Monday, January 14, 2013

Great Big Glass Bubble......about to become a shard

This very large glass bubble, which was blown with a small hollow tube, is about to become glass shards. You've probably heard me talk about them as I like to incorporate some into my glass beads. Well this is how they start out, once the bubble is complete, and it can be of just plain glass or silver glass, or glass with silver leaf added, the bubble is broken and you have these nice large pieces of paper thin glass to add to your beads. This is done very carefully since the glass is so thin that overheating will cause it to just ball up. Picking up the shard with a pair of tweezers, helps to hold it steady and to steer clear of the direct flame. But both the shard and the bead area you wish to connect with must be heated gently for both pieces to attach. This particular shard is courtesy of Joe at Avenue Beads. He makes very large bubbles which in turn yield nice large pieces to work with. Pretty cool huh?   See Joe's work at   http://www.avenuebeads.com