Jelly Fish - Page 2

jhamilton117 · #31 2013-04-22, 2:12pm

Very nice jelly cast!

Mary K · #32 2013-04-23, 8:58am

Here are 2 I did yesterday, Thank you Bernard for your input!
I used English Ivy,blue moon. and stormy weather for these.
I pushed the edge of the cap with a metal thing that is made
for pushing back cuticles in a manicure, it's arc shaped and big,
it is a professional tool from back in the day when I had my beauty shop.

no backing on these, I think I'm improving.
Let's see what you are working on! Post those Fish!

GlassAlias · #33 2013-04-24, 1:12pm

Here's my first.

istandalone24/7 · #34 2013-04-24, 1:36pm

rockin that bravo, glassalias!!

Mary K · #35 2013-04-24, 4:53pm

Nice Jellyfish there GlassAlias!

patienthand · #36 2013-04-26, 3:47am

there are some good you tube demos,, search making glass jellyfish. I just figured these out this week. I did the stringer method. Make a large grape size ball of clear on an 8-12 mm rod and set aside. stripe about an inch of 6 mm clear with stringer. add a dot of color on the top and melt in. Heat the snot out of 1/2 of the clear ball you made, and get just the little ball of color on the end of the striped rod hot, make sure you have no haze. Then plunge the into the hot clear ball.. melt off the handle on the tentacle side and encase, around the world style around the tentacles. Melt it all in, get the shape you want, make the loop etc etc.

what was making me crazy is, I was trapping air below the bell cap trying to do it just like the you tube video, and I didnt have much clear at the cap over the bell of the jellyfish. So, I fiddled with it till I figured it out. my solutions were to heat the snot out of only 1/2 of the clear ball before plunging in the color and tentacles. to keep from trapping air the trick is to not plunge too deep and have an undercut where the bell has formed and the tentacles begin.

I will have to try the implosion version and see which one I like best

dlando1 · #37 2013-04-30, 12:34pm

Here are some jelly's that I made yesterday. The first, the illusive Golf Tee jelly. Next, a long cap one. The next one I think came out best. Thanks for taking a look.
Dave

VooDooVixen · #38 2013-05-03, 3:06pm

this is such a great thread! Thank you for posting your tutorials! I will be trying my hand at this way of doing it. I tried the second method but didn't work as well. I think the first one will work for me

I'll post pics next week.

Mary K · #39 2013-05-04, 7:47pm

Whoa Dave you nailed it on that last one, the one with the
blue dots. The flair on that is perfect, I'm getting some good ones,
Can't seem to make that flair happen. Howya do that?
Here's what I made today. Using black pearl mixed with
clear then frit for caps. Also Jackpot frit on top of the cap.
In person, the caps shimmer with sparkle.

I hope these sell because I enjoy making them, could wind up with a pile of these. Addictive.

dlando1 · #40 2013-05-05, 11:26am

Thanks Mary,
I used a graphite rod when I was about done melting the cap. I gave it a little push and that's what happened. I have made about six more but none came out with the flared edge. Oh well... Your right, they are addictive to make. I'll post some pics if the sun ever comes back out here in Derby city.
Dave

Mary K · #41 2013-05-05, 12:31pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlando1

Thanks Mary,
I used a graphite rod when I was about done melting the cap. I gave it a little push and that's what happened. I have made about six more but none came out with the flared edge. Oh well... Your right, they are addictive to make. I'll post some pics if the sun ever comes back out here in Derby city.
Dave

ok help me understand what you are saying. you pushed before you added clear glass on top of the jellyfish cap, or you pushed the jellyfish cap and then added clear?

dlando1 · #42 2013-05-05, 2:30pm

Hey Mary,
I do my jellies in a two stage process. I make two maria's. On the first maria, I put six indents with a pick, then I add the dots of color. I heat those until I get the rise of the dots that will become "Tentacles".
When the maria closes in on the color dots, it will have a sloped look. I put that maria to the side, or just inside my kiln to keep warm.

I prep the color rod that will become the cap. I put the color in the heat and make a small gather. You can add small dots of color to that gather if you like.

Next I take the second maria and heat it up. When it's good and hot I take my small color gather and push it into the maria, just like you do to make a mushroom. I then burn off the end of the color rod so all I have is the ball of color in the second maria.
I heat the maria and let the clear glass move around the ball of color just a bit.

The next step is to use a rounded graphite reamer to push into the color ball. This just indents the bottom of the cap and can flare it out at the bottom.

Now you can take the first maria, with the tentacles out of the kiln. Heat both maria's and connect them by attaching the tentacle side to the underside of the cap. The nice part about this is that any air trapped will be up inside the cap. I burn off the the rod that has the cap. The shape of the glass now looks like a mushroom.

I heat the cap side and let it flow down the sides of the first maria.
Next, put as punty on the cap side. Now you can work on the tentacles. I heat and turn the rod of the first punty until I get the tentacles the way I want them to look, while I burn off the rod. Keep heating the pendant until it's the shape you want, punty the bottom of the pendant, knock the punty off the top and form your bale. When that's done, take tweezers and grab the bale, knock off the bottom punty and flame polish the bottom of the pendant. Pop it in the kiln.
Here are some caveman drawings to make this all as clear as mud!
Dave

Mary K · #43 2013-05-06, 7:01am

Hey Dave ~ Glad I'm not the only one making cave drawings. Thanks for yours. That is a different way to make a jelly yet. I will try it. I always put my cap on the tentacles, then add the glass to to top of that. Only problem I would forsee for me, is that I wouldn't match up the cap to the tentacles right. I'll give it a go, & post picture, not matter how funny it may look.
And Thanks.

dlando1 · #44 2013-05-07, 1:09pm

Finally a sunny day to take some pics. Thanks for taking a look.
Dave

VooDooVixen · #45 2013-05-07, 3:30pm

Dave- thats a interesting way of doing them. I was about to go out to the studio to start my process and reread this thread. i'm glad I did cause I like how you do it. Hope to have some pics to post tomorrow of what I make tonight

Mary K · #46 2013-05-07, 4:23pm

Hi Dave, I tried your way today, and just as I had feared, I had a hard time aligning the cap with the legs. First one went in my trash pile, second one not too bad but certainly not on center. For me, I'm going back to my old way where I know where the cap is going.
Love what you posted today, very nice.

dlando1 · #47 2013-05-07, 4:47pm

Hi Mary,
Mine don't always come out centered, so I try to adjust for that when I'm adding the bale.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes... Anyway, I think the jellies you make look great.
I think they will sell too!

Here's one that is off center, but I still like how it turned out. I'll just tell people I was trying to convey movement. Remember, there's one born every minute!
Have fun,
Dave

Mary K · #48 2013-05-07, 4:59pm

Yes your right Dave, and I for one, was born in that minute. And likely die the same way.

tnehlers · #49 2013-05-10, 9:26am

Thank you so much for this!! I combined instructions and now have 5 jellies in the kiln. They are so fun to make.

Mary K · #50 2013-05-10, 2:46pm

Your welcome, please post pictures of what you did, whether you like how it turned out or not. Would like to see please. Thanks.

Mary K · #51 2013-05-10, 6:34pm

Here is one from today. I decided to try a twisty of clear and white under the cap to get the look
of all those tiny tentacles on the edge of some jellyfish I have been studying. I wish
I could get a better picture, as this is the best jellyfish I have done to date.

MagpieGlass · #52 2013-05-11, 5:01am

Wow ... you have been busy and love how the jelly turned out. Great job!

tnehlers · #53 2013-05-11, 7:17am

Ok, here are mine from yesterday. I took quick pictures this morning.

khan · #54 2013-05-11, 2:25pm

Those are some really cool coool jellies guys..!!!
i am just wondering how much ppl usually try to get for the real nice ones?

Does anyone mind telling me how much they are asking?

Thanks for all the info on these... it sure helps alot.

Khan

Mary K · #55 2013-05-11, 4:06pm

I have no idea what other's charge, but I have been selling mine for $30 to 40
depending on how much detail etc. Want to buy one? lol pm me.

This one for instance, would be 40. This is one of the nicer ones.
I am maybe too cheap, but the economy is down, If I want to keep
doing this I must sell some stuff.

dlando1 · #56 2013-05-12, 10:36am

Mary, that twisty of clear and white make your jellies look real! How did you do that? Tnehlers, I like the middle jelly on the second row the best. You're right, these are fun to make. Here are some from this week. Thanks for taking a look.
Dave

Mary K · #57 2013-05-12, 1:21pm

Hi Dave,
For twisty that I put under cap, I take chinese white ( only white I use ) and mix some up real well, What I do is take 2 sticks of the white and holding one in each hand I make a gather in the middle and just twist it and work it untill it seems mixed and smooth. Then pull the gather out to what ever size you are looking for. For this It would be pretty thin like 1-2 mm. then take a rod of 9mm clear and put 4 stripes on the end of it about an inch long. lightly melt the lines in so they won't pop off. Then take small rod of clear, I have some 4mm that I use for this, and attach at the end of the white/clear rod, making sure to let your joint cool just a bit so it won't just pull off. then heat the white/clear striped area and twist like mad,this were the small 4mm comes in, it lets you spin it tighter, pulling lightly as you go. You want it wound really tight for this. Then you can either make a tiny ring of this spiral white rod and use that or if you have enough control, you can put it on directly. I make my jellys a little differently than you do, remember I add my cap to the tentacles. So for this I would lay that clear/white spiral twisty on and melt it and flatten it with paddle just right on top of where the tentacle are. Then I put my cap on and add the clear as usual. I am getting some really nice jellyfish this way, and they do look very real. They look so much more interesting in person than they look here, wish I was a better photographer.
Anyway, that's how I do it, the long version.

Mary K · #58 2013-05-12, 5:02pm

Hey T Ehlers, Your jellyfish are coming along nicely. If you want thinner tentacles, try to make your dots on maria as small as possible, and use a very thin very sharp tungsten pick, ABR has them, I think there is a link on first page of this thread, to poke them, and you want it to faintly glow when you poke the dots. ( you have to sharpen the tool when you get it, and constantly keep sharpening it, you want it kneadle thin pointed for the best tentacles)
Good Job. And thanks for posting pictures, look forward to more from you.

tnehlers · #59 2013-05-13, 5:04am

Thanks Dave, that one's my favorite too.

Thanks Mary. I actually combined a couple types of tentacles to achieve the look I wanted.

dlando1 · #60 2013-05-21, 10:37am

A friend told me that if you make a hundred of something you will get the technique down. I'm at about 20 now. Here are the latest. Thanks for taking a look.
Dave