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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
2009-09-26, 10:13am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 13, 2005
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 1,192
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Why aren't you blowing your own shards?
I guess I don't get it...I have a ? blow pipe...hollow mandrel? it is maybe
1/4 inch ok maybe a bit more...
it is very easy to blow shards...with a little practice
IF I can do it you can do it...and no one showed me how...it is intuitive.
you start by winding the glass around the tip...and slowly add glass for a disk...
then build it out etc...using some heat from the flame.... I would think this would be intuitive...like making a hollow bead....of course you can't have holes...
but you want the shards ...the glob you are adding and blowing isn't the finished product so don't be so fussy about your process...if you get a hold heat up some glass and cover it...just do this slowly....good grief I have so many bits and pieces of glass on my work table ...I could melt them all together and make them into shards until the proverbial cows come home ))
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2009-09-26, 10:15am
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Tweedle Dumb
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Join Date: Jan 16, 2009
Location: Dolphins are just gay sharks.
Posts: 1,934
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Yeah! I blow my own too... they are addictive to make... so many shorts to use up so little time!
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Jamie Lynne (aka Bitty) To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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2009-09-26, 10:18am
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Mary Lockwood
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Join Date: Jun 21, 2005
Location: Boonies
Posts: 5,831
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Probably for the same reason people don't make their own twisties or canes or murrini. They either hate to do it, don't think they can, or don't want to take the time to do it when their torch time is limited they want to make beads...not components. Maybe it is cheaper to pay $4 for finished shards than it is to buy a 1/4 pound of the glass, pay to ship it and then spend time blowing the shards.
I personally love to make all my own parts, but not everybody does.
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2009-09-26, 10:51am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 11, 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 586
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because mine suck...they end up being too thin and it takes me forever to get one done. I wish I knew the trick. I've watched others do it and tried to mimic what they've done, but again....mine suck!
-elaine
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2009-09-26, 10:56am
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Just Plain
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Join Date: Jun 18, 2005
Location: Trevor, Wisconsin
Posts: 4,279
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I've done it, but prefer to spend my very limited torch time making beads. Same with murrini
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2009-09-26, 11:10am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 16, 2006
Location: New Hampshire Seacoast
Posts: 756
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because i get much prettier shards from people who have lots of great glass to combine and who know how to combine it to make terrific shards. ....kath
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2009-09-26, 12:49pm
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Live and Let Live
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Join Date: May 06, 2007
Location: Southern NH
Posts: 2,292
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Because mine end up too thick or I get a huge blow-out like cellophane flying around which is very hazardous to breathe and I can't seem to find that 'middle ground' where they come out usable still...
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2009-09-26, 12:53pm
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Etch Fiend Organic Junky
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Join Date: Mar 31, 2006
Location: Arvada (Denver), CO
Posts: 11,443
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I don't have time for it and I also don't mind supporting our community.
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Naos Glass and Jewelry Supply - ~*~ Custom Orders Happily Accepted~*~
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2009-09-26, 1:00pm
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Smile, it's contagious!
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Join Date: Oct 31, 2005
Location: Location: Location
Posts: 4,938
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Making shards on my HH takes about 3 years... I'd rather do other things with that time.
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2009-09-26, 2:58pm
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Ellyloo-YAH!
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Join Date: Aug 01, 2006
Location: Port Colborne
Posts: 2,775
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I don't like them when I do it.
Plus, i like the people I buy them from.
It's fun to buy from friends.
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2009-09-26, 3:39pm
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Unmedicated since '62
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Join Date: Jan 18, 2009
Location: Hunter Valley, Australia
Posts: 5,907
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i love making my own stuff - when i make jewellery i try really hard to not use bought components at all
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2009-09-26, 4:07pm
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Dangerous Woman
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Join Date: Nov 21, 2005
Location: Southcentral PA
Posts: 5,018
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I love to make shards, twisties, ribbon and other complex cane, stringers, and I'm getting into making murrini. My problem is I don't use them!!! Maybe I should sell them.
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Nancy
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2009-09-26, 4:38pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 10, 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 6,485
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I can't imagine paying for shards. If I couldn't do it, I'd figure it out. It's not THAT time-consuming.
