The Glass Fairy

New Web Site!

2007-08-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

I have a new web site http://glassfairy.com/ that just went up a couple of weeks ago. I am trying to figure it all out and I will be changing the content as I learn. I will also be adding a shopping cart eventually so please check back often.

New Pendants

2007-08-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Light Switch Plates

2007-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

These cute fused glass light switch plates have been my focus lately. Most of these are decorated using glass clay. They are all standard sized light switch plates and fully functional. They come with their own screws.

Customer Gallery

2007-06-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here are more beautiful pieces of jewelry made by Maureen. The large flower beads were purchased from me on Etsy.

Perfect color combinations chosen for these two necklaces!

Thanks for sharing Maureen!

Customer Gallery

2007-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am always curious what my customers do with the beads they purchase from me. These two photos were taken by one of my wonderful customers and sent to me today.

This beautiful spring necklace was made
by Maureen with one of my Day Lily
beads.

This beautiful necklace was also made by
Maureen with one of my Tiger Lily beads.

Clean Studio!

2007-04-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

My husband and I just spent 3 days cleaning out our glass studio. It is so beautifully organized now. Lets hope it stays that way for a while! We organized the glass so it is not laying all over the work bench and got rid of all the clutter. Last week we could hardly walk into the studio without tripping over something.

Cranial Meltdown Revived

2007-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Check out Cranial Meltdown Revived, a blog by Chel (Lava Jewelry), for a great interview with glass lampwork artist and EGA member Kari Madera! Read the interview here.

Propane

2007-03-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Most of us glass workers use Liquid Propane (LP) and hardly ever give it a second thought. We hook up our tanks, turn on our torches, and then refill the tank when it runs dry. My husband started working for a propane company recently and now propane has become a bit more interesting to me. I thought I would share some interesting facts.

Liquid Propane (LP) boils at minus 44° Fahrenheit. Say, what? It seems very bizarre to me that something could boil at such a cold temperature, but it does, so let’s try to put that into perspective. Imagine you are at the North Pole and the temperature outside is minus 45° Fahrenheit. Brrrrr!! It’s freaking cold, but that’s OK because you are all bundled up and toasty warm. You leave your glass studio and walk to your local LP supplier with a one gallon bucket and ask them to fill it up. At that temperature, minus 45° Fahrenheit, LP would look just like water in your bucket. However, just as you start out for home, the sun comes out from behind the clouds and warms up your bucket of LP one degree to minus 44° Fahrenheit. That’s a problem because at minus 44° Fahrenheit your LP is now at a full rolling boil and is turning to vapor, just as a bucket of water at 212° Fahrenheit would boil and turn to steam. That’s pretty weird, huh. So, you walk very fast to get your one gallon bucket of LP home before it evaporates, but by the time you get there your one gallon of LP has completely expanded into 265 gallons of gas vapor. As this LP dissipates you notice a nasty smell and that is because an odorant is added to the LP called ethanethiol. Liquid Propane in its natural state is odorless. Good thing you are outside and the 265 gallons of vapor has dissipated into the atmosphere. If it had collected in your house or studio and you were breathing it; that would be very, very bad. Also, if you were in an enclosed area, this vapor would create a potential fire hazard.

Now, when you get your propane tank refilled, it will not be such a mystery!
Always use caution!

So where does LP come from? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/propane

What is Dichroic Glass?

2007-03-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

On a daily basis, people ask me, “what is dichroic glass?” There is a lot of dichroic glass out there being used in lampworking, fusing, etc. and I just thought I would post what it is and where it came from. I am super fascinated by this fairly new medium. Can you believe it was invented by NASA for the astronauts?

From Wikipedia.org:
The brilliant dichroic optical properties of dichroic glass are the result of multiple micro-layers of metal oxides. These thin layers of oxides have a total thickness of three to five millionths of an inch.

NASA developed dichroic glass for use in face shields in space suits. Multiple ultra-thin layers of different metals (gold, silver, titanium, chromium, aluminium, zirconium, magnesium, silicon) are applied to the surface of the glass. The glass is then kiln fired at extreme temperatures in a vacuum.

The resulting plate of dichroic glass can then be fused with other glass in multiple firings. Certain wavelengths of light will either pass through or be reflected, causing an array of colour to be visible.

Due to variations in the firing process, individual results can never be exactly reproduced; each piece of fused dichroic glass is unique and no two pieces are ever the same.

Why having a controller on your kiln is so important!

2007-03-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I learned why having a controller on your kiln is so important!

On Saturday morning I finished designing a PMC3 piece I had been working on for two weeks. I decided it was finally time to fire it up in the kiln. I put it in, turned the kiln on high and walked away. I thought to myself, "o.k. when I get back in the house I will set the timer for 10 minutes and then go back out to turn it down." Well, my son decided it was time for a nap and my daughter and I decided we were hungry. Needless to say, I forgot to set the timer! An hour and a half went by and as I was beginning to work on a glass project I remembered that I turned the kiln on. In a panic I ran out to the garage and noticed that the temperature was well over 2200 degrees! I immediately turned off the kiln, unplugged it and opened the door. As I pulled the brick door out I noticed it was glowing orange. I then peeked in the kiln to see if my project had survived. To my dismay it was a puddle in the bottom of the kiln. I thought I would cry!!

Thankfully I did not burn my house down!