Who made these beads??? (and how?)
 

Sorry I have no idea who made them but wow, they're really gorgeous!

I don't know how (wish I did!) but I know who...Those are Amy Trescott's beads...

OMG, LOVE the rainbow one in the center.

Try this link:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37269 (post #74) Her gorgeous beads are on the first page of this thread (#7)

A few months ago I hade these printed out with some instructions that the maker was so kind to post! I forget where they went though...

The link didn't work for me. Can you double check it, please? Thanks!

here is the link:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37269

Those are beautiful!!!

Thanks, squid!!!

Her photo of just the rainbow focal was the most perfect bead photo I have ever seen...I didn't right-click and save though - should've... ~dreamy sigh~

this one? it's still in that thread;)

Wow, that is beautiful!

Amy makes gorgeous beads, I adore her stuff!

Very tiny ninjas and lots of candy. Start with those and you will be on the path to enlightenment, my child.

:lol:

Amy makes beautiful beads. My favorite ones are the ones I secretly call her "Ralph Lauren Safari" beads. Every time I see them, I want to buy a safari jacket like Christianne Amanpour wears, except made by Ralph.

Her beads were what got me into lampworking. I just happened to run across them one day, having never heard the word lampworking in my life. Bought a set and voila here I am addicted to making my own. I also happen to be wearing the bracelet that I made out of hers as we speak. Strange.. Love her beads!!!! Pam

Suzanne, well I didn't click on the thread. LOL But yeah, THAT photo...it's fantastic!

I love Amy's work too. These almost made me faint when I saw them in the gallery a while back.
Same style, different colors, to die for!

My first thought was Amy's too! She makes wonderful beads! and uses wonderful colors together.

Stunning! What heat control and the dang encasing- no bubbles or smears!!! SWEET......

Beautiful. Is there a tutorial for making those. I've tried for the last 6 months unsucessfully.

In post 74 in that same thread, Amy posts her technique.

Thank YOU, Sigrid - I have always wondered how they were made! . . . not that I could, all my "petals" melt away . . . no heat control!!!

Thanks to glass affair who posted this earlier :D (reposted below)

Hey, I think you're talking about me! :) Thanks a bunch for all the positive feedback. I love making those, but they can be tricky little buggers.

I'm actually in the process of making an aqua/purple set, so we'll see how it turns out. They are labor-intensive (especially the big guys), so I hope they do well. I'm going to try to list them by Friday if they all turn out. Keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

Thanks again - and I'll try to answer any questions if there are any!

Take care,
Amy

Hi Amy,
I've been trying for several nights now to make a bead like you do. Started off first using white between the layers, which looks kinda like peacock feathers, which is cool, but not what I wanted. Tonight I put layers of clear (clear.....duh!) instead of white. It looks much better (I peeked into the kiln). How do you get the petals to angle down? I tried initially applying them to the bottom and stroking up with the rod as I applied. That didn't work out too well. I've also been trying to gently melt each layer almost in then marver flat before going on to the next layer. These are some honking B I G beads! They are by far the biggest I've ever made! Lots of glass. Next question, should it take a realllllllly long time to complete one? Because by the time I get to the "melt it completely in" phase I'm about burnt out and ready to just heat the bejeepers out of it. Do you use a tool to drag downwards towards the mandrel? But how does the petal stay so flat and perfectly shaped? I feel like doing the "we're not worthy" SNL move! A couple people noted that the photography is outstanding. It certainly is.I have the rainbow one printed out on an 8x10 and keep it in my studio trying to duplicate. Trying...... Luckily, I'm pretty stubborn! :)
Thanks for any advice you have.
A.

These are my attempts so far. The final one isn't out of the kiln yet.

Alexis,

Okay, so I have a couple of ideas.

First, before trying the petals, you should probably be really familiar with making a basic striped bead (like the ones I've posted below).

Looking at your pictures, it looks like there's no clear on the outside, which is crucial to making the petals look right. The clear is what pushes the petals out - there's no unusual technique. It's just placing opaque dots, melting them in, putting a layer of clear or transparent over them, moving on to the next petal. Also, try five dots around rather than four.

But to try to make things as easy as possible, I'll try to do another tutorial - let's say making a purple petal bead with each petal being darker (I'm a way more visual person, so I hope this makes sense)... :)

1. Make a disk bead (black is a good base color) and place five periwinkle dots around the disk.

2. Slowly completely melt in the dots so that they're evenly spaced around the disk.

3. Place a blob of dark transparent purple right on top of each of the periwinkle dots, and melt completely so that you now have purple "spots" all around the disk.

4. Using the periwinkle, place dots (a touch smaller then the last dots) just to the right of center on top of all of the purple spots, and melt in completely.

5. Repeat step #3 with medium transparent purple.

6. Repeat step #4.

7. Repeat step #3 with light transparent purple.

8. Now, heat up a big blob of clear. Make sure the bead is cool enough so that the petals won't smear, and wrap around the bead in clear.

9. Melt it in, alternating heating on the right of the bead (to pull the glass to the right), and heating to the left of the bead (to pull the glass that way).

10. You might need to add some more clear on the ends. Just add a little bit at a time, and only place the additional clear on the clear that's already on the bead. Then use gravity and heat to push the petals out further. If you add more clear to the edges of the base, it'll look funky.

11. That's it!


Good luck - hope this helps. :)

Amy

I forgot to mention, that yes, they do take some time to make, and they can get pretty large. You can get them small, but it's probably easier to not worry about size when you're learning the technique.

And yes, mine do get bubbles (at leat one little bubble per bead - it's close to impossible to do these without a small bubble here or there).

:D

Amy how long have you been lampworking? I'd like to know how long I can expect it to take before I am even half as good as you?! :-D

You truly are an awesome artist!!!