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2009-09-26, 4:49pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 07, 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 679
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I have a few reasons why some people don't make their own shards.
1) We have customers who do several of the big shows across the U.S. They tell us they don't have time to make shards. They need to spend their time making beads so they have stuff to sell.
2) Some peoples skill level is not there yet.
3) Some don't want to learn how. They just want to make beads.
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2009-09-26, 5:17pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 11, 2005
Location: SUNNY FLORIDA~West Coast!
Posts: 9,423
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Jen Geldard has a really nice (FREE) tutorial on her website on how to blow shards for those that want to make their own! We blew them in classes at Tin City and they were a lot of fun!!
Paula
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2009-09-26, 6:14pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 01, 2005
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 1,061
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I like supporting other artists who have taken considerable time to come up with cool reactions and recipes...like someone else said, I'd rather spend my limited bead-making time making beads.
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Rachel
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2009-09-26, 7:15pm
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Naysayer
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Join Date: Sep 22, 2009
Posts: 1,203
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I'm on a HH and make shards, it doesn't take long at all, in fact about 2 years ago I thought of selling them but I didn't think there was a want. *silly*
I don't think it takes much skill. I was making them on a fireworks torch even lol! It's fun to break them too
I do see some nice ones out there, and I would buy, or should I say will when I can, but I'll also keep making my own.
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2009-09-26, 7:21pm
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Broken
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Join Date: Jun 05, 2005
Location: Victoria BC/Stettler Alberta
Posts: 13,418
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Naos*
I don't have time for it and I also don't mind supporting our community.
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Plus mine SUCK!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulaD
Jen Geldard has a really nice (FREE) tutorial on her website on how to blow shards for those that want to make their own! We blew them in classes at Tin City and they were a lot of fun!!
Paula
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Jen showed me in Chinook (she's such a sweetheart) and mine still SUCK LOL
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2009-09-26, 7:54pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 28, 2005
Posts: 541
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I am one of those people who do the larger bead shows and would rather spend my time making beads to make money than making shards. I also pay a studio assistant to clean my beads though. My torch time is worth about $100 an hour when I make beads, NOT when I make shards or clean beads though....... Just my 2 cents
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Cindy
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2009-09-26, 9:01pm
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Borovangelist
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Join Date: Jan 26, 2007
Location: Auburn, MA
Posts: 3,002
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I can make bread but I buy it in the store. I can smack a rod of glass with a hammer to make frit but I buy that sometimes too. Sometimes for the sake of expediency it's easier to just buy certain things.
Plus this way I can play with some colors I don't already own.
For what it's worth, though, I make ornaments this time of year and some of them to wind up as (boro) shards.
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2009-09-27, 8:47am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 06, 2009
Posts: 501
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For the same reason folks buy commercially pulled stringers. Because I don't want to blow my own. Especially this time of year, my time at the torch is better spent making things rather than doing prep work.
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2009-09-27, 8:47am
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High Maintenance
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Join Date: Jun 19, 2005
Location: A Godless F@#K Palace with Yarn
Posts: 6,438
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I make my own when I want shards out of a color I have but a lot of the shards out there are made from colors I don't have and don't need so when that's the case its much cheaper and faster just to buy some shards rather than buy glass, pay to ship it, and then make shards.
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2009-09-27, 9:21am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Yarmouth, Maine...home of the Clamfest
Posts: 7,693
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Lots of reasons:
1) Mine suck.
2) To get a silver color I'd have to pay $25 for a quarter pound of the glass, PLUS some shipping, PLUS make a "decent" shard (again, mine suck) & then I *might* hate the result. I can get a bit of the color to "try" for a couple bucks--try it out, see if I like it for a minimum of cash outlay. And a fraction of an ounce can last me MONTHS with the fraction of time I get to torch. For $25+ shipping (what I'd pay for ONE color of silver glass) I can try a couple DOZEN colors of shards--enough to try DOZENS of colors--and eliminate HUNDREDS of DOLLARS from my glass budget, or narrow down a few colors of "must have" for what works best "for me & my torch/working style" Same goes for frit.
