Cabbage Bead Tutorial
I've had a bunch of requests on how
to make these cabbage beads so I thought I would do a quick how-to, emphasis on the
'quick'. (Not that I have anything against going into more detail but
I'm lazy and don't want to take/edit a ton of pictures so there.)
(click for bigger)
First - I use
my petal puller tool (the uppermost tool pictured)** to make a ton of
'petals'. This is a quick melt and grab thing. Melt a small ball of
glass at the end of your glass rod, smoosh with the tool and pull it at
the same time. I lay them out on my work area (stainless steel) until
they are cooled off and then put them in a little container. Make all
sorts of sizes so you have a bunch to choose from. This should be very
quick and easy - you can do a ton of them in no time at all. Just remember to dunk your tool in the water
every 3-4 petals to cool it off so it doesn't start sticking to
the glass. NOTE: a few of the petals will crack and/or explode when
cooling. You could, conceivably, take each one as you make it and put
it into your (hot) kiln to anneal them but I'm hardcore and shit and
don't mind a little breakage. :)
Next up, making the actual
bead. Start by making a small roundish barrel in green. How big? That's
up to you partner. The bigger it is, the more petals you need, the more
time it will take, and (unless you are very very vigilant) the higher
the likelihood something will shoot off because you let it get too cool.
I don't generally have these problems because I like to work small. :)
Anyway, don't worry about getting your barrel perfect as you are going
to be covering it up.
Now comes the tricky part of things. You
want to grab a bigger sized petal (I grab it by the point) with your
tweezers and give it a flash in your torch with one hand to warm it up
while flashing your barrel bead in the torch in the area of where you
want to put the petal with your other hand. I heat the end of the petal
really good and then smoosh it down on one end of the barrel,
pussssshing on it so it adheres really good. Keep doing that around the
bead in a straight ring until it's all filled up on one end. (My
cabbages usually only take 3 petals across the bottom.) Does it look
messy? You betcha. It looks horrible at
this point. Once this ring is done I heat each
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