Lots of thoughts tonight, come discuss with me!

[sleekbeads]

I'm really intrigued by the copper mesh and will be trying it soon.
I've been advised by a friend to slap the copper mesh on and quickly cover it with glass.

Now, I'm assuming that the copper mesh in the glass is ok because of it's purity.

Can I also put pieces of sterling silver or gold in my glass? (I'm not talking about fuming... I mean actual bits and pieces.

IF so, do you have pictures you can show me?
IF NOT... why not?

Why doesn't the glass break when you have copper mesh in it?

How do you do the cz thing? tutorial anywhere?

What other wonderous things can I put in my glass?
Feel free to give me a list...

Joanna

[sleekbeads]

LMAO...
I just realized I sound like a kid who won't stop asking questions....
Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why can you put copper mesh in your glass bead?
lol

[sleekbeads]

THANKS Kimberly!!!

Oooo, wait... what do you mean by "fine" silver?
That can mean a lot of things...???

[sleekbeads]

Ahhh.
I think that we often forget that Sterling silver is not Fine silver!
I see!
sheesh.. how much is that a TO?

[sleekbeads]

Mmmm... Palladium... *drools like Homer*

Ok, I get the whole silver leaf thing.
Actually to be honest I never realized that the silver leaf was the 'pure' silver. Thanks for the insight!

[artwhim]

Copper mesh looks good in clear with maybe a little intense black stinger. The copper turns a yummy burgundy color. The other day I experimented with putting very tiny 3/16" hearts cut from a very fine gauge sheet (not mesh). Don't know the gauge but about like 2 layers of heavy foil. I slightly textured it with metal stamps before I put it in the bead. I really thought it would crack the bead, but it didn't. The bead wasn't one of my favorites but I like experimenting.

Another fun copper project - think this might be from Cindy Jenkins first book - Cut copper tubing that is slightly larger in diameter than your coated mandrel. Slip the tubing on after the bead release is dry on mandrel. You want the tube to stay in place but not have any bead release on it. This copper tube will become your beads core. Construct your bead on top of the tube - use clear. The copper core will give the bead a burgundy core.

Check the archive for copper mesh - someone had posted really nice examples of mesh - think it spiraled around a bicone.

Kathy

[sleekbeads]

Yep, it IS Cindy Jenkins book. I saw that too.
Looks interesting, but I don't like the way it looks if the copper tube only goes through part of the bead.. like it's incomplete or something.
What would happen if the glass met the copper edging and then stopped?
curious!

[Zooziis]

You can encase the copper tube completely, and stop right at the edge, that would be fine. I think if you went over the edge it might be not so pretty as the tube would stop and there would be more glass...But you could encase the tube with clear, and then cap each side with an opaque...that might look nice.

Be careful with using a lot of copper mesh, especially without Excellent Ventilation. There are various alloys in copper, and they don't all like to be burned. I was doing reading online about fumes associated, back when I was using it a lot...made me really think about my ventilation system. The better metals are Gold and Silver because they are pure (well about 99%), less potentially harmful fumes.

You can encase copper mesh for the pretty burgandy color, or you can leave it on the surface. It turns black in the flame, but when you are done annealing you can clean it with a wire brush and a little dishsoap and you have actual copper color on the surface. You can then patina it to a cool green, or reds, depending on what patina you use. You can blacken it with sulfur Oxide, if you want parts to look antiqued. It's a fun metal.

CZ's...I make a little dent with a poker in the bead, where I want to put the cz, I then spot heat that dent, flash the CZ in the flame and put it in the dent. I'm sure there are easier ways, but that has worked for me. You need to be sure you get the kind that can withstand the heat, as I got one that was sent in error, that turned black and yucky...not sure the difference to tell you what to order, but I know Rio Grande has them listed as being able to handle heat.

You want to get your Silver or Gold from a glass supply place, not a craft store like Michael's. That foil is for decopage and gilding, not for heat...I think someone posted something about making that mistake sometime on this forum...You want the real stuff!

Copper wire works too, I made spirals and encased those...I can't think of any metals not mentioned here that does anything good...

And my unscientific minds guess as to WHY it works to use the metals...Metal tends hold heat at the rate of that around it...If the glass cools off, the metal will too...I think that might be why...someone might say I'm a dolt...I might be, but that's my guess....I just know it works

[DesertDreamer]

Copper wire looks very cool! I don't have a pic cuz my only two beads got sold at a show in November and I didn't think to shoot 'em first, BUT if you take speaker wire...the really fine, multi-stranded stuff...cut off the insulation and use 5-6 wires at a time, fluff 'em up a little so they're not all glommed together. I use 2" lengths but you can use more...but you NEED to plan so you can wrap all of it, it's a pain to cut over a hot bead. Get a spot on your bead very hot (sticky), push the ends of the wire in, then wrap around tightly (obviously the rest of your bead besides that hot spot needs to be firm-warm). Superheat the spot where the wire ends and tuck it in with pointy tweezers or a pick, then encase away! It looks really cool mixed with fine, multistranded latticino.

You can use copper foil, too. I found a roll at my nearby fine arts supply store. Not a clue what it's really used for, but it was with the 'mixed media' stuff.

[sleekbeads]

Wow, Amy, you just gave my imagination and motivation a complete boost.
THANKS for the cool ideas... I can't wait to try.

And Karen... I think I'll be raiding my husbands cabinet tonight in search of the fine speaker wire...that sounds too cool.

Thanks.
Joanna

[Simply Us]

These are a couple of beads that have mesh and balls of melted copper wire on them(red colors). The glass has to be hot for them to stick on. Then I encased. I have had some crack. But it is fun to play with anyways!
Have fun!
Sandra

[sleekbeads]

Oooo pretties!!!
What's the green color glass??? That is soothing!
Joanna

[Simply Us]

It's effrete 071 yellow green, I think. Or 031 emerald green. Both are really close in color.
Sandra