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June 2015  

Welcome New Members! 
Welcome to all the ISGB members who joined in May:

California
Michelle Davis

Ghana
Nomoda Djaba
 
Illinois
Bea Show
 
New Jersey
Amanda Powers
 
New York
Linda Morigi
 
Pennsylvania
Heather Boardman 
 
Texas
Steven Johnson
 
Washington
Teri Baker
 



Rakow Research Library

A world of glass knowledge is at your fingertips. Check out the Rakow Research Library at Corning Museum of Glass! 

Click Here

 



Board Meeting Minutes
Want to keep up with what's happening in ISGB? Board Minutes are available on the forum or you can request a copy from your Regional Director.

 


Bead Release Archives
Bead Release Archives
Looking for a back issue of the Bead Release electronic newsletter? 

Click Here! 

 


 

Contact Us 

 

ISGB

Sarah Riggle, Administrator

85 East Gay Street

Suite 707

Columbus, OH 43215

614.222.2243

[email protected]

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Beads of CourageUse your creativity to help a child through a tough time.
Beads of Courage!

 

 

President's Message
by Angie RameyPresident

   

Hello Everyone!
 

June is here, and the countdown to Albuquerque has officially begun!  I'm so looking forward to being surrounded by my tribe of glassy folk again.  Nothing fills my creative reservoir as much as being surrounded by people who really "get" the obsession and being immersed in the beautiful work that everyone brings with them.
 

A few important deadlines to remember:  Postcards for the postcard project, and any silent auction items that you plan to ship ahead of your arrival should be sent by June 30th, and you can find the appropriate addresses for those items in the Gathering booklet.  And we hope that many more of you will send in those selfies or photos of you and your work for the "We are the ISGB" video that we'll be playing between presentations.  Deadline for those images is June 10th, and should be sent directly to Mike Gannon at [email protected]

 

Please help us make this our most fun and unique video yet!  If you haven't joined our Gathering group on Facebook, please do!  Barb Svetlick has been posting all kinds of information about Albuquerque and fun things to see and do while you're there, and I can already tell there aren't going to be enough hours in my days.  For those unable to attend the conference this year, you can follow the page, and hopefully our attendees will be posting lots of photos of all the fun they're having.
 

It's shaping up to be one of our best conferences yet, and I hope we'll be seeing YOU there!
 

Flame on!   

-Angie 
 

Angie Ramey, President

International Society of Glass Beadmakers  

 
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ISGB_logo

This week, ISGB is pleased to return to Milwaukee in partnership with the Bead&Button Show and the Soft Flex Company.

 

We are once again offering a variety of live demonstrations every day during the Show, giving attendees the chance to see how gathers of hot molten glass skillfully become wearable and sculptural works of art.

 

If you're attending the Show, share some time with us! Get inspired, experience the creativity of fellow glass workers, and gain a better understanding of the specific tools and techniques they use. Following the demos, view the exhibition of work on display highlighting each of the participating artists.

 

NEW for 2015 - don't miss the drawing for a very special, original piece created by the Soft Flex Company highlighting lampwork! Stop by the Soft Flex booth in the Marketplace to get details and to register.

 

We want to thank the Soft Flex Company and the Bead&Button Show for their continued support of our efforts and their sponsorship of these demonstrations representing the diversity and beauty of glass work to Show attendees from around the world.


DIY Frit

by Mary Lockwood  

 

If you find yourself needing frit in your favorite color or just want an assortment of sizes, it is easy to make your own.

 

You'll need glass, a blade coffee grinder*, a small but powerful magnet, several screens or sifters, a respirator mask approved for fine particles and your usual torch setup. 

 

 

First, you must get your glass into pieces a manageable size to make the work easier on your grinder.  Shoot for pieces less than �" but they don't have to be uniform.   In this demo I am starting off with a #4 frit called 'Curry'.  If you are using large chunks or scraps of glass, one way to break  them into smaller pieces is to preheat them in the kiln and carefully drop them into cold water to shatter.  If you are making frit from common 5mm lampwork rods, you can nip them into �" pieces with your disk nippers.

 

Put a small handful of your glass pieces into your grinder.  

 

 

Put on your respirator!

 

 

Pulse your glass in the grinder for about 15 seconds (20 if you want finer frit).  Unplug the grinder and turn it upside down.  Give it a few gentle taps so that all the frit and powder settles into the lid of the grinder.  Remove the cap filled with glass and add your small magnet.  Swirl and roll the magnet around in your frit to draw out small flecks of metal deposited by your grinder blades.  Do this for a full minute to thoroughly remove the metal.  It doesn't seem like much, but it affects the chemistry and colors of the frit later if you don't remove it now. 

 

 

Next, make a stack of your sifters/screens.  I use 3 sizes of mesh to give me a good assortment of sizes.  Put the largest mesh on top and the finest on the bottom.  Set your stack of sifters over a shallow dish.  Pour your frit from the grinder  cup into the top of the stack of sifters and gently shake the frit until it filters through all the layers of screen.  You should end up with fine powder in the dish and progressively larger frit trapped in each layer of screen.

 

 

The pieces of glass in the top screen can be pulsed through the grinder again or added to your next batch if you want more of the finer frit and less of the chunky, irregular size.  

