Ask me anything!

[Pia Kaven]

Originally Posted by Ari'elle

Pia, I believe she offered the basic frit recipe in post 8. They are gorgeous beads! Thank you so much, Kalera! And I'd buy a tutorial by you too!

I was rushing being worried that Ill be late!
I think Kalera's frit sets are the most gorgeous frits I have ever seen! I havent ever seen one I didnt like, and I am not usually too excited about frits... well I am now, maybe I will try to come up something unique like this myself, have to be more open about trying new things! I think I will make some frit myself!

Now I need to go back and try to read the whole thread through.

[Kalera]

You're welcome! Thanks, all of you!

Darlene, I haven't found any other Reichenbach colors that devit like that but I'm still working my way through them, slowly but surely. Eventually there's got to be another!

[Kalera]

BTW, if any frit makers want to sell the Romance blend pre-made, I'm cool with that... the only nod I ask is that my name be on it in some way, as a professional courtesy.

[Pia Kaven]

Originally Posted by Kalera

Pia, the recipe for the frit is in post #8... the base glass for those two sets are Uroboros Amazon Green and Uroboros Riviera Blue, respectively.

Thank you Kalera!

[Gila]

Thanks Kalera!
Would you mind sharing your preferred encasing method/rod size please?

[SilverReflections]

Kalera, this thread is the height of generosity. You've given me some great ideas, and I can't wait to pull out my frits again to play. Plus I need to try some of that r106, that set is yummy. I also wanted to add... Love the test products! (and I'm not askin how you made those beauties!) I have three boys so I know how busy you must be.

Tina

[effemess]

May I ask about 4 sets of your boro beads please Kalera
Green Opal Boro - base cane and frit
Posiden's Keepsake - what is the base
Oxeloosund Evening - base and frit please
Verdigris Boro - I can see what frit it is - but what is the base?

I think you can see an ongoing theme here... green.. I have real problems with green, cracking etc.. Green defeats me every time

[kathleen milligan]

Well this is fun! Lookin', lookin', lookin' at your beads, lady!

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11655
What is Allene Rosalind Pie?

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11657
What is Gertrude Belle Field Test?

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11654
What is Afternoon with Carolyn Bertozzi???

[AutEvDesigns]

Oooh. good questions on the boro. I'd like to know the answers to those, too! What percentage of the time are you using cane as your boro base versus color straight from the factory rod? What size amazon bronze frit do you use? Apparently I need to lurk more in the boro room.

[ewdb]

awesome thread Kalera - so very sweet of you to give up your recipes for free! I have no questions (for now), i'm just enjoying the thread. You have a great eye for colour and i've been a huge fan of your beads ever since i started torching...

[Lara]

Originally Posted by Kalera

It's an ongoing offer... you are never too late! "earthenware" is simply R-106. http://www.glasscolor.com/products/d...D=111&pID=1064

I love this glass and use the frit in a lot of my organics; it's downright bizarre in the flame, runny and boily, going from white to blue to brown, and devitrifies like mad, and I LOVE it! It's like a brown version of Z-99.

I have a bunch of this in rod and frit form and have such problems. I want that blue color to stay, but it doesn't. Any tips you have on use this color would be great?

I haven't seen you in years, any chance you would be coming to the retreat or bash this year?

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by Gila

Thanks Kalera!
Would you mind sharing your preferred encasing method/rod size please?

I mostly use 6mm rods: I melt a gather about twice the size of the bead I'm about to encase, then make one thick, quick wrap around the equator of the bead. I then quickly heat the wrap the the bottom of the flame, keeping the core out of the flame, and then roll it on my marver to squoosh the encasing layer. Then I melt it all round again.

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by effemess

May I ask about 4 sets of your boro beads please Kalera
Green Opal Boro - base cane and frit
Posiden's Keepsake - what is the base
Oxeloosund Evening - base and frit please
Verdigris Boro - I can see what frit it is - but what is the base?

I think you can see an ongoing theme here... green.. I have real problems with green, cracking etc.. Green defeats me every time

Oh, this is where I'm going to get in trouble... not taking notes with boro! To make matters worse, sometimes I make canes out of random unlabeled rods, just to use 'em up.

Green Opal... I kind of think it's a cane made with Extra Light Yellow over Silver Unobtainium over clear, with Amber Purple frit.


