paints and plates

The holidays are over so it's back to work tomorrow...sigh. I had a lot of fun being off for 2 weeks - visiting with family and friends, cooking and baking, eating way too much and making lots of crafts. Aside from all the glass items I also made some homemade soap but neglected to take photos of the process once again.

My kiln was firing away all weekend so all the pieces I made have now been fused. These 2 pieces were also slumped. The plates on the right didn't turn out as planned (see how the glass pulled in a bit and the corners are a tad pointed? The black area has only 1 layer of glass and was lacking in volume so it didn't fuse quite right). Also, devitrification occurred on the white glass so I need to get some overspray and refire it.


I made a pair of small rectangular plates to match the retro platter. This is still my favourite piece.


More appetizer plates. They still have to be slumped but that will have to wait until next weekend.






I also made my own liquid stringer compound (aloe vera gel + glass powder + distilled water) this weekend. I put the mixture in squeeze bottles and away I went.



I made a few small items to be sure it would work before using it on plates or bigger pieces. I was quite pleased with the results - it's really easy to work with and because of the aloe vera gel, it smells great! My only complaint is that I don't have enough colours (time to go back to the glass store for more powders) and the hole in the nozzle of the sqeeze bottles is a bit too big. I might use a pastry bag and tips for my next attempt.


I think the kitties are cute. I'm planning to make 2 more and then will fuse them into a larger piece of glass to make a plate. My mom has requested one to be made into a pendant.

glass galore

Happy New Year!

Christmas gave me the perfect excuse to make tons and tons of glass pieces. My last post included pictures of the appetizer plates I made for my secret santa at work. I had the most fun at work that week, hiding and finding gifts all week long! My secret santa loved the plates and I've had some orders placed by other coworkers.

I also made plates, candle holders, jewelry trays and candy dishes for my family and friends. I only had one mold to use so they all were slumped into the same general shape but I made different sized pieces depending on their intended function.

I made a set of four small plates for my sister. These plates are about 4.5"


I loved this glass! I cut random shapes of black and iridescent gold glass and fitted them together for this plate. I made 2 non-matching plates and a candy dish for my mom. I really like how the iridescent glass turned out with the flexs of purple. I've used this glass in some pendants put covered it with a sheet of clear glass and it completely changed the look of the glass - the gold colour became deeper but you don't get that 'cracked' appearance or the flexs of purple.


Iridescent blue. These 2 plates went to my sister-in-law. She also got a jewelry tray in matching colours.


My favourite Opalart glass was used in this piece (blackberry cream opalart from System 96). The glass is pricey but beautiful. This plate went to my friend Lesley. My absolute favourite pendant (made thus far anyway) was made with this glass.


These are smaller pieces (about 3" by 4.5") that can be used as candle plates or jewelry trays. They were slumped into the same concave mold. I made a bunch more of these with different colours and kinds of glass as well as some even smaller pieces to used as coasters.

I received some great new molds for Christmas from my loving husband (as well as a custom built work station/storage unit/kiln holder). I received 2 small round plate molds, 2 small round bowl molds, a bigger round bowl mold and a big square bowl mold.


Here is my first attempt at a bowl. Cutting the circle was A LOT harder than expected. I now see why you can buy ready-cut base circles to work from. I think a grinder would help me out tremendously (to nibble down the uneven edges) but I don't have one and can't afford to get one just now. Sigh, maybe my next attempt will look a little better. The glass turned out pretty cool if you can get around the uneven edges of the bowl.


I used my large square bowl mold for this one - it's 8" on all sides. I need to adjust my slumping schedule when doing a larger piece - the glass did not slump fully into the mold so the bottom didn't flatten out enough. I'm not sure if I need to raise the temperature a touch or extend the hold time (i think increase my hold time) - I need to do some research before my next attempt.


This my favourite piece to date! Just made this afternoon!

I'm debating whether I slump this into my square bowl mold or just leave it as is on display. I cut an 8" square of clear as the base and then cut various-sized squares and rectangles from an assortment or opal colours and stacked them 3-high according to size. One of the glasses fired to a peachy colour that I didn't expect (I liked the original, unfired colour a lot better) but I REALLY like how this turned out. I immediately built 2 smaller pieces to go with this one. They are in the kiln right now.

I have 12 other pieces ready and waiting to be fired. I'm planning to get as many firings done as I can over the weekend before going back to work. I'll be sure to take pictures when they are done and post about them.

Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2009!!