Birdies of Early August 2014

Birdies - today I had an epiphany - could they wear shoes?  Why not?
That will be in the next batch.

So, how it is working is that I am getting the hang of it and being able to keep the little guy warm and then when he is mostly done (save for the bottoms of legs and feet) he can go into the kiln.  This way there are birds in different stages of completeness in my studio - not sure if that is good or bad.  Once they get their feet then they must be re-annealled slowly!

This is the latest batch that I took out of the kiln today

I am still seeing lots of  room for improvement, but it is also fun to watch the progression.
The next batch are still feetless, but they will have to wait until tomorrow night or perhaps Wednesday to have feet created.

Here are a few closeups:

Handles on Beads

Well now, that is an idea - put the handles on an actual bead.

Scary it is.  You spend all that time on a bead and then run the risk of messing it all up.

So, these two beads have handles created in different fashions.

This first green bead had two dots placed for the top and bottom of the handles.  Then a series of dots were added, slowly building a bridge.  Once the bridge was formed I used tweezers to squish and adjust my handles.  A fussy, time consuming method that seems less risky.

This August bead was done differently.
I made one dot which marked the top of the handle.  Then I got a large gather of glass good and hot and added to my now glowing hot dot (the handle needs a really good connection or the glass won't be strong).  I admit I tore off my first attempt.  But I still need some practice on just how hot and when to pull etc etc.  So many variables and so little time!

My next challenge is feet - and the rest of the bird too.
I am having fun with the birdies, but I see much - MUCH - room for improvement.
Here is a selection of the recent additions to my flock.