It's Sale Time! Spring into Summer.

The CGGE is having a grand sale from June 1 to June 7. There will be lots of glass bargains to be had, including some of the beauties shown here on the right. Just go to www.etsy.com and search for CGGEsale. You can also go to www.cgge.org to view all the members and their glass work.

What does CGGE mean? It's the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy, a glass collective who are all etsyians.

Why does Etsy need a glass collective? To support each other and promote our glass work. CGGE is an inclusive group that is non-juried. Instead members are asked to "strive for five" - that is to have a minimum of five glass items in their shops.

What's in the sale? You will need to visit the individual shops to find out which bargains sellers are offering. Some will offer BOGOs, some % off, some will have reduced items, I, personally, will be offering free shipping, anywhere!

Which types of glass are available? Cold worked glass (etched, painted, stained glass) warm glass (fused and slumped) and hot glass (glass blowing, bead making).

Where else can I see CGGE glass? Check out the CGGE group on Flickr or visit the various blogs. Coming soon - a CGGE blog totally devoted to glass.

Creating a Glass Dish Part 4

After one day fusing and one day slumping the dish is finished. I take the cold dish from the kiln and check the back to see if any kiln wash is stuck to it. I then wash it in warm water with washing up liquid and dry it. Now for some kiln maintenance - I check the kiln shelf to see if it needs repainting with kiln wash and vacuum out the kiln ready for the next fusing.
These dishes are available from the following outlets:
www.glassprimitif.etsy.com
www.shawgalleries.co.uk
www.keighley.ac.uk/kaf

Creating a Glass Dish Part 3

So here is the glass, fully fused. It is really a glass tile that now has to be slumped. Glass can be slumped (falls into a mould) or sagged (falls over a mould). This occurs at a lower fusing temperature than full fusing. I prepare the mould in the same way that I prepare the kiln shelf, by applying kiln wash with a brush. I take care when applying the wash so that it doesn't run down the inside of the mould and gather at the bottom only. Before I place the glass tile on the mould I check the base to see if there is any kiln wash stuck to it or any residue. I rinse the glass in hot water and vinegar and dry it carefully. In this image you will see that the glass tile has been placed on the slumping mould. The glass should be the same size or slightly smaller than the mould. Any larger and the glass will slump over the edges as well as sinking to the bottom of the mould. The pink edge of the glass is actually the fresh kiln wash showing through the clear glass.

Now I fuse the glass to exactly the same schedule as before except, when the kiln has reached 1,400f, I turn the kiln dial down to 2 and leave it for two hours. The glass will have slumped into the mould but hasn't reached its strain release point so I don't put the glass through an annealing segment.

Creating a Glass Dish Part 2

When the glass components of the dish are dry I arrange them on a primed kiln shelf and glue some decorative fused glass blobs onto the hearts with Elmer's glue. I leave the glue to dry thoroughly before I place the kiln shelf in the kiln. I us a liquid primer that I make up myself and apply it with a haik brush. Haik brushes are quite hairy so I am careful to rub off any hairs that stick to the shelf. I give the shelf five layers of wash and dry each one with a hair dryer before applying the next. I used to spray the wash onto the shelf but this was too messy as the spray bottle kept clogging. Also, I like the texture the brush marks give to the base of the glass.

Now I switch the kiln on for the initial heating phase. I start at No. 2 on the kiln dial for the first hour and bring the glass up to it's strain release point by 150f every 30 minutes. When the heat reaches 1000f I put the bung in the kiln and take the kiln up to 1,500f at a faster rate. When the glass reaches its strain release point I look through the bung hole to check on the glass. The kiln holds this temperature for between 5 and 15 minutes (longer if its float glass) to soak the glass. By now the glass should look nicely rounded and glowing. I remove the bung and turn the dial back down to 2 (on my Aim kiln I reach 8 on the dial) until the temperature reaches 1000f. This is the rapid cooling phase and when the kiln reaches 1000f I replace the bung and leave it to soak at this temperature.This enables the glass to anneal so that becomes tempered and won't shatter when the kiln is cold. I like to leave the glass to soak for a minmum of one hour . Then I turn the kiln off and leave the glass to cool to room temperature.

Creating a Glass Dish Part 1

This is Bullseye glass and it's my favorite. The Bullseye factory is in Portland, Oregon www.bullseye.com which is why it is more expensive than in the US. Must be the air miles! But the colours are lovely, it is easy to cut and grind and doesn't lose its intensity when fused. I'm a big fan.


So these are the colours I am going to use in my glass dish. I have cut a square of 5" in thick clear glass, a slightly smaller square of thin vanilla opal and now I am going to cut the heart shapes in red, orange, amber and lime green thin transparent glass. I draw round the paper heart template with a permanent marker pen and cut the hearts with a Toyo cutter. I try to be as economical with the glass as possible, saving small fragments to use as frit and larger pieces for other projects.


Here is the glass dish prior to grinding. I have a small Glastar diamond grinder which I bought from Tempsford Glass about four years ago. It gets a lot of punishment but its still going strong. I like to use a fine grinding head for Bullseye and change to a coarse grinding head for float and very thick glass. Once the glass has been smoothed I wash it in hot soapy water, rinse it in vinegar and water then dry it very carefully.