Bronzclay Beadcaps- First Try

It's been a coon's age (lol) since I've played w/ Bronzclay and this time I had a hankerin' for beadcaps.
There are so many things that I have to redo since I jumped in feet first w/o thinking ahead - for instance, I didn't dry them on a rounded surface so I had to dap them *eeek* and Bronzclay is know to be very strong and hard to bend..if sintered properly.

My biggest dapping punch wasn't big enough to encompass the biggest bead cap and so they crinkled a little and I tried to fix that. Even the smaller ones did that - if I would've dried them on a convex surface, I also would have been able to sand a bevel on the edge so it would be flush w/ the surface of the bead.

And the bead holes shrunk! I now have holes that need to be enlarged in order to fit my tubing since these were supposed to go on a bunch of hollow cored beads. Just waiting on my bead press. Waiting, waiting...
I'm worried that my drill bits will be stripped and dulled after enlarging the holes..we'll see. The second attempt will have a more organized and well-thought-out approach- hopefully it makes a difference.

Etsy Update for Sept. 28

More beads I've been working on that will soon be listed on Etsy:

Update for Etsy

These beads will be listed tomorrow throughout the day.
The green hollows w/ copper green circles were so hard to photograph- the green is Slytherin from Messy Color and it's such a rich green! It's hard to get a hold of right now since supplies are limited until they send more, so I'm enjoying what I have.

Coring my Beads

It was so fun getting to try the different presses available for big hole beads. My very first try was the cobalt blue w/ the bead cap on the Impress Bead Liner by Dave Fousek. Hayley was sweet enough to give me some sterling bead caps to try on my beads. The rounded look of the tubing appeals to me.

I learned how important the length of tubing is since I ruined a couple beads by ripping the metal. Could be I used to much force btwn turns, too.
My favorite is the copper capped ivory bhb, the different metals compliment the bead so well. Sadie gave me the wonderful bead caps on that bead- all these nice bead caps make me feel like trying to make my own in metal clay...hmm.
The pretty green bead is one of Hayley's that she let me use as a test bead.

The Jim Moore press was very nice, although you're not able to get that nice rounded look in the tubing. And my favorite part on his press is the plastic die that helps push the tubing flush w/ the glass which makes the bead look so nice and professional looking.
Right now it's out of my price range since I couldn't justify spending over 300 dollars for something I may not use all the time.

Dave's Impress is very economical the different size pegs aren't as expensive as Jim's. Of course it's all a matter of perspective- if you always get the best tools for your money, then Jim's would probably be your best bet. Since I'm just starting out w/ coring beads, I figured Dave's is a great start and eventually I hope to buy Jim Moore's press if I continue to core my glass beads.

I noticed Hayley and Sadie ended up using BOTH presses during coring on a lot of their beads. If they wanted the rolled look, they'd use Dave's and finish up on Jim's using the plastic dies to get the tubing super flush w/ the bead. Ahh, if only we could combine the two and make the perfect bead liner..

Now I'm waiting *impatiently* for my Impress Bead Liner to come in the mail so I can play!

P.S. I would recommend Dave's Deburring Tool regardless of which press you have since it saved us SO much time in prepping the tubing!

Etsy Update

Can't believe it's been more than a week since I've updated! This past weekend was crazy, yet wonderful since I got to see my Beady Gal friends up in San Fran on Sunday and they kindly let me try all the different coring tools for beads to see which one I like best. Jim Moore's and the Impress Bead Liner was neck and neck, but there were positives and negatives for both. I'll go into more detail tomorrow once I get some pics..

Here are the two things I plan to list on Etsy shortly, still not over my love for the crackle look.

I would have had tons more to list if my friends hadn't descended upon my hollows like locusts and decimated my supplies Sunday, lol. It's always nice to have people appreciate your work!

They also told me I was pricing my work way too low after they saw the size of each bead, hence the price increase. I realized I was barely covering cost pricing them so low- so those who got those first half a dozen sets, lucky you! :)

Etsy Update!

I hope to have these all listed by tomorrow evening- this past weekend was a great one for torching, it was nice to play. Still experimenting w/ fuming and discovering something new everytime I torch. It seemed like a production assembly last night while I was etching beads and cleaning them.
Hubby has to make a comment everytime he walks past my hollow sets- "Those are huge beads!" or "Betty Rubble could've worn those." I try to explain that although they're different than most of the beads listed, why stop making them if they're selling well? Let's hope the trend continues ;)
Hope everyone had a wonderful and creative weekend!

Updating Etsy Shop- Listings for Sept. 3rd

These are the sets I plan to list on my Etsy today- time willing. My favorite would have to be the large choco-cream set. It has some of the new Effetre colors mixed in: Sediment, Sandstone, and the smallest hollow has stringer work in Okey Dokey Artichokey. I can see myself playing w/ these new colors quite a bit since they're nice and earthy neutrals. Dk. ivory stringer stands out nicely against Sediment, it didn't spread too much like Ivory is prone to do on some bases- so it kept the details w/0 distorting or discoloring.