I’m back – with some new Dichroic Glass tutorials!

Alright, I have been quiet for quite some time but I’ve had a lot on! One wedding and over half a baby later (6 months down and 3 to go), I’ve finally got my act together and been busy creating some informative yet interesting new “stuff”!

Check out the Fire Devil site, as I’ve been working on some guides which explain in a bit more detail how I do what I do.

The first article is on dichroic glass itself and gives the lowdown on what it is.

The second article is on how to create a dichroic glass cabochon – the simple way. Trust me, you can make it as easy or hard as you like, but more on THAT later!

The third article is on how you attach your dichroic glass cabochon to your necklace or thong – covering both how to attach a bail or how to create a hole in your cabochon itself, that the chain can go through (something I call creating a slider pendant).

Hope you find it interesting reading and it inspires you – if not, feel free to let me do the work for you! Happy reading….  🙂

Proof of the Pudding! Or a new dichroic glass bracelet experiment…

Okay, so I’ve spent a couple of days considering how to put my little experiment together, and here is the result of my kiln firing…..

I liked the way the sliders turned out and think it’s been a really interesting trial, as maybe this has potential. But perhaps rather than stringing all the sliders together, which won’t work as it’s just waaaaay to heavy, I will use them separately with beads and create several different bracelets. As you can see the attempt using only three of the sliders along with onyx beads might be a bit too chunky for some people.

But, having worn it to work and nothing fell part, am reassured that the thong is robust enough for the job. So I think I’m going to put maybe just one of the sliders together with some different beads and it might be a bit of a different look. It’s the difference between WEARING JEWELLERY and just wearing jewellery. 🙂

The bracelet and sliders

Anyway, here are the pics, any comments are advice is welcome. I must admit I love the acid yellow-blue-green against the black, so am quite excited about what to do with the other sliders. Certainly the necklace (top left) will look gorgeous – a real statement. Will pop this on the necklaces page very shortly. Not sure about the bracelet, it might just be for me! Unless anyone’s particularly keen on having it, then just let me know!

Me trying out the dichroic glass slider bracelet

Actually the bracelet I certainly didn’t mind wearing and worked well with a black dress. As you can see I have very small wrists so the bracelet turned out about 7.5 inches and looks nice and chunky. Great if you want to make a statement. I think once I’ve figured out how to make something more subtle, I will post the bracelets on the website. I you are interested, let me know, but otherwise will post some more pictures once I’ve finished putting the set together.

So, it’s a good start but I think needs a bit of work…. hmmmmm, thinking noises. 🙂

What’s that cooking…? Or how can I make a different dichroic glass bracelet…?

Having been thinking hard about bracelets (something I do often!), I’ve decided to try about a new idea. Something just sprang into my head the other day that seemed deceptively simple and I wanted to see if it will work. So, in for a penny and all that, I’ve decided to give my idea a go….

In a nutshell, there is a way to make a hole in the glass with fibre rope, that allows you to avoid using a bail completely and to slide the thong or chain through the hole. If you have a look at the Fire Devil necklaces page, you will see the sliders I mean at the top of the page.

So, theoretically it should be possible to put TWO pieces of fibre rope between the sheets of glass to create two parallel holes. Then, it will be (hopefully!) easy to thread two thongs through them and somehow – I haven’t quite got that far yet – turn that into a bracelet.

Hard to imagine; maybe. Hard to do; let’s hope not! 🙂

Well it’s all fingers and toes crossed as currently my spread is cooking in the kiln right now.

Before picture of the dichroic glass slider bracelet...

Hopefully you can see here what I’ve done:
1) Base – a layer of 3mm black.
2) Fibre rope – 3mm thickness, all three strands used and just held in place with glue.
3) Second layer – 3mm black again, so hopefully the two pieces of black will create a hole nicely.
4) Dichroic glass – used here are triangles of gold dichroic glass on a black base to add the sparkle (2mm I think).
5) Cap – finish with 3mm clear Tekta to cap the dichroic glass and give depth, as I must admit I prefer the dichroic glass this way personally.

Watch this space and I’ll post the next pic over the weekend! 🙂

Little things…! Or some social media experimentation…

Just a short update today – I am delighted to have a new sparkly short name for my Facebook page. Simple things please simple minds! 🙂

And if anyone is interested in becoming a fellow ‘liker’ then I will be having another give-away when we reach 50. Share the love….

Happy happy, joy joy.

Oh I do like to be beside the… Part Deux (Or more glass-y inspiration)

Okaaaaay, so not quite the result that I hoped for, but I think some interesting lessons learnt:

1) Cut with more artistry!  🙂

2) Do not use the same fusing schedule you use for your cabs – it’ll benefit from a longer bubble soak to get rid of some of the bubbles.

3) Pick more exciting colours.

4) Think through design first before cutting!  🙂

5) The props of clear at the corners are fine, but make for an uneven edge, so need placing carefully or making sure they are not very thick and so won’t spread out so much.

6) If wanting a flat edge to slump the piece over a curve to make it a free-standing piece of “art”, would be a good idea to butt it up against a kiln brick (luckily I have one, so will try that next I think!).

And if anyone is interested, this is the firing schedule I use for my cabs (which in this instance, I would definitely recommend changing to stop all the bubbles!):

The first attempt!

-> Ramp: 260 degrees / Target temp: 649 degrees / Hold for: 30 minutes. [This is where I may add another 30 minutes hold to get rid of the bubbles first before trying to amend any other settings – unless anyone has any advice of course!]

