Actually Lynnie I think those look quite nice.

I tried this and got awsome results. I used trans cobalt, striking red and emerald as bases. I like the ones done on the cobalt the best. Lots of blues and greens. I would love to know how to get some purples and pinky tones.

These are totally amazing! How did you do this???

Shelley

Lynne,
Thanks for sharing all of your recipes here!!!! I love light iris gold I have found I love it best when pulled directly from rod - the big honkin' chunks. I also find that I get a lot of striking in the kiln that takes my nice blues that I achieve while torching back to nice yellows and greens while in the kiln... I try to play with my iris yellow last in my day so they are in the kiln the shortest period...

These are with a base of straw yellow, then a thick random black ring around the bead - melted in. Next about 5 parallel lines of raku, then lines random lines of pure iris gold between the raku lines...Then it's burn baby burn... Although these aren't boro looking if you encased them they would be.

Hello :) I have a question- using carnelian as a base- you mean the opalino color, 536? I have some of this at home and never use it. I will have to try this. Also, I don't have any iris gold frit right now, and I already spent my "glass money" for the month. Will "Sunglow" by Glass Diversions work in the same manner?

I accidentally stumbled on making beads like this when I tried to make the "blue bead" from the tutorials section of this site. My bead did not look exactly like the blue bead (I use a HH and 7lb proplyene tank) but it really looked marvelous- the silver foil over cobalt with clear created amazing results (for me, somewhat of a beginner.) I then began adding different Glass Diversions frits and different transparent bases to see what would happen- glorious beads.

I'm lucky because there is a glass store not far from me, and with the rise in lampwork beading she (the owner) has a great stock of glass- and she special orders for us- so I can pop over to see if she has, or can get, straw yellow :) This is where my glass money for the month has already been spent!

I can't wait to go home and turn on my torch to try some of these "recipes" posted here!!!

Thanks Laurie, I appreciate the positive feedback.. I was trying to get more color.. sigh !LOL

I used Opalino Carnelian, and the beads turned totally brown! The Sunglow has SOME Iris Gold, but if you call Robin, she could tell you more!

What number is light brown? I tried a few mixes, and they all came out looking like poop/ It is true that Lauscha clear will not work with this?

Thanks!

Don't know the number offhand, but it's the Effetre handpulled light brown - the expensive stuff.

Okay, I had to go look it up: it's 591018 Effetre Light Brown Transparent.

Courtney

Yes Jennifer, Sunglow works also because it contains more than 50% Iris Gold. If you look here: http://www.glassdiversions.com/frit/sunglow.html you'll see where one of my testers used Sunglow to make these same beads. Try it and let me know how it goes.

Have fun,
Robin

next torch time, I'm gonna try this.....looks like grand fun!

Arrhh! I'm only getting blues & yellows.... how do you get the pinks/purples?

Shelley

I just had to try this technique...I'm so boro impaired on a mandrel...I have burned through so many mandrels...but this technique is awesome...and so fun cause ya just don't know what will pop out of the kiln the next day:-D
here's my first attempts...and they were painless..really easy...Thanks so much for the info!!!!

Hi Shelley...we posted at the same time...yours are gorgeous! I put the stringer over red and over med amethyst...to get the pinks and purples...

Wow! If I saw those side by side with Boro I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Great job!!!\\:D/

THANKS!!! I showed them to a couple of lampworkers that make boro...and they said WOW your boro is really getting better...hahaha...they couldn't believe they were soft glass...did I say I love this technique??? Thanks so much for sharing!!!

I don't know the answer to your questions Shelly, as I too want the pinks and purples, but your beads are beautiful.

Me to

I want some pinks and purples.

HELP - Anyone ???

Thanks Lara...
I tried the red base.. and all I get is blue/yellow over red... I'm not getting any pink/purple tones.... Very frustrating!!

Shelley

Here are my experiments. Can't tell you why I can get the purples/pinks with the red transparent base. My flame is oxydizing rather than just neutral - maybe that's it? I also go verrrry lightly with the stringer. Wish I had a better explanation! :-)

What kind of transparent red is everyone using? Maybe you get different results with Moretti's transparent red than with Lauscha's. :)

I also tried the techinque yesterday, and was not happy with the results at all. I used Moretti striking red as the base and got hardly any colors. I think there is some blue, but it's hard to tell since the beads came out so dark. I wish I had some Lauscha striking red to see if that makes any difference.

