Slumping and a new project

So here we are yet again. Today I got my slumping forms as I mentioned in an earlier post. I got one square plate form (20x20cm) and a candle holder slump form. Sadly I need a new kiln shelf before I can make the plates, as it's broken in half and can't fit the whole 20x20cm on one of the halfs... But it's big enough to make the candle holders :D (I think...... and hope heh) Anyway! Other then getting my slump forms, I've started on a new project. I'm now working on making my logo as a glasspendant! I will most likely not sell that one as I can use it for commercial hehehe! It's not finished yet as you can see on the picture below, but it's comming along very nicely. I have no idea what I can do about the letters in my logo yet though... Since I've started to make it before I've ordered decals for it, it might not be the correct size.. So I will most likely leave it without the letters. I could always try using glass to form the letters, but I rather not risk it.

This picture is taken before I started to use my grinder on the white glass. You can see how uneven the line and edges are.

 

 

 

Picture taken after first round with the grinder. It's now a bit smoother in the lines and edges, but think I will go over one one time still. Though the fusing will smooth it out even more. *ponders on what to do*

Ooouh!

I'm so excited! I just got a phonecall today about some slump forms for plates and candle holders that I will be able to buy for a very reasonable price :D So you might soon start to see some nice glass plates and candle holders soon! :D I will most likely recieve them on thuesday. Also, just for fun and experimenting... I fired some marbles I had lying around, some of them actually turned out quite nicely (and flat), might give it a try to fire them onto a pendant. *ponders*

The experiments!

Here's the experiments I promised yesterday:

On this one I wanted to try out making a kinda flower-ish pattern with some scraps. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, but I think I need to add either a deeper green in between or black between the green scraps to make it more visible when you see the pendant on a greater distance.

On this experiment I've actually used a glass pebble that is usually used in fishbowls or as decorations. And I have to say, I'm very happy with how this turned out.

Now this one I'm very very happy with. I was suppose to make this as an unfinished project as I wanted to put a decal on it. But this one I'm actually gonna keep it like it is. It kinda looks like a tree don't it?

This one is not really an experiment. This is just nice. Simple, but still nice.

This one is not finished. This is however kinda an experiment as this is actually two pendants fused together (two broken pendants). I wanted to see how it would look if I added them together, and the colors ain't that bad really. This still needs to be grinded down a bit though. But I kinda like it just as it is. Uneven and abstract :)

So, myes. Those were a few of the new experiments. I'm looking forward to keep testing some other things too :)

New glass

Heya! Yesterday I got a new shippment of glass. The glass I ordered was about 9.2KG(!) and it was a mix of clear, black, white and some random colors :) Since I got so much glass in this shippment, I'm doing some more experimenting at the moment. I'm trying out the new glass with some glass I've had for a while. I'm looking soooo forward to see how my experiments turn out! I'll post an update later tonight with a picture of pendants :) But for now, I'll show you a pendant I made last week(?).. I have to say... I kinda like it, and I kinda don't like it :P It looks very art-like, but the colors are... well... I personally don't like yellow that much :P But then again, I do like how it turned out. I'll see if I can film this for later, cause it needs to be seen from different angles. Taken with two different cameras... quality of the pictures vary quite a bit... And even with the two pictures, none of em got the colors right :P

Canon 550D picture

Iphone 4S picture

Filming

I was suppose to post a video of some of my newest pendants today, but my editing program decided not to cooperate with me. I want to film my pendants instead of taking photographs of them as the film will atleast catch a bit more of the beauty of the pendants. A picture can't really show how it'll sparkle and shine. Anyway... Since I got no movie yet to show you, I guess picture's will have to do this time around :( Here's a few I that came out of my kiln today: There are with the decals (which I have come to love so much!) I'll see if I can get my editing program to work tomorrow so I can post a nice clip of my pendants :)

Decals

I've been trying to work with decals about 3 times now... But every single one has been a failiure. The decals burn up so fast, I have about a one to two minute window to make it right it seems... first time I fired it for too long, so it just burned right off. Second time I burned it for too short of time, and it was just the same on the third one... BAH! Why is it so hard to find the right temperatures?? I'm trying to save my thrid attempt now to see if that actually works... Doubt it, but one don't learn if one don't try and fail ;) (the only bad part is that, those decals are expencive) ***EDIT*** Woohoo! I saved the mermaid! (kinda) It's still broken after I tried to fire it the first time (you can see I rubbed some off the first time) But second time I fired it, it stuck on the glass like it's suppose to. In other words: I've mastered this too now!

Very happy today!

Heya Today I'm very happy. I got my order of 3KG glass today :) Also I got my new glasscutter tool, and oh my god! That cutter is sooooo much better then the first one I got. The differense is the tip. First one was a wheel that just wouldn't grip the glass, the new one is just a tip, it gets a really good grip, and I don't have to use force to do my cuts :) It's even easier to cut waves now! Anyway, I promised to take a few pictures of the other things I've made the passed few days, so here are a few: The only things these pieces miss is the bails. But these are done besides that. (I'm thinking of maybe do something about the next to last one though... I'm too happy with that one. But for now, I'm just waiting for my kiln to cool again. I'm already testing my new glass. It's a bit different then the glass I've had. This is called "Art glass". I'm looking forward to see how it turns out :) I'll update more about this batch when it's done. Until then.... Have a good night :)

Startup

Hi everyone and welcome to Via Mia Glassdesign blog. I wanted to make a blog about my glass fusing projects mostly for myself so I can see my own progress and other bits and pieces. So here it goes: A few weeks ago, I bought my little kiln. (as you can see in the picture below <3 ) The room inside the kiln is about 30x30cm. (I love my kiln!) The first few weeks I had it was just fustrating! I had the kiln, I had the glass.. But I didn't have the tools to cut the glass nor the kilnpaper I needed! AARG! So while it just stood there, I was surfing the web, gaining knowledge about fusing, shopped for the tools I needed, drooled over the glass I could buy, was scared of the prices of the glass I wanted to buy.... and so on.. It was torture! I was dreaming about glass and fusing and everything... After a few weeks I got the running pliers I bought online, Yay...... Ofcourse I was happy to get it, but still useless as I needed the cutting tool!! Even more AARG! :P Two days later, I got the kiln paper, but still lacking the tool to even start doing anything useful... BUT! I started my testing. I had some scrap glass I got from the one I bought the kiln from, I used it to test out the temperatures and timers. First attempt was a failiure (not unexpected though) Here's a picture of how it looked like: (forget the shapes, as I said, it was scraps) The problem was that I overheated the kiln and had it on for too long. So the colors faded, and the glass didn't turn out smooth. But I learned from it. Next attempt ended in too little heat, so the glass didn't even melt :P As one always say though: Third time's the charm. And so it was. I found the correct timers and tempratures. (again, don't look at the shape, It was still scraps) Here's how my first success looked like. I put the glass on top of a bail, just to show how it would look like. I didn't glue it on. After that, I waited some more. I was hoping on getting my cutter for a few more days, but I got tired of waiting. I went to the nearest hardware store and bought a glasscutter. After a nice chat with my cousin, I went home and started my first REAL project. I have to say that I'm very happy with how my first real project turned out. It's not perfect, but hey, what do you expect? It was the first. After I posted this picture on my facebook profile it didn't take me long to get 2 1/2 orders on my fused glass :) I take it that people liked my work already :D This was my start. I'm still testing the glass out in my kiln, trying out techniques. Here's a few more pictures from more recent works: I will keep updating on how my progress goes on :) So keep watching if you found this interessting!