Wiggles Glass Bead

Description

<strong>Materials Needed: </strong><br /> &bull; Moretti glass rods: opal light green, dark green, medium transparent grass green<br /> &bull; One each black, red and white stringers<br /> &bull; 1 Fireworks Beginner Beadmaking Kit<br /> &bull; Protective eyewear<br /> &bull; Mandrels coated in bead release<br /> <br /> <strong>Directions</strong><br /> <strong>Step 1: </strong>To form a base bead, heat your mandrel and apply 1&rdquo; of light green opal glass. Heat thoroughly and use the flat marvering tool to shape the bead into a barrel. Be sure to make the base bead long enough to accommodate a glass spiral which will eventually become the worm&rsquo;s body. (FIG. 1)<br /> <strong>Step 2:</strong> Use a dark green opal glass rod to randomly add dots to the surface of the base bead. (FIG. 2)<br /> <strong>Step 3:</strong> Heat the bead, gently pull on side of each dot with a bead rake to form foliage or leave-like shapes. (FIG. 3)<br /> <strong>Step 4:</strong> Heat &frac12;&rdquo; of a medium grass green transparent glass rod. Touch the glass rod to one end of the base bead, pull gently as your turn the mandrel, resulting in a thick spiral on the base bead. (FIG. 4) This will form the worm&rsquo;s body. Heat the grass green rod again, add a large dot of glass at the thick end of the spiral to form the head. (FIG. 4) Note: make sure the entire head is being kept hot, but not so hot it melts the raised texture of the head.<br /> <strong>Step 5:</strong> Use a white stringer and apply two dots on the worms head, these will be the eyes. Complete the eyes using a black string and placing small dots on top of the white dots. (FIG. 5)<br /> <strong>Step 6:</strong> Use a red stringer and place a single dot for the mouth. Spot heat the mouth so that it softens enough to plunge a tip of a rake into the center. Soften mouth again, using a rake pull-out the corners of the mouth. (FIG. 5) Step 7: Fire-anneal your bead by heating and allowing it to cool for a few seconds: repeat several times then carefully place the bead in the fiber blanket to cool. How to Pull a Stringer: Hold both ends of a glass rod and center in flame. Heat the center of the rod until molten, push both ends toward the middle to create a hot ball of glass. When the ball is about &frac12;&rdquo; in diameter remove from flame and pull to create a thin, thread-like piece of glass, this is a stringer. Remember glass will be hot, break off rod ends and cool before use.