Oxy and selling questions

[VickiK]

I have a couple of questions -

1. It seems like I'm really going through the oxygen. About what is normal?
I have a minor on oxy/propane.

2. I've only been lampworking since February and haven't had a whole lot of time to torch. Every fall the very small town I live in puts on a little festival -nothing major, just some local artists, crafters, food, etc., you get the picture. Anyway, I've sold some jewelry (crystals, gemstones, SS) there for the past two years and reserved a space this year as well. My question is, what do you think about selling beginner beads? They're not great, by not great I mean they are shaped OK, but I haven't mastered (OK, I haven't MASTERED any) many techniques, so they're pretty plain, but they are kiln annealed. The price will be very low and I will definitely tell people I'm a beginner (as if they won't already know!). I thought maybe it would help me pay for glass if I could sell them for something.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[MikeAurelius]

We always use more oxygen than propane. Just look at the pressures involved: For most people running soft glass, the pressures are 2 to 1, oxygen to propane.

In my studio, we go through about 1 - 20 pound propane tank a month, and the equivalent of 15 - "K" tanks of oxygen (equivalent because we switched to liquid oxygen).

[Rebekah]

Don't know about the oxygen question, but I have a bit of advice that I follow about selling my beads...

If I would be ashamed to let another beadmaker see them without any qualifications, I will sell them. If I had to say, well, that dot's out of line or my shaping isn't great yet, or anything, it goes in my stash or gets made into jewelry for a friend for free.

Just my opinion, though. If you are really worried about your free hand beads and want to sell in a fair, though, have you thought about using presses? That would take a lot of the stress away.

Rebekah

[LauraT]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I sell in a gallery where they have other beads and I see people buy beads that are very WONKY all the time and they love them! So.....I think if your beads are well made and annealed why not.

Laura T

[kimberly]

I see no problem at all with selling your beads. As far as the oxy goes, I use about 300-400 pounds in a six hour day. One seahorse takes about 50 lbs. of oxy. I am using "K" size tanks (I think. The are shoulder high and I cannot lift them, I can only roll them).

[Three Muses Glass]

I did a show at the start of summer that I took mostly my fused things to, but I did have some lampworked jewelry items, and I put all the orphans in a bowl with a price tag. People just loved looking through those! Lots of people like to make their own jewelry and not only them, but people who make textiles like to incorporate beads in the weave. Go for it!

[VickiK]

Thanks so much for the help. I think I will go for it!