Gaffer Chalcedony - Just Getting Better!

My favourites so far, I think. Actually they have all been my favourites until I make the next one ;o)

Gaffer 109 - Chalcedony with Clear Stringer

Pure Gaffer 109 - Chalcedony

I am very much in love with this glass!

So much in love with it that I'm almost tempted to buy another kilo!
(But I need some Gaffer clear! - Bugger!)

Gaffer Chalcedony on Gaffer Black

These were made using shards over the various bases - to my mind shards give the nicest results.

Don't forget to check out KnattyDreadz Etsy Store if you need shards - there is a wonderful selection of silver glass shards & you can get your Gaffer 109 Chalcedony fix there too in both shard & murinni.

Gaffer 109 - Chalcedony

There is nothing like having a new glass to play with - to chase away the "uh oh almost winter, yuk I loathe that season" blues.

Having bought a kilo of the lovely stuff I am more than happy just to play & see what it does. Usually, in the case of any striking glass, for me it is comparitively little compared to what others can get it to do. Not so with this glass!



When I first saw it I suspected that it would do work very well as shards. Unfortunately I am not much good at blowing shards.
Upon playing with it the first time I noticed that it struck extremely well where my covering was thinner. Wanting to prove my theory, I attempted making some shards with it - two words spring to mind "abysmal failure"!

None the less I layered on my "far too thin to be safe" bit's of shard. Actually I had to roll the bead in them to pick the stuff up - it was that thin that it broke if touched.

Fortunately for those of us that cant blow shards, "Knatty Dreadz" one of the members at Seraphim FlameWorks had already got it into his head to make & sell some Gaffer 109-Chalcedony shards & some pretty darn fine Murrini as well.

If you are like me & don't have any shard blowing technique to speak of, or perhaps haven't been able to get hold of any of this glass through GafferUSA or your local supplier yet, be sure to visit "KnattyDreadz Etsy Store"

S'hard Days Night

"Picaro"

It’s official – I suck at shards. OK – I hear you say “but you’re meant to blow shards” & I do. But even when I blow I suck! Believe me on this!

For those of you not into playing with the awesome combination of fire & glass (are there any such people out there?) who are unfamiliar with what shards are – they are …well what the name indicates, shards of glass. These are used to decorate the beads, sculptures & fused glass work.

In this instance, flameworked beads, the shards are created by forming a hollow ball on the end of a stainless steel tube & then gently blowing down the tube to expand that ball, resulting (if you are extremely lucky & the moon is in the right phase & the great deity of glass is looking upon you favorably) in a thin walled glass ball about the size of an orange. This is them smashed into smaller pieces, which of course makes the fact that I can’t get it up in the first place, even more unpalatable.

I fluked it once – there were no deities, moons or four leaf clovers in sight – so I know it was a fluke. The problem is I like the results I got from this particular silver glass in shard form – so much so that I have now wasted an entire rod trying to make more shards.

Today was another unsuccessful shard day…. & evening. Fortunately I moved on & played with some of the fabulous gaffer glasses instead - in green of course.

I rather like this & any sympathy I may have had for Kermit is quickly fading – maybe he would have felt better about green if he had accessorized with purple – a bit feminine perhaps …but better ;o)

This advertisement below almost accurately describes the least of what I was saying after each shard attempt. Click on the link if you want to see....

"Bugger"

Green Day

Green Green Glass of Home

It’s not easy being green, well at least according to Kermit it wasn’t….. & who am I to argue. I actually like frogs – so I’m not about to contradict this.

Personally I like green – I just don’t wear it, quite frankly I look like c**p in all the shades of green that I like - so I can guess how Kermit must have felt at times. … he didn’t have a choice!
Having been recently asked to make a green bead for a special gift I have been playing with all sort’s of combinations & shades…. a lot of them play nice together – some don’t (but I’m not about to show you those –lol!).

I’m rather pleased with the two pictured above – they’re on an olive green transparent base with lashings of random silver test batch glasses, identifiable only by their numbers (which I have long since forgotten) & with some wonderful Triton shards melted in…. these have gone a very cool iridescent bronze/gold.

Anyway that’s the glass content dealt with ;o)

Of course it was really all part of a cunning plan to draw you down to the Brag Book of Achievements I am proud of Part II - “Cornwall Street The House” Click on the album for the full story (don't worry it's only got a couple of photo's with people in)

Cornwall Street - The House