ENCASING SILVER MESH ~ By Starleen's Studio

[*StarleensStudio*]

Hi there!

Back in 2007 I created a tutorial on how to apply and encase .999 fine silver mesh. Shortly after I obsessed with the use of silver in my work, so proceed with caution! You will most likely fall in love with mesh also. I went wild over florals over mesh last winter... and you can see a few simple examples of them by following the link to the tutorial :

http://www.starleensstudio.com/Tutorials/Working_Silver_Mesh/Working_Silver_Mesh.html

Enjoy and tell me how you made out! I would love to see YOUR beads now. Don't be shy, bring on the eye candy.

~ Starleen

[bexrox]

OMG! That is gorgeous! Wow! I'm not ready to try, I'm just starting out. But I'm so curious as to the mesh. What is it and where do you get it?

Never mind, I found it. I'm getting some (I won't try until I'm ready, I won't try until I'm ready, I won't...).

Thank you so much for the great tuts. I'll be back when I have mastered the basics!

Your beads just take my breath away. Wow!!!

Becky

[theglasszone]

Awesome! I have some silver mesh and have been dying to try it out...this has given me the courage to finally give it a whirl!!!

Thanks so much!
DeAnne in CA

[ekkc]

I bought silver mesh months ago, but have been too chicken to try it. Thanks for giving me such great instructions (and courage!!) Thank you! :waving:

[Veda's Beads]

What a great tut! So, can you tell me what I'm doing wrong when half my silver mesh turns gold? It's a cool look, but it's irritating when I make ten beads and 8 of them turn gold (all or nothing please!)

here's a photo:

109231

The base glass is clear with purple ends, 2 of these stayed silver. I did another set that was clear with grey ends and they all stayed silver. I'm at a loss as to what the diference is.

Thanks for your help. :)

[suzanne]

Veda did you use Lauscha to encase your mesh with? Lauscha turns silver to gold depending on how much it is heated

[*StarleensStudio*]

Hello Veda,

Silver reacts with glass regardless of the form it comes in (mesh, dust, granule, foil, bezel, wire). Effects become more prominent when more silver is used. It looks like you may have used the medium grade mesh instead of the fine? The more silver you encase, the greater the effect. If the glass is over heated the silver becomes liquid inside of the glass for a short period of time causing yellowing effects in clear. This is not unique to mesh. Encase silver foil in clear and over heat. You will find the same yellowing will occur. The more heat built up in the glass, the greater the yellowing/brown effect will be. Clears that hold in the heat longer will increase the chances of yellowing. Why? You may have taken your bead out of the flame, but the heat built up inside is still cooking your silver.

It all depends on how and where you work your clear at the torch, in conjunction with knowing how to control the amount of heat inside of your glass at all times. (which is a full 2 day discussion LITERALLY)

I would like to interject a thought here. This may not be what your minds eye saw as you dreamed up a beautiful set of purple and clear beads, however this has design potential. Practice applying the mesh according to the steps in the tutorial to place YOU in the drivers seat. Once you have control over achieving the desired effect, go back and revisit this "golden" mesh look. Mix the golden mesh effect inside of beads of transparent topaz shades, and some cim butter pecan. Throw in some gold or salmon dichroic under the clear/mesh and you have yourself a killer looking bead.

~ Starleen

[glassactcc]

What a nice tut. I love silver mesh too but I seldom use it. Don't know why. I just forget I guess.

Here's one from a while back that I made with mesh.

107028

[rachelle]

thank you for such a great tutorial! I've wasted so much mesh, perhaps now I canget it to do what I want!

[Flynn]

Nice tutorial! I've actually messed around a bit with window screen mesh I got at the hardware store but I've never tried the silver mesh. (The same way I fooled around with aluminum foil before I tried my silver foil.) Now, I may have to try it out.

[jaci]

What a great tut! So, can you tell me what I'm doing wrong when half my silver mesh turns gold? It's a cool look, but it's irritating when I make ten beads and 8 of them turn gold (all or nothing please!)

here's a photo:

109231

The base glass is clear with purple ends, 2 of these stayed silver. I did another set that was clear with grey ends and they all stayed silver. I'm at a loss as to what the diference is.

Thanks for your help. :)
these are actually really pretty~!

You can encase with really really light blue to keep the sliver, silver. you won't know the difference, and if you are using something over the blue that will react, just apply a thin layer of blue and switch to clear. Also try to heat the silver as little as possible before it is encased. This will prevent any burn off or soot from gathering.

[Veda's Beads]

thank you so much for the pointers and compliments. the clear I use is 79100506 Crystal clear, it's the only one I seem to be able to keep from being scummy.

Here is a pic of the same mesh, same clear, same flame, with cim tabby grey ends.

109314

[Fru Babsan]

Greate tut. Thankyou!
I got some mesh with my starterpack when I set up my studio last June, but I've hardly touched it as I'm afraid of ruining it.

But after your tut I feel quite encouraged! Maybe I'll give it a try today... :smile:

[Beadbug]

What a great tut, I just love it when they are posted with tons of photos.

[ziggys]

Hi, I too love the way the silver turned gold in your bead set, Veda . And it's is a cheap replacement for gold mesh. :-)

Starleen, I've covered silver leaf with clear, (Vetrofond and maybe even Effetre) using a HH torch and the leaf turned a beautiful gold/amber/brown color. But I never knew WHY it did that. Thanks for enlightening me. Now I can finish my set on a Mini CC and hopefully still get the same effect that I got before on the HH.

[beadbroad]

Really wonderful tutorial with great photos. Thanks for your careful work on that!