Poseidon's Keepsake is almost certainly that exact same cane, without frit.


Oxeloosund Evening, same cane again, with NS Ruby frit.


Verdigris... whew! Finally one I'm sure of! Cane made with ELY over Agua Azul over clear.


With greens, and also with anything sparkly, I use it mainly by striping it over a clear core and pulling it out into a cane. That way there's only a very thin layer sandwiched between lots of clear, and I can avoid most cracking.

[Gila]

Thank you so very much.

I've tried many encasing methods with middling results; bubble, bubble toil and...

Your generous gather of glass and marver squoosh might be just right as a 'crux move' and then the bead edges take care of themselves.

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by kathleen milligan

Well this is fun! Lookin', lookin', lookin' at your beads, lady!

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11655
What is Allene Rosalind Pie?

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11657
What is Gertrude Belle Field Test?

http://www.beadwife.com/detail.tpl?ItemID=11654
What is Afternoon with Carolyn Bertozzi???

Allene Rosalind Pie is Caliente Silver Blue, slightly reduced, with R-108 size 0 frit, encased in Uroboros clear.


Gertrude Belle Field Test is the same Silver Blue, slightly reduced, under another weird Caliente cane that was some kind of amazing fumed clear... it had iridescent sparkles INSIDE the glass!


Afternoon with Carolyn Bertozzi is Multicolor Dark with R-108 size #0 frit, encased in Uroboros Clear.

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by AutEvDesigns

Oooh. good questions on the boro. I'd like to know the answers to those, too! What percentage of the time are you using cane as your boro base versus color straight from the factory rod? What size amazon bronze frit do you use? Apparently I need to lurk more in the boro room.

I almost always use cane... I like the depth and color variations cane offers, and also layering darker colors over clear almost always "brightens" them and makes them pop.

I use both size 25:



and size 38:

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by Lara

I have a bunch of this in rod and frit form and have such problems. I want that blue color to stay, but it doesn't. Any tips you have on use this color would be great?

I haven't seen you in years, any chance you would be coming to the retreat or bash this year?

What I do is let it cool just to the point of the brown appearing, reheat it quickly back to white, and then pop it in the kiln. It retains only hints of the blue, but also gets lots of striations and variations in the brown.

I am planning on coming to the Bash if I can! I've missed too many. Life is finally settling down again, phew! I'm looking forward to seeing you, and many other old friends, there!

[Kalera]

Thank you, everyone!

[Pia Kaven]

I cant not believe that romance is just one frit on different color bases. I was sure that it had to contain some of the basecolor frit in it too. Thats why I couldnt believe that you were actually answering the question about the romance frit in post #8.
Do you teach classes anywhere???

[effemess]

Originally Posted by Kalera

With greens, and also with anything sparkly, I use it mainly by striping it over a clear core and pulling it out into a cane. That way there's only a very thin layer sandwiched between lots of clear, and I can avoid most cracking.

Brilliant information - thanks Kalera Guess what I'll be doing today.

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by piakaven

I cant not believe that romance is just one frit on different color bases. I was sure that it had to contain some of the basecolor frit in it too. Thats why I couldnt believe that you were actually answering the question about the romance frit in post #8.
Do you teach classes anywhere???

I don't; I taught for a while and loved it, but have just been too busy with my kids and house since the divorce... when my youngest is a bit older I may look into teaching again.

The reason so much of the base color shows in the Romance frit is because of the way the Z-99 pushes away the other colors, revealing a large ring of base color around it. I think that some incarnations of this frit (it's been "evolving" over time, as I top off my mixture and occasionally add odd things by mistake) also contained an accidental pinch of R-106, which behaves similarly.

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by effemess

Brilliant information - thanks Kalera Guess what I'll be doing today.

Have fun! Making canes is one of my favorite things to do; sometimes I spend all day making canes and then the next day, actually using them is like unwrapping presents because I get to see how they turned out!

[Angie09]

Originally Posted by Kalera

Have fun! Making canes is one of my favorite things to do; sometimes I spend all day making canes and then the next day, actually using them is like unwrapping presents because I get to see how they turned out!

