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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Murrini







Sometimes I am in the mood for labor intensive beads.This is a new design I've been planning since I ordered a metal prong device for forming murrinis. These are the first raku murrini I've made with it and I'm very proud of them! Making the murrini takes a bit of extra time in itself but I decided to do a two layer white heart bead and then etch it for that wonderful glow. Now comes the labor intensive part! I applied a liquid mask to each murrini to preserve its shiny surface while the bead is dunked into the etching bath. Then I had to clean the mask off. The dots are metallic black.
I'd had this image in my mind of how I wanted them to turn out, but they exceeded my expectations!
Here is a picture of the nifty gizmo that begins the forming of a murrini. Several layers of glass are rounded up into a fat cylinder and then plunged into the center of the brass rays. Cool a moment and pull out and use another color to fill the slim channels. Heat again and pull to a diameter of 4 to 5 mm. Cool and cut with glass nippers into small sections about 3-5mm. I'm going to have to make and sell A LOT of murrini beads to pay off this $ little gadget!

Catalina Glass on Etsy

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Basically I love working with my hands to create with color and texture. I fill my days with lampworked hot glass, teaching, spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting, gardening, reading, cooking and traveling. Come to www.catalinaglass.etsy.com to see my current work

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