Glass Trailerwhere stained glass art is made

After firing I found I didn’t quite get enough glass piled into the wells of the mold. So I added more and refired them. However the black dots for my next project turned out just perfect.

During the second firing I managed to get enough glass to fill each well. Still not perfect, but satisfactory at least.

The disappointing part was when I pried the glass from the molds. They came out with a little bit of muscle, but the impression that was left was definitely not pretty. Sure, they were the right shape, but they did not have a glossy appearance you’d expect from glass. They look like they were beaten against a rock for a while and were very scuffed up.

I did some research and found that I should’ve used a Boron Nitride Aerosol spray on the mold first, which should create the appearance I’m hoping for. So I ordered some and will have to put the project on hold until that arrives and I can try again. *sigh*

Stay tuned.

Since the last post I’ve taken my molds and fired them in the kiln based on the instructions.

Tonight I needed to prepare some glass for the molds, so I can create my jewels.

I broke down a larger sheet of red spectrum glass. I didn’t care what COE since my project is all one glass, nothing is going to mix. I placed my pieces in a shammy cloth. I just needed something durable that would withstand some glass shards and a bunch of beatings. An old pair of jeans would probably work slightly better, but this is what I had on hand.

Wrap it up and give it hell! This’ll be one of those times you wish you had a frit piston or some great gadget like that. Unfortunately mine hasn’t arrived yet and I want this project to get moving.

I didn’t pound a whole lot, it’s late and I didn’t want neighbors yelling at me for hammering.

With the little bit of pounding I had more than enough glass dust and small pieces for my project. Just push some of the big pieces aside and you’ll find a wealth of frit waiting to be used.

I filled each of my pre-fired molds with my crushed glass. Chances are i’ll have to add more after I fusing them, and fuse them a second time. I never work with casting, so this is pretty new to me. I threw some larger chunks on top for good measure.

The product claims you don’t need to prep the molds in any way, which is nice, but I am assuming I’ll have to break the molds to get my jewels out. Which sucks, but it’ll probably give me the best final product. Coating the molds will probably remove some detail…. so I might as well just follow the instructions since I want all my details sharp.

I finished filling up the molds and placed them all in the kiln. I also threw in some black pieces. I need some black globs for my next project, might as well use the extra space while it’s available.

Hopefully next post, i’ll have some great results to share.

Halloween is a big time a year around some of my friend’s workplaces. A lot of them make their own costumes that just put anything you could buy commercially to shame. They really are quite amazing. I was excited when one of them asked me to help create some parts of their costumes! I’m always excited for a new project.

What she needed was some jewels. She wasn’t finding quite the right ones she wanted, especially not a bulk amount of them.

First thing I did was hit the local craft/art store and I couldn’t find any gems either, but I did find some gem shaped buttons, which I could use to make molds for some glass jewels for.

I thought I’d just share how my project is progressing, mostly because I’ve never done anything like this either, and perhaps someone can suggest some tips or maybe you’ll learn something from how I decided to do it as well.

My mold is small, so I wanted to work on something flexible which would help me pop the mold out when I was done. I couldn’t find a dish small enough or just the right size, so I grabbed a tupperware lid and some clay and create my own little well that I could pour the mold mix into.

I know, I know. It probably would have been easier if the clay and the lid weren’t the same color. I didn’t really think about taking pictures when I first started doing it. So I am sorry if you find it hard to see.

You can see I’ve already made several since the clay is pretty dirty. But now that I have my work area molded out of clay, I hot glued my buttons down to the plastic. I made sure to press down pretty hard and work quickly so I didn’t have any gaps that the mix could get around the button and swallow them up!

The hydroperm mix I chose to use is a 1:1 ratio. So I measured out about 2 Tbs of mix and added 2 Tbs of warm water.

The hydroperm mixes extremely well and is pretty fluid. Just pour the mix into the hand-formed well.

30 minutes later we’ll have a mold that we’ll be able to melt glass into. I’ve made a number of them since I plan on making a whole bunch and I’d like to get them done in as few of batches as possible.

The plastic lid proved to be pretty amazing for working on. the mix didn’t stick to it (as you can see I didn’t use any mold release). A few light twists (like getting ice out of a ice tray) and I am ready to start the next mold.

Next I’ll be putting them in the kiln to set them and then I’ll be ready to fuse glass into them.

The wizard can stop staring now… well at me anyways.  I guess he will always be staring at his crystal ball.  I spent a good bit of time watching episodes of spongebob and grinding and foiling him.  It was hard taking a photo of it, he seems very washed out and the crystal ball is really quite irridized.   I probably need to get some actual studio lights for this stuff.  At some point I’ll have to round up some money and set up something a bit more professional.  Anyways, here he is.  I just created him on a whim, so if someone is interested in purchasing they can just leave a comment.

Also, I got my rainbow dish done.  I’m not completely thrilled with it.  The way the glass slumped into the mold didn’t leave for a very even edge.  This may end up becoming a give away, but I haven’t decided yet.  And for some reason the purple comes out brown in photos. hmmm.

