LATEST NEWS ARCHIVES

This is the information we wrote before we started our Glass Blog Page. 

_____________________________

May 30, 2007

You may have noticed that we have a new page on our website called "Our Glass Blog / Latest News."  Our Glass Blog will be replacing this page.  We will put the same information on Our Glass Blog page.  The advantage to the Blog page is that you can make comments about an entry.  Just let us know what you think!!

 

May 15, 2007

We just got accepted to have a booth at the "MidSummer's Dream" ~ Ashland, Oregon's Premier Art & Music Festival ~ June 16 & 17, 2007 in Ashland, Oregon!!!  We are so excited about this Festival!!  It will be our very first outdoor Festival selling our Glass Art, so we are going to need a few more things, like a canopy.  

We just bought a "Caravan" Canopy at Costco and we have been buying some really nice fabric to decorate our tables.  We have been thinking of ways we want to set up our booth to make it attractive, but also for our glass to survive some wind gusts.  We have been doing some research on the Internet about Outdoor Craft Fairs and what to consider; one of which is to be prepared for any kind of weather.  Ashland, Oregon is located in the very southern part of Oregon just off I-5, which is the only Interstate in Oregon and it runs north and south.  We may need to be prepared for wind, but probably not hail, since it should be nice and hot in June.

Otherwise, we are working hard making new and exciting glass art.  We are hoping to sell a lot at this Festival and we want to come prepared!!  If you live in the area, be sure to stop by our booth and say "Hi."  We just might have a surprise for you :)

 

April 21, 2007

We went to Portland the last two days, primarily to buy Glass, molds and other miscellaneous items from wonderful glass store, Bullseye Glass (www.bullseyeglass.com).  We were like a kid in a candy store with all the different colors and textures of Glass.  It was hard to keep our costs to what we had originally planned.

We also made a trip to Georgie's Ceramic and Clay Company (www.georgies.com) to pick up a couple of kiln posts and to look at some of their molds.  As we drove into the driveway, we noticed that they were having a 20% off all Skutt Kilns!  We were planning on buying a bigger kiln when we got our taxes back.  However, we hadn't done a lot of research, except looking at the Skutt Kiln catalog (www.skutt.com) we picked up at our last visit.  We talked with the owner about a couple of the glass kilns.  They were closing for the day, so we told them we would think about it and call them back the next day.  We wanted to get the Skutt Firebox, which is a small kiln for fusing jewelry and small tiles.  They didn't have it in stock, but Skutt is located in Portland, too, so we were hoping they could pick one up, so we could bring it home with us and save on the shipping.  Success!  They were able to get one, so we went back and got the Firebox and also ordered a much larger kiln -- the Skutt 1414 with a lid lifter and small window.  They will ship it to us in a couple of weeks.  I can hardly wait!  I will be able to make a whole lot of glass items now!!

April 20, 2007

The Spring Craft Fair went very well.  I met a lot of nice people and they told me my Glass  Art was beautiful.  I always enjoy talking to people about my Glass and how I make different things.

 

March 28, 2007

 SPRING NEWSLETTER - MASTERS GLASS ART

Hard to believe it is spring already!  My crocuses are coming up and should open up any day now.  I love the spring flowers – all you have to do is plant them, put some fertilizer on them and watch them come up to remind us that spring is coming.

Anyway, back to GLASS!!  I am getting ready for the Spring Fair from March 23-25, 2007 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, Oregon.   

I have been making lots of different Glass Items, such as Glass Pendants, and more Glass Pendants J, Glass Earrings, Glass Spoon Rests, Glass Bowls and Fused Vodka Bottles Trivets.  I plan on making some Glass Sun Catchers, a larger Glass Bowl (from a new mold that I just bought), a couple of medium-sized Glass Plates (another new mold), a Large Glass Plate, a couple Glass Candle Holders (another new mold), and some Glass Lace projects.    

