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Old 2010-06-25, 12:27pm
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Fine Folly Glassworks Fine Folly Glassworks is offline
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Join Date: Aug 06, 2009
Location: Mt. Pleasant, SC
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Default FREE Critter & Animal Beads Pattern & Tutorial

Hi Everyone,

GENERAL INFO & INTRODUCTION

This Tutorial has been made to help people make critter beads, first for the Beads of Courage (BOC) program, and second for anyone who wants to try them out! The mandrel position is sideways because that's what BOC prefers so that the children can string them and wear them that way, but you can make these beads with your mandrel running up and down too.

These patterns are designed to allow those of us on Hothead torches (without bead kilns to immediately garage in) to be able to make them like those on the big time torches! You can make these beads and put them in Vermiculite or the Japanese Annealing Bubbles or hopefully the Fiber Blankets to cool before batch annealing, and they should survive. I use a Hothead and the Japanese Annealing Bubbles and then batch anneal in my large stained glass kiln. If you use a surface-mix torch you should also be able to use the Tutorials to make the Critters - maybe even better!

Here are the Critters included in the Workbook, along with a few pics of them made up. You are free to make these Critters to sell, or for your own use!






HERE ARE PICS OF THE FREE CRITTER TUTORIALS BELOW (IN THEIR TUTORIAL ORDER):
.•:*:•..•:*:•..•:*:•..•:*:•.


AND SOME OF THEIR VARIATIONS:
.•:*:•..•:*:•..•:*:•.



HOW TO MAKE 'WILLY the WORM'



INTRODUCTION...
This is a simple wrapped Worm bead with eyes. You need the following glass items and tools ready. I used effetre Pea Green because it is so soft and melts and droops easily. At the bottom of this tutorial you can see the variations of Willie that you can make. For the easiest version possible, make a bead and then add Willie to the bead, and only use black dots for eyes.

1. Rod of Pea Green
2. Thick Stringer of Pea Green for base of eye dots (optional)
3. White Stringer for eye dots (optional)
4. Thin Stringer of Black for eye pupils
5. Blue Stringer or other color for dots on back
6. Thick mandrel with bead release
7. Smoothing tool (like a graphite rod in a holder)
8. Brass or pointed tool to make him smile (optional)


LET'S GET STARTED!

HOW TO MAKE THE BODY...


1. Heat the end of a rod of effetre Pea Green to a round shape.

2. Roll the end into a soft cone-shape. It will be the beginning of the tail on your mandrel.

3. Dab your rod in and out of the flame and heat about 2 inches of it until it starts to glow. You are softening it to allow it to droop as you roll it around the mandrel. You do not want to stretch the hot glass much if you can help it, you want it to go around the mandrel in a roll.

Start with the tail end, do a complete roll and as you come into your next roll you pull up and cut the glass in the flame. Swirl the glass as you cut it to make a blunt end for the stub that will become the head.

You want your glass coils to touch - side by side, so that it won't come off the string that the child wears. You can spread the coils for a neat look (see Variation Pictures below), but it wouldn't stay on a string that way. I also made up our worm on a bead, and you can see that below too!



HOW TO MAKE THE HEAD...


4. Heat the end of your Pea Green rod and add a wrap of glass around the head stub.

5. Heat the head in the flame - hold it under the flame and up into it - to keep the body wrap out of the flame as much as possible. Keep switching the angle to head up and then head down in the flame, as you get the head to shape round. You can gently use a graphite tool to smooth and shape it if needed.

6. Tilt the head ball toward the body and let it come to rest on the roll. Take a breath and smile at yourself!



APPLY BLUE DOTS DOWN WILLY'S BACK...


STRINGER NOTE:
Notice that only the very tip of the stringer is heated to molten. That is the way you want your stringers to be in order to apply your dots with the most control over size. Then it's a matter of how long you leave it on the spot, or press it, or how long you take to remove it in the flame. Be consistent and you will get the same size dots. It takes practice and holding your mouth just right...

7. Take your blue stringer and begin to apply your dots starting at the back of the head. Notice that in the picture above only the tip of the stringer is molten. Touch the molten tip and barely move it (and the mandrel) into the flame to cut it. Apply dots down to the tail.

8. Melt your blue dots to half rounds. You should not have little round balls, but half-rounds that cannot pop off or catch on anything.



HOW TO MAKE THE EYES...


