It Hurts, But I’m Feeling No Pain
February 18, 2009 5:57 pm Crafts, Jewelry Making, Projects
If you’ve been following my blog you know I’ve become rather obsessed with making sea glass. I’m at the point where I’m thinking this process is pure torture! I took my cut glass pieces and put them into a small bowl of etching solution. The bottle said leave for a few minutes. Well, a few minutes later… nothing had happened. Now, I have to confess that the bottle of etching solution I was using was maybe, well, kind of old. I’d had it for years and figured it was worth a shot. I left a few glass pieces in the bowl overnight and by morning a little etching had taken place, but I knew I could do better!
I went and bought a new bottle of etching product, this time a creamy paste rather than liquid. The instructions said brush on the cream and remove after 1 minute. You guessed it, nothing! So I left it on 5 minutes! Nothing! I must be jinxed! Using an etching solution was just not working for me!
I just was not getting the results I wanted during my first attempts at making sea glass.
So I turned to my handy dandy tumbler. Reading the instructions I discovered it would be SIX weeks before I’d have sea glass, oh my gosh… I would go crazy if I had to wait six whole weeks. But I loaded a few pieces of glass into the tumbler just in case. Mother Nature takes years to create sea glass, but I’m not a very patient kind of person!
I was feeling the creative challenge! I had a studio full of grinders and drills and sanders. I was going to make sea glass if it was the last craft project I ever undertook!
It worked. I could use my glass grinders to smooth the edges of the glass and lightly etch the both sides of pendant and earring pieces. I also grinded down most of my finger nails, but it was worth it. I had made faux sea glass I was proud of. I’d like to share one thing I learned. Using milky almost pastel colors of glass re-created the colors I’d found in the islands.
It was time to make some pendants. I figured wire wrapping would be a breeze, NOT! I now have a deep appreciation for artists and crafters who have honed this delicate skill. However, I wasn’t going to quit just yet.
I’ve at least completed a few pendants. I’m still not totally happy with my final results, but my tumbler is tumbling and I’ve only got four more weeks to go!
I check my tumbler every few days. I've still got a few weeks to go according to the instructions. I'll keep you posted!
Related posts:
East Coast Beachcomber :
Date: October 3, 2009 @ 5:56 PM
good idea useing etching cream. i have a tip for tumbling glass. I tumble the glass with a rubbimg brick used for smoothing concrete (from home depot)that has been broken into marble size pieces and the glass is done in about a week.
good luck.
0
cathie :
Date: October 18, 2009 @ 4:12 PM
When using a tumbler for sea glass, use sand you glass will be ready in 12 hours!