New Beginnings -

This week is a week of new beginnings.

I took new glass out of the kiln this morning w/ out a fail. Yea!

This is my black dish w/ a white stripe. Okay the pic is lacking, but this one is ready to slump. I also fused some cabs - I'm thinking of making some jewelry and did some experimenting with colored frit (small bits of glass).

Yesterday I took a 3" round, black box out of the kiln and now I'm trying to decide how to embellish it. Course red frit or purple glass beads?

I still have some work to do on this box. I have to fire polish the base and tack fuse the embellishment onto the lid. I'm excited -  think it will turn out very nicely.

I have some new ideas for cabs going into the kiln when I tack fuse the lid - hope they turn out. I will share pics.

Have a great last day of 2009!

~ Julz

Keep trying . . .

I need to keep trying. Warm glass humbled me this week.
I was attempting ( key word here = attempt)  a drop ring for the third time. I did my research this time (the first attempt didn't drop and the 2nd attempt dropped too far) and had my glass in the kiln - I was home and watched the drop. I flash vented the kiln. The piece was going to be perfect . . . I left it to anneal and cool over night. I was very surprised the next morning.

My camera didn't take a good pic because it was still cold from my morning walk, but you can see the glass puddled under the drop ring. Again -  -- I failed. I had the first part of the kiln's schedule correct, but had a random ramp up to 1700 degrees that ruined the piece - Oh well - more scrap glass :-(

I just hope I can salvage the drop ring and get the glass off of it.

Today I have a new round box in the kiln. It's just finishing. I did peek an hour ago and all looks fine. I checked the schedule 3x before letting it fire. I want no more huge mistakes.

Yesterday I took a field trip to a glass gallery in a nearby town (Menasha, WI). I had never visited this gallery - I love talking to other glass artists and Mary was enjoyable. She creates many lovely pieces and jewelry - some w/ recycled glass. Great ideas and a lovely gallery.

~ Julz

Adventurine Green Holidays

Adventurine Green - a new experience for me.

This pic doesn't do justice to the depth of the sparkle - very nice. I have another in the works -

Slumping this one w/ a black side tonight. We will see if I can give these away w/ some homemade chocolate or gift cards. :-)

~ Julz

Oh Christmas Tree

~ Julz

Favorite color - right time of year

Red
Yup . . . my favorite color is red and I especially love red glass. When visiting the big city w/ a glass shop this past weekend I was able to pick up a sheet of my very favorite, lickable, red glass.

Guess which color went into the kiln first?

I do love red glass and this simple dish will be a great holiday gift w/ some homemade chocolates.

:-)

Another pic from the weekend in the big city -

Listening to TubaChristmas under the dome of the capital was awesome.

Christmas Trees for Decorations

The kiln has been cool lately. It has gotten pushed out of my life by other stuff at the end of this week. The only good news is that we are traveling this weekend to a large city w/ a glass shop. Yeah!

I thought I would share some trees that I made last year to decorate for the season -

I created them out of scrap glass and had forgotten about them until I opened the ornament boxes this year.

~Julz

Holiday Lights

Prior to the snow coming this week I was able to get out and put up some Christmas lights. I love the celebration of the season - if only to brighten the long, dark eves.

Tonight we are in the midst of a blizzard and this is the view out my front window. I was pleasantly surprised that my new camera (gift to me . . . Yea!) was able to capture the image through the window glass. The reflection of the lights on the snow, along with the swirling wind blown ice crystals in the air create a vision of wonderment.

~ Julz

PS. I am so glad that I left this structure (art?) in the garden over winter and at the last minute decided it would be a grand place to attach lights.  :-)

Amber Box Love

This is a box to love . . . 

I really like how the simple tack fused frit decoration turned out.

It is so nice to have a success come out of the kiln. :-)

I can't wait to place this on my dresser and employ it to enclose some lovelies.

~ Julz

Monday's glass

Today I fire polished a glass box base. . . it now has a nice shine. I like the amber color, but really had a hard time deciding how I wanted to embellish this one. It really needed a decoration. I decided today to tack fuse some frit on the top. Simple - yes, but I hope it will be just the addition this box needs.

