bowl me over

As per usual, I have gotten behind in my updates.

Life has been especially busy lately and I haven't had a lot of time for crafting. I've been putting in crazy hours at work (12-14 hour days) to try and get caught up with all my assessment reports. Although the work day is pretty long, it hasn't really been that bad. I've been staying in town on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights so at least I don't have the commute adding 3 hours to my work day. Other than work I've been collecting study material for upcoming registration exams. Ugh, I was really enjoying being finished school and am not looking foward to all the studying that is ahead of me.

Although I haven't spent much time fusing, I was able to get a few bowls completed over the last few weeks. I also ordered some new molds, which arrived last week. I've prepped all the molds but was only able to use 1 of them so far. Hopefully the rest of them will be tested this weekend.


Recognize this one? This is the geometric-designed piece you've seen in a previous blog. I finally got around to slumping it into a bowl (8" x 8"). As you can see, one side drew in more than others. I guess this gives the bowl a unique and handmade look but it wasn't my intention and I was a bit disappointed when I opened the kiln. *Sigh* I'm trying to figure out why this happened and how to prevent it in the future.


I was practicing cutting even strips of glass here. The strips are 1" x 8".


I like how this one turned out! I was very pleased that it worked out because it was made especially for a friend's birthday. The bowl is now in it's new home in Pennsylvania.


Another gift for a January birthday. This one went to my brother. He has 2 dogs that he absolutely adores, I tried my best to represent them. This was slumped into one of my new molds, a 7" x 7" plate.

I initially made this piece to be 10" x 10" but when I put the glass into the kiln to full fuse it, each corner of the glass slightly extended over the edge of the kiln shelf! This discovery made me come to the realization that I hadn't taken the interior size of my kiln into account when ordering the new molds! The 10" x 10" square mold I was going to use wouldn't even fit into my kiln! I ended up having to cut the piece down to fit a smaller square plate mold. Bummer.

I also did a batch of pendants, earrings and pendant & earring sets last weekend. I remembered to take pictures and will post them soon.

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!!

experimentations in glass

I realize that I have gotten really behind in my postings and now there is just to much to update!

Since the end of October I have busy playing with my kiln and making fused-glass pieces. I started with pendants and then added earrings, then pendant and earring sets and now this weekend have tried making small plates and dishes.

I really didn't anticipate that I'd want to spend so much time on this craft or that other people would be so interested! After receiving a few compliments on the necklaces I had been wearing I let it slip that they were handmade and several coworkers expressed interest in purchasing pendants for holiday gifts. Well - once I brought them in word spread and not only coworkers from my building/department wanted to buy them but other staff from across the University were contacting me. I think a conservative estimate would be that I've sold 60 pieces! I'm selling them at cost right now so they are quite affordable.

I just love this response! It's enabled me to splurge on more expensive glass and supplies, experiment with inclusions and different techniques and get immediate feedback on some of my trials. If I was only making them as gift for friends and family than I likely wouldn't have gotten so far in my experimentations.

Here are a few of my favourites (that I have pics of!):

In hindsight I wish I had anticipated this reaction and taken pictures of each piece I made. Oh well, you live and learn.

Here are some pendant/earring sets made last weekend.

These photos (and the dishtowel they are lying on as the bails dry) don't do them justice.

This week at work we have our "secret santa" gift exchange. The person I drew loves the colour tourquoise - I made 4 small candy dishes/appetizer plates for her. Here are 2 of the plates - the other 2 have just been slumped and are still cooling in the kiln. The plates are about 4.5 inches square and were slumped into a concave mold.



This is only the second set of plates I've made. I forgot to photograph the other set before wrapping them up for Christmas.

I'm considering selling some of my pieces on Etsy and participating in craft shows. This way I'll continue to have excuses to keep making more pieces! There are a few projects I am hoping to try out once the holidays hit and I have some time off.

Not much else is going on with me. I attended my convocation in November - still feels great to be done school!

i splurged and bought a kiln!

I really should have known better!

I recently found out about this great glass supply store in Toronto that offers several courses and seminars and stocks a lot of glass (for stained glass and for glass fusing) and all kinds of tools and accessories. Essentially everything and anything you need when working with glass. I checked out their website last night and found out that the store is in west end fairly close to where we live. I decided to go by today and just 'take a look around.' I walked out with multiple sheets of glass, cutting tools and a totally kick ass kiln!