9. Using your Pea Green stringer, heat a good size dot on the end and apply your first eye dot. Repeat for the next one. Melt the two dots round.

10. This white layer is optional, you can just apply black pupils, but white does set them off and it it good practice! If you mess up, heat the eye and with tweezers pull both eyes off and start again. If you struggle with eyes of multi-layers, just use black eye dots with no body color base dot.

Back to our step - using your white stringer, heat a smaller sized dot on the end and apply your first dot on top of the green one. Be sure the green one is pretty cool, not molten, or your white won't want to stick. Repeat for the second eye and melt your white dots in round.

11. Let the white dots cool a bit as you reach for your black stringer.

EYE PLACEMENT NOTE: Notice the eyes in this pic of 3 worms - the eyes are looking at you from underneath the bead. I realized that this is the way these beads will hang - so I switched and added the eye dots on the underside of the head to look at us when in hanging position.

Willy will be looking at us upside down in the first Tutorial version on the right. I flipped him through the wonders of technology to show you. He's still a Cutie, but I wanted you to consider the options.

...


HOW TO APPLY PUPIL DOTS & A SMILE...


12. Apply small black dots and melt in. Smile again, and decide if you want to go for Gold and put a smile on the little guy!

If you DO want to make him smile, pick up your pointed brass tool (or what you use) and heat his face and AS SOON as his face glows put your tool in at the left side of his mouth and press to the left a teeny bit - to make a cheek, then, to make his smile, draw lightly or touch repeatedly, and finally, press in a teeny bit to the right to make his right cheek.

NOW you are done and Willy is happy! Hurraaaay!


WILLY'S VARIATION PICS...
.........







HOW TO MAKE 'NED & ELLIE TURTLE'

.•:*จจ*:•.

INTRO

This tutorial will show you how to make these two cuties. There's plenty of room for adding flowers and dots and cute decorations to their shells!


MATERIALS:
I used effetre colors for both turtles. Their heads and feet are Opalino. The color and contrast is pretty but I wouldn't use Opalino again because it doesn't show the smile and nose dots well.

1. Rod of Green for the body & contrasting color for the head and feet
2. White Stringer for eye dots & toes
3. Thin Stringer of Black for eye pupils
7. Thick mandrel with bead release
8. Graphite rod and tweezers or tools of your choice


LET'S GET STARTED!


HOW TO MAKE THE BASIC SHELL...


1. Wrap your mandrel with a barrel shape of the shell color. Make sure it is at least 5/8" to 3/4" wide. If you make your barrel the same height on the edges it gives you the glass to make a nice round.

2. Round it into a ball with nice sides. Use a bead shaper or heat it molten and then remove it from the flame and slowly turn. The cooling will help pull it into a round shape. Reheat and repeat if needed.

3. Heat the front and back into a droop and press flat. You need to polish the ridges out of your sides from pressing it on a cold surface. Face your bead into the flame and polish out the ridges. Let it cool a bit and do the other side. Polish only one side at a time so that the cooler side helps hold your bead flat.

4. Heat and use your marver to make side shape adjustments gently. Heat the bottom and flatten it with your marver.

5. Heat the shell and using a flat edge tool press in your shell lines about 1/8" or so. You want the lines to last as you heat the shell for other reasons, though you can touch it up later. I use a brass tool for this but you could use any flat edge tool and continually cool it so it won't stick.



HOW TO MAKE THE FEET...


6. Heat your contrasting color and apply a large dot of it for the first foot. Twist/swirl it off to make a stub that you can apply another wrap of glass to. You want a thick wide foot that you can apply toe dots to.

7. Apply the wrap to the stub and heat and shape. Use your tools to press the foot into a basic shape. Use your tweezer to flatten slightly and to widen it across the front.

8. Repeat for the other foot. I got to much glass on when I did the 2nd wrap, so I heated the foot and pinched off the excess. Heat and shape. Then heat both feet and use your marver to press the feet flat on the bottoms.



HOW TO MAKE THE HEAD...


9. Heat your contrasting rod into a large gather and press it on the shell where the head goes, draw it up toward the top of the shell and twist/swirl off.

10. Heat the face straight on in the flame, smooth your top twist down and into the face area, and then use your tools and marver to flatten and shape it. Spread the bottom jaw area. You want to press and make the bottom of the face wider for the smile and nose dots.

11. Heat the face bottom again and use your sharp edge tool to make the smile. After your get the smile pressed in, use a pointed tool to gently press to the right just a bit to get the right cheek.