In the kiln tonight is the top - a tack fuse for the decorations.

Another dish out of the kiln this weekend -

This one is a nice, basic dish w/ good colors.

Happy Monday! Snow on the way tomorrow . . . a mid-week snow break would give me some good glass time. :-)

~Julz

Moving forward

Some glass projects turn out, and some are just great learning experiences. Here is a good project from this week.

This dish was made with a purple iridized glass. The pics don't really show how special this one is. It has a gold tint to the surface and when held up to the light it is purple. Very cool.

Then there is this project. My bad. 

I thought I had cleaned the glass enough between fuse and slump ~ boy was I wrong. The bowl slump actually worked better, but the kiln schedule needs to be tweaked a bit more. The problem is that the glass has a film of kiln wash on it. Yuck. Now I have to figure out how to get it clean and then polish the piece. Cleaning suggestions?

~ Julz

High Hopes

Okay - I needed to flip this and fire it again tonight prior to slumping, but I did take a pic for you to see.

I have high hopes . . .
~Julz

Tuesday - new glass

I peeked into the kiln this morning before leaving for work and there were no large bubbles (my greatest fear) in my 12" circle for the bowl slump. I didn't get any pics yet, but I will take pics prior to slumping tonight.
Yea!
~Julz

New piece on first fuse tonight

I have a new piece in the kiln tonight and will post pics tomorrow. It is red/white/blue with some clear in a 12" circle. It is going through the first fuse prior to slumping into the bowl. I have a new schedule to try for the deep 12" bowl mold. highest hopes that it turns out better than my last wonky bowl ~ 
I just hope I can always learn from my mistakes and move forward in this humbling glass craft.
~Julz

New Fuse just out of the kiln

My newest piece -

The colors are more subtle than I thought they would turn out. It has nice texture, but the squares that make it up aren't consistent. Something to strive for if I do this again. I used textured/grooved glass and sprayed it w/ hairspray and then put red frit in the grooves. Either the hair spray or my frit placement or both need work. :-)
Cooking for the 2nd Thanksgiving w/ my family tomorrow. Homemade rolls and stuffing - carb heaven. yum!
~ Julz

Happy Thanksgiving

I do have much to be thankful for.
Today I am giving Thanks!

I call this my plaid dish.

I finally got it slumped yesterday as I went to Chicago to see The Addams Family and take in some art at the Chicago Art Institute. I loved soaking up some Monet, Renoir, and some contemporary art. My favorite work is here .

Thanks for my family and my ability to create.

Today my responsibilities for the food are minimal, but I am looking forward to the traditional meal with pumpkin pie for dessert. Yum!

I also was able to slump two small black dishes for my first order -

I think the stripe might be too much for the size of the dish. I need to play with this and should have some good glass working time tomorrow.
Thanks.
~Julz

Bowl - first try

Okay - after my great expectations for this weekend - some were realized.

I was able to complete a number of projects in the last few days.



I unloaded my first bowl from my new mold this morning, but I am only at the beginning of this learning curve. I would call its shape - organic. In other words my 1st bowl is slightly wonky.
Okay maybe a bit more than slightly.

The glass that I created and slumped was too thick for this deep of a slump and/or my schedule was too aggressive for this mold. I will have to practice this one. I love my bowl, but I'm afraid I may be the only one.  (I do have a soft spot for wonky results. . . results that could never be sold and are one-of-a-kind blunders. . . ah, err marvelous treasures ;-)


Soldering never got done. I always found other things to do - laundry, wash the outside windows, cutting glass for this project -

I haven't gotten this one slumped yet, but I love the plaid results. This project was on Spectrum's website. It was mentioned on a glass discussion board that I read. I made a few changes & love the results. I don't even have this in the kiln slumping because I have a different project in the kiln tonight.