I made three different kinds of Glass Lace one day.  One of them I used red opal medium glass frit (small pieces of glass) and made an oval stencil.  This one turned out differently than I had planned, but I like the look of it.  I didn’t add enough glass frit, so the lines of red glass were very thin and the holes were very large.  It wasn’t in a whole piece, so I decided to break it up a little and fuse it to some white opal glass for a Glass Pendant.  I actually made two of them and they turned out very nice!  I call Glass Pendant on the left: “End of Lava Flow.”

Another Glass Lace piece I made, I used yellow opal glass frit and used a 7” circle for a stencil.  I didn’t add enough glass frit for this one either, so I decided to add more glass frit and fired it again.  It came out much better this time.  I think I will fuse it to some other glass and then make a Glass Bowl.

The glass items that I do sell at the Craft Fair, I will post on our Website on the Gallery Page for you to see.  The glass items that I don’t sell, I will add to our Website for sale.

Wish me luck for the Craft Fair and hope to see you there!!  

 

March 7, 2007

The other day I was going to fuse some glass frit to make glass lace.  As I was adding the frit to the kiln shelf, I bumped the side of the kiln and some dust from the brick came loose and fell on the shelf.  I instinctively blew on the shelf to remove the dust.  However, I also blew glass frit off the shelf and onto the bottom of the kiln.  Glass on the bottom of the kiln can do a lot of damage, so I took the shelf out of the kiln and vacuumed the bottom.  I also tried to fix a few of the elements that were coming loose.  To make a long story short, I broke one of the elements.  My kiln is about 30 years old, so the elements are very fragile.  I broke a different element a couple of months ago.

I was frantic!  I have been wanting to fire something every day to prepare for the Craft Fair and breaking an element was not going to help matters.   I did a search on Google and the first few websites were closed on the weekend.  Then I came across a website called www.kilnelements.com and someone answered the phone!!  Stan knew exactly what kind of element I needed and he said he would make one for me the next day, which was on Sunday!  He was going to get it in the mail as soon as possible.  I was so releaved.  I would be getting a new element, so I could continue to fire my projects.

If you have a Skutt Kiln and need an element, I highly recommend this website! 

February 18, 2007

I have just been accepted to the Spring Fair 2007 put on by the InnerSpace Family.  They are celebrating 32 years of Arts, Crafts and Family Fun!  The Fair is located at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, Oregon from March 23 - 25, 2007.  The hours will be 1-9 on Friday, 10-9 on Saturday and 11-5 on Sunday.  If you live in the area, hope to see you there!!  Let me know if you heard about the Spring Fair from my website, I would be interested in knowing.  Thanks.

February 13, 2007

I used my drop ring mold, again - the same mold I used for the vase shown in the Feb. 4, 2007.  This time I made a bowl rather than a vase.  I used a very pretty glass made by Spectrum (www.spectrum.com) called Peppermint Baroque.  That's what I really love about this mold -- it is so versatile.  You could make a really shallow bowl (if you put the mold right on the shelf, I may try that one sometime) or a very tall vase.  Someone who left a comment on my question of the problem I had with the Yellow Glass Lace Vase on the www.warmglass.com forum, sent me a picture of a vase he did that was 8" tall!  Someone already bought this bowl, but I am going to make another one and I'll put it on the website.  Actually, the Glass Bowl called Peppermint Candy located in our Gallery is very similar to the one I just made.  I am also working on a tutorial about drop ring vases.  So, keep checking back for that one.

February 5, 2007

After asking a question on the forum of the website www.warmglass.com, I got quite a few replies.  It seems to boil down to one thing: the glass was too small in the first place.  I didn't want a real wide rim in the first place, but in order to make a drop ring vase like this one, I should have had at least a 7" in diameter piece of glass.

I do plan on borrowing a ring saw and cutting off the rim completely, because I really like how the vase came out and I don't want to put it in the scrap heap!

 February 4, 2007

I made this vase yesterday and part of the rim folded up.  I used a drop ring mold that is 9" in diameter and the inside hole is 5" in diameter.  The glass was 6 1/2" in diameter.  I fused the yellow glass lace to a piece of black glass and later I fused two larger pieces of black and clear to the original piece. 

If you have any ideas about what happened, I'd appreciate it.  Just send me an email at hello88@mastersglassart.com.