Making bubble balls
 

Its not new, but for those who like to know what I did....

I put a small amount of glass on the rod allow the glow to go off slightly, dip in the baking soda, "burn" off most of it until it seems none is left.
Next encase one layer of glass and you see how it creates a reaction, don't let all the bubbles pop, but try and get a smooth ball again.
Allow the bead to cool a bit and encase with another layer of glass. You can heat it quite a lot and see more developement of the bubbles, but don't allow them to come to the surface.

Have fun;-)
Astrid

What a great technique and can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing it with us Newbies :)

Coud you please post some pictures? They sound cool!

Dawn

That is really cool - i'll try it next time I'm on the torch! Thank you so much for sharing!

-Diane

Very cool technique!!! I have never seen it used that way either. Thanks for sharing it!
Paula

You're a gem Astrid!

Thank you to share Astrid, really appreciated.

Those are GORGEOUS Astrid!

Thanks Astrid,can't wait to try this.They are gorgeous!

:)

Thank you for sharing! Your beads look amazing!!! I have heard of this technique before but the bubble effect I've seen in the past is more like "fizz" - the bubbles are much smaller. I think keys to the difference between the "fizz" effect and the "big bubble" effect may be: a) your burn in/burn off of the soda before encasing, and b) the double layering of the encasing glass, giving the burning soda beneath it more room to expand the bubbles, thereby allowing them to congeal and grow larger! :)

Awesome...

I love it ! Thanks Astrid... I'll give it a try. It seems to have the similar kind of reaction as the brass mesh (say "brass mesh" 3 times fast!).

Jack

THAT THAT THAT!
Sorry Jack, couldn't help myself!
Nice Job Astrid, thanks for sharing!!!!!
Hugs,
Nita

De, You are spot on :)

Jack, yes both create bubbles but personally I don't like the sparking brass ;)

Nita, LOL!!

Bed time for me....Bye:)

Nice one Nita!! :)

Jack

A new newbie says thanks. This looks like something that I can actually do!

Sharon

Thank you for the info Astrid.

Do they hold up if they are placed in a fiber blanket and not annealed right away or would they tend to crack?

I don't sell, but I would like not to waste glass if I don't have to. I do that very well on my own, thankyouverymuch! ;)

I tried it a little earlier (before Astrid posted) and I can say that you definitely want to do like she says and burn off the BS til you think it's gone, otherwise you get scum and tiny bubbles. :(

I'll try to post again when I have something a little more worthy.

Thanks for explaining in good detail how to do the baking soda bead technique. I could never get it quite right Astrid!

I've seen baking soda beads before but nothing like this! Thanks Astrid! Awesome beads! =D>=D>=D>

Pleasure:)

No, I put one test bead in the vermiculite and it cracked, rather put them straight in a the kiln at holding temp.

Thank you Astrid! Whenever I have seen baking soda used it has only been on the outside of the bead uncovered so it just looked like devit. I wasn't really into that. You made this look gorgeous. But then again, I'm thinking you've cornered the market on making things look gorgeous :)

Thanks again for sharing!

I think that sounds right. A single layer of encasement can get you great trapped tiny bubbles, but this nuance seems to make a big difference! Thanks for sharing!

Oh girl, I remember way back when... We had a blast playing with baking soda and posting the beads on WC! I forgot all about these.

You put a new twist on a old technique and make it HOT!!!

Sara

here's quick test bead using Astrid's instructions. I didn't work it too long and kept the bubbles tiny since the bead is so small big bubbles would not have been a "good idea" :razz:

http://www.bastetsbeads.com/pics/bstest.jpg

Thank you so much Astrid!!! I love the look and I had never thought to do that I used it on opqs for while to give a cool stone look but never knew it could be so fun with transparents!!
Mardi- that looks amazing great job I will try it out today I had to borrow some soda from my neighbor who I promised the first bead to :)

Mardi that is great!!

With the pale colors you can encase it with the same color so the bubbles take on the color of the glass.

yeah- your gold ones are awesome- or awe inspiring, one of the two and possibly both. :)

Astrid they are stunning! Thank you very much for freely sharing this info!!