Lampworking Class - Day One

Today was my first lampworking class for glass beads. The store I took the class at is called Bead Fx. If you don’t know what lampworking is:

the definition: the method or process of producing articles made of glass tubes or rods formed or shaped while softened by the flame of a lamp or blast lamp.

There were 5 students in total and our instructor was Amy Walman-smith. She is a very talented instructor who completes very georgeous beads. You have to check out her work on her website.

Since this was the first day of two, we learned basic information such as how to handle the kiln, the torch, basic set up of a studio.

For our first beads we learned how to melt the glass and make round spacer beads.

I made these cute little green ones:



Then we learned how to make tubes. These were tricky as you have to be careful with the ends so that they are not rough. We also made a variation on the tube bead – it looks like two round based cones stuck together.



We learned to use frit – which are tiny pieces of glass you can roll onto your bead. If you then use a reduction flame (less oxygen, more propane) they turn metallic. It was so neat to see the change in glass. Here is a picture of the beads on which I used Frit and the other ones I made.



I also make this cute little purse using a round tube bead. Amy made the handle as I wasn’t sure how to do it.