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-   -   Simple butterfly tutorial please (http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236346)

Mountain Lady 2012-12-10 1:17pm

Simple butterfly tutorial please
 
I have been trying to make a simple one color little butterfly bead, ARGH! For days now my butterfly turns out looking like a dog bone or a bow. Can anyone help me make one of these? It should be so easy but is totally alluding me!
Thanks for any help!

Frit Diva 2012-12-10 4:24pm

Lezlie~

Are you starting with a longish tube bead? That will really help you avoid the dog bone look. You can also texture the body to make it more realistic if you want.

Then when you make the wings, try making the bottom two at the same time, then heat the outer tip (I should say where you want the tip to be!), then stick a stringer to it and pull slightly to get the point. Let the glass rest for a couple seconds before pulling to avoid the point being too skinny. Break or snip off the stringer and heat it to make a cute ball at the point of the wing, or melt it in and have a smooth point.

Same with the upper wings, heat the tips and pull slightly to get the type of point you want.

Getting all this balanced is not quite as easy as it sounds, but with a little practice you'll get the hang of it!

Hope that helps~


Jo

misty 2012-12-10 4:29pm

One way I've used that is fairly easy is to cut the butterfly out of silver foil, or use a punch.
Make a base bead, flatten it, and heat to glowing. Press the bead onto the foil cut out and burnish it on. Then keep the silver side of the bead out of the flame ( you can heat the back ). Use transparent stringers to apply dots or lines over the butterfly.
It looks amazing and it's really easy, if your good at stringer control you can also outline the butterfly and draw on a body. I'll see if I can post a pic of one later

Mountain Lady 2012-12-10 4:59pm

Thanks so much Jo and Misty :) I would love to see pics!

jonibird 2012-12-10 5:41pm

Let's see, these are not great, but are they anything like you're thinking?
I just smash a round ball then smash each side of the mandrel, then use a butter knife to make the dent in the sides...


misty 2012-12-10 7:27pm

Sorry I just looked through my files and don't have a pic - my MIL claimed the butterflies I made and is now using them as plant stakes.
Anyway it's incredibly easy, not sculptural but still makes a really pretty and sparkly butterfly

JuneauBrat 2012-12-11 12:41am

I think if you check out this thread and email Diane she would send you the tutorial she has on Butterflies...
http://lampworketc.com/forums/showth...ight=butterfly

There is another tut on here somewhere so maybe do a little more in depth search and see what you can find.

Eileen 2012-12-11 7:11am

The link to this one is on Diane's website:
http://www.dianewoodall.com/How%20to...fly%20Bead.pdf

PattyK 2012-12-18 2:42pm

Here's a great tutorial from Sharon Peters. This one's a bit more complicated but you could just follow the first few steps for a simple one-color butterfly.

http://www.isgb.org/beads-of-courage...-tutorial.html

PattyK 2012-12-18 2:44pm

And here's another one! I love the look of the wings on these. :)

http://lutrick.blogspot.com/2010/03/...f-courage.html

Mountain Lady 2012-12-18 3:28pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonibird (Post 4184486)
Let's see, these are not great, but are they anything like you're thinking?
I just smash a round ball then smash each side of the mandrel, then use a butter knife to make the dent in the sides...


LOL I think they are pretty great! Thanks, that's exactly what I did. I just needed plain blue ones and this worked out great!

Mountain Lady 2012-12-18 3:30pm

Wow! Thank you so much everyone! Think I'll do some for BOC now :)

jonibird 2012-12-28 7:54pm

I post in threads and then forget about them, dang it! Glad this worked out for you!


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