Unexpected

Some times the unexpected happens.

This past summer I purchased a beautiful yellow, orange and white piece of glass with a specific goal in mind. I wanted to create a strip cut bowl, a bowl made of strips of glass.

I cut the strips and assembled the bowl for it's first fusing paying careful attention to the pattern in the original piece of glass.

I had extra strips of glass and decided to use them to create a small square tile. 

During construction I was worried that the orange color might not present itself to show the pattern.

And.

This morning I pulled this from the kiln.

~ Julie

Saturday Wreaths and Glass

Today my husband and I were honored to be able to place wreaths for Wreaths Across America at the King Veterans Home. It turned out to be a beautiful day, not too cold with plenty of sunshine - perfect for walking the hill and placing wreaths next to grave stones.

 

I am smitten with sunflowers during this Wisconsin December.

Here is a new one in shades of blue and purple.

 

I love seeing the sun shine through it.

This sunflower will be in my Crystal Lake Glass Etsy shop either today or tomorrow.

~ Julie

Snowy Day with Flowers

Wisconsin is having a very snowy day today.

This morning I pulled a new sunflower suncatcher from the kiln. I love the bright colors.

 

I just need to get it cleaned up and wired for hanging.

~ Julie

Two Warm Kilns

I have been both making beads and some recycled glass items.

Thus far this year I haven't made any Christmas items in glass. Until now. . .

I just couldn't not try to make a snowman. 

My beading skills are improving;-)

I also have been working with recycled (float) glass and enamels.

This is a small dish with bright enamel colors. I love that enamel will give the very subdued greenish hue of recycled glass very bright colors.

~ Julie

Walk in the Woods - Color Inspiration

Today was a great day for a walk in the woods. A great way to keep the step count up. I have been wearing a Fitbit for about 6 months and really try to get at least 10,000 steps in a day. Today's weather was cloudy, but warmer than it has been recently with a temperature of 34 degrees F. The warmer temps started melting the small amount of snow that has accumulated in the last week.

My walk provided great color inspiration.

Wilted leaves and small ferns in the snow.

Berries against a stark background of bark.

Moss on a log beneath the snow.

Now to get my latest creation into the kiln.

~ Julie

Recycled Glass

Just out of the kiln.

Recycled glass.
Strips of glass fused together.
Slumped into a shallow tray mold.

 

I am now conflicted about whether it should be used as a tray or a piece of wall art.

Keeping the kiln warm.

~ Julie

Beads, Beads

I have been working on beads lately. My goal is to practice everyday to become more proficient at the basic bead creation. So, the issue becomes - what to do with the created beads. . .

I have decided on bracelets.

 

This has gotten me to also improve my jewelry making skills which were basically nonexistent prior to my bead/bracelet making this week.

Keeping the kiln warm.
~ Julie

Reduction Frit

I have worked behind a flame today and made some beads. Practicing with some new reduction frit.

If all goes well they will be a bracelet tomorrow.

Keeping the kiln warm.
~ Julie

Etsy Shop - Crystal Lake Glass Studio

I have a number of my pieces for sale on Etsy. I chose the name because my studio is located on a small lake called Crystal Lake. Today Crystal Lake is frozen over for the first time this fall and truly resembles its name. This past week in Wisconsin has been cold.

My Crystal Lake Glass Studio has been open for about a week and has seven items for sale.

I am excited and anxious to offer some of my work for sale.

Keeping the kiln warm.
~ Julie

Progress

Today brings progress.

Some good and some not so good.

The first project I'm going to share is one that I thought wished should would have turned out better

I experimented by cutting and placing scrap glass to fill a Patty Gray dam mold in a circular pattern.

The project fused nicely with only a few issues that I thought would disappear when it was slumped into a dish. After fusing this glass piece is about 1/2 inch thick and will require some heat to slump it.

So, I slumped the piece into a drop out mold. A drop out mold is a mold with no center, so the center of the glass drops into the mold and onto the kiln shelf making a dish.

My slump didn't correct all the flaws and it added a few. In the picture above - you can see that the edge of the glass hung over the mold when slumping and will need to be removed. I have a few options for removal, but I haven't used my methods with thick glass. 

Until then this piece may just serve as a plant stand for my Thanksgiving Cactus that is getting ready to bloom.









Another project that I'm working on is garden flowers. I have been fusing the petals and slumping the flowers into a Creative Paradise mold. The next step will be to get these mounted and ready for the garden.

I did an initial mount of one flower, but I'm missing a washer to keep it level. Once mounted I will extend the flexible tubing and 'plant' the flower in my garden or a pot.

 

I can't wait to get a few of these flowers finished. I think they will be a stunning addition to my garden.


Another project . . .

Recycled glass with enamel power slurry.

The enamel offers great color -

Here is the recycled glass right after applying the enamel powder slurry. I have it sitting on my grinder to dry before fusing it.

The project in the kiln. 

This project was fused to adhere the enamel on the recycled glass and then put back into the kiln and slumped into a shallow mold to give it some curvature/dimension.

I love how this project turned out. It is stunning with or without light shining through it.

Keeping the kiln warm.

~ Julie

Happy Saturday!

It is a beautiful day today in front of a possible snow storm in Wisconsin.

The kiln has been cooking recently making glass flowers for the garden. I have made five this week and now I just need to get mounting hardware. My goal is to get these in my garden before the snow falls so that I can enjoy them sticking out of a snow bank this winter.

The above flower is in the kin pre and post slump on the CPI flower mold. I hope to show more about the flowers once they are ready for the garden.

~ Julie

October 2018

Beautiful fall day.
Enjoying the mild weather.
Spending some time outside.

~Julie

New Jaws Project

The weather here has been really nice and allowed me to finish up the outside projects before the real cold and snow hits. I do love to take walks with the sun shining and the leaves crunching under foot.

I used the Patty Gray Jaws technique to create a project. Partly to refresh my memory of the process and partly to use up some scrap glass.

I have a 8" Patty Gray dam that I can use and if I use this dam I will be able to slump it because I also have a slump mold that will fit the 8" dam project.

I started with a clear base with two layers of black glass for the sides.

I then started adding yellow, red and clear scrap.

Here is the jaws scrap glass before fusing.

Here is the project prior to fusing it.

Here is the project just after fusing - still in the kiln.

Here is the finished project in a sunny window. 

The center section (jaws) really pops with the black sides.

Love this technique and the project.

~Julie

New Work

This past summer I was able to retire.

Yes. I retired from my day job.

It seems impossible that I could be entering this new stage of life, but I am very much looking forward to spending more time with glass. Last spring I signed up for a few glass classes in Madison, WI during August that would get me back into fusing and slumping. The classes worked. I hope to showcase a few new projects in the coming weeks/months that show off my new skills.

This piece is a favorite of mine from the class. It was a new technique for me using a new mold. This class was taught by Patty Gray and the mold we used for this technique was a 12" Round Patty Gray Dam Mold. The technique is called 'Jaws'. Until this class I had only used dam molds limitedly. I only own a small one.

 I started with a clear bottom layer and then the top two layers were circles with a center portion removed.
Three layers.

I used scrap glass to cut triangular pieces from various colored glass.

All the various triangular glass pieces were then put into the gap in the circle.

The project was then full fused.

I love how it turned out and need to find just the right mold to slump it. I'm thinking a mold that will give it a gentle rounding or curve. I will post again once I have it slumped.

~Julie