Encased Floral Implosions?

[gemsinbloom]

I don't even know what to name this thread as I am not sure of the techniques used to create those beautiful blooms that are appearing on the sides of beads lately. The designers know who you are! I can't stand it anymore. I want to learn too. So.......is this being taught somewhere? What is it called? Will it take me five years to learn? haha

[labelleperle]

I think that Sherri (sp?) Bellamy has a tute on this technique. It's one I'm interested in myself. I'm sure someone else will chime in with some details Jennie

[gemsinbloom]

I have her tutorial which is fantastic but I am not sure if it is the same techniques.

[glassactcc]

I learned from Sherry's tutorial how to make an small implosion. I use her technique to make the implosions and then garage them. I make my bead and super heat where I want the implosion to go and push it into the glass. I surround with more clear so the implosion is now inside. You can also put them on the outside of course.

Anyway, that's how I do it but I do know who you are talking about and her beads are amazing.

[gemsinbloom]

Oh I must of missed your flowers Cynthia. Well I have seen Jeannie make them and now Stephanie as well. I love flowers dontcha know.

Going to your Ebay to find your blooms, thanks.

[chrissij]

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=220584

[gemsinbloom]

I have her wonderful tutorial as well but I wasn't sure it was the same type of techniques. I guess I am confused, what is new lol

[glassactcc]

I thought you were talking about the person Chrissi posted LOL! I love her beads.

[j2canoe]

Hi Jacqueline! No, it won't take you five years to learn, lol!! They are really easy to make. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first (and easiest) way is to start with a small gather of glass on the very tip of an uncoated mandrel. Round this up and press it on a marver to make a very small maria. With a small diameter stringer place a dot (or dots) in the very center (this will be your stamen). Then place a ring of dots in your petal color around that (add another ring if you want two layers). Gently melt the maria down while holding at an angle (keep rotating the mandrel throughout the process) until the petals all come together to a point. Let the gather cool slightly and pull off the very tip of the small implosion with tweezers (this step pulls your design together and neatens things up a bit). Heat gently and garage in the kiln until you are ready to apply it to your bead as Cynthia has indicated below. The second way to do this is to start with a small section of pre-made stamen cane (you can make this yourself in any diameter you wish using the free tutorials both here and in the glass tech section at wetcanvas.com). Attach this to a tiny gather of clear glass on the end of your uncoated mandrel. Wrap around this cane with a very thin layer of clear. Add dots for your petals on top of your clear and melt in. Repeat the clear wrap and dots if you want more than one layer of petals. Melt in just as if you were making a "petal bead" like in the free tutorials section here. Keep your mandrel tilted and rotating while melting and finish off the same way as the first method I just told you about above and garage. Sherry has another way to make flowers using frit in her tutorial too. Ikuyo's tutorial is also very good for adding some fancier techniques. They are really fun to make and very easy relative to the impressive results that they produce. I hope this helps some! The toughest part is adding the little implosion to your bead while keeping both warm and not squishing the little implosion in the process. This takes some practice for sure!! If you've never added implosions to a bead before - check out Sherry Bellamy's Shipwreck bead tutorial - you will be adding all kinds of stuff to your beads! She did such a wonderful job of talking me through the process that I felt she was right there with me as I wobbled back and forth across the room from my kiln to the torch with my first ones!! She really helped defeat the "nerves" factor!

[gemsinbloom]

Originally Posted by j2canoe

Hi Jacqueline! No, it won't take you five years to learn, lol!! They are really easy to make. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first (and easiest) way is to start with a small gather of glass on the very tip of an uncoated mandrel. Round this up and press it on a marver to make a very small maria. With a small diameter stringer place a dot (or dots) in the very center (this will be your stamen). Then place a ring of dots in your petal color around that (add another ring if you want two layers). Gently melt the maria down while holding at an angle (keep rotating the mandrel throughout the process) until the petals all come together to a point. Let the gather cool slightly and pull off the very tip of the small implosion with tweezers (this step pulls your design together and neatens things up a bit). Heat gently and garage in the kiln until you are ready to apply it to your bead as Cynthia has indicated below. The second way to do this is to start with a small section of pre-made stamen cane (you can make this yourself in any diameter you wish using the free tutorials both here and in the glass tech section at wetcanvas.com). Attach this to a tiny gather of clear glass on the end of your uncoated mandrel. Wrap around this cane with a very thin layer of clear. Add dots for your petals on top of your clear and melt in. Repeat the clear wrap and dots if you want more than one layer of petals. Melt in just as if you were making a "petal bead" like in the free tutorials section here. Keep your mandrel tilted and rotating while melting and finish off the same way as the first method I just told you about above and garage. Sherry has another way to make flowers using frit in her tutorial too. Ikuyo's tutorial is also very good for adding some fancier techniques. They are really fun to make and very easy relative to the impressive results that they produce. I hope this helps some! The toughest part is adding the little implosion to your bead while keeping both warm and not squishing the little implosion in the process. This takes some practice for sure!! If you've never added implosions to a bead before - check out Sherry Bellamy's Shipwreck bead tutorial - you will be adding all kinds of stuff to your beads! She did such a wonderful job of talking me through the process that I felt she was right there with me as I wobbled back and forth across the room from my kiln to the torch with my first ones!! She really helped defeat the "nerves" factor!

