The Delphi Blog

You may know Judi Rusho by the Epic Kiln Carving post we shared on Facebook last week, or by one of her many jewelry pieces floating around on Pinterest. Jodi is a glass artist who is known for stacking, tacking, slumping, fusing and etching discarded glass items into tasteful, functional art. How did you get started in glass? I was originally interested in lampworking , bought a kiln and couldn't afford to buy glass or any more equipment. Not being particularly patient, I promptly rounded up some bottles and started melting them. I liked the recycled aspect, and when other artists told me that it couldn't be done, I was in for the duration. I'm nothing if not determined. I began in 1999, and have learned so much since then! Happily, I finally made my first lampwork beads last year. Why glass? If you look around your home or office right now, I bet you'll see more glass things than you expect. Glass is everywhere around us, is critical to our lifestyles, and yet, for the most part, we are only marginally aware of it. Glass can be so many things, it can be gorgeous or dangerous, decorative or functional, frequently both. I find that fascinating

2012 is looking like a banner year for art glass. To give you an idea of what your fellow artists are creating, we've compiled a list of our top 10 most popular products since January. Among the most notable trends of 2012 are fused jewelry and bottle art. In particular, artists are loving Colour de Verre's round bead molds and our wide selection holey molds . We are also seeing a growing interest in bottle art. Bottle art is everywhere on social networks and in our artist gallery . Artists have dedicated entire Pinterest pin boards to Bottle Art (Delphi included). Number one on our list is the Craig Mitchell Smith 7-Piece Floral and Foliage mold . Customers are loving its quality and versatility, and Craig is becoming quite the celebrity! Check out the list for other notable favorites. What's your favorite product so far this year? 1. Craig Mitchell Smith Floral and Foliage Mold 2. Simple Round Beads Mold/Small Ring Beads Mold 3. Safe Art Soldering Flux 4. Heart Jewelry Holey Mold 5. Wind Chimes Bottle Art Kit 6. Keepsake Box Bottle Art Kit 7. Circle Jewelry Holey Mold 8. Diamond Jewelry Holey Mold 9. Luminary Bottle

Choosing a winner for the Light Up Our Blog contest was virtually impossible . With more than 30 unbelievable entries, how could we choose just one? Ultimately this peacock gem stole our hearts. Daisy C. from Tucker, GA will receive a Flower Power premium glass pack from Uroboros . You can read her story below. We'll be featuring many other entries on our blog and in our catalogs in the future, so check back frequently and thanks to everyone who entered the contest! View other entries on Faceboo k or view a slideshow of entries. I am Daisy Comer. I leave in Tucker, GA. I have been working with Stained Glass for about 10 yrs. I started with class at