EllyLoo Creations-Lampwork & Jewelry

So, Lately, my glass mojo has been ‘leaking’ out.  I’ve been making spacers, and pretty beads, but nothing new that I’d go “OOoooo” over.  So I tried a tutorial that I haven’t tried since I was a brand spankin new glass girl, and sooo excited because I had been eyeing this tutorial, and always wanted to try it. 

So I allowed my mojo to mutate a bit, and I attempted another implosion.
Next time, I will be leaving the flowers off, they’re not that hot.   This is a Mandrel Wound Implosion bead.  YOu’ve seen implosions in boro pendants, in Marbles, etc, but this is with soft glass.  It involves a large disk bead, lots of dots, and lots of patience.  (I get my glass too hot, you can see how the implosions ’swirl’ around the mandrel…that’s ok, I LIKE them that way.  I also like my marshmallows burned and crispy.  Really!)

I think next time I will try silvered ivory dots.  I like how they implode.

I had the fortune to have been asked to try out Nortels new Beadliner for a month or two.  I had been itching to get into lining beads!  I thought that it would be a nice new addition to my art.   

It turns out not to be ‘my thing’–I love the look of a nicely lined bead, but I’ll continue ogling others.  Like Dwyn from Dragonjools… she’s done a lot with the Nortel Bead Liner!!  Check it out here, she’s done a step by step video!  Dragonjools Youtube Video

I’ve been experimenting with Glass shards lately.  I know how to make them, however, I have no patience to practice and do them just right, and so I purchase delectable colours from Joe and Barry at Avenue Beads.  It’s been fun watching him make the shards during his webcam broadcasts for the last few months.  Also, they’re good people, those fellas.

Here are a few pictures of what I made with shards lately!  Shards are paper thin pieces of glass broken into pieces.  They’re made by blowing a bubble of glass, letting it cool, and then breaking it!  Yes. I pay money for broken glass!  Then you wrap the bead in the shard just barely touching the flame to it.  It will almost hug the glass as the heat melts it!  You can leave them raised (melting down sharp edges) or you can melt them right in flat.  These ones are melted flat, but still look like they’re raised!

Remember when I was blogging about the Trunk show I was going to be in? Well, that weekend came and went, and I had a great time!  I love getting together with fellow glass artists, it’s not like a big bead show, it was relaxed and laid back.  At one point, while I was in the studio, torching, I heard people start to laugh and giggle at some joke, and I thought to myself “Boy, you wouldn’t hear that sound often at a large show!”. 

Here are some pictures I took! 

This is Beadfx.  This is only half of the store! The other half is more of this, plus a workshop, and a multipurpose room (which was full of lampworkers!)  I love it’s salon like atmosphere…so light and refreshing, not cramped and clausterphobic like other bead stores I’ve been to.

If you were to sign up for a lampwork class at Beadfx, this is where you’d have it! Besides the 4 torches you see here, there are two others behind where I’m standing.  You can’t seen the ventilation hood, but it’s as large as the table, and is running all the time.  I make sure to always do a demo on the torch when I’m at a trunk show, there’s nothing like having someone watch you who’s never seen it done before, and explaining what you’re doing.  Also, you can glean from other artists!  “how do you get this look? here, let me show you”.  Fun!

OOooooooOOOOOoooooo…Red and shiny, ready to go! You can find them this weekend at the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee.  Nortel Bead Liners!  I’ve seen them line a 1/2 inch bead hole!  If you’re going to the Bead and Button show, say hi to Jean from Nortel for me! (and Avenue Beads!  Joe makes really neat shards to use in lampworking)

Nortel comes to Trunk shows, so we could take the money out of our buyers hands, and pass it STRAIGHT to Jean!  Oh Jean…what DO you do to us??  She always has nifty deals and tools.  Here’s what I stare at all day when I’m at a trunk show. I was very good this time!!

Hope you can come to the next one! There are always a few a year.

If you don’t know about Beadfx, you should check their site out!  They have a wonderful boutique atmosphere, full of sparkly fun stuff!  When you’re done perusing their wares (and oh, read the descriptions, they’re half the fun!)  check out their blog!

Yes, you’ll find that I want to brag a little bit–they’re doing little bios of the artists that will be there on saturday for the trunk show!  I’m on day one, right along with Erin Maloney, from Airwynn Glass.  She does the most wonderful silvered sparkly PERFECTLY shaped sets…she is someone who, with her quality and dedication, inspires me. 

Four more Sleeps!  You should come on by! 
The info you need is on my side bar to the right.

I’ve been able to take this tool home to evaluate it!

So far, I’ve only done a few beads… I’ll let you know how things go!

Here’s a picture so far!
It’s one of my firsts, so it’s not as perfect as I’d like. I still have a learning curve.

Nortel told me it would be about 300$ Canadian, all inclusive once they start selling it. In boring grey or rocket red! 
Dwyn from Dragonjools has a great writeup about it that you can read for now, while I learn.

Someone from my favourite glass forum “Lampwork Etc.” sent me a suprise gift that included some Glow in the Dark frit!  I don’t know who makes it, but it’s very neat! Just about a tablespoon full, so I have to make it last.  I dipped a glob of clear into it, and mixed it in, and pulled it into a glow in the dark stringer!  So I made a bead, encased it with the stringer, and encased THAT with a transparent colour of my choice.  They turned out well!  They glow pretty good for a little while, but then you have to put them under the light again.  I’m sure they’d be very cool with black light.

Here they are!  I traced the black eye with glow in the dark stringer, so it’s like a cool amulet.

I’ve been going to the park this long weekend with my dog every day, and bringing my camera.
This lil guy caught my eye:

He looks like he ate too much to hang on to the branch!

I took others, but I was really looking for the new goslings I glimpsed when I was ’sans’ camera.  I haven’t been able to find them since!! Gah!  Next time I see them, they’ll be gangly teen geese.  They were cute and yellow and fluffy on friday.  Ah well.
Happy long weekend folks!

Okay, so after the big Bead Oasis show, I kind of lost my ‘oomph’.  I also got that awful coughing virus, and it put me out of commission for a while.

However, I just bought some new special glass, and have some pretties to show you!  Double Helix’s Aurae, and Triton.  They both reduce to a really nifty sheen, as you’ll see!  I’ve been making big holed beads in preparation for trying out the new Nortel Bead liner, so that’s why some of these have 1/4 inch holes. 

Triton goes a mirrored silver when reduced (it does other things too, but so far, I can do the first!), if you look closely, you can see me with the camera!

Aurae is like a Fairy glass!  It reduces to a delicate golden sheen, like liquid sunlight!

This one below is an elegant beauty that has Triton in it in reduced and unreduced form.  There are a few mirror shiny spots, but unreduced, it’s the ethereal blue that you see.  It also includes silvered ivory.  I really enjoy how it turned out!

Here are some photos taken at the bead oasis of me and my booth that I shared with Jody Wieler.

I had a great time!  Thank you all of you who stopped by and said “hi!”.