AD - Innovative Bead Expo, tomorrow & Sunday, Doylestown, PA

The Innovative Show is this weekend, Saturday, June 21 and Sunday 22 at the student center of Delaware Valley College, Doylestown, PA. Check out their website at

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for a list of vendors and directions.

One of my friends, Nolly Gelsinger, will be there selling her beautiful lampwork beads. One of her necklaces featuring her floral beads was recently accepted into "Bead Dreams" and was on display at the Bead & Button show.

This show traditionally has a good mix of vendors with gemstone beads, especially Jade and Pearls, Bali, silver chain, various stringing materials, seed beads, etc., along with lampwork, porcelain, and brightly colored resin beads.

Another bead show, so soon after Bead & Button, life is good!!

Patti

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Patti
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I went to the show on Saturday afternoon. I just bought a few things

- two small lampwork beads from Joan Miller to use as the skirt for the Hippo charm finding I bought at Bead & Button, some brightly colored enameled brass chain from Yvonne at MyElements to use to hang my frit earrings, some of those ribbon chains for the fused pendants I made at B & B. I find with this hot weather we are having, I am breaking out from sterling, and these seem less irritating, plus they pick up the colors of the dichro slide. I also bought some clasps and two pair of double star earrings from Silver in Style. Oops, I forgot I bought some nickel free pewter toggles to use in teaching and some pewter leaves to use for hanging drop earrings.

It was good to talk to Nolly and Yvonne. I was only there a short time, but this quick fix will tide me over until Bead Fest in August!

I'm planning a work day tomorrow - I have to get some designs ready for a demo-show this Fall, and I have some new beads to play with. I also have decided to re-string a lampwork bracelet I had made for sale. It has these beautiful beads from Kalera and I need to make it longer so I can keep it instead.

So, what is everyone else working on?

Patti

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Patti

my first home made glass beads.

I finally found some time to get a hothead kit, some extra mandrels (am I ever glad I did. You try drying mandrels outside in somewhere near 100% relative humidity. I started with 14 mandrels and ended up with 5 where the bead release didn't crack), set myself up in the carport (out of the almost no wind) and practiced bead making.

Little mostly crooked greenish beads that I haven't taken out of the fiber blanket yet, better safe than sorry.

For the time being I'm just using the small 1lb propane bottles, we have a few sitting around that are starting to rust and ought to be used - and I ought to get new ones because hurricane season is upon us if we get bad weather the power is likely to go out and I want a few more to use with the Coleman lantern.

Obviously, no pictures yet as I haven't even looked at the beads yet.

For the time being I'm just practicing making little round beads. And I might update the blog later, when I have pictures.

Aloha, Maren Maren Purves HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

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Maren at google

Hey Maren,

Can't wait to see what you're doing with the torch. I still can't even get consistently sized beads. I'll never be making earrings, at this point :)

Patti, so sorry I couldn't make it up to Milwaukee. Hopefully (again), next year!

Reply to
Carla

Lovely beads Carla. The blue square really took my eye, so elegant. Hugs Shirley

In message , Carla writes

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Shirley Shone

Hi, Carla, Great cabs! The black with dichro and the red and black ones are my favorites! B & B was great fun, but it was a quick trip. If I go next year, I think I will spend one more day or take one less class. I didn't get to hang out in the show for hours, like I usually do. A bead sister and I are already talking about going next year. I have to save up more vacation time. Keep on fusing! I admire your lampworking as well, I don't have enough guts to tackle open flame, lol.

Patti

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Patti

squares are way similar enough for earrings. I was complaining about one pair of mine having come out all crooked, and somebody at work who strings pretty amazing necklaces said "they're on the two sides of your head, nobody's ever going to notice that they're uneven"

Taking that advice I actually have (rather accidentally) 2 glass beads that I consider "close enough for earrings" (2 of the greenish (Chartreuse?) cloudy ones). As I got up rather early I finally updated the blog, even with pictures.

Carla, question: How big are your lampwork beads? I love those cylindrical ones, but I'm afraid to make any decent sized ones without a kiln.

And as Carla was talking about the next piece of equipment: more mandrels, more glass, and a kiln. The kiln may be a few months away.

Patti: the open flame isn't half as bad as you may think - once you get past the "whooosh" when you light the torch.

It's too bad that there isn't really enough daylight time here before work, even in the middle of summer. I feel like making some more beads, but the sun is still so low that the clouds are orange from underneath.

