29 March, 2011

A cabochon addicts' confessions

My name is Susanne and I'm a Cab Addict (CA).
(And it has nothing to do with cars.)

Cabochons - strongly addictive!

It all started very slowly when I bought a cabochon mandrel from Tuffnells' some two years ago. (My intention was to make a pair of cufflinks for my husband. Heh!) I tried it out a few times, but didn't get the hang of it and was certainly not bitten by the cab bug.

So the cab mandrel has stood in my mandrel yar for a looong time, looking accusingly at me for spending so much money on something I never use.

The truth is, I've been scared of picking it up. I don't have that much time for torching and not to much money, so the idea of waisting both time and glass on something I obviously (?) wasn't ment for, seemed to be a worse waste than the initial purchase of the mandrel.

But a few weeks ago, something happened. For some reason I got this idea in my head of how the cabochons could be made! Of to the torch to prove my hypothesis. And it proved right!

And now, I just can't stop. It took me two weeks to realize that ONE mandrel is simply not enough. And now I'm just waiting for a decent salary to be able to doule my pair. I'm addicted! I could sit and make only cabs for a hole day, if it wasn't for the shortage of mandrels.

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7 comments:

Charlotte said...

So, does your husband get the cuff links now? =)

Fru Babsan said...

We'll see. Shhhh! ;)

Charlotte said...

Your art was lovely, as always.

CreekHiker / HollysFolly said...

My cab mandrel sat, dipped, for well over a year. And I tried it. I didn't have any idea how to make them and still don't! LOL! But, it's one of the coolest beads in my bead bowl! I may feature it this week and link to yours so people know what they should really look like!

Fru Babsan said...

Holly - LOL! You do that! :)

Sharon Driscoll said...

Making cabs is fun and you have quite the knack for it. Looking good.

Lori Bergmann said...

Those are gorgeous! I've been playing around with my cab mandrels for some ring designs I'm working on. I would love to know if you have any tips on how to get the smoothest edges at the bottom, where the glass first meets the bead release? And is there a certain way you dip them to get the smoothest release coverage? ;-D