12. Heat and use your pointed tool to press in your nose dots. Dip the point-tool in water to cool each time so it won't stick.



HOW TO MAKE THE EYES...


13. Use the white stringer to apply the eye dots. Melt them round.

14. Use your fine black stringer to apply the pupil dots and melt in.

15. Gently heat the feet and use your white stringer to apply toe dots. Heat the dots to round and set them on the feet.

16. Take a deep breath and smile at your turtle! He's smiling back at you!








HOW TO MAKE 'HENRIETTA & HARVEY' HIPPO

.•:*จจ*:•.


INTRO

This tutorial makes a sweet Hippo and her hubby... It's good practice on eyes, ears and legs!

MATERIALS:
I used effetre soft pink for Henrietta, and a light blue Opalino for Harvey. The Opalino is a stiffer glass.

1. Rod of effetre Pink or Sky Blue Opalino
2. White Stringer for nose, eye & toe dots
(just use black dots for eyes if small stacked eye dots intimidate you!)
3. Thin Stringer of Black for eye pupils
4. Thick mandrel with bead release
5. Smoothing tool (like a graphite rod)


LET'S GET STARTED!


HOW TO MAKE YOUR BEAD & HIPPO BODY...


1. Wrap your mandrel with a barrel shape of pink or the color of your choice. Make sure it is at least 5/8" to 3/4" wide. If you make your barrel the same height on the edges it gives you the glass to make a nice round.

2. Round it into a ball with nice sides. Use a bead shaper or heat it molten and then remove it from the flame and slowly turn. The cooling will help pull it into a round shape. Reheat and repeat if needed.

3. Heat the front and back into a droop and press flat. You need to polish the ridges out of your sides from pressing it on a cold surface. Face your bead into the flame and polish out the ridges. Let it cool a bit and do the other side. Polish only one side at a time so that the cooler side helps hold your bead flat.

4. Heat and use your marver to make side shape adjustments gently. Heat the bottom and press it flat for the stomach and leg attachment. This is optional if you want a rounded tum-tum.



HOW TO MAKE THE LEGS...


5. Heat the end of your rod and the leg site and apply a large dot for your first leg. Let the stump cool slightly, reheat your rod and put another wrap on the stump to make a thicker wider leg.

6. Melt the leg in and shape. Use a tweezer to barely flatten it across the front. You want a nice thick wide leg, so add more glass and re-shape until you are happy with it. Toes have to go across the bottom so you need a wide foot. (NOTE: Glass doesn't have a time schedule or anywhere to go, so take your time and figure out how to make it do what you want).

7. Repeat for the other leg. Then heat the bottoms of the feet and use your marver to press them on - gently - to make them flat on the bottom.



HOW TO MAKE THE HEAD...


8. Heat your rod with the end up, so that a large round collects as you melt and keep turning the rod. You want a very large pea shape collection of molten glass.

9. Heat your Hippo body (face area) briefly and press the molten pea where the bottom of the nose will be. Gently press it on and draw up toward the top of where the head should be and twist/flame cut the glass off.

10. Heat the face to a glow and use a graphite of smoothing tool to press and spread the nose-area to the left and to the right.

Re-heat the face to a glow and smooth the face shape out. Press it flat with your marver. Use your marver and tools to shape the head sides. Repeat as needed until you are happy with the shape.



HOW TO MAKE THE EARS & TAIL...


11. Heat your rod and apply your first ear dot. Swirl it a bit to keep as much glass as possible on the dot as you pull the rod off and cut in the flame. Melt your ear dot into shape, turning it over to heat both sides.

12. Use your tweezer gently to flatten it across the front, and shift it a bit if needed. Repeat for the other ear.

13. Heat your rod and the tail spot a bit and add the tail dot. Melt it round. Re-tweezer your ears if the heat rounded them. If your ear is so small it is melting away as it gets heated, add more glass and tweezer it back into shape. Use the edge of a brass or other tool to scoot in the sides of the tail or ears. You can scoot it in for a more straight up shape as I did if that appeals to you.



HOW TO MAKE THE NOSE...


14. Use your white stringer, barely heat a ball on it and apply your nose dot. Repeat for your second nose dot.

15. Pick up your pointed tool and heat the nose dots liquid and press in the center of each one. I have a Creation Station to rest my hands on, so I can focus and center the poker and hit the middle as soon as the nose dots go liquid. You don't want to melt the nose dots in, so you have to be ready to go for the center when they go translucent. If you miss, you can touch white on and reheat and try again!



