Last week I got to try my hand at lampwork. If you’ve never heard of it before that’s where you get a blowtorch and some glass and introduce the two to one another. Now, when these two get together things get hot.. Very hot.. MOLTEN hot, literally.
Anyway, bada bing bada boom, chemistry happens and (hopefully) you end up with beautiful little baby glass beads. Like these.. aww ain’t they purdy.
Andy and Ruth at Kalypso Glassworks were fantastic. Andy went over the basics, important safety things like how to hold the glass so it doesn’t shatter into your face and how not to set yourself on fire. Then Ruth took over to patiently walk me through making a few beads. They were both very friendly, knowledgeable and fun to learn from.. I left with my head abuzz trying to rationalize the purchase of equipment for yet another crafty hobby. Two days later my attempts arrived in the post – kiln annealed for strength. Look at those shiny lumpy beauties. Just the right size to fit on my charm bead bracelet.
It would be really handy to have a blowtorch around the place. Useful in so many ways..
