Definitely Needs Work!

Oh what a mess!  Not a great way to start out the week, but I bet you can imagine that will be remedied before I start torching today.  I was in a hurry last weekend to finish up a big project, and it just got away from me.

In order to get going, it needs to be at least tidied, for me to feel ready to torch.  How about you?  Do you need 100% clean, 75% or does your station look like this all the time.  This is way too much for me and although it's seldom super clean, I like some order and a semi-tidy table top.   How would you describe your style?

Use That Forgotten Frit

Are you like me and have a bunch of single color frits hanging around?  And not sure what exactly to do with them?

Well, in my quest to clean out my space a bit more, I'm using that extra frit- but instead as stringer.

If you haven't made stringer from frit before, it's pretty easy.

I start with a clear rod, or a transparent that is similar in color to my frit.  I just heat up the very end.

Because I store my frit in glass jars, I take the shortcut and dunk my warm end (the glass of course) into the jar and get a few chunks, then I repeat.  I melt those most of the way down, and while I'm doing it, I make sure that I don't melt it back onto the original rod.

I continue until I get a good sized gather, heat it up and pull it out into a stringer.  Be aware that it might come out a bit uneven. That's okay.  It also might feel a little stiffer than your 104 glass.  It's probably a different coe, so be careful how you use it.

I use this stringer for surface decoration - my lavender seashell with magenta frit is just one example.  This extends your color palate and can make your beads stand out.  Hope you try it.  It's worth the extra effort and you slowly find uses for that unused frit.

Stretching Your Glass Rod Color Range

One of my friends had access to buying some Systems 96 COE glass at a great price, and asked me if I wanted some. But I wasn't sure what I should purchase.  So I bought a pound or so of clear, black and blush colored glass and decided that I'd add to it from there.

I've had this stash sitting in a corner, collecting dust and decided to pull it out the other night. It was time to channel my inner mad scientist.

So I picked out a few jars of frit that are or are close to the same COE and I mixed them with the blush to see what I'd get. Exhibit A- my new colored stringers.  And it felt great to actually use up some of it. Because the frit is already small, it's pretty easy to melt and mix in.

If you haven't tried this before, here's a simple way to blend new colors when using frit.  I have two rods of the same color.  The first rod, I heat and fold back on itself a couple of times so that the gather is a bit thick.  I let it cool slightly and then heat up the outside and roll in frit.  (actually, depending on the type of jar, sometimes I just dunk it in.)  Then I melt in that frit and re- roll until I have as much color on it as I want.  Then I heat up that mass and the second rod until they are mushy and start twisting and mashing.  I know that some people say that you can capture air bubbles in it, but I seem to have pretty good luck.  I keep both glasses pretty warm and gooey and twist it together until it's mixed well.  If it looks too pale, I add more frit and try to add as little of the rod glass as possible.  From there, I pull it into approximately 3mm stringers.

I found when working with these stringers that you can tell a little bit that the COE might be slightly off, so don't use a lot of it and don't encase it and you should be fine. Also, when heating it up, go slowly so it doesn't crack. It feels a little brittle. I tested this glass by making seashells and floral beads and they look just fine.

Have fun with this and join me in being a bit of a mad scientist.  See what happens when you mix multiple frits together for a different color, and make some stringer.  Play and have fun.  I mean seriously, isn't that a good part of the reason why we work with glass?  And of course, I'd love to hear about your experiments and any fabulous colors you come up with.  Just watch your COE's.