Triangle Petal beads - the fine points

[Vicki B.]

For about a year and a half I've been trying to make nice triangle/petal beads on the Hothead. This past weekend, Amy Trescott had the prime rainbow version on a S&T and followed up with basic instructions. Thanks Amy! So, I went out to the garage and tried some more yesterday and the photo is what I ended up with. I know my dots are not as regular (even) as they should be, but the things I think I'm really "off" on relate to the shape of the triangles and the movement of the glass. As you can see, I end up with either stubby petals or ALL (in this case 6 - 3 opaque and 3 transparent) the layers of petals reach across the bead over the layers below. I am missing something about the relative size or placement of the clear versus the petals, but can't seem to figure it out. The first layer is ok, I think, but then, on subsequent layers, for example, how do you achieve the nice proportionally shorter petals (yes, I did use smaller dots....) I also get shifting of the subsequent layers in the downward direction - guess I'm probably overheating or spinning the mandrel too fast or both. These beads take a really long time, so I thought I was melting in slowly enough, but.....

I've got to say, these are the toughest challenge for me.

Thanks for any help you can offer - don't know quite what to try next.

[swanseafarm]

Those are beautiful!
Well done.

[earth*monkey]

I've never tried making this type of bead, so can't offer anything constructive, but I wanted to tell you that your beads are very cool.

Do you have a link to the thread with Amy's instructions/explanation?

[Vicki B.]

Sorry - should have linked to this. Amy Trescott's instructions for the petal bead is on Fri S&T: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37269 (post #74) Her gorgeous beads are on the first page of this thread (#7)

Looking at these instructions again, it could be that I'm heating all wrong and, after the first layer, should heat only from one side of the bead...
Clearly, I'm confused.

[Debi]

I think you did a great job with those Vicki !

Did you start the bead by adding the first row of dots around the center of the bead ? I think thats what Amy has done, then the subsequent dots are added over top and (slightly right) of the first.

I always work way too hot (and I can't encase a bead worth a darn) but I may give this a try later on today.

[Vicki B.]

Maybe these "petal beads" aren't triangle beads at all - maybe they don't have clear dots on the side opposite the petals each time????? I'm thinking now that I look more closely that maybe they are really striped beads with then other dot layers heated from one side only. Ya think??

I put the first dots to one side with clear dots in the alternate spaces on the other side and kept doing this throughout heating the entire bead each time. Maybe the bead I really DON'T know how to make is an elongated dot bead - oh my it's worse than I thought - don't even know the type of bead I'm trying to make!! My starting point was Corina's triangle bead, but I think I'm wrong. Probably time to reread the Dot Book.

[amy trescott]

Hi Vicki,

Thanks for you nice PM. I'm at work, so I (literally) only have a few seconds. When I'm hone tonight, I'll check back in and see if there's anything I can add. They look great so far!

TAke care,
Amy

[hummingbird3172]

I have always wondered how this was done....the rainbow bead is gorgeous! Vicki, that first one is really beautiful...makes me think of a waterlily! You look like you are on the right track!

[amy trescott]

Vicki,

The beads you are shootin' for, are a bit different than mine - I wasn't going for a triangle bead, so the whole tehnique of how you apply the glass will be a bit different.

But, when I started out, I had the black disk base, and made the red stripes - but they were thick red stripes - you could barely see the black lines on either side. After every opaque color, I added a transparent right on top, melted it in. As I added a new opaque color, I applied it slightly to the right (like Debi said) each time, and the dots were slightly smaller each time.

The only time I used clear was at the end, to push the layers of dots to the sides of the bead, making it looked striped.

You know, this one's hard to describe! But I'll try to answer any questions I can.

Good luck!
Amy

[Vicki B.]

Thanks so much, Amy and everyone else! COULD IT BE that I'm having trouble because I assumed these start out as triangle beads? LOL

Now the question I have is: do you heat the bead from one side only when you apply the layers after the first stripes? With the hothead I have trouble pinpointing the heat, but can heat from one side. Otherwise, I THINK the dots will spread towards both edges.

Tomorrow I get to try these again. Will post if I have more success.

[CaptElaine]

Hi vickie I'm having the same trouble as you... did you figure it out or just give up?


Amy HELP should we heat only the side the dot is on? Do you do the opaque dot, then a transpartent cap on the dot and then melt them in.... or do you do an opaque dot, melt it in, then do a transparent dot and melt it in? Do the color combos matter? As you can see my shades of blue aren't working for me, or maybe this technique is WAY beyond my abilities

[Vicki B.]

Hi Elaine,
Just as I was about to scan these for S&T, your post arrived in my box. They're not good enough for S&T, so, as long as someone is tuned in to this thread, I'll just post here. Anyone interested can also see that Amy's bead was the inspiration and that she has generously been helping.

These are my BEST of the days' practice. Others are very wonky. Some went into the water jug before even finishing which I don't like to do.

THESE BEADS ARE HARD!!! AND TIME-CONSUMING!!

In answer to your question, I used the moretti blues, ink and lime and grass green because those colors are pretty and don't result in compatibility issues.

On the second question, yes - I put the opaque dots on, melted only until rounded a little, added the transparent on top, and then melted in each set of dots. I did this so the transparent would cover the opaque, but am not sure if that's the best. I THINK that's what both Amy and Corina have indicated they do on these styles of beads.

For certain I learned one thing after going back to the new Dots Book by Deanna Griffin Dove & Brad Pearson: Alternating the rotation direction on the mandrel (a turn or two away - then a turn or two towards yourself) is a key in getting the dots not to spiral or sink into the base. I also used a base of cobalt which is nice and stiff. I found myself constantly checking the beads from the ends to see how the dots were moving.

On the initial dots (around the center) I heated the entire bead and , on each subsequent layer, heated from one or both (if the dots are on both sides) sides of the bead instead

I feel like my dots look so tortured instead of flowing smoothly and would welcome any tips. Other folks have very smooth looking beads by comparison. I THINK next I will try adding larger transparent dots and, maybe not do so many layers.

I think, actually, the beads looked better before I did the final encasement. This might relate to being on the HH (my constant useless excuse) and using round and round stringer encasement. That's really the only style of encasement that I can seem to sort of get decent at (Thanks Mary Moth et al.) I bet the dots would like it better with a "big blob" encasement, but I don't think I can do that well on the HH.

I've really improved over this week's practice, but still feel like I'm doing so many things ineptly - starting with consistent dot size and placement. Maybe if I PPP this winter, some of the consistency will come.

[lainee733]

i love the double dotted ones!!!!

[sleekbeads]

Vicki girl, you're nuts, those are wonderful!
Simply wonderful!
I think you need a break, step away from the torch. I repeat... step away from the torch. lol
sometimes you are trying so hard that even when you "get" it.. you can't accept that you "got" it. Get it?
lol

They are wonderful!

Jo

[Vicki B.]

Thanks for the encouragement, but these beads actually look better in the photo than they are in reality because you are only seeing one side and can't see how unequal the segments are. They are "bougers" because you can see the unevenness so easily from other perspectives.

I am pleased with progress though. The last time I tried these beads, I had much less of an understanding of what I might be doing wrong.

[CaptElaine]

Oh man Vicki those look FABULOUS to me.... so just more PPP, and re-read the DOTS book...