be your seeds in the middle. Then you need caramel pulled out to about a 2mm or 3mm stringer.
Press your maria out. Do you have a marver on your torch? if you do you can lay the maria sideways on it and use a paddle to make the maria flatter and a little wider, I like to do this for a design of this sort. Do you understand what I mean? If not, just go with what you have.
start your design in the middle lay lots of small dots of the stamen cane, cover most of the middle leaving room for your petals. You can make a sunflower with only one row of petals, or you could do two depending on the size of your maria, but I would go with one for the first try. Lay small lines of caramel around the edge of the maria, just straight lines. Make them as even as possible, but not necessary to be perfect, as flowers are not. heat them and using a small blade scripto knife indent each one with a slight pull to the outside edge, just a slight pull, and try to do each one at the same depth so some petals don't expand more than others. After you do that, pick up your stamen cane and do a few more dots getting as close to the petals as you can. your maria will look like it is all dots, with only a small layer of petals around the edge. heat and compress as usual, remember with a pendant you don't have to get a terminated flower as you won't see it from behind like a marble flower. Then I usually give my florals a dip in fine paparazzi frit and then small shamrock frit for the look of moss in the backround. Finish with a bail of jet and there you go. I make a lot of these for summer, very popular. Any more questions please ask.
Remember to turn your flame down small to make the tiny dots, you want to keep control.

ginkgoglass

2015-05-15, 7:42am

Ok thank you so much for the detailed description. I will work on it today and make sure I have a lot if space to work with on the Maria. I am wondering how the dots stay small and the lines go long and flat, but maybe I will understand more once I do it. I know with most flowers, I try to get the petals more upright and into the dome, but that's not what a sunflower looks like. I'll post some pics soon hopefully!

ginkgoglass

2015-05-15, 4:46pm

Here's my attempt. I didn't have all the colors so I winged it with forest green coated in Jet black for stamens and Yellow Flavor Experimental for the petals. I think I need to add the petals farther out on the Maria? Also some stamens really elongated and others stayed short.
Any ideas?

312580

Mary K

2015-05-15, 4:58pm

I have found that different boro colors have what I call different "speeds" some will melt faster and flow faster, forest green is a little softer , so maybe that is why. also your coat of jet may need to be thicker to slow things down. turned out pretty anyways! do you have caramel?

ginkgoglass

2015-05-15, 5:02pm

I don't. I tried Carmel luster and got too much blue and purple.
I think I'll order some Caramel.

Btw here's the pattern I used:

312581

mightymike

2015-05-16, 5:11pm

hey lana
if that work out for you great, if you want to try a different way here how my sunflowers look.
312598
312599

what i do different i put the row of petal way to the outside of the maria and than start imploding and when i do a push an the hole between the petals is down to 9-7 mm then i put a big dot of momka brown sparkle (or Challenge Sunflower) in the center. being careful not touch the petal and go back to imploding and than at the end push the maria back really flat. the down side the color is stretch a lot so some colors can get transparent, that why i ran the whiteout up in the yellow. i will have to try a double row of petals.
or i guess i am saying if the center coming up to far wait and put it on later after you have imploded the petals some.

Mary K

2015-05-16, 8:17pm

Lana, your petals should be on the edge, right on the edge. Here is a sunflower I have done, and a few other florals as well.
312607
312606
312604312603

ginkgoglass

2015-05-17, 8:15am

You are fantastic! Thanks Mary and Mike. I watched Cornings Kobuki video three times, consulted my tutorial from Ron Bearer Jr. and used a combo of your advice. I moved the petals out much farther and placed in a "V" shape.

It's looking better. I used parramore Sitka for the middle stamens and green with jet black for the outer stamens. The outer ones moved so much! Next time I'll do Sitka coated in jet black. They are both very stuff. And maybe cover the back of these stamens in a sparkle brown.

312612 312613

Mary K

2015-05-17, 9:44am

Nice Lana, May I suggest that you make the bail on your pendant from Jet? It will accent your flower in a different way, I think you will like it. I love jet for bails/loops on my pendants, it is stiff, and easy to get it even. Do you have any sparklie frit or green frit? I love to do one dip of paparazzi small and then one dip of small shamrock then a couple dips of any kind of black, followed by another dip in jackpot frit, gives you an amazing looking backing.

ginkgoglass

2015-05-17, 9:52am

Thank you Mary! It's getting there but still not quite right. I'm going to order some other colors including Caramel and some Paparazzi frit. Jet is a great color! I have some experimental color called Exit from Oz that is a sparkly brown that would work really well for stamens.

Mary K

2015-05-17, 1:43pm

Lana I like to make all my stamen canes layered, that way one glass will flow faster than the other and give the stamen a more life like look, it will have one color on the tip and one at the base. Here are some stamen that I really like:
312621
312620
312619
The first one really shows what I am talking about the best I think.
I have also given these stamen a small push with a fine pic, if I had not,
they would have stayed lower and more rounded.

ginkgoglass

2015-05-17, 4:41pm

I see what you mean about the stamens, very cool. With the sunflower, I think it would work the best not to poke them since I want them to stay low.

One other question I have from reading this whole thread is that you mention laying down a line of color and then laying another line of a differend color on top of it. Do you mean you lay the second line directly on top of the first line basically covering the first line, or right next to it but slightly farther away from the center? Am I making sense?

Mary K

2015-05-17, 7:36pm

Yes I think I understand your question Lana, the red flower right above your post is made from laying down a line of Asian red and then covering it ( right on top ) with a line of caramel. I like to do that a lot. But there are so many different ways to make petals. If you lay down a line and then lay the next line slightly farther away from center when it compresses it will be UNDER the first line. Mainly the reason I like to lay down a line and then cover it with another color is make the first color develop in a way that I am looking for. For instance, lay down a line of silver creek and then lay right on top of it a line of caramel and see what happens, I would either score it with an exacto knife, or push it into a curve with cuticle pushers, then slight score. ( cuticle pushers are one of my favorite tools!) Try these things Lana and post what you get! If you know how to strike the silver creek your results can be really pretty, hot pink.
Here is an example of line right above the first line, see how the dark blue goes under the top color?
the blue line was laid down right above the white line, not on the white but above it, further away from center.
now it is under the white! funny how that works out
312630

both of these are line on top of line, one is asian red for first line and one is silver creek for first line, both are backed with caramel. Line on top of line.
312631
312629