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Showing posts from 2023

Christmas Joy

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Lampwork Glass Colors for Christmas Designs Is there a more quintessential combination of colors to represent Christmas than the traditional emerald green and ruby red? Nope. There is not. I've done the whole 'vintage' Christmas theme with more muted burgundies and olives. A deep maroon and hunter green also work well with traditional home decor. Lime green is always a fun twist to brighten things up - especially if you are fond of the grinch. My personal preference is icy blue and white with snowflakes and icicles ... because I like to match my love for all things blue - even when it comes to holiday decor. Metallic golds and silvers always reign supreme and when it comes to glitzing things up for Christmas, the more sparkles the better. Ironically emerald green and ruby red are two colors that I never gravitate towards. Ever. I bought 1/4 pound of these colors when I first started lampworking (15 years ago) and I STILL have some left. That is how infrequently I use them.

Color Palettes: What to Pair with the Color Red

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Lampworking Soft Glass Color Reference Red is not a color I tend to gravitate towards. Whenever I pull it from my glass stash I usually just stare at it aimlessly trying to figure out what to pair with it. Then it goes back in its little cubby ... until I feel guilty that it never gets attention like the other colors do ... and I pull it out again,  only to repeat the cycle . But Fall is another story. When mother nature paints a gorgeous picture outside your window full of reds and yellows and greens and blues, then you know it is time. The red glass will have its day. Red, orange and yellow are a natural pairing as they are on the same side of the color wheel. Red and turquoise have been a popular combination for southwest designs. Red and green are together frequently at Christmas. But put them all together and it's like the most perfect woolly sweater ever made. It's as if Fall just opened up the gates and poured itself all over the studio. And really, who doesn't swoo

Color Palettes: Olive & Aqua

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Lampworking Soft Glass Color Reference I've been doing a half-baked job of taking notes when I make beads ... but I am on a mission to catalog all my bead sets and the glass colors I use to create them. There are three driving reasons for this:  First , I have a hard time remembering what some colors look like after they've been worked in the flame and I want color charts that I can quickly reference. So I do it for me . Second , I am working on my first e-book of color recipes. Since I cannot lampwork fulltime, e-book sales will help continue funding my glass habits. My hope is to build a library of resources so even when I am unable to make art, I can keep my business going.  Finally , I want to share my knowledge and experience. Early in my beadmaking I asked other lampworkers 'do you mind sharing what color that is?' Some were gracious with their knowledge, others were not. And while yes, I do plan to compile much of this information into for profit e-books, I st

Mystic Success - Getting that Shampoo Sheen from Reichenbach Mystic Glass

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Lampworking Tips & Techniques Update 2023: The secret of Reichenbach Mystic glass is worthy of a re-post ... especially given I just started using it again and went through my trials and tribulations of the past - although I caught on much quicker this time . This glass really does like to be encased . Not only does encasing help protect it from devitrification, but it also highlights the translucent nature of the glass and allows the light to pass through - resulting in an opal and pearl effect that really showcases the beauty of glass. The added fancy of Mystic Beige is that it can appear more white or more cream depending on how much you thin it out with clear and how long and hot you work the bead. The pillows from before [shown below] were worked hotter and longer and slightly reduced for the silver glass effects. Those beads came out a lovely caramel cream - especially where they reacted slightly with the silvered glass.  The new barrel beads I made just this week came out

Mystic Devitrification - Avoiding Devitrification with Reichenbach 104 Mystic Glass

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Lampworking Tips & Techniques Update 2023: This post is worthy of being re-published because I forgot everything that I used to know. Okay not really, but I hadn't used any of my Reichenbach Mystic glass for a very long time. When looking for a nice ivory glass to pair with my denim blues ... I instantly grabbed my Reichenbach Mystic Beige. And then proceeded to devitrify the snot out of it when marvering it around in my beadrollers. And then I remembered everything that I used to know . Reichenbach Mystic Beige does not like being marvered. Or pressed. Or generally touched with any tool other than the flame itself. I went back and re-read my own post and decided to set down the marver and round those babies up with gravity the old-fashioned way. Being married into a German family I've been hearing for years just how superior the Germans are at just about everything [eyeroll]. I figured they must make some pretty spectacular glass too so I went ahead and bought myself a s

Coldworking Essentials - What Equipment to Use?

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Fused Glass Coldworking Equipment As a glass artist ... the glass is only half the art. Little did I know when I began my glass journey that my skillset would expand to include the usage of saws, drills, grinders, and flat laps. Nor that I would have such a deep understanding of abrasives and grit numbers. Or that even as a glass artist, diamonds are still truly a girl's best friend. Glass is an amorphous solid and tends to naturally round off to a thickness of 6mm when brought to fluid temperature and allowed to cool to ambient room temperature. Unless you dam off the glass and force it into a different shape and thickness, it will have rounded corners and a slightly convex surface. I prefer depth and movement in my glass tidied up in a crisp, clean, squared off package. If you are like me, then consider expanding your studio equipment to include these essentials: Diamond Saw :  You can use a tile saw with a diamond blade if you are just cutting slabs and squaring off edges. If y

Glass is Strange - How to Save a Design

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Lampworking Tips One of the most frustrating but mesmerizing aspects of glass is that it can sometimes be unpredictable. If you are a master of the science, this will work to your advantage and you can harness the power of the strangeness in ways that make incredibly beautiful and unique art. If you are more of a WYSIWYG [ what you see is what you get ] kind of player ... then the surprises can be frustrating. Effetre 591212 Pea Green Take Pea Green for example. It behaves strangely. This color is like a super spreader or something and goes wherever it darn well pleases when you get it really hot or work it too long. And the color likes to pool and create interesting striations and super saturated dots. Not always, but especially if it is layered on top of certain glass (like transparents). It either sinks in or spreads away and can often be challenging to control. Effetre Pea Green and Lapis I haven't claimed to master this glass. It throws me for a loop every.single.time becau

