More on my beads from Panda hall

I went at those cool flat beads again with a different color enamel and had greater success. There is no question that they are not as easy as the antique bronze ones I ordered. Even with all that "stuff" inside them they, the NFAB beads,  enamel beautifully! I even enameled the tiny little 3mm ones and they turned out great!
Its good to know its possible to have success with the beads that arent nickel free and antique bronze because PH doesnt sell all their beads and items that way. I am very glad to have something other than the black to work with.  : )  The black was not working very well for me. I am pretty sure the black I have is a mix of nickel and nickel free. Now that I have had a chance to play with the beads, knowing what they are made of and finished with, I can see the advantages of the nickel free. I do have to mention that the variables to this seem unending. What temperature my studio is, how hot my torch is, which enamel I am using, etc...
Keep this in mind when you are reading, these are the results I have seen. That doesnt mean that someone else reporting different results is wrong or that I am wrong.  I am just reporting what I find to perhaps give anyone else interested a starting point in their own discoveries.
I am hoping that I will get a big chunk of time to play in the studio tomorrow. A couple of the kids will be home and I will have someone to watch the baby for me, the 130 lb baby. I have all those other things from PH to try. Look out Saturday, fun, fun, fun.

These are the cool flat beads I did. Better, but not as easy and successful as the antique bronze, nickel free. (blue ones below) 

The orange ones in the first pick are some of the unknown black beads. I threw them in because the orange color was great with the blue hue. The last 2 photos really show how well these NFAB beads work.(Nickel Free Antique Bronze, its getting tedious to keep typing it out) 

 I also took some photos of the NFAB beads, unenameled, to show you the vegetable matter inside. 

Can you see all that stuff in there? Its full!

It is hard to see but even the little beads have the stuff in them.

This is some of the stuff from inside the beads.

I understand that they use this stuff to polish the beads, or something like that, but it is annoying and unfortunate because I love these beads. I have other NFAB stuff from PH, that's what I will be doing this weekend. The items that arent beads, or that have larger holes in the filigree, aren't filled. I am glad of that!

Im also wondering what the plant might be, as for now, I am burning the stuff out as much as possible. Hmmmm,  What might be in the fumes? If the beads get funky and psychedelic looking should I worry? LOL

This little beauty showed up as my tank was running out of fuel, Its way cool and all pock marked, I will probable never get another. I wish I could fill all those tiny holes with something in a contrasting color and be able to preserve it. Any one know if i could coat it some how in resin?

Beads from Panda Hall for PWF

My order from Panda hall came Monday. I ordered different finishes and contents to test which works best for the PWF technique. I have them all checked in an put away/organised.
  I have divided them up into nickel free and not nickel free, the success of the beads depends hugely on the content of the beads ( iron, copper, alloy etc......), and then different finishes within those groups. I am hoping panda hall is accurate in their descriptions :)

The first group I tried was beads with nickel, in the finish "nickel". I had mixed results, I wouldn't say they were overly successful, nor would I say they were a disaster. My favorite bead in the group (shape,look wise) fired ok but didnt seem to accept the enamel willingly (first 2 photos). It took a few layers, 4, and still they look under covered. I specifically stayed with the same colors of enamel to  help gauge the results as I think the different enamels have different rates of success. I will try another color combo with this bead and see what that does in the next round of testing.

Some of the beads in this group took the enamel great and look awesome, well covered and shiny (round bead in first 2 photos, 3rd and 5th photo). While others seemed to have the same trouble I have with the black finish, although not as marked a problem as the black.  The smooth round that I ordered enameled great, so pretty and shiny, but one of them shed the entire coat of enamel almost immediately (4th photo) while a second bead already has the tell tale crack lines. 2 of them look fine , still pretty and no cracks, but I am holding my breath. Interestingly enough the 2nd and 3rd smooth bead I did, I did do in a different color scheme, for something different, not as a part of the testing. These are the beads that didnt chip (last photo).

HMMMMM........  so many variables!


The nickel free beads were clearly more successful. They fired well and they covered well. The beads I tested nickel free were in the antique bronze finish. They were filigree and the pumpkin, or corrugated type.

That is all the beads I ordered. I have bead caps and flowers and such to try in different finishes. I will continue to post my results. I have ordered some new enamel colors that should be here in about 10-12 days. I ordered white so I will be able to use a white base coat instead of trying to use the off white. I don't think the off white works well AT ALL, in any finish, any content, or any other variables. Is any one having success with off white?

Oh, and also, yes the order arrived with vegetable matter mixed in with the beads, this seemed to only be in the antique bronze finish ( the one that works best so far, of course!)
 I fired one. I first let it burn until the fire extinguished itself thinking that would mean all the stuff inside was gone. I was wrong. I enameled it and it enameled fine, but some of the stuff inside stuck into the enamel by poking out the holes and left a bumpy surface so before I can use them I have to figure out what to do with the "stuff" inside. Anyone have an idea? Anyone experience this?

More as the testing continues.
Danielle

Painting With Fire E-course

I am having lots of fun with this ecourse. I have learned a lot and I feel like I have found something I am really suited to and , really importantly, something I CAN do! I am really hopeful that I won't have to give it up anytime soon and can get good at it while enjoying my passion for COLOR! I will post some pictures of the  beads I have done soon. They are addicting and lovely! I am grateful to have overcome the problems. Thank you Jesus!

My teacher, Barbara Lewis, is awesome! She has a web site you can look at but unfortunately only class members can see the course site ( no, really? ha ha. Duh!)
Take a look
http://www.paintingwithfireartwear.com/

Good evening all

Painting with Fire, will I continue?

I have started an online workshop with Barbara Lewis called Painting with fire. Which is an enameling technique. Full of color possibilities. I really like it.
 Then the same old c**p .  The pain gets too bad to sit at the torch for more than 5 or 10 minutes. I pray I can figure out a way to set up my torch to alleviate the pain, and that then nothing else pops up that prevents me from continuing.

This is a little of my history. Its a little whiny so plz feel free to pass over it. Anyone who knows me knows that my original artistic incarnation was as a textile artist. I dyed my fabrics, did shibori ,Katazome, surface design, etc...
For me the joy and expression was the manipulation of color. How all the different factors could be exploited to achieve simply sublime color.

Unfortunately I am no longer able to do those things. I have had a hard time with that. Its been hard to deal with my issues alone and I think I have been in color mourning.

So I was thrilled to have found something similar in Painting with Fire. Not just a "Coloring in" process but the expression of color that I so enjoy. I am on the edge of despair that I may be unable to do this as well.

Again I am wondering why the Lord would make me this way without making me strong enough to pursue the passion. My faith tells me that He knows best and I trust that, completely. So then the doubt and confusion lands in my lap, its got to be me. What the heck am I doing wrong? What am I interpreting so incorrectly? And what am I to do about it?  Pray? Oh I have been, telling myself to be patient for the answer. I know its not Him, its me. He is Abba and has provided for all things.
So what the heck is my problem!? The Lord only knows, and believe me He isnt talking about it!

Bead soup

As is obvious, I didn't get into the last bead soup :( 
But guess what? The wonderful lady who puts on the Bead soup blog hop/party is doing another one!Woo Hoo! And this time? EVERYONE gets in! YaY!
If you want to find out what a Bead soup blog party is , or would like to join, here is a link to Lori Andersons blog page about it -
Lori Andersons's Bead Soup

Good luck to all that enter. All get in so everyone gets to stretch, learn and socialise!