Lampwork bead - Making Candy Jacks

Making a lampwork bead using clear glass and murrini (from www.loriandkim.com)

Here's the step by step instructions to go with the video:

1. Make a clear round spacer out of any good clear. I use Lausha or Reichenbach 104 but any good clear will work.

2. Put three bumps of clear on top of the bead in a triangle. You're going to stick the murrini to these bumps so make them pretty good sized.

3. Heat up one of the bumps and firmly place the murrini on it. Be sure you've pre heated the murrini a bit in the back of the flame or it may crack.

4. Heat just the face of the murrini slightly. Wait a second then gently press it down ever so slightly. This makes it easier to cover with clear later but keeps it raised enough to get that 3-D look.

5. Grab another rod of clear - the key here is to use SOFT clear. Aether is PERFECT. Effetre is good too if you have a good batch that won't scum up on you. I've tried using the Reichenbach 104 clear and it was way too stiff and pulled the murrini all out of shape. So just make sure it's soft clear.

6. Heat up a pea sized gather of clear at the end of your rod and plop it down on the murrini while making a sort of rotating motion so as to cover as much of the sides of the murrini as you can in one motion before the clear goes too stiff.

ok, I know that part can be tricky but don't despair! We can fix it later with a little clear stringer.

7. Repeat #6 for the other two murrini.

8. Check the sides of the murrini for any bare, unencased spots. Take a little bit of clear stringer and just swipe a bit of clear in those spots.

9. Heat up each bump enough to smooth out the lumpies but not enough to loose the bump at all. Go easy with the heat, there! Not too much.

10. Pop in the kiln! You're done. Now go make a bunch more because they look fabulous in big groups.

Here's a photo of a bunch of them together:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loribeads/4645244757/

Thanks for watching!

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• lampwork
• bead
• murrini
• glass

[stormygirl2009]

can u make a glass bead with a bigger hole like an inch hole? I mean is that possible?

[loribeads]

@stormygirl2009 Yes, absolutely! I have made them on lots of different sized mandrels.

[fireseedglass]

Thanks so much Lori! Nice to see how you do these they are so pretty :D

[khardy9]

Fantastic Demo! You rock Lori!

[infinitecharms]

Yes, thanks for sharing. :)

[diamondlildentalgal]

Thanks for sharing Lori !