Thanks nattynoo! Did you see the earlier posting for turnedlight's beads! *drool!* To die for aren't they?
My vases are called "draped" in the warm glass world. Yup, sheet glass formed over a mold. Well, mold is kind of a fancy word for what I use. Alot of people buy expensive stainless steel molds from glass supply stores, called a floral former.
Bah! I bought me a stainless steel martini shaker from the Goodwill. Cost me $3.00.
Works perfectly.
For warmglass people these are almost embarasslying simple to make. Cut the glass, cold finish the edges, pop it in to the kiln on the mold, fire and Wal-la! Beautiful vase.
To research out process and firing schedules use this guy's site for tutorials and info. Great resource!
http://www.glasscampus.com/ He's very knowledgable and willing to share his experience with noobs. I use his firing schedules a lot.
The biggest hurdle you might have as a beader is the height of your kiln chamber. You're going to need some depth to do any real decent draping. My kiln is just 12x12. And it's not a glass kiln. But I bought it for doing draping and slumping so I'm willing to work around the limitations to get the height for draping.
Check it out and let me know if you have any questions!
*sigh*....I'd love to learn lampwork someday. But I got enough hobbies with the glass and the soaping. And the gardening. And theatre. And crocheting. Oh...nevermind me...you get the drift. LOL!