What a sweetie for writing this for me, thank you! So I will be printing out all the related tutorials and private notes that were sent to me ( thank you for this too) and sit down and finally try this. Isn't lampworking wonderful? Never ever boring. Always something new to learn.

[Nimbus]

Hey, I just found this thread! What Joan said is exactly right. There are many ways to make a flower. Just find the way that you like best. The hard part is getting that baby into the bead!

Jeannie

[SLY Creations]

Ikuyo has two tutorials on her flowers. http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=220584

[gemsinbloom]

Yupp, I have her tutorial as well. I just did not realize this is all the same type of technique. Thanks!

[LynieG]

Sherry Bellamy's tut is great! I have one that I made from her tut in the Newbie Florals challenge. They are really fun and a bit challenging!

Corina also has a daffodile tut that is similar to the method listed above about taking filigranda cane wrapping it with color then garaging while you make the bead. That one is fun too! But then I am a floral lover too and your florals are to die for Gems!

[gemsinbloom]

Thank you Lynie, I am going to see if I can find the picture of your floral.

[j2canoe]

I just realized that this thread does not have how to get the implosion off the uncoated mandrel in it. You may have already figured this out - but just in case: keep a glass or bowl of water nearby (you should do this anyway - I use an old steel dog bowl). First make your implosion and garage it in the kiln. Then make the bead that you want to stick the implosion in. Next, get the implosion that is perking along in the kiln. While keeping your base bead warm, heat the mandrel with the implosion on it at the back of the flame -bring it forward as it gets warm enough. Now, heat the area on the base bead where you want to insert the implosion to glowing while, at the same time, heat the bottom of your implosion to glowing (this sounds really complicated - but it's really not in practice). Attach them together and heat until the implosion is attached to the base bead (no ridges around the connection). Cool the whole shebang slightly. Now direct a pinpoint flame immediately ABOVE where the non-coated mandrel is sticking out of the implosion (heat the mandrel - NOT the glass). Pull GENTLY (I always wiggle the mandrel slightly as well) and the mandrel should slide right out of the little implosion. Stick the mandrel you just reclaimed in the glass of water to shock off the glass (I always just throw it in the dog bowl and leave it until I'm done). Get back to the base bead and implosion -using heat and gravity - heat until the base and implosion become one. Use gravity to help you to keep the implosion from "squishing". Once they are joined together seamlessly - cool the bead slightly (you want the implosion center to be cooler than the skin). This step will help you to keep the implosion from deforming as you shape the whole bead into whatever it is that you want it to be. Try not to super-heat the bead again (but if you have to - just let it cool again before you proceed in order to keep the implosion pristine). Once you are done - pop in the kiln. Your uncoated mandrel should have shocked off all of the glass by now and be ready to go again. If some bits of glass remain, you can reheat the tip of the mandrel (be careful as sometimes the little bits will fly off when you do this), and plunge it again. I use uncoated mandrels to make all of my twisties (and sometimes use them for punties on marbles or off-mandrel stuff) as they are much more stable than trying to use the original rod of glass. If you adopt this method of using your mandrels for this, eventually they will collect little deposits of carbon on the ends from repeated heating and dunking. These deposits are devious little critters and can end up in whatever you are subsequently making. You can remove them from your marble, bead or whatever with tweezers - but this is annoying. To prevent this, periodically give your mandrel ends where the carbonization is a good buffing with some fine grade steel wool to remove the deposits.

[dilly53]

I've purchased almost every tut out there for making implosions to see if any of them would help with a problem I am having.....so far none have, but I may be missing something obvious! I can make great implosions, but I can't figure out how to make the petals fold over to look like a flower. My petals stand straight up and no matter how I try to manipulate them I either mess the whole thing up or I have a big melted mess. So, anyone out there willing to tackle this problem and explain to me how to make a blooming flower? I would be so grateful!