I have a few of questions:

1. Where is a good tut on cane making?

2. How do you apply your frit? (ie from a marver, trough, etc.)

3. When using silver foil over a base like light aqua, do you choose a NON-reactive frit, then reduce to get the silver veiney look? I used multi yesterday and reduced and got one very shiney ball ... which is NOT the look I was going for.

4. And what is the best way to make a Size 2 frit Size 1 or powder??

Thanks in advance.

[FourTailsLampwork]

Kalera, thank you so much! You have always been a generous beadmaker and Netizen, but this goes beyond anything I have seen. I am definitely going to try your recipe with the tobacco brown -- I never did figure out that frit, even though I love playing with frits, and of course I have a stellar source ... my sister (That Frit Girl). Seriously, peeps, if you need small amounts of *anything,*, likely Leslie has it or can get it. I know she has all the frit ingredients Kalera has mentioned--I pulled and packed for her while I was visiting at Christmas, so I know what her stash is like!

As far as sizes of frit, most people selling plain (not pre-blended) frit colors will also sell them according to specific sizes. If you get Val Cox's book, Frit Secrets, there's a listing and description of the various frit "standard" grind sizes. Each manufacturer also has that info available on the web, but Val puts it all onto a concise page or two.

You can grind frit down to powder using a small coffee bean grinder ($10-$12), or make your own frit pounder using two different sizes of steel pipe or similar materials.

I do have a question--about mandrel sizes, not frit. I noticed that a lot of your beads are on 5/64" mandrels, rather than 1/16" or 3/32". Is there a particular reason or advantage to using that size--i.e. do more jewellery designers prefer that size? Or is it that you just had a bunch of those mandrels to hand?

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by Angie09

I have a few of questions:

1. Where is a good tut on cane making?

2. How do you apply your frit? (ie from a marver, trough, etc.)

3. When using silver foil over a base like light aqua, do you choose a NON-reactive frit, then reduce to get the silver veiney look? I used multi yesterday and reduced and got one very shiney ball ... which is NOT the look I was going for.

4. And what is the best way to make a Size 2 frit Size 1 or powder??

Thanks in advance.

1. The one I learned from is the Doug Remschneider video "Boro Bead Magic": http://www.artcoinc.com/remschneider.php


2. I apply it from a stainless steel 1/2 tsp measuring spoon, which sits in a little dish to catch overflow. When applying, I pick up the spoon and bring the frit to the bead, just below the flame.

3. Yes, if you want to reduce just the silver, you must be sure to use a frit that doesn't also reduce. Sometimes, however, you can reduce and then oxidize, and the frit will return to non-reduced while the silver remains shiny.

4. What FourTails said! Usually if I make my own frit, I heat and then quench the glass, strain it, let it dry, and then crunch it up a bit in a coffee grinder. I then sift it by size. It's kind of a pain so I prefer to just buy pre-sized frit!

[Kalera]

Thanks FourTails! I like the 5/64ths because they're smaller than 3/32nds and jewelry designers do seem to like them, but they're less bendy than the 1/16th so I don't go through them like water.

[Angie09]

Thanks so much .... invaluable info!! And I actually own the video .... yeah!!!

Oops .. forgot .. what is the number on the tobacco frit? I have "light tobacco" will that work???

[FourTailsLampwork]

Originally Posted by Kalera

Thanks FourTails! I like the 5/64ths because they're smaller than 3/32nds and jewelry designers do seem to like them, but they're less bendy than the 1/16th so I don't go through them like water.

That makes sense to me. When I make jewellery I have to put model / lawnmower gasoline tubing into beads that have 3/32" holes in order to stabilize them on the wire. And you are dead right about the 1/16" being bendy! I go through those like whoa, but they work so much better in presses. Thank heavens I can hit up welding shops for TiG rods and make my own. Will go look for the 5/54" size mandrel material.

[truegem]

Kalera, how do you get your rounds all the same size in a set? =)
Oh, and I love Mediterraneo, too. I must play with some BE soon! I think I have all those colors! Thanks so much!

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by truegem

Kalera, how do you get your rounds all the same size in a set? =)
Oh, and I love Mediterraneo, too. I must play with some BE soon! I think I have all those colors! Thanks so much!

I honestly don't have any particular technique for getting beads the same size... I often make 2 or more on a mandrel, but mostly I think it's repetition that makes it happen! Have fun playing with BE... it's lovely glass!