I have a thing for glass shorts - fun little bits of glass that were partially used
and left... I adopt them from others, beautiful bunches of color.
Now the problem is... What to do with them? I collected some transparent colors
and white stringer, and melted them together into fun, swirled wispy beads. Here's
how!
Heat the end of the short (I used the scummy, cut end, since not all the glass will
go on the bead) and attach it to the heated end of a punty mandrel.
Wrap an opaque color around it. I used white for contrast with the deep cobalt
blue.
Fold it in half, or let it fall on itself, or just wad it all up. Neatness does
not count - the messier the hot mess is, the wispier the result. For what's shown
above, I folded it half then gave it a few twists with pliers.
Wind it on a mandrel - remember a narrow footprint so it's nicely dimpled - and
melt it down.
The results can be very fun - remember a small amount of opaque color goes a long
way!
If the bead is smaller than you'd like, encasing in clear or another color will
magnify the swirls and add depth.