A friend has started a jewelry business and needed some glass trays to display her silver jewelry. She approached me and asked me to make her some trays - I didn't think I was ready, but after I thought about it - I decided to give it a try. I showed her this piece -

and I am in the process of creating & selling my first glass order. Oh happy day!

~Julz

Saturday - a day of expectations

It's Saturday morning and I have many great expectations for my day.

I slept in late . . . well past the time my husband left to go hunting the Whitetail. This being opening day of gun deer season the hunter had to be in the woods at the crack of dawn. literally

The dog and I took a walk, but couldn't walk our normal route through the fields - one never knows who could be lurking in a tree - awaiting their whitetail. I want no confusion on this even though I was wearing blaze orange (this is not my color of choice except during this time of the year to save any incertitude).

The lake was calm.

Today brings glass time. Yea! I will be firing the kiln with glass for the new mold and finishing the solder on the bevel piece. By the end of the weekend I could have a new bowl and a new piece for my front window ready for a frame.
Happy weekend to you. Hope you will have time for your passions.
~Julz

New Challenge

I have wanted to create a fused bowl w/ a smooth texture for a long time. I have some stainless steel dishes that I have slumped over, but I haven't been happy with the finished texture.

Behold my new splurge -

~ wow~

I can't wait to slump some glass in this baby. . . . and now I am packing to be gone to a work conference for two days.

darn

I would love to spend the next few days working with glass and trying out this new slumping mold, but it is not meant to be. I did prepare the bowl so that when I return it will be ready for glass.

So the next few days I will be away from my passion . . . instead I will be staying at a hotel and learning how to better do my job. Okay I have to admit that my job allowed me to buy this, but it is getting in the way of my glass right now.

~Julz

Almost done with this piece -

Almost done with the stained glass piece with bevels.

I just need to clean up my solder. I haven't soldered for months and this is one skill that if you don't use, you lose. I really had a hard time getting my solder to flow the way that I wanted it to.

I like how the piece is turning out. I can't wait to see it hanging in the front window.

~Julz

Happy Saturday -
This weekend brings a full day for getting the house in order/laundry/bulb planting/glass work (both warm and stained)/grocery shopping/etc. . . . . I can't wait. Oh I love to get all these small jobs done - It makes me feel centered.

This is the stained glass project I'm going to finish today.

I have never worked w/ bevels in a stained glass project and wanted a panel for my front window that was larger than my small piece that has been there for years. I have all the glass cut and placed as well as all the pieces foiled. I didn't have enough solder to finish this, but now I do.

Fail

Okay - the kiln was fired last night and this morning I peeked - and found my failure - 

The beginnings of a bowl with 3 large bubbles. I need to adjust this fuse schedule so this doesn't happen on the next firing, but this can't be saved.

darn

~Julz

Wednesday

Week has gone fast ~ feels like it should be Thursday . . .

Glass tonight - I will get the kiln heated up tonight. I will get the kiln heated up tonight. It has been too long. I will share pics of my next project; I do need some more photos on this site.

~Julz

Weekend gone

Here it is Monday and I didn't get to any glass over the weekend.

Saturday spent w/ mom an hour away and closing night of my daughter's high school musical. Good day, but didn't get anything done around the house.
Sunday spent trying to catch up around the house w/ laundry/dishes/shopping for the next week - plus I went to an auction that had a piece of furniture that I was interested in. No purchase, darn.

. . . sure wish weekends were longer.
~ Julz

Job

Okay - I had a realization this morning. . . I know that this is not a biggie for some, but it was for me.

I love my job - - it pays the bills, is exciting, keeps me on my toes, is varied and challenging, and I am never bored (which is a really good thing). . . once I get to work - it gets my full attention, but I don't like going to work. Darn!

Okay - that's the realization.

Have a great Friday:-)
~Julz

Welcome

Welcome to my process. I'm just getting started. I have loved glass my whole life, and have been dabbling w/ creating stained glass suncatchers for about 10 years. A little over a year ago I purchased a kiln to melt some glass and have done a little basic torch work. What fun!
~ Julz

~ a small dish I created w/ BE ~