How often do you see posts in the garage sale of "I hate this glass" (I'm sure the long-time members remember the "I hate raku" sales from folks who bought pounds of it, I'm still occasionally seeing "I hate chalcedony" posts & "I hate XXX" posts about specific DH/TAG colors ...a few dollars on frit/shards can avert that!)
3) Blowing shards AT HOME scares me--I have cats--they stay away from the torch, but because I suck @ blowing, if I get "cellophane" bits, I'm always afraid I'll miss a few bits @ cleanup & the cats will get them in paws, or breathe them, or whatever...it's SAFER for me to buy them!
4) I still can't make hollow beads (rofl) consistently.
5) I'd rather make a bead than blow shards....or pull stringers for that matter--unless it's something "cool", like a striped cane, or a color I can't get in stringer--if the price is the same, it seems silly to pull white, black, etc! there's no creativity in being able to pull a piece of white just so I can use it to "poke & twist"!
6) echoing that I'd rather support the community--there are so many people who can take glass, melt it up, turn it into fabulous shards that do fabulous things in record time & make a bit of profit off it, why *wouldn't* I support them? If they can do in 5 minutes what takes me 2 hours to do, it just makes sense! That way MY 20 minute bead that I'm only gonna be able to sell for $7 still makes ME a bit of profit
~luna
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new purple cricket @ home! minicc @ playing with fire in rockland! Sue & Nikki fighting over who gets to anneal the wonkies To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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2009-09-27, 9:37am
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Looking for my waistline
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Join Date: Sep 13, 2005
Location: Greer, SC
Posts: 3,025
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Quote:
Originally Posted by missbatteries
because mine suck...they end up being too thin and it takes me forever to get one done. I wish I knew the trick. I've watched others do it and tried to mimic what they've done, but again....mine suck!
-elaine
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You're probably making your hollow base too thin. When people say it's "like" making a hollow bead, they don't mean to make a hollow bead and blow it out. You have to make the walls a lot thicker than if you're making a hollow bead. When you make the walls thicker, it's easier to build the hollow shape. It doesn't collapse as easily as a hollow bead with it's thin little wall of glass. It holds it's shape better when the walls are thicker.
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2009-09-27, 10:07am
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Formerly Travelin'gal
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Join Date: Jun 05, 2005
Location: Cajun Country
Posts: 14,359
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I can blow shards, but if I see a pretty shard combo for sale, I'd likely try it.
Is it any different than buying frit? Sure I could make my own frit, but I really don't want to. And what about those pretty combos Val and others come up with?
I could also make my own silver glass for that matter, but I sure as heck and not going to do that.
Everyone has different priorities.
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2009-09-27, 3:39pm
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In spite of it all!
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Join Date: Aug 19, 2005
Location: Bend Oregon
Posts: 4,724
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Naos*
I don't have time for it and I also don't mind supporting our community.
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yup.... just my nickels worth.... supporting the folks I like, that have great fun stuff and it causes great connections! What a fun circle of friends to have!
Isn't connecting and making new friends the REAL point?? lol.... OK... well, it is to me!
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2009-09-27, 4:33pm
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In spite of it all!
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Join Date: Aug 19, 2005
Location: Bend Oregon
Posts: 4,724
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lunamoonshadow
I suck @ blowing
~luna
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Really??? Jeez... I would never have thought THAT!
Hugs!
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2009-09-27, 4:44pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 27, 2005
Location: Yarmouth, Maine...home of the Clamfest
Posts: 7,693
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth Nichols
Really??? Jeez... I would never have thought THAT!
Hugs!
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Well, think about it Ruf....
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2009-10-12, 10:46pm
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Jacqueline Parkes
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Join Date: Nov 04, 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 4,497
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Bump. What size hollow mandrel do I need to purchase to blow shards? I am itching to try this............
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2009-10-12, 11:11pm
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Ad astra per aspera
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Join Date: Jun 15, 2005
Location: Apache Junction AZ
Posts: 7,324
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I know how to make them, I'm not too bad at it, either, but I'd much rather spend my time making beads than blowing shards. Half the year, I have very limited bead-making time, and I prefer to make beads, not components. In the winter I spend a lot of time pulling stringer and making twisties. I cheerfully buy shards and murrini from those more talented and more willing, because it saves me time. Same reason I buy pasta and bread.
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Karen Sherwood
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