Complex creased petal tutorial

[coyotesfamily]

thanks for sharing...i have always loved that effect in your florals

[hulagirl]

Thanks! I'm gonna try some of those!

[Moth]

Originally Posted by Vicki B.

The scan is poor and even has "fur-farm condiment" in it and I wish I could figure out how to cover the hearts of the encased beads. But the focal turned out ok although I didn't do the last encasement (too big). The petal colors: ink blue opaque (thanks, Moth for the source), ink blue transparent, lavendar opaque.

Encouraged that I can do this on a HH and want to try working farther out in the flame since it's 90 degrees in the garage.

Thanks again, Mary!

YAY Vicki!

You are doing great, and thank so much for sharing. Please keep us posted of your progress, I love to see it.

Very pretty beads!!

~~Mary

[lbjvg]

Thanks Moth - You always have the best-est tuts!

[LadyCrow]

Omg!!!!!!!!!!!
You have no idea how excited your tutorial has made me. The day I bought Kimberly Adams book I saw a beautiful bead with roses in it, that struck my fancy. It is this bead I told my family "someday I want to make beautiful beads like this one".
Mary, your tutorial bead is so close to that "dream" bead.
I have gotten the hang of making pretty good base beads, I was just thinking of giving stringer control a shot. I'm hoping if I practice a bit I just might surprise my family with a good one.(maybe hubby will buy me a kiln then)...lol
Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!!!

[bwinders]

Great tutorial - can't wait to get to the torch to try it. Thank you. Bonnie Winders

[lldesigns]

Wow Mary! Awesome florals!!! Everyone here is so generous with their techniques. I have a long way to go before I can try something this advanced but I can always hope that someday, maybe...!

[claybraes]

Thanks Mary, Very easy to understand , Yikes!!! now to try it.........

[danelady]

Mary, how WONDERFUL of you to share this!! I am Off to try some! Thank you!

Originally Posted by Moth

Thanks guys! Hope you enjoy playing around with this. Don't forget, you can use any opaque glass in place of the white for a totally different effect. The final dot of clear can be replaced with nearly any pale transparent to completely change the colors underneath. Really expands your color palette.

Try four layers of dots. Try 2 creases per petal for ruffly looking flowers. Rake out the tips. Try this same creasing technique with all different numbers of petals. This is still just basic creased petals but by adding extra layers it really pumps up the intricacy. You can achieve totally different looking flowers with the same technique...really fun to play with this.

Please share pictures of what you make, I'd love to see them.

~~Mary

[Rose Leslie]

That looks great. Also thank you Moth for the tut. I was allways wondering how it was done. Now I have to wait for the heat to leave so I can torch. Or work out side. That is my next option.

[collectiblesbyrose]

WOW....Thanks.......!!!!!!!!

[Juliac]

Thank you Masry for a wonderful tutorial!

[ShepherdCreations]

Mary, thanks so much for sharing that!

[Makz]

Looks so easy when you do it... mine sort of worked until i tried to put clear over top of it then the whole thing smeared , but thank you for the tut, one more goal on my list
ill be more gentle next time i guess..

[glasser]

Just beautiful Mary, and you make it look so easy. One question, How do you get such large bubbles, they look huge, or is it just the close up pic?

[Moth]

Nope, not the pic...they really are huge bubbles. When I plunge the centers of the flowers, I use a poker the size of a 3/32" mandrel and plunge almost all the way to the mandrel...really deep. The bigger the hole, the bigger the bubble.

Thanks you guys!
~~Mary

[KathyDinBC]

I finally tried this yesterday. The instructions are so clear that I was successful on my very first attempt! Can't wait to try more. Here' my first one. Thanks again, Mary!

[Moth]

Gorgeous, Kathy! You did a great job. Hope you have fun using this technique!

~~Mary

[krfteldy]

WOW!!!! Those are beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial.

Nancy

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

[Firefly glass]

5 stars!!! I'm going to go light my torch now. Awsome tutorial.
Thank-you!!!

[jadebutterfly]

thanks for the tutorial. i've been trying to make these beads for a while now but i keep having trouble when i put the big dot of clear over the petals. when i heat the bead to smooth it out after adding the clear dots the petals get all smooshed. i was wondering if you have any tips on how to fix that.

[Holly'sFolly]

Mary, Wonderful Tut! I so appreciate you taking the time! Holly

[Moth]

Originally Posted by jadebutterfly

thanks for the tutorial. i've been trying to make these beads for a while now but i keep having trouble when i put the big dot of clear over the petals. when i heat the bead to smooth it out after adding the clear dots the petals get all smooshed. i was wondering if you have any tips on how to fix that.

After you have creased the petals, add your dots of clear and be sure to make the dots of clear go beyond the edges of the petals. The smooshing you are struggling with can be caused by several things.

#1- the clear you put on top is spreading out and dragging the petal edges with it...this won't happen if the edges of the clear go past the edges of the petals. and...

#2- if you are heating the core of the bead too much and/or marvering the clear down onto the petals. Don't overheat the center of the bead until after the clear is smooth. You can't rush this step or you will be manipulating the petals instead of just the clear layer on top. A good rule of thumb to always remember when encasing is only heat the glass you want to move. Anything you heat to molten will move during reshaping, so if you don't want a petal or leaf or murrini to move...don't melt it.

#3- Once you get all the layers of glass smoothed out and married together, you can more aggressively heat the entire bead but as long as the clear layer is still bumped up over the petals, it will drag the petals as it smooths out. Patience is the key.

Your bead wants to be round and it will do whatever it must to get that shape. Heat control is your best friend.

Have fun practicing!
~~Mary

[Vangy]

I tried this today... tomorrow I'll see if it comes out of the kiln in good shape. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it is a very clear tutorial and the diagrams are great.

[Simply Lampwork]

Good Job & Thanks for the demo. It works great.

[jconsidine11]

Thank you!
I love this!
Joan

[Box E Creations]

Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing. Great instructions

[lwilson21]

Thanks! My attempts never looked right and now I know why and can fix it.

[Lizzydee]

Thanks much.

[beadtress38]

Thanks for sharing Mary. I will have to try this.