Emiko Sawamoto Butterfly Bead for Beads of Courage

[CarolS]

Emiko Sawamoto developed this beautiful bead for use in the Beads of Courage Bereavement program as an alternative to the sculptural butterfly.

When a family suffers the loss of their child, a handmade glass butterfly bead is presented to them by the hospital staff in remembrance.

Here is Emiko's tutorial:

Butterfly beads for the sculpturally challenged:
What you will need:

22K Gold low-fire decal of butterflies. (It's from ProFusion
Studio and called "Decal Magic Glass Accents." A sheet of decals has
64 butterflies which is about 9 mm x 7 mm. It's around $11. I got
it at the Bead & Button from a stained glass supply vender whose
name I can't recall, but Delphi and other companies carry it.)

Kiln

1. Make the base bead. I made a heart, but it can be any shape that
you like. You can use your favorite press. The bead has to be big
enough for a 9 mm x 7 mm decal, and the surface doesn't have to be
flat but has to be smooth. Anneal and cool it.

2. Clean the surface on which the decal will be fused on. Use lint-
free cloth and alcohol. Don't touch where you cleaned.

3. Remove the thin translucent paper on the decal sheet. Cut the
butterfly you want to use and trim it. You don't have to trim it very
close to the butterfly, but trim it so that the design is in the
center of the trimmed piece. Depending on the color of the bead, the
design is hard to see (They are brown until they are fired.) and you
have to use the outside edge of the trimmed piece as guidance for
placement. When fusing is done, it won't show the shape you trimmed
to, so it doesn't matter if you trimmed it to square shape, close to
the butterfly shape, or a round shape.

3. Soak the decal in warm water for 40 seconds. Pull it out of the
water by a pair of tweezers.

4. Moisten the destination. Slide the decal slightly off the paper
backing by pushing the edge lightly by the tweezers. Hold the exposed
paper backing by the tweezers and place the exposed edge of the decal
where you want it to be. Hold the decal edge by your fingers that are
covered by paper towel while you pull the paper backing off the
decal. Hold down the decal and blot gently until any excess water and
air bubbles are gone and all the edges are firmly affixed to the glass.

5. Dry overnight.

6. Put the bead in a cold kiln and slowly ramp it up to 1140 F. (I
ramp it up at 500 F per hour.) Give it a good ventilation when it is
500 to 900 F by leaving the door or the lid open 2 to 3 inches and
the peepholes open if it has any. It gives out toxic fumes, so your
studio must have a good ventilation system.

Important Note
The instruction that comes with decals says to fire it at 1140 F for 15 to 20 minutes and to elevate the soak time and or temperature for better permanence. I fired two Effetre beads in two different kilns for 25 minutes. One of them got a flat spot on the back. One of
my pyrometers may be reading a little off, but a difference of only
10 degrees can cause these different results. So, to be safe either
fire at 1140 for shorter time or fire at slightly lower temperature.
I've fired gold luster at 1100F successfully. Another thing that
would prevent a flat spot is to leave the bead on the mandrel and
suspend the bead so it doesn't touch the kiln floor. The bead sagging
on the mandrel is harder to happen than the back of the bead which is
touching the hot kiln floor to flatten. Different kilns and
pyrometers work differently and different colors soften at different
temperature, so the temperature that worked for my kiln and bead does
not necessarily work for you. Do some experiments. If firing at 1140
F distorts the bead, fire at 1130 F. Go lower by 10 F and use the
highest temperature that makes gold to fuse on and does not cause
distortion. If you are using Bullseye you can probably fire it at
1140 F but again, do some experiments. With boro beads you don't have
to worry about the temperature.

Suspend the bead which is still on the mandrel so it does not touch
on the kiln floor. Ramp it up to the whatever temperature you decided
to use slowly. (I ramp it up at 500 F per hour rate.) Give it a
good ventilation when it is 500 to 900 F by leaving the door or the
lid open 2 to 3 inches and the peepholes open if it has any. It
gives out toxic fumes, so your studio must have a good ventilation
system.


7. Anneal as usual.

For etched beads:

Unlike gold leaf and foil, decals don't survive etching. Mask the
butterfly with Elmer's white glue painted on by a fine brush. Wait
until it is dry and etch it according to the instruction. You can use
nail polish, too, but I find Elmer's glue easier to apply and to
remove. The glue either just peels off or can be washed off by water.

[CarolS]

Here are some photos of Emiko's beautiful beads:

[theglasszone]

Just gorgeous! I've got many decals - just haven't tried them yet! This is inspiring me to drag them out and get to work!

Thanks for posting! You're thoughtful and sweet...!!!!
DeAnne in CA

[CarolS]

Hi DeAnne!

I hope you have fun and much success playing with the decals - I am excited to see what you make!

[tt4st]

Thanks for posting this Carol. I am going to have to get some decals and try this.

[MaryBeth]

A butterfly bead that I can do!

I work with the gold decals and I do have one more suggestion. Once you have your finished bead use a pencil eraser and attempt to erase the gold decal. If it erases it was not properly bonded to the glass.

A properly bonded decal can not be rubbed off with a pencil eraser.

If this happens you need to fire your beads at a higher temperature.

I leave my beads on the mandrels and I haven't had any problems with them distorting. I fire at 1180.

[CarolS]

Thanks MaryBeth!

[Lara]

Oh, good idea. I am having problems making butterflies. I have wanted to try decals and this is a good reason to try them.

[technicaltess]

I have used these decals on CIM as some of the colors have a higher annealling temp. Seems to work well. No flat spots seen.