I also made some beads on a base of striking yellow, and those came out looking like baby poo. I'll post pictures when I get home tonight.

Oh, before I forget...beautiful beads everyone! :)

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but boro is so much easier to work with than soft glass. Why not just use boro instead of making moretti beads that look like boro?:? :-k

Because some people don't have a hot enough torch to work boro, or they don't have any boro, or because they like to work with soft glass but get the same effect. It's also way quicker to work with soft glass than with boro, especially if you're on a small torch.

oh, OK - that makes perfect sense. :)

Karla,

I'm using the Effetre striking red. I use the Effetre light transparent brown with the iris gold frit really cooked into the stringer. When you pull the stringer if the end of it (where it's thicker) doesn't look hazy like boro, then don't use the stringer, it won't come out like these beads.

I don't think the encasing is what is bringing out the pinks and purples, I can see the iridescence in the bead after I have laid down the stringer and melted it in - before I encase in the clear. If I don't see the iridescence, then the bead is a wash.

In person, these beads are darker like black cherries. I always put the pix through photoshop to lighten the background - otherwise the pictures are too dark. But by doing that, it lightens the whole picture slightly. This is what the beads look like when in the sunlight - I took another pix of them a little farther away so that the beads would look darker - as they are when you are not in the sunlight. These beads definitely have the same characteristics as boro in that they are darker in person. I tried to "lighten" by using a base of clear and then a light layer of the transparent red, but it's the stringer that makes them dark, not the base bead. Less stringer, a little less dark but still dark.

I've included a picture of a base of rubino - thought pink would be pretty - too bad they didn't turn out pink! But still pretty!

Hope that helps!
Cindy

PS - the beads that are on the outer edges are look as the beads do in person, black cherry is all I can think of. The oval bead in the center to your right, the one that looks lighter and red, is actually striking orange - it looks orange out of the sunlight - in the sunlight, you can see it's red-orange.

Wow...thanks Cindy! :)

I used the same glass as you did, but maybe I didn't cook the frit enough before pulling the stringer. My stringer came out amber in color and was pretty clear. I heated the blob of light brown/iris gold until white hot and then pulled it into stringer. Do I need to keep it white hot longer or something like that? Maybe I heated it too much?

My bead are really dark too, so maybe taking a picture of them will allow the depth of the beads to be more visible. I meant to do that last night, but the torch was calling. You know how it goes. ;)

By the way...I love the rubino beads! I must try that color too! :)

Thanks!

Karla

Hi Karla,

Maybe it's how much iris gold frit I have on the transparent brown? I make a small ball of glass at the end of a rod, then roll it in the iris gold and cook it into the brown to white-hot, then I flatten with mashers and I heat and roll in frit again, flatten in another direction and then roll in frit again.

I work on a minor and two oxycons and work about 4 inches out of a 8 inch flame - it's an oxydizing flame (blue).

Thanks for the nice comment about the rubino beads :-)

Hope that helps and you get some success soon!

Cindy

Okay...I FINALLY got around to taking pictures last night. Placing the beads under incandescent lights really brought out the stringer work, and there are even some colors. However, I don't really care for how they look. I thought they'd be more vibrant...colorful.

These beads were made using the suggested stringer on a base of Moretti striking red and encased with Vetrofond clear.


These beads were made using the stringer on a base of Moretti striking yellow and encased with Vetrofond. I don't really care for these since there was a reaction on some of the beads between the stringer and yellow that turned an ugly brown color.


Regarding how much iris gold I used in my stringer, I heated a nice gather of transparent brown (around 10mm) and rolled it in enough frit to coat the entire gather. Then, I heated it in until it was white hot and pulled into stringer. Are you suggesting I use more iris gold?

Edited to add: Actually, after looking at my beads, I think I got the best color where I had more stringer on the bead. For example...in the red set, there are two beads with dots of the stringer. These beads have the most amount of color when compared to the other beads. I added two layers of dots to these beads, whereas the other beads only had one "layer" of stringer. So, maybe more stringer does show more colors?

Thanks!

Also boro is a lot more exspensive and you have to have darker glasses (more expense)

When I make mine like this, I roll the gather three times in the iris gold, and yep, the more stringer, the better. If you layer the stringer, you get even more auroras. Check it out on copper green!

That's beautiful! I LOVE the colors! I'll have to try it on copper green and I just restocked that color! :)