Mint Green - Effetre Grasshopper and Pale Emerald

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Lampworking Soft Glass Color Reference Green has so many different hues and shades that it could be its own color wheel. I personally tend to favor the extreme yellow or blue ends of the green spectrum. Chartreuse and lime are hands down my favorite ... unless you call teal a ' green ' glass.  Teal is one of those ' swing ' colors that could be classified as green or blue depending on who it's with. I generally classify it in the blue family and regard seafoam/mint as the bluest of the true greens. Effetre 591213 Grasshopper In the soft glass world, if working in COE 104 I automatically reach for my Effetre 213 Grasshopper glass. I'm not sure who came up with that name, but in my opinion it is the perfect blue-green soft pastel for a mint green hue. Grasshopper is an opaque glass and I've not experienced any working issues with it.  Effetre 591031 Pale Emerald I most often layer with Effetre Pale Emerald for added depth and that shine you only get by laye

Pairs - The Solution for Quick Projects

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Lampworking Tips Do you ever go through phases where you get on an obsessive kick about one particular thing ... and then you do that same thing over and over again until you are tired of it ... and then you move on to the next thing and start the obsession all over again? No? Just me? Maybe I should start blogging about the obsession of the month  because that is about how long they each seem to last. And the winner for this month is: bead pairs !  Been having fun making just two of everything. It seems to be the perfect amount of attention that I can muster for the time being:  Get on the torch  Make a quick little pair  Run off and do other things I mean, it is Minnesota summer after all. And given the choice between being inside and outside ... I choose outside every.single.time .  Color Sampling The best part of making these little color sample sets is that I can determine which color recipes I like, and what color families I want to work with. The stand-outs will surely become l

Wrist Candy

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Do you wear bracelets? I find they are a must-have accessory with anything sleeveless or short-sleeved - less so if the outfit includes a jacket or long-sleeved blouse. But all that bare arm needs some wrist candy to complete any look. Bracelets are a somewhat cyclical accessory ... and right now they are a hot trend . Presumably because friendship bracelets are a big deal if you are a Taylor Swift fan. I love that she has brought friendship bracelets back in style . I made friendship bracelets as a kid. I still have a caddy of DMC embroidery floss from the 80s. My favorite style though was the safety pin bracelets. Do you remember those? We filled a whole bunch of safety pins with seed beads, stacked them together, and strung them on two pieces of stretchy cord. They were flashy, big, and chunky and everything a bracelet should be. Reminiscent of my favorite bracelets from my childhood I've been making wrist candy in the flashy, big, and chunky style.  Multi-strands are like stack

Roasted Lemon Basil Cauliflower

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Update 2023: Can't believe I started this blog over ten years ago. We still make this recipe at least once a week. Not lying. You should try it. I'm not a recipe blogger in the traditional sense ... I focus on glass color recipes. But you may find a couple foodie recipes here too because I like to experiment in the kitchen as much as I experiment in the studio. Or as we like to call it in this house " crackflower " because it is so ridiculously tasty you just can't stop eating it. Simple enough you will wonder why you ever bothered to prepare cauliflower any other way. And so good you will question whether it is healthy or sinful. 1 head cauliflower - chopped into florets 1-2 Tbsp olive oil Juice from 1 lemon 1-2 cloves minced garlic 1 tsp basil or herbs de provence Fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt Wash and chop up cauliflower into florets and throw in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil (I always eyeball it depending on the size of the cauliflowe

Vegetarian 'Fish' Tacos (Zucchini Tacos)

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Update 2023: I got food recipes and glass color recipes for you on this blog!  If you are gluten free ... I also use almond meal mixed with a small amount of cornstarch as a great breading choice for my zucchini sticks and slices. Having been a vegetarian for most of my life, there are few meals for which I have been unable to find a decent vegetarian substitute - at least for things I want to eat. The 'fish taco' phenomenon, however, has eluded me ... until now. Enter the most versatile veggie:  zucchini ! Vegetarian 'Fish' (Zucchini) Tacos: 2-3 small zucchini 1-2 eggs 1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp oregano dash garlic powder dash dried lemon peel dash chipotle pepper salt & pepper Fish Taco Sauce: 1/2 c sour cream 1/2 c mayo 1 lime (juice) 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp coriander (ground) 1/2 tsp dill weed 1/2 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp fresh chop cilantro Mix all ingredients for fish taco sauce and refr

Vegan Crockpot Chili

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Update 2023: When I first started this blog I posted about random things with no rhyme or reason. It has evolved into a glass art blog, and I've cleaned up most of the random nonsense. I kept my recipe posts because, quite frankly, I don't have them written down anywhere else and they are pinned to my Pinterest board so I can find them quickly. And over the years other people have pinned them too, so I want to keep them up and alive. Admittedly, I am a cook by sight/taste/feel kinda gal and rarely take exact measurements ... but I wrote down some "ballpark" estimates. By all means tweak and modify to your hearts content to get it  just right  for you. Vegan Crockpot Chili: 1 medium onion 2 stalks celery 2 cups peeled and chopped carrots 1 zucchini 1 summer squash 1 green pepper 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1 cup frozen corn 1 small can sliced black olives - drained 1 15oz can tomato sauce 1 can of each black, pinto, kidney and great northern beans - drained and rin

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