Scrap Challenge - Progress Report

Well, it's been 1 month that I've been working on using up my excess glass (as well as stocking up for the holidays).  Here's what I've made so far:

• Patterned glass to be cut up and used in future work.  Examples here and here.
• Pattern glass that will be the base for wire wrapped Christmas tree ornaments.  I'll post the finished photo of these as I've added some red balls but still need to wire wrap these.

• Snowflake ornaments

• Frit casting with prior made frit  

• Frit (for wreath ornaments, heart ornaments and clear dots)
• Dots (for use in plates and votives).  I'll post the finished product later next month.

Here's what I learned:

• I haven't made a dent in the amount of scrap glass I have.  I think I'll still be using up my scrap at the beginning of next year.  I guess it took me a while to accumulate this, so I shouldn't think it will be gone overnight.
• Dots are a great way to use up scraps of already fused glass, especially if you have a tile saw.
• And, the dots I made with the clear frit turned out to be round even in instances where the frit didn't seem round or even square.  
• When making dots, it's a much easier clean up when using Papyros shelf paper rather than Thinfire.

I still have a long way to go.  However, I should be able to post the results of a lot of this work within the next month.  And, if you have any suggestions for what to do with excess glass, please let me know!!

Fused Glass Holiday Ornaments & Decorations

Happy Holidays from 360 Fusion!

Every season I make a new type of ornament and expand my holiday coaster selection.  Here's my new ornament for this year:

This wreath is made from crushed glass frit that I made myself.  I used a combination of opaque and transparent glass and formed the shape using a round cookie cutter and then pushed the glass around a bit to fill in the gaps.  The red balls are made from coarse red frit that's been fired at 1500 degrees.  The ornament is tack fused at 1350 degrees with a round wired loop that used for the hanger.  For my first attempt, I thought I could drill a hole but the fragility of the tack fused, crushed glass wouldn't withstand the pressure of the drill.  I'm happy with how this turned out as the texture of the glass gives the wreath more dimension.

Last year I made these fused glass coasters in red (which is still my favorite), but this year I expanded the color spectrum to include an olive and Christmas green.  The clear glass "fracture & streamer" glass already included red and green but I augmented the glass with red and green confetti (thin glass chards) to add more color.  It turns out that these colors were just as popular as the red one.

As Christmas is just around the corner, I wanted to wish you and your family a very blessed and joyous holiday.

Fall's Here: New Fused Glass Plates in Autumn Colors

For those of you who are familiar with my work, you know I tend to prefer bright colors - blues, greens, purples or neutrals like black and white, with some red.  Over the past few years, I've been accumulating a fair amount of light amber glass (left over from making my Christmas angel ornaments).  As I hate to waste glass, I decided to expand my color palate so I could incorporate some of the amber glass.  So, in addition to amber, I've added olive green, persimmon, terra cotta, and a range of amber colors.  Here's the first fused glass pieces out of the kiln.

However, as I still had a fair amount of excess amber glass left, I also made a batch of star ornaments.

I'm especially happy with how the plates turned out.  And, as I still have a fair amount of amber glass left, you'll be seeing more variations.  As this is new for me, I'd be interested in your thoughts about the colors.

Gearing Up for the Holidays with Fused Glass Ornaments

Every year, it seems that Christmas comes earlier and earlier. Well, if you're making items for the holidays, then it comes even sooner as you need time to make everything. For me, it's also a nice change to what I've been making this year. I've gotten to experiment with a few new designs and learned some things in the process.

New for 2011 will be a different snowflake design and poinsettia ornaments. I've been making snowflakes since 2008 and they've been fairly popular. Although each snowflake is fairly labor intensive with 17-18 individual pieces, I enjoy making them as I accumulate a lot of clear glass over the year and this is a great way to use up some of the excess (although I really haven't made too much of a dent). I start with drawing out several design options on paper and then pick the one I like best to make. As the snowflakes are rather detailed, drawing out designs tend to work better than coming up with something in my head. However, what I learned is that what may work on paper may not work in reality. Here's my first stab at a snowflake based on my design.

Not bad, but not quite at the same level as my original snowflake design and not quite the same look fired as pre-fired. Viewing the finished snowflake, I see that the design was not as tight as I would have liked and left room for error. So, I continued to play around with the design and came up with a new one that I like much better. What do you think?

My poinsettia ornaments were really an inspiration from one of my customers who commented that she could wear one of my red flower pins like a poinsettia. I was able to use some of the frit I had made too for the center.

These two new ornaments will be added to my existing ones: the original snowflake design and angels. I have a love-hate relationship with my angels. I love how cute they are when they're finished but the process of making them is laborious (lots of circle cutting, grozing or trimming the circles and then grinding or smoothing the circles) and precise (cutting and placing the stringer and glass chards for the face). While I made enough for this year, we'll see how I feel next year...

These ornaments are fresh out of the kiln, with the last load going in today. I have yet to drill the holes and attach the hanging ribbon but wanted to share with you what I've been doing the past two weeks. Hopefully they will be up on Etsy in the next week or so.