Everything Else

Kim Heenan has always been a creative person, but when she found glass, she fell in love. "I've done crafts for years, but when I found glass, it just consumed me," she said. She took her first glass class at Delphi Glass many years ago and has since become proficient in stained glass, fusing and mosaics. She never imagined she'd one day be working for Delphi, surrounded by the glass, books and tools that inspired her. For a little over a year, Kim has been working in Delphi's warehouse in quality control. She also creates custom art glass projects for friends and family and sells her work through her website . Recently, a writer for Greater Lansing Woman's Magazine spotted some of Kim's projects in a gallery in Old Town. The magazine decided to feature Kim in its monthly edition. At Delphi, we couldn't be more proud of Kim. She is just one of many Delphi employees who are also artists - we are so fortunate to have such a talented staff! Are you interested in taking a class at Delphi? Check out our latest class schedule.

St. Pete Beach, on the west coast of Florida, has long been recognized for its beautiful beaches and stunning sunsets. Now it will have a new claim to fame - an 8' tall by 20' wide glass mosaic mural created entirely by volunteers from the surrounding communities. The mural will adorn the east side of the Suntan Art Center next door to the world-famous Don CeSar Hotel. Glass artist and instructor Pat Chase, who currently serves as the president of the Suntan Art Center, came up with the idea to create a mural out of glass. "[The Suntan Art Center] used to be a Firehouse with large windows out front. When they did the remodel, they took out the windows, leaving a large indented area that looks like a frame for the mural," Pat said. Pat approached nationally recognized artists Frank Saso and Libit Jones about a design for the mural. Together, and with input from other artists and members of the community, the two created the finished concept. The mural includes images that are meaningful to the community - dolphins at play, a large pelican, sandcastle and shovel, stunning sea turtles and more. A painting of the final design is pictured above. Since March 2011, a gr

Last weekend, while killing time in Detroit before a flight, I wandered into the Henry Ford Museum. If you haven't had a chance to visit this monstrous attraction, make plans now. Its incredible. I was there for three hours and saw only a small portion of what the museum has to offer. There are huge machinery collections, transportation exhibits and much, much more planes, trains and automobiles, oh my! I was especially intrigued with one particular machine. The Corning Glass Ribbon Machine. Before the invention of this machine, every light bulb was hand blown. As you can imagine, this process was painstakingly slow and expensive. But then a man named Will Woods came along and changed the world. This is his story. In 1898, Will Woods was a 19-year-old kid looking to pursue his dream of becoming a glassblower. He traveled to the Corning Glass Manufactory in Corning, NY to learn the art. Thomas Edison had commissioned Corning Glass to manufacture the envelopes for his first electric light bulbs in the early 1880s. At that time, skilled glassblowers called gaffers could produce just two bulbs per minute. Eight years later, Corning Gla

"My dad 'retired' and wasnt enjoying the change of pace so I suggested he get back into an old hobby (stained glass) by coming to work with me here at Delphi. He joined the customer service department and brought technical expertise and a passion for customer care that always made me proud to have him here. Along the way, he also got back into stained glass, and picked up an interest in mosaics, fusing and cold-working. Hes since 'retired' again, but cant quite seem to give up his love of tools and customers and finds his way back to Delphi as a photographer during our annual Art Glass Festival event, and as an assistant instructor with Guest Instructor Kent Lauer every year. T he photo (at right) was taken by Melanie Churchill during the 2010 AGF reception while dad and I were both cruising the crowd with our cameras. - Karina Foster, Delphi Glass Merchandising Assistant My father was born with a congenital hip disorder, and he didnt walk like the average person does, he swayed from side to side. My youngest son said he walked like a duck. He spent years in the hospital as a child going through painful surgeries as doctors tried to correct the problem. They never did. N

The office was all abuzz when Marketing Director Monika Smolarczyk told us she was going to the Personal Glass Experience at the Morean Arts Center. She could tell we were jealous. Our corporate offices in Tampa, FL are just a short drive from the art center's location in St. Petersburg. Dating back to 1917, the former Art Club of St. Petersburg, has become a world-renowned center for glass art. The Personal Glass Experience is a one-on-one demonstration on glass blowing that takes place in the center's Hot Shop. For a nominal fee, a seasoned glass blower guides each participant through every step of the hot glass process until his or her glass sculpture or ornament is complete. First, the glass blower collected the glass from the furnace onto a large (and heavy) metal rod. At this point the glass is about 2,300F! Next, Monika rolled the glass onto a steel table, called a marver, to give the glass its cylindrical shape. She then reheated the glass in the furnace. The glass blower collected more glass, shaped and reheated. This process was repeated until the desired thickness was achieved. Finally, the project was returned to the furnace, heated and inserted into

Last year, we asked our Facebook fans to tell us how they use regular household items as tools in glass art creation . We got a fantastic list of ideas! When we asked again this year, we got a few more great tips to share. Here's the list, Part II. Thanks everyone! Folger's coffee buckets for scrap glass A cut-up cardboard box instead of a grinder shield The plastic tops of milk containers for holding flux while working Spoons for frit to roll beads in; baby spoons to hold small amounts of frit Silverware basket from dishwasher to hold tools Canning jars to hold frit Wooden toothpicks for mandrels Stainless steel bowls and containers for slumping Page protectors to keep patterns dry while grinding Cut an apron out of old plastic tablecloth to use while grinding. Use a kitchen apron as a pattern - no sewing involved! Read Household Items You Can Use as Tools, Part I.

