Another Little Terrarium

BOO!

I made this little ghost a few years ago... dug him up to take a picture because my friend Deb was at the glass studio the other day and asked if I'd ever used glow in the dark powder in my glass creations. Indeed - here is an example. I mixed some of the bright green glow powder in with Borosilicate Kryptonite colored glass (cuz this color already looks like it should glow - I think it makes a great combo) and made these little ghosts. The more powder the better, and you have to mix it into the glass, as it will not stick to the surface really - but if you get enough in there it really glows quite powerfully!

here are a couple links for the powders:

http://glowinc.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=3

http://www.sundanceglass.com/glow-glass-powder.htm

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3146795

I Challenged Myself Today

Usually I say no, its easier that way. People come to me with tear jerking stories of their broken glass trinkets (that I did not make) that hold so much sentimental feelings, they are looking for someone to fix it or replace it. I have a strict policy of saying no. It is the best answer for 3 good reasons:

1. because many times these pieces just cannot be fixed

2. incompatible glasses - I never know what type of glass something is made of, so I cannot really get it hot and add anything, as this would inevitably make it fall apart even more

3. I really have no interest in fixing something someone else has made.

If people are really persistent I educate them on what they can do at home with some Epoxy or UV glue. Or at least thats what happens when I am feeling sassy!

With all that said... a few days ago a nice woman named Judy called and asked to have a small glass figurine remade for her. I called her back and we spoke for a bit, seemed like something I could reasonably do. Against my normal policy - I said Yes! Yep, I broke my own business rule and I said Yes and made an appointment for her to come in and today was the day.

Judy brought me this tiny little glass antelope. Its one of a family of these little guys and they are all symbolic for her, a gift from her daughter-in-law and simply a small treasure that she holds close to her heart. The littlest antelope had broken (into a zillion pieces) - so I remade him! In the pictures the one I made is in front on the right.

It was a challenge, I enjoyed that. I made the head first and the body I actually did twice before I really liked it. Lastly I made the antlers and damn that was finicky! I could have done better, but its a pretty good try and Judy was pleased. It was really fun to make. And Judy was a sweetheart. In the end I was really happy I said yes. Not that I'll be doing it again any time soon (honestly people ask me this all the time at the Portland Saturday Market, at least once a weekend) and I know I could make a little money occasionally if I did this, and I know I am capable of this kind of torchworking, but I just don't want to. Refer to the above listed 3 Good Reasons to Say No.

Fusible Decal Paper on Glass

My friend Laura made these little glass pendants using images that were printed onto photo fusing paper. She pointed out that if you use French Vanilla Bullseye glass (the reactive glass 0137) instead of White (0113 or 0013) the decal looks almost black (note: its not really black, but the dark brown reaction with the vanilla looks black!)

The image above shows one decal fired on White Glass under clear (the pumpkin) and another fired on French Vanilla under clear (the witch). I'd bet the new Reactive White (0009 Reactive Cloud) would also make the decal look sorta black.

At the Aquila Glass School you can get Don to print out your images onto "Photo Fusing Paper" (he has the paper and a laser printer) and many people use this product to put images into their fused glass projects. They bring in their image saved onto a memory stick and he prints it out onto the decal paper. You wet the printed paper and slide the decal onto your glass. The results can vary, but its a simple and effective process.

The iron oxides in the laser toner make the image withstand high temperatures of firing the glass, afterwards it leaves a sepia-tone type image (sort of a burnt rusty color).

Here is a link for more information and prices for having Don print your decals:

http://www.thestoreataquila.com/photo_fusing_paper.htm

to check out Laura work:

http://appleglassoriginals.etsy.com

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Earrings Defying Gravity

Pumpkin Patch Time!!

It was a rainy weekend, but I made it out to the Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island with some friends. I love this picture... the corn stalks blowing in the wind, the pumpkins rotting in the mud.

I couldn't bring myself to sit around in the rain for the second day in a row at the PSM, and I had this coupon for the Kruger Farm Pumpkin Festival staring at me... this is how it went: picking pumpkins, riding the tractor pulled thing, wandering the corn maze and eating roasted corn (they dipped it in a crock pot of butter!) and candied apples (good lord this made me drool - literally!)
The pumpkins were kinda funny looking, but we picked some out. Tim found us a great one. I enjoyed taking pictures! I put more up on Flickr - click here to see them

Clear Reactive Glass Fun

I made myself a bowl. Perhaps for ice-cream or cereal... or beans and rice... last night it held Tim's keys and wallet.

Recipe for the bowl: one circle of clear reactive glass, one circle of clear glass (on bottom) and a pile of little colored strings of glass on top.

This is what it looked like before firing. I wanted to be sure the little strings didn't disappear after firing, so I used the clear reactive glass. Some of the colors have a chemical reaction with this glass causing brown lines, some of the blue, purple and green glass strings reacted... turned out really neat!
I made myself this bowl because I was cleaning out some stuff in my studio and I found a container of little colored stringers waiting to be made into something neat. The stringers originated when I made a bunch of dots to make these Christmas tree ornaments (see below) using a torch and when the little gather of glass gets hot and falls off the rod a little string that connects the two falls as well. I kept the strings because there were so many and I thought they had potential. Then I forgot about them! Years later they became my new bowl!