Aloha, Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

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Maren at google

Maren, I found out that I couldn't handle open flame when I took silversmithing. Not a good experience. The first time I went to the Gathering, I went down to the room where Open Torch was being held, I couldn't even go into the room. Now that is paranoid. This year I was able to go to Open Torch (just to watch) at B & B. But, I still don't want to try it. Of course, at least with lampworking the torch is secured to a table, where in silversmithing, you have to hold it, but still..... Give me my sheet glass, a glass cutter and my great kiln with a digital controller and I'm fine and happy.

Patti

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Patti

Patti, thanks for something to ponder.

I'd love to learn silversmithing (for use as polymer clay bezels if nothing else), but I haven't been able to work a propane torch properly to solder a simple outside spigot! (For that matter, neither could DH; we're not very handy.)

As for lampworking, if I ever get up the nerve (and the $), that would be better for me than glassblowing. I have problems with eye pressure, as well as occasional ocular migraines.

Should I ever come into enough moolah, I'd love to do fused glass, as well.

All the best, Turtlelover

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turtlelover

Apologies, never occurred to me. - I sometimes used to burn the weeds in the driveway with a torch. People do that here. -

I've been thinking about silver smithing ...

Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

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Maren at google

Thanks, Maren. I've been wearing them almost every day :)

It's true; and since you can't see them when you're wearing them, you'll forget they're uneven. Looking at the pics on your blog, I gotta say your round beads are pretty consistently sized.

I think the largest is about 20 mm. Yeah, without a kiln for annealing, I worry enough about breakage that I still won't use the lampwork beads in anything I make for sale. I met a glass artist a couple of years ago, though, who only uses the fiberglass (?) blanket, and would demonstrate how sturdy the beads were by dropping them from above his head to the cement floor of his studio. I never saw any breakage.

That *still* makes me nervous, even moreso with the Hot Head torch and spark lighter :)

Cheers, Carla

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Carla

Good for you!

Well, with lampwork there's 3 dimensions and some of the ones that have the same diameter don't have the same thickness :-) But I did make some earrings with 2 of them tonight - half hiding the lampwork in wire cages (my first pair of wire cages).

I have the fiber blanket that came with the Hothead kit and I've been rather careful letting them cool off in the backflame first, and those few all came out OK.

And I did buy the mandrels and some more glass today :-) And one of those carbon paddles so I can make cylindrical and flat beads.

What makes me nervous is when it doesn't light right away ...

Hoping to make more beads soon.

Aloha, Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

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Maren at google

Carla, There are lots of lampworkers in the Chicago area. If you were to ask at

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I'm sure one of them would be happy to anneal your beads for you. Or, ask at a stained glass store. They often rent kiln time as well.

Patti

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Patti

I've heard about places I can have it done. It's just a time/energy drain when you don't have a car :)

Cheers, Carla

Patti wrote:

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Carla

I'm doing some simple gemstone things for a friend of my husband. She has a beauty shop and flower shop. I'd rather have her buy or even just wear my better lampwork jewelry. I'll have to work up to that.

I'm thinking of making some "footless sandals" to wear at my daughter's wedding. I'll be wearing a long dress of Moroccan cotton, so my feet won't show much. And I know it'll be way to hot for shoes.

Tina

Reply to
Christina Peterson

I loved seeing you're fused glass.

We currently have a fuel surcharge on our electric bill adding about 60% to it. I figure that's compact fluorescent equivalent to a real kiln. After my daughter's wedding in Sept, I will get one of those microwave kilns too.

Tina

Reply to
Christina Peterson

Come to think of it, I often use a torch in fall and winter. In the summer we don't have a fire, and in the winter it never goes out. But in Fall and Spring, we use a little propane torch to light the fire in the wood stove so we don't have to "build" a fire. I figure we saved $3,000 on heating oil last year, and that might double this year.

Still, I don't have be precise with that torch usage.

Tina

Reply to
Christina Peterson

I loved my silver smithing class, and learned a ton of stuff. Including that even if you work hard, overcoming poor dexterity won't necessarily happen. I'm best off keeping with things that are safe to drop. Dropping the necklace I'm working on is a pain in the ass, but won't injure me.

Tina

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Christina Peterson

or it, most likely ... (even it it's a pain)

Maren HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry

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Maren at google

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