More Broken Bottle Glass Plates

Let me tell you my right shoulder has been taking a beating with the smashing of heavy gauge wire and glass bottles! I need to stop for a few days. I'm sure my close neighbors will also appreciate it! Someone gave me a few large cobalt blue vodka bottles. These are bigger than regular wine bottles, so I wondered if I could get two plates out of one bottle. I did. The first plate got the larger of the broken pieces and the second one got handfuls of tiny pieces. Next time I'll know to divide the sizes evenly for two plates. But they both fused and slumped well and look great.

And here's another plate made from the beautiful green mineral water bottle!

BANGLES!

I recently ordered a bangle bracelet die from http://www.wubbersushop.com and it came with two options, a small wave pattern and a large wave pattern. I didn't know what to expect, but had seen their video and hoped I could make their wonderful bangles. Guess what .... I did!

I had a roll of 12 gauge copper wire and cut three 7-1/2" pieces. I smashed one flat on both sides and used a texture hammer to finish it. The texturing added 1/2" to the wire.

Here's my favorite texture hammer:

After flattening and texturing all three pieces, the wires were annealed and formed so that the ends met perfectly for soldering. I used my copper solder for the first time and it worked well. The pieces were then shaped into rounds using a bracelet mandrel and a rawhide hammer.

Then came the exciting part ... using the bangle dies. The dies came with a special weighted hammer. Each shaped wire was centered inside one of the dies, the top was added. Then the hammer blows formed the bangles.

Here are the dies ... first the small wave pattern, then the large wave pattern.

And finally, the three bangles which came out perfectly!

The three look so good worn together. I want to try brass wire next ... and eventually sterling silver!

Recycled Metal Button Earrings!

Inspired by the wonderful work of Christine Marie Davis, I had to try smashing a few metal buttons! http://christinemariedavis.blogspot.com It was so much fun. I made a few earrings using textured brass discs, buttons and sterling silver wire. They are held together with a center eyelet. Here is one pair.

New Stained Glass Pendants/Necklaces with Lace

It's been a busy year so far. Finally got a few tomatoes and cucumbers planted; then on Mother's Day, my daughter brought me six more tomato plants. Now I have twelve (!!!), but have to dig up a long section of dirt and fill it with good planting mix and manure before these last six get planted.

In the meantime I've worked on a couple custom orders. I had to make some lampwork heart beads for a customer. Unfortunately, this was during our hottest 90-100+ degree week. I got a little dizzy a few times out in the hot garage ... with extra heat coming off the bead torch and annealing kiln in front of me. I couldn't justify turning on the AC. Finally got those mailed off yesterday, and right now am working on four fresh water pearl necklaces knotted on silk cord. Three different colors and one a combination of colors. Varied lengths so they can be twisted and worn as one ... or worn separately. The customer had a great idea for these!

Today I listed a few new stained glass pendants I had made with lace between the glass. They are so lovely.

New Lampwork Beads with Frit

I received a few new jars of frit I had to try immediately. Here are a few sets of beds just listed:

Dark turquoise glass with a darker blue frit:

Light turquoise with blue frit:

Copper green with blue frit:

And finally my favorite lentil beads and spacers made with blue transparent glass and Triton silver glass:

Funky and Fun Enameled Copper Beads

Over the past week I've been making funky beads out of copper wire, tubing and sheet. I wanted to practice enameling using my lampwork bead torch. And it works great ... once I learned to use a cooler bushy flame so the copper wire didn't melt! Here's a photo of just a few of the beads I started with.

And here are a few strands of finished enameled beads. They are great components for someone's jewelry projects. Listing them in my Etsy shop, and keeping my fingers crossed ....

New Lampwork Beads

I love these light turquoise with frit beads! I made them yesterday and just posted them in my Etsy shop. Also ordered four more frit colors that are in the mail to me ... can't wait to try and show them to you.

I tried to post a couple more of the Etsy treasuries my pieces were included in, and sadly read that the treasury generator was no longer working ... until someone figures out how to fix it.

"Where the Green Glass Grows" Etsy Treasury

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Another treasury by Nancy of Creative Glass Guild of Etsy featuring green glass. My slumped green beer bottle is included.

'Where the green glass grows' by DesignsStainedGlass

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Flower Glass Dish SimonAldersonG... $20	Lucky Shamrock Glass Hare Pa... flyingcheeseto... $30
Emerald Green Fused Glass Bo... Nostalgianmore $35	Glass mosaic candle holder, ... BellasArtMosai... $28
Green vs Green Fused Glass B... JanuaryMayDesi... $40	Solid Oak Bird Feeder (W1009... SierraCreation... $55
Fused Iridized Glass Patchwo... LyonPondStudio $35	Stained Glass Business Card ... StainedGlassYo... $22
Glass Marble Mossy Green and... MorningLightGl... $20	Carlsberg Beer Bottle Slumpe... RoseMarysGlass... $16
Fused Glass Coasters in Shad... GetGlassy $35	Stained Glass Suncatcher, Gr... LemonYellowGla... $35
Premium Glass Ear Plugs Hand... ThorKarlsenGla... $13.5	Beveled Stained Glass Shamro... GlassCat $22
Green Flower Mirror, Teen be... GlassPizazz $23	Green Glass Knobs or Drawer ... UneekGlassFusi... $16

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New Beveled Glass Pieces

Today I added two beautiful pieces made with beveled glass to my Etsy shop. The first one is a box with hinged lid. The lid is a rectangular bevel with chip glass in the center. I added a piece of matching chip glass to the bottom. The beveled pieces are so much fun to photograph! So many reflections and angles ....

The second is a beveled glass business card holder which is one of my best sellers. It really is a beautiful addition to the desk top.

Tomatoes in March?!

One thing about living in Southern California, you can grow vegetables year round. I haven't done that for a few years, but did leave my tomato plants in months ago because they were full of little green tomatoes. Over the weekend I found these treasures and picked a whole colander full. But it's time to pull out the plants and get the soil ready for Spring planting.