 

 

Please wear your respirator through all steps of making and using fine frits and glass powders.  You only have one set of lungs.  Inhaling powdered glass and fine frits is hazardous and causes silicosis, a progressive lung disease.

 

*Please keep in mind you will want to designate a coffee grinder for this - don't use it for food after you grind glass in it. Using a coffee grinder in this manner will dull the blades (thus why you should use the magnet to extract metal particles from the blades) but it is handy option to have in a pinch. 

 

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The Sweeney Collection
by Linda Sweeney

 

Have you heard about the new Sweeney Collection museum? I am Linda Sweeney and this is an idea that grew from my plans to build a new studio space at a home that I recently moved to in Glorieta, New Mexico, near Santa Fe. I have amassed an extraordinary collection of art glass beads that was first inspired by an exhibit at the now closed Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ.  I have also since learned to make beads and have taken more than three dozen classes with that many different artists.

 

In mid-December, I asked Carol Saker, who curated that inspiring exhibit called "Trajectories", to join me in opening a new museum dedicated to art glass beads, and since then this idea has taken on a trajectory all its own. After speaking to Carol, who immediately agreed, I attended a party of the ASGB (AZ chapter) where I introduced this plan and immediately gained a new board member and received our first donation. We recently unveiled the collection for the first time at the Tucson Glass Art and Bead Festival and enjoyed only positive feedback. We also gladly accepted many bead donations from the artists showing or shopping in Tucson. Their generosity and enthusiasm for the museum is humbling.

 

Our mission statement is basically this:

  • To display the collection and educate people about the medium

  • To record the history of the American glass bead movement

  • To become a resource for artists, students and historians

  • To promote glass bead artists and help sell their work

  • To support glass bead artists in any way possible

  • To support bead related and local charitable organizations

Next month I break ground on a teaching studio at my home, the proceeds from which will help support the museum. There will be a gallery display space here and the Grand Opening will coincide with The Gathering being held this July in Albuquerque, just 60 miles away. For the time being, this is being presented as a private collection. Once we have the business up and running, a name and reputation established, once we have done the appropriate networking in the community, we plan to write a non-profit business plan and build a budget to include rent for a more public display venue. My home is in a beautiful but remote location.  

 

I have had some very generous offers to display other collections, to take on some permanent loans and to accept some collections as legacy gifts. We have been offered a collection to be sold, as long as the funds raised are used to support local charities. This has the potential to grow far beyond what my personal collection represents.

 

If you would like to be part of this effort, if you would like to have your beads in a museum, the first museum in the states dedicated to your particular niche, there is a way! Please send us at least two beads that represent your best work. You can pick one to be added to the permanent collection and the other(s) to be sold to support the museum. Send us a business card for each bead, autograph it if you can and please indicate the retail value of each bead. Send your package to: The Sweeney Collection, % Linda Sweeney, PO Box 44, Glorieta, NM 87535-0044. Please do not consider how your beads may stand up to others. Please know that as long as you have a place in this community, you have a place in this museum. If you have pride in your work, we will proudly display it.  We are also accepting cash donations. They fill our most immediate needs.

 

We are working on getting our website running and a Facebook page up. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions, I can be reached at 505-629-3884 or at [email protected].  

 

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HOT TIPS
By Kiersten Kern

Copper Foil Hints by Jeri Warhaftig

When using copper foil in a bead, many bead makers make cutouts with scrapbooking punches. Another way to use copper foil is to emboss it before cutting the shape. There are scrapbooking  "machines" that emboss, and to use them, the copper is placed in an embossing folder and run through the machine (which is actually a press). A low tech way to do this is to run the embossing folder through a  tight setting on a hand crank pasta machine (left over from playing with polymer clay) or by laying the folder on a hard surface and rolling over it with a brayer or wooden rolling pin (left over from when I baked!). Embossing folders can be found affordably on close out websites like www.overstock.com. Even though they seem too big for bead use, you can just put a scrap of copper into the folder and it will emboss just fine!

Have a handy tip, fun technique, or helpful bit of advice for your fellow beadmakers? Share the knowledge! Email Kiersten here. Thanks!

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Gathering Bag Advertising

 

Do you have a new product, show special, sample or something that would be of interest to our attendees at the Gathering? Don't miss this chance to connect with your target market by including something in the Gathering registration packets. Our attendees read all of the information in these packets and we announce each item from the main stage - advertising can make a big impact! There is a $120 fee to include information in the registration packet.

 

Send payment (check only) with the notation "conference packet advertising" to be received by June 30, 2015 to:

 

ISGB

Attn: Sarah Riggle

85 East Gay Street, Suite 707

Columbus, OH 43215

 

Send 400 copies of the insert, to be received by July 11 and no earlier than July 8, 2015 to:

 

Hotel Albuquerque - ISGB Gathering

Attn: Kendra Bruno

800 Rio Grande Boulevard NW

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104

HOLD for International Society of Glass Beadmakers Meeting - July 13, 2015

 

To learn more, contact Laurie Ament at [email protected]

 

Late items will not be included in the registration packets. They will be placed on the ISGB Information and Resource Table at the Gathering.
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