HOW TO MAKE THE TOES & EYES...


16. Lightly heat a foot and using your white stringer, apply 2 or 3 small toe dots. Keep them separate or they will melt and merge! Place them at least one dot width apart. Lightly melt them in. Leave them raised or melt them flat as you like.

17. Using your white stringer, apply your eye dots. Melt them until just round. Apply small black dots. Melt them round.

18. Smile at Henrietta and promise her you will make Harvey next! These are pictures of them hot...
.•:*จจ*:•.







HOW TO MAKE 'FRANCINE THE FISH'

(NOTE: BOC cannot accept beads with parts that can break off... so make Francine for the enjoyment of it!)


INTRO

This tutorial makes pretty Francine the Fish, and she can be adapted in endless ways and colors!

MATERIALS:
I used effetre colors for Francine. You can decide on your favorite colors or use mine.

1. Rod of Yellow for the body
2. White Stringer for eye dots
3. Thin Stringer of Black for eye pupils
4. Pea Green Stringer for mouth and fins
5. Purple Stringer for fins
6. Blue Stringer for fin dots
7. Thick mandrel with bead release
8. Graphite rod and tweezers or tools of your choice


LET'S GET STARTED!


MAKE YOUR BEAD & FISH BODY...


1. Wrap your mandrel with a barrel shape of yellow or the color of your choice. Make sure it is at least 5/8" to 3/4" wide. If you make your barrel the same height on the edges it gives you the glass to make a nice round.

2. Round it into a ball with nice sides. Use a bead shaper or heat it molten and then remove it from the flame and slowly turn. The cooling will help pull it into a round shape. Reheat and repeat if needed.

3. Heat the front and back into a droop and press flat. You need to polish the ridges out of your sides from pressing it on a cold surface. Face your bead into the flame and polish out the ridges. Let it cool a bit and do the other side. Polish only one side at a time so that the cooler side helps hold your bead flat.

4. Heat and use your marver to make side shape adjustments gently. You want a softly rounded shape that is oval from top to bottom, with more at the bottom.



HOW TO MAKE THE MOUTH & TAIL BASE...


5. Use your Pea Green stringer and wrap the mouth place. Wrap wider than the mandrel. Add another wrap over the top and if needed under for pronounced lips.

6. Heat and shape the mouth until you are happy. Pea Green is very soft so you can pull or shift it with a graphite rod or tool easily. Do not over heat it or it melts quickly out of shape.

7. Use your Pea Green stringer to wrap the tail base. Wrap it around the mandrel twice if needed. Melt into a nice round shape up against the body.



HOW TO MAKE THE TOP & BOTTOM FINS...


8. Use your Pea Green stringer to apply 2 large dots on the top of your fish - touching each other side-by-side. Add another dot in the center of the 2 dots and melt a bit. Use your tweezers to crimp the fin to flatten it but don't crimp it thin.

9. Using your purple stringer heat the tip of it and draw across the fin, starting at the front and going to the back. If you need to, rake the purple down to the fish body so the color goes over the edge of the Pea Green fin.

10. Use your blue stringer to apply dots along the top if the fin. Melt in a bit. The dots will melt more as you work the eyes, so don't melt in much at all. Repeat for the bottom fin.



HOW TO MAKE THE TAIL FINS...


11. Using your purple stringer, heat it to make a large dot and apply it to the top of your Pea Green tail wrap. Do it again if your dot isn't big enough. Use your tweezers to flatten and shape it a bit into a bit of a fan shape.

12. Use your blue stringer to apply dots across the top of the Purple. Repeat for the bottom tail fin.



HOW TO MAKE THE EYE DOTS...


13. Using your blue stringer heat it to form a large dot and then press it where the eye will be on both sides. Heat and flatten the dot using a tool. You don't want to be applying excessive heat to the fish now or you will melt in your blue dots.

14. Using your white stringer, heat to form a dot and apply it to your blue base. Heat it to make it round on the blue base. Just heat until it goes round.

15. Apply black eye dots. Melt them in.

16. Slowly re-heat the fish as evenly as possible. Say hi to Francine! She thanks you for spending so much time on her. Imagine all the ways you can decorate her next time!