Initially I was considering a smaller kiln but Alex was with me and talked me into getting the bigger one. His reasoning was that I might outgrow the smaller one. This model allows for bigger projects, higher temperature firing and is digital and programmable. I probably should have bought a used kiln to start with but I was overwhelmed with excitement and project ideas as I roamed the store and Alex was pretty encouraging so I decided to get the kiln RIGHT THEN.


This is a Coneart kiln. 14.5" interior diameter, 6.5" high. Kanthal A-1 elements in the lid. The walls are 2 ½" of premium firebrick. The jacket and fittings are all corrosion resistant stainless steel. The box in the front is a Bartlett 3 button controller - suppose to ensures precise control for heating and cooling. It has software for 4 user programs, which will be very useful when I start slumping glass (for bowls and plates) instead of just making fused pendants.

The glass I bought: I really love the swirly sheets. I think I'll save those for slumping.


I also bought some broken bits and treated myself to these cool beads.


I'm usually not this impulsive and tend to be fairly 'frugul' in terms of what I'll spend on myself so I'm still trying to reconcile this purchase. It's not exactly buyer's remore that I'm experiencing but a fair dose of guilt that the money could have been better spent. That being said, I'm pretty darn excited to get started! I'm hoping to fire my first batch tomorrow after Alex installs a seperate power outlet for the kiln (he's so safety conscious!).

I already have a list of other supplies I want to get - this is going to be one expensive hobby. Stay tuned!

cottage bathroom reno

The cottage is now closed until next summer...bummer. I love going to the cottage and am sad to think that I won't be relaxing on the dock for another 6 months. We spent this past weekend driving around prince edward county looking at the beautiful fall colours, visiting some artisan studios, doing a little shopping, drinking a little too much pec wine and visiting the local mircobrewery (Barley Days). When all the fun stuff was done we got to work and closed the cottage up, drained the water system and cleaned up the yard. 

Since I have nothing crafty to post (I bought some jewelry making supplies but need to get sheets of silver, copper and brass before new projects get started) I will share some photos of the new bathroom that went in at the cottage in May.

Here is the old bathroom built by my grandfather.  A tiny room just big enough for a sink and toilet. And no hot water. Don't you just love paneling? 

 

Here's Alex hard at work taking apart the bathroom. We decided to take out the wall/doorway and extend the bathroom by taking over some of the hallway.  

Voila! The new bathroom. After extending the bathroom into part of the hallway we were able to get enough space to add a shower stall. BIG improvement if you've ever had to use the "shower room" off the garage. 

Still a tiny room but at least it's now a three piece bathroom with hot water! I really like the tiles we used and the backsplash Alex made. It's hard to see but there is black detailing and a black ceiling that looks pretty neat.  

final jewelry projects

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (well, for those north of the border anyway)!!

My silversmithing class ended the other week and I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of my final projects. I had SO much fun at this class and am really looking forward to taking more courses. Silversmith level 2 will be starting in December but I don't think I'll be signing up for that. I'd really like to but in order to make it to class on time on Thursday evenings I had to leave work early and speed like a demon from Waterloo into downtown Toronto. I was only late for one class but once winter hits with it's snow, sleet and ice it'll be a whole other story. I think it's best if I wait for spring to take another course. I'm planning to sign up for metal printmaking, which starts in May.

In the metal printmaking course we'll learn how to etch a design onto a steel plate which will then be "roller-printed" onto a silver or copper plate. We'll also be taught other surface techniques such as "paper stamping," "reticulation" and "piercing" used to create handmade filigree. I can't wait!

For my final project I decided to make several silver pendants with an "animal" theme to them. I was planning to give them to my dissertation committee members but now that they are finished I don't want to part with them! I decided to cut out bones and a paw print, as well as make a punched out design (which was harder to line up than I thought, hence the misshaped design).


I kept the 2 bones that I carefully sawed out and soldered them onto a piece of brass for a pendant for me to keep. I wasn't able to get this piece done in class and had to leave it in the pickling solution. I just picked it up on Friday and still need to sand it. There was some slatter/overspill from soldering the 2 metals together so I need to sand that off and then clean up the piece.


I also made a simple brass pendant by punching holes with different sized bits. I tried to give the piece a brushed finish. As simple as this pendant is, I really like it.


And here are my main projects that were completed during the 6 week course.