Glow Powders???

[Beadbug]

Can anyone give me tips on using glow in the dark powders? Please post photos if possible. I got some for christmas and need to know how and what I can do with them???

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[Corey]

I would like to know how to use that to.

[crystalflipz]

I generally use the glow powder as a form of encased stringer. I take a big glob of clear and roll it in a thick layer of the glow powder. I then "encase" this powder covered glob with more clear or with another transparent glass. I'm using the term encase very lightly here. The glow powder does not stick well to the glass so I will attach the glass to the glass at the base of the blob and bring it up and over the blob to reattach it to the glass on the other side. From there I can attach glass to the top and bring it down to attach at the base of this blob. Once the whole thing is covered with the top layer of glass, I melt everything smooth and pull it into a stringer. If you have a thick layer of glow powder, you should have a stringer that really glows in the dark. I hope this is clearer than mud!!
This set was done using stringer encased with a light aqua blue. It's on Bullseye glass, but it works the same with COE 104 glass.
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If this doesn't make any sense let me know, and I try to figure out a better way to explain it.
Carol

[LyndaJ]

That's COOL!

[Starfield]

Whoa!!! I want some! I want some! (Whining loudly)

Karen
Starfield Glass

[DeboraCox_facetsdesigns]

Thanks for sharing the pics...always wondered if that really worked or not...so now I've gotta get me some!
Deb

[crystalflipz]

Be aware that there are several colors of glow powder available. I have found that the lt blue one gives the best "glow" when pulled into stringer. The others look really cool by themselves, but they tend to wimp out once pulled into stringer.
Carol

[DeboraCox_facetsdesigns]

just to clarify??
thanks!

[crystalflipz]

Deb,
It's Aqua that gives me the best color. Sorry about that.
Carol

[hulagirl]

Way cool!

[pandora]

Your description (of encasing it) is funny!! I've found this stuff really hard to work (because it doesn't stick)...it's worse thasn pixidust in that regard. We could almost use it as a resist :lol:

I know someone who mixes it in to great result. I have never been able to do it (but will try this loose encasing- sounds like it has a greater probability of success..fro me anyway).
Thanks for the tip!
Elise

[Solana]

Just an FYI on pixie dust...if you want to add glass on top of it, you need to remove the "loose" dust before adding more glass. To do this, keep a wet towel near you and gently roll your bead on it to remove the excess dust. However, do NOT roll a glowing red bead on the towel....wait for it to cool just a bit. Also, be sure the pixie dust is generally fused to the glass before rolling it on the wet towel, or else it'll come off.

Not sure if this would work for the glow powder as I haven't tried it.

I learned this technique from Robyn of Shibumi Glass. :)

[crystalflipz]

I posted this pix in the gallery tonight, but thought I'd post it here with a more detailed explaination.
The base bead is Moretti Dk Aqua. I used a glow stringer that was also encased in the Dk Aqua and swirled it over the base bead and then melted it smooth. Over this I put a thin layer of Pale Aqua glass. The next layer is silver dichro wound round the bead and then encased in clear. I shaped what had turned into a very large bead as best as I could, and then decorated the outside with raised scrollwork of glow stringer encased in clear. The bead is 52mm long x 20mm wide at the center and was done on a 3/32 mandrel. I obviously let the ends cool off to much at some point as there is a small thermal crack near one end. I can either keep it on my workbench or put it by my bed to use as a nightlight - it's really bright!
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One more note - When I make glow stringer, I put as thick a layer of glow powder as possible on my base "blob" of glass. That way there is more to pull into stringer, and the stringer will glow brighter.
Carol

[jrandrup]

Carol, those are beautiful! I'm going to have to give this a try. You mention the powder, have you ever used the glow frit?
Thanks!

[uniqueleigh]

Be aware that there are several colors of glow powder available. I have found that the lt blue one gives the best "glow" when pulled into stringer. The others look really cool by themselves, but they tend to wimp out once pulled into stringer.
Carol

I just wanted to chime in a little here. I was gonna try the powder out today. Hmmm interesting timing huh. LOL

Any Hoo I have been working with comercial glow powders for about 2 years now. (Haven't used them in the glass yet so please take that into consideration when ready my post) And I have had experience with many colors. The brightest and longest glow comes from Aqua, Green, and Blue. They have like a 10 + hours glowing time line. The others drop in intesity and glow length from there. I think red and orange only glow for about 10 min. If someone would like any other info and I can help feel free to ask.

I have to say thanks for the encasing tip though because I have been trying to figure the best way to get the powder in the glass because it does tend to make a surface that things don't want to stick to.

Leigh

[crystalflipz]

Thanks Jan!
I've looked at the glow frit a few times, but have never taken the plunge and gotten some. I'd love to see pictures if anyone else has used it.
Carol

[crystalflipz]

Here is a link to a company that sells both glow dust and glow frit online and on Ebay. If you go to the site and then follow the liks to the Glow Glass Gallery, there are some pretty cool pix of things people have done with both the dust and the frit.
http://www.glowglass.org
Carol

[CO_Phantom]

How long does the glow using this powder last? Can it be recharged to go on for a quite a while, or is it a one shot type of thing?

[Heather/Ericaceae]

I have a bag of glow glass but whenever I try to pull stringers it comes out really lumpy and pretty much unusable. Is this because I tried to mix the dust into the glass? Does a thick encased layer work better?