-> Ramp: FULL / Target temp: 788 degrees / Hold for 30 minutes.

-> Ramp: FULL / Target temp: 516 degrees / Hold for: 1 hour.

-> Then set to zero to cool naturally.

So, an interesting experiment all in all and something which I have high hopes could be fun and ultimately I might be able to create something artistic – one day! Luckily the ordinary Bullseye transparent and clear glasses don’t cost the earth, so plenty of freedom to perfect the technique. 🙂

Oh I do like to be beside the… (some glass-y inspiration)

Seaside glassy creatures.

Having been on holiday recently to Porthleven in Cornwall, I noticed a lovely shop selling works from local artists.  What caught my eye most of all were the cute hanging glassy sea creatures.  I just had to share them, as I know the colours and the shapes and the whole idea of making hanging creations out of glass just renewed my excitement in creating and fusing glass in the first place.

I have been sadly neglecting my kiln while I focus on getting my chainmaille finished and hallmarked, but tonight I just had to attempt to create something similar myself.  My first experiment is certainly going to give me an interesting morning when I excitedly open up the kiln and see what I’ve created.  I just hope it’s all gone according to plan.  If I’m feeling fairly happy with it I will post some pictures on here.  Or if it’s a disaster, I might post a ‘how NOT to…’ guide!

Incidentally, on a similar topic, I was on a thread on the Frit-Happens forum about how to avoid bubbles in sandwiched pieces, so have tried out a technique I mentioned there – placing my two coloured layers between a base layer of clear and propping the top layer of clear up at each corner with a couple of tiny squares of clear.  It’s going to be a bit of a ‘suck it and see’ kind of experiment, so will (for probably the first time!) leap out of bed excited on a Monday morning before work to inspect my creation.  Kind of feels like I’m Dr Frankenstein but let’s hope what comes to life is a bit more attractive!

And – if I’m super lucky – and I think it’s got potential I might investigate getting some frames or other ways of hanging the glassy pictures.  I’ve optimistically bought a slumping mould, so I can put a curve in the sheet of glass so I can create free-standing glassy art.  Watch this space to find out if I’m a happy or disappointed bunny tomorrow!  Fingers crossed….  🙂

Link-o-rama!

Ok, so despite being a bit of a luddite, I have not only started this blog but have also created a new and sparkly Facebook page and Etsy shop.  Phew!  I think my brain is about to overheat and explode though.  Have listed two of my signature pieces on the shop to start with, so fingers crossed and let’s see what happens….

And to celebrate – as I’m feeling generous! – I’m giving away a free pair of earrings to the first 10 people who join the Facebook page.  Read all about it by clicking below while I go and have a lie down.  :o)

To Hallmark or Not To Hallmark? Entering the chainmaille / silver jewellery debate….

So, I have been trying to get myself set up with a hallmark for my chainmaille jewellery – who would have thought it would be so confusing!  Even understanding if I needed to use one was confusing to start with.  Now, if you read up on the subject of hallmarking, you would find out that if you are selling silver, it needs to be hallmarked if it contains over 7.78grammes in weight of Sterling silver.  The hallmark allows you to sell it legally as Sterling.  Without a hallmark you’re not able to claim it’s Sterling – which of course means it can’t be sold at the right price or with the right description, it would have to be called white metal or just silver (far too vague for my liking!).  Then no-one wins, as who in their right mind would but even the most fabulous piece of jewellery, if it’s not correctly described and hallmarked!  Personally I would be (and rightly so) very suspicious of it.

Now, I’m fairly sure most people – myself included – don’t realise that a hallmark is NOT the .925 symbol.  Apparently anyone can stamp any metal with the .925 symbol and it’s no guarantee of anything.  Which is really surprising, as I have always felt reassured by that symbol.  But at least now I get to send my finished pieces away to Edinburgh Assay Office, who test every piece for silver content and apply my special hallmark.  (Can you tell I am weirdly excited by having my own makers mark!)  Oh well, at least in quite a few years time, when people take Fire Devil chainmaille jewellery into Antiques Roadshow, it can still be traced back to me.  🙂

Although there is limited information, have found the Edinburgh Assay Office most helpful.  They have registered my hallmark – which I will post an image of too – so if anyone reading this needs advice am happy to share my limited knowledge.

And of course in the meantime, watch out for sneaky .925 stamps and don’t forget to check for a proper hallmark!  🙂

Hallmarking Sterling silver jewellery

Oh, and once I get my punch ordered and the first batch of pieces back hallmarked, I will be able to put the chainmaille page live (most likely by the end of July, but watch this space for more information).  I will also explain what’s involved in making chainmaille and the different kind of weaves on here too.  I know it’s naughty of me, but I’ve made some special pieces just for myself to try them out and they have all had fabulous comments so far!  Roll on the end of the month and you can tell me what you think too……  🙂

Hello world!

Welcome to the official Fire Devil blog! Having been working hard to get the site live and launched, now I’ve got into the swing of things, I wanted to start sharing my experiences. This blog will cover what goes on behind the scenes at Fire Devil and give some insight into what’s involved in designing and making my jewellery. I’ll also share my random thoughts on sources of inspiration and general sparkly jewellery-related topics. And from time to time I might even announce new launches and maybe even offers or give-aways too. Phew! Welcome and thanks for coming along for the ride…. 🙂

Melissa.