Ever wondered what goes in to developing a new craft tool or product? The post below was submitted by Rita Levine of Diamond Tech International. She leads readers on a journey through the product development phases of the new G2 Bottle Cutter. Last Spring I was invited to join a group of friends for a little "eco" crafting. Little did I know that two months later I would be working to design a new bottle cutter. We worked hard that day to embrace our eco-friendly projects. Our goal was to transform bottles into art. It was clear, however, the bottle cutters we were using were not "cutting it". We struggled to score and separate our bottles with very little success. It was then I thought, There has got to be a better way! So I rounded up our product development team and we set out to create a tool that would effortlessly turn bottles and jars, bound for the trash, into crafts. If we could make it an earth friendly tool, all the better. To achieve this, we first fashioned our new bottle cutter from recycled aluminum. This was good, we thought, but we decided to take it one step further and made the packaging from recycled paper. (We were definitely bitten by the recycl

There's a lot of buzz about recycled art these days. At Delphi, we not only promotes "green" art, we also strive to run a green business. Here's what we're doing... Delphi uses overrun boxes whenever possible instead of official Delphi boxes. We use 100% recycled biodegradable packaging peanuts. They are literally and figuratively green. (Also our bubble wrapping is both figuratively and literally green). Bring Us Your Peanuts We are also a recycling center in Lansing for used packaging peanuts. People in the community can drop off boxes or bags of peanuts and well reuse them. For recycling centers near you, call the peanut hotline at 800-828-2214 or visit http://www.loosefillpackaging.com/ We use paper wrapping when possible. We even save our newspapers to use as wrapping! We have a dumpster just for recycled cardboard We recycle plastic and aluminum cans. Large bins are set up in both break rooms and by the snack machine. We are very conscious of our power use. Lights in the restrooms, break room, and classrooms are motion activated. We turn off office computers and lights at the end of the day. We print our catalogs on PEFC recycled paper a

Last week, we were surprised (and thrilled!) to receive a donation of 120 beautiful lampworked borosilicate beads for Beads of Courage. The artist was Ruth Kelley from Gainesville, MO. We caught up with her this week to ask her a few questions about her generous donation. Delphi: How did you hear about the Beads of Courage initiative? Ruth Kelley: Initially I saw a TV spot about Beads of Courage and how much the organization means to the patients. Then I got the Delphi e-newsletter about the initiative, and knew I had to contribute. Delphi: How did you get started flameworking? Ruth Kelley: A neighbor opened a studio (Sharon Stoffel of Morningstar Glass), and I started taking classes from her in 2008. Delphi: Who or what inspires you? Ruth Kelley: There are so many talented glass artists. I used to spend hours looking at websites and admiring artists' work. Plus, Sharon encouraged me to expand and try different techniques. I also had the opportunity to meet Sage Holland and her son at an open house at their studio in Fox Ar. And then there is all that beautiful glass! Delphi: Many of the beads you created were heart shaped, which has a special me

We get a lot of questions about Delphis shipping charges and procedures . But theres more that goes into our shipping than just a box and a stamp. We wrote this post to help take the mystery out of what we do. How is Shipping Calculated? Our website shipping calculations use real-time data from UPS (United Parcel Service) and USPS (United States Postal Service). Calculations are based on dimensional weight and distance traveled (shipping from zip code 48910). Weight calculations round up to the nearest pound per UPS's policies (1.1 lb = 2 lb weight class). Keep shipping in mind when ordering sheet glass. We ship our sheet glass in either a small box (up to 21 lbs.) or a large box (up to 45 lbs.) To get more bang for your shipping buck try to fully fill your glass box. Example: -Small and Medium size sheet glass will ship together. You can fit up to 12 pieces in a small box. This box is a $4.95 boxing fee + shipping -Large piecesof sheet glass will ship in large boxes. You can fit up to 9 pieces in this box. (No small or medium glass will ship in the large box) This box is a $6.95 boxing fee + shipping. (This is considered an oversized box and extra U

I may be 27, but I still love stickers . I don't think we ever really grow out of the desire to be rewarded for our accomplishments. In fact, merit badges, trophies, ribbons, etc. are even more valued as we get older and feel overworked and underappreciated. That's the thinking behind the new "Badges" feature on DelphiGlass.com. (We can't give you a raise, but we can give you a sticker!) These badges show up on your Artist Gallery profile as well as anytime you leave a comment or product review. Think of it as a public display of appreciation. Now everyone can see how awesome you are. You can earn a badge for posting a project in Delphi's Artist's Gallery, entering a Delphi contest or listing your ArtFire studio or Etsy shop. You can also earn a "Top Contributor" badge for leaving 10 or more comments and/or product reviews on the Delphi site. There are a few other ways to earn badges. Learn about them all here. Tell your friends, and wear your new badges with pride.