HOW TO MAKE 'SLIM the LIZARD'




INTRO

This lizard bead tutorial will help you struggle with making toes and eyes - but it's fun, and as you get better you can make neat changes like a wider tummy and multiple color dots on his back. You can also decorate the bead before applying Slim!

MATERIALS:
I used a dark green, but I suggest you use effetre Pea Green because it melts into itself well and makes legs and toes more easily.

1. Rod of Pea Green
2. Thick Stringer of Pea Green for base of eye dots and legs/arms
3. Thin Stringer of Pea Green for toes
4. White Stringer for eye dots (optional)
5. Thin Stringer of Black for eye pupils
6. Purple Stringer or other color for dots on back
7. Thick mandrel with bead release
8. Smoothing tool (like a graphite rod)


LET'S GET STARTED!


MAKE YOUR BARREL BEAD...


1. Wrap your mandrel with a barrel shape of yellow or the color of your choice. Make sure it is at least 5/8" to 3/4" wide, and at least 3/8" thick.

2. Melt the ends into shape and to smooth you can gently roll on your marver. You want to keep the barrel shape, and not let it round up.



HOW TO MAKE THE HEAD & BODY...


3. Heat your Lizard colored rod and roll the tip if needed into a cone shape. Heat at least one inch of the rod until beginning to glow.

4. Touch down on the bead to begin the tail. Lightly stretch and it will give you a thinner tail, then let the rod begin to set down on the bead for a thicker back. As you get to the tail pull up and cut in the flame. Swirl the end as you remove the rod in the flame.

5. Heat the tip of the rod and wrap the head stub to make it bigger. Begin to heat the head up and down in the flame, but keep the body out of the flame as much as possible.

6. Melt the head round and then let it rest forward on the bead.



HOW TO MAKE TOES & LEGS...

TOE STRINGER NOTES:
a. You should warm the toe-spot on the bead just before applying the stringer, and then barely heat the very tip of the stringer before setting it down on the bead to draw the toes. You need to have your bead on the side of the flame at the place where your toe-stringer starts to give and can be drawn on, not melted on. You move it closer to the flame to cut/melt it loose as you pull up. Then you get your graphite or sharp tool and touch the toes to make sure they are seated. You do the same thing at the ankle spot when you apply the middle toe.

b. If you put on a bad toe immediately pull back from the flame, let the spot cool, and you may be able to pick it off with a tweezer or small pliers. Then start again. You can also scoot the toe over using a flat brass tool sometimes, and add more if you get a to-short toe. Finally, you can make the toes more distinct when you apply your toe dots later. You can see on the right front toes that I had a short one, and added more to correct it.


7. You can apply your toes as individual strokes starting on the outside and ending in the center where the ankle will be, or as an upside down 'V' like I do, with the center toe drawn on in the middle.

8. SO, make your first toe-V, then apply your center toe and pull up at the ankle to cut it. Press down the 3 toes and the ankle bump with your tool to seat them on your bead. You can apply your toe color-dots now or later. If you do it now, melt them in a bit. I did them later in this tutorial.


9. To make your arms, using your thicker stringer, heat the tip and barely warm about 1/2" of the stringer, and touch it on the ankle. Stretch/lay it up to the body, and pull up in the heat to cut it. Use your tool to touch it to the body, and heat the area to help melt it in. Touch/smooth the spot with your tool if need be. Repeat on the other side.


10. Repeat the same steps for the legs.



HOW TO MAKE THE EYES...


11. Using your Pea Green stringer, heat a good sized dot on the end and apply your first eye dot. Repeat for the next one. Melt the two dots round.

12. This white layer is optional, you can just apply black pupils, but white does set them off and it is good practice! If you mess up, heat the eye and with tweezers pull both eyes off and start again. If you struggle with eyes of multi-layers, just use black eye dots with no body color base dot.

Back to our step - using your white stringer, heat a smaller sized dot on the end and apply your first dot on top of the green one. Be sure the green one is pretty cool, not molten, or your white won't want to stick. Repeat for the second eye and melt your white dots in round.


13. Let the white dots cool a bit and apply small black dots and melt in.



TOE & BACK DOTS...


14. Heat the tip of your toe-colored stringer. Apply your toe dots. Melt to round them.

15. Beginning at the back of the head, apply your back-dots down to the tail tip. Melt to round them.


16. Take a breath and smile at Slim... he sure thanks you for hanging in there and completing him!

Last edited by Fine Folly Glassworks; 2015-01-29 at 3:53pm.
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