crystals

[olivia]

what kind of crystals do you use with your glass i was looking at them and it said they have foil on the back soooooo i don't know what kind to get
thank you
Olivia:-k

[CO_Phantom]

Are you talking about cubic zirconias to imbed in the glass?

I ordered some from Pehnec when I did a bulk buy with them. There are several vendors who carry them as well....off the top of my head Glass Diversions comes to mind. I think Arrow Springs probably has them...probably lbsupplys or Frantz, too.

-Amy

[olivia]

thank you Amy---i will try them---really i didn't know you had to use cz's i thouht you could use crystals---good thing I didn't order them yet
Olivia

[CelesteK]

Crystals have the backing on them. It may burn off if you tried to use them with glass. The cz's do not have any backing on them; they're faceted like diamonds to cause the shine.

Celeste

[WeeMary]

Crystal, as in Swarovski, is leaded glass - it melts!

[CO_Phantom]

Olivia--

No problem! Give me a couple of days and I will send you a few to try out. I have quite a few of them, but they are where I torch (1 1/2 hours away) and I won't be out there for another week or so.

They are fun to use, but word of caution: once they are placed you have to heat the crap out of them and the bead or else the bead around them will crack. That's been my experience anyway. Maybe someone has some ideas about that.

If I heat them really well after I've placed them, the bead or ring is fine.

-Amy

[Carolyn M]

I've found the larger ones make the bead crack more frequently, I haven't had as much of a problem with teeny ones.

[olivia]

thank you all for the info
Olivia

[CO_Phantom]

Carolyn, how teeny is teeny for you?

I have used the larger hearts from Pehnec, and as long as they are heated really well, they do okay. but I did a ring with a purple CZ, and I'm thinking it was 2mm? and it cracked as well. I couldn't heat it because I was afraid I'd lose the impressed butterfly pattern I'd done. Clearly I did that in the wrong order, but...hey, as long as I know what I did wrong, right?

I thought the 2mm was teeny...do you use the 1mm ones?

-Amy

[olivia]

thank you Amy
But you don't have to do that---but what a nice thought.
Olivia