The Weird Unicorn's World

Okay, so to all my crafters/artists out there, these Czech glass beads sold at Michaels, and apparently other craft stores too, particularly the Opal Aqua Luster or Silk Green Aqua White Luster varieties, or certain "Superduo" styles, contain uranium dioxide, which acts as a colorant and makes the beads radioactive.

Normal background levels of radiation are typically around 20–60 CPM (counts per minute), some say 5-100+ depending on sensors, but people are reporting getting readings of 300-2000+ and needless to say this is concerning.

Michaels claims the glass protects you…that may be wrong going by the readings people are getting.

The beads emit alpha radiation, which cannot penetrate skin, but can cause cancer/health risks if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through wounds. So if any of these beads are broken and the dust gets in your lungs or a cut, or if a child or pet ingests them, it can be a problem.

According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there is no recognized danger to handling or using uranium glass, as the glass itself blocks most of the alpha particles…unless broken or in dust or ingested.

BUT! They may also emit beta and gamma radiation. Gamma is highly penetrating, passing through the body and causing deep organ damage, while beta particles typically cause superficial burns on skin but can be dangerous if ingested.

An easy way to tell if a bright green or yellow-green glass bead of any type (or bright green glass in general) may be radioactive is to shine a UV light on it. If it glows a bright neon green, you got radiation!

A Kraken pretending to be a Sea Serpent, inspired by the art below I randomly found years ago. Just a goofy little wiggly armed friend for my desk lol.

I made a bobblehead! He's a baby Jersey Devil, one of my favorite cryptids. Made using the spun cotton method, I wanted him to look both innocent and devious, if that's possible. I'm pretty proud of him, he's the biggest sculpture I've done so far at 4 and a little over half inches high.

I have a very good friend that told me that the Danish word for cricket is fårekylling and it translates to… Sheep Chicken. 😆

Made a baby Kraken having a bubblebath ^_^

He's about 3 inches high, made of my usual bits and trash; ash, glue, wire and paint. The tub is a condiment container with cardstock for the 'wood' planks, more cardstock for the 'metal' bands and bolts. The rings are actually O-rings used for jewelry. The rubber ducky is more ash and glue, the scrub brush is cardstock and twine. And the bubbles are hot glue drops and small hole-less beads, with a thin silver paint coat to make them shimmer.

I made another Mushroom Octopus!

This one is based on Coprinus comatus, the Shaggy Ink Cap.

Inspired by the art of Gustavo Floering who uses plastic bags in the making of his art dolls, I made a baby Mothman!

His innards are multiple plastic bags twisted together, cardstock, and wrapped in masking tape. His outside is an old bear plushie I had no real room for anymore, and the eyes are from the bear too, just painted red.

He's a bit lumpy here and there, the back is a bit more lumpy than the front, but for a first time attempt at this type of thing I'm pretty proud of him!