What would you like to see?  Speak up while I’m deciding on my next projects

I’ve been totally slacking off. My birthday is tomorrow and I’ve been trying to push things out of the trailer and get them shipped so I can have the option of just relaxing. A bear paw is somewhere on it’s way to Finland. A few necklace orders are at home and glue is setting on them, so those need to go out. And that wizard is still staring at me. He has been sitting there waiting to be ground down and put together for a few weeks now. That poor guy…

I think the problem with the wizard is that it is the only thing I have going on that isn’t for an order. So it’s always shoved aside for something of a higher priority. Maybe that’s what I’ll have to work on with my birthday time off!

In other news, I finally got around to try and recreate the rainbowish striped dish. This time I went with a candy dish shape and it’s currently in the trailer slumping… I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that it’ll come out all right.  I can’t wait to get home and check on it!

The weekend is upon us and I’m hoping to get plenty done in the trailor this weekend.  The wizard is still staring at me angry that he hasn’t been put together yet.  Orders are coming in and some things have gone out.  Friends seem to be coming into town this weekend from all over, which may be where I lose my time.  Hopefully I’ll still be productive!

I thought I’d just make this quick update and share the latest pendant to come out of the kiln for a client who wanted a simple necklace.  Dark green sparkle with a white/lime swoosh on top.  I really like how it turned out and I may have to make myself one

Sometimes, the simplest mistakes can ruin everything.  Even when you’re being super duper extra careful, things can still be missed.

Take, for instance, the bowl I was making.  I came up with this great mix of glass, fused everything together and when I pulled it out of the kiln… BAM!  Flaw.

Evidently I didn’t clean off all the sharpie marks from tracing out the pattern onto the glass when I was piecing it togther.  The corners of this piece all have black smudges on them.  Luckily It doesn’t show up in photos (I still need to pick up a nice macro lense).  I showed some friends and ended up giving it away to one of them.  They laughed at the insignificance of it, but I refused to put something up for sale that wasn’t perfect.  I just can’t do it…. which benefits them, haha.

I’ll just have to try again and make sure to clean each piece even more carefully.  Don’t let days of work become worthless over a few seconds of extra attention and cleaning.

I finally cleared out some of my current projects from the trailer and found time to take photos… or at least try too.  I really need to save up and get a macro lense, it’s not very easy with the one I have right now.  The focal length is pretty large and I feel like I’m standing halfway across the room and zooming in to get a semi decent picture.

I was playing around with some glass and decided to make my friends some pendants.  I made a kiln full and these are the ones they selected as their favorites.  Part of the fun was inviting friends out to the trailer to design their own!  It’s a really simple project that anyone can do.  I precut some blanks for them to decorate and threw some materials at them (figuratively, glass shouldn’t be thrown!) and let them ‘have at it.’

I have more in the kiln right now to give away with some of my recent orders that need to be shipped out.  I’m excited to get back and check them out.  I modified some of the kiln settings, so hopefully it isn’t filled with pendants of crapola.

FINALLY, my sushi dishes are complete.  I kept putting them in the kiln whenever I could fit them in with something else.  It was a project that I knew would eventually be done.  I have a small kiln and only 1 sushi dish mold to work with, so it would going to take a while.

Some of these I just love, some not as much but I really liked the project.  These are what I call the “Let the glass guide you” dishes.  It’s really quite zen if you think about it…. or maybe I’m just full of crap!   For these I took a beautiful piece of glass that had plenty of swirls in it and let those swirls dictate the final design.  Cutting out sections (see what I mean here) without replacing it swill create mis-shaped pieces when they come out of the kiln, but that’s part of their character.  Besides, it provides a nice resting place for your chopsticks.

And that’s it.  Plenty of things in the works and plenty more coming up as orders come in!  Stay tuned.

Several projects are occuring in the trailer at the moment, hopefully i’ll have final photos to share soon.  One project was a series of necklaces that I made for friends.  I was dumb enough to let them go without taking pictures first, so hopefully some of them will get back with images of them.

I also started a series of sushi dishes, that are purposefully awkward and mis-shaped.  I’m calling them the “Let the Glass Guide You Series.”  Basically, I’m taking a really great piece of glass with interesting swirls and letting the swirls dictate the final design..

By cutting out certain pieces and leaving gaps in the design, the final piece won’t be a square.  These are finishing up right now, so I’ll show more later, I think they’re pretty cool!

Lastly, I dug out an old piece I drew a long time ago and decided to start working on it.  I found a small treasure trove of designs that never came to fuition…   The one I am currently working on is the Wizard…

It’s a bit bigger than the homosote board I usually use, so I need to order more to tack it down to while I work on it or find an alternative around the house.

I realized today I kind of left everyone hanging.  I had a post a few days ago about watching glass melt in which  I had shoved a pile of scraps into the kiln and melted them down, but I never showed what came of it.

Well, here it is.  I ended up with a really thick slab of glass that was beautifully layered.  It’s hard to see depth without actually holding it yourself but hopefully the pictures give you some idea of the result.

I just finished grinding and cutting it down…. it was really difficult with it being so thick!  I’ll probably place it on a drop ring since I’ve never actually tired one before.