Gail

[Talonst]

You heat the edge of the maria to bring the glass down the side toward the bottom which is grabbing the color on the bottom and pulling it down. As you do this you periodically flatten the maria on your graphite block to keep from forming a void in the center. The frequency of flattening and the pressure you use will determine how much the flower blooms.

As you near the end of the implosion you can let the top of the maria, what will be your lens side cool, while keeping the bottom fairly warm, but not molten. Give it a slowish but firm push and you can control the bloom as you're pushing the warm glass toward the cool glass where it will flatten and spread out.

[dilly53]

Well, I think I'm doing all of the things you kindly suggested. I press the glass about 5 or 6 times as I'm working the implosion, but maybe that's too much? Also, maybe I have my dots too close to the center or not far enough away? The weird thing is that my earlier implosions went much better than the ones I'm making now. I must be thinking too hard! I gues I just need more ppp.

Gail

[wd2crv]

Thanks for this Joan - it is very helpful!

Gail, maybe a photo will help? Not that I have the experience to comment but perhaps a photo might help others here to know how to help?

[j2canoe]

Talonst's technique is the way that I do mine. Gail have you read Ron Bearer's Implosion tutorial? It is written for boro - but all of the techniques in the tutorial also work for soft glass (you just have to substitute appropriate soft glasses in place of the boro). Timing and heat control are really critical for doing the implosion/compression techniques. I agree with Darryle that a picture or a detailed description of exactly how you do your implosions might help. Some of the more experienced lampworkers might be able to help to tweak your technique so that you might "bloom"...

[dilly53]

Thank you for trying to help me. I am an experienced beader of 8 years so not being able to do this is really making me mad! I do have Ron's tut along with 3 or 4 others, but they haven't helped my problem. Here's what I do. I make a thin disk on a mandrel...about 1" in diamenter. I put my lines or dots a little bit away from the outside edge and flatten them into the surface. I then apply heat to the edge only with the mandrel pointed down to make the glass flow downward. I take the gather out of the heat and lightly flatten it about 5 times before it pulls into a point at the bottom. I then lightly heat the bottom and pull of a little bit of the glass until the base of the implosion looks like the base of the flower. All of this works perfectly except that the petals go straight up and down instead of folding over. I've tried pushing from below, pushing from above, trying to push the petals around lightly after attaching to my bead (this usually mucks everything up). I just got a thought that maybe I'm melting it too far down. I am hoping that if I leave a bit of the petal unmelted it will look like it's folded over. Must head to the torch and try this!

Gail

[j2canoe]

Gail - are you wanting the petals to curl inward (like a peony) or outward (like a lily)?

[dilly53]

I am wanting them to fold outward, like a lily. I didn't have time yesterday to test a little "aha" moment I had about not imploding the complete dot or line so that it might look like the petals are folding our from the center. I think that might work and all my hundreds of attempts will have taught me something! Thanks for all the help from you guys. It's appreciated very much.

Gail

[gemsinbloom]

Oh wow Joan, thank you so much for posting all the extra info. I won't have time to try these again until probably next Winter so I am subscribing.

[j2canoe]

Good Luck Gail! I hope you'll post your results!

[j2canoe]

Originally Posted by Talonst

You heat the edge of the maria to bring the glass down the side toward the bottom which is grabbing the color on the bottom and pulling it down. As you do this you periodically flatten the maria on your graphite block to keep from forming a void in the center. The frequency of flattening and the pressure you use will determine how much the flower blooms.

As you near the end of the implosion you can let the top of the maria, what will be your lens side cool, while keeping the bottom fairly warm, but not molten. Give it a slowish but firm push and you can control the bloom as you're pushing the warm glass toward the cool glass where it will flatten and spread out.

Talonst's second paragraph is Critical to this process - it is all timing and heat control. Once you have your design on and your gather has started to form "shoulders" (rounding out slightly) -don't be afraid to come out of the flame and let the gather cool when it needs to during this process. You will have a longer time with this gather than you do with a bead until "crack" time because you do not have a mandrel sucking the heat out of the glass. You can use this property in cooling the top area (you do need to flash it occasionally) while you develop the other levels of your flower. Use gravity to help you and remember that glass follows the heat.

[dilly53]

Hi, J2canoe,

I practiced yesterday and think I have the kinks worked out of this technique.I think I was trying to make the implosion happen too quickly. I appreciate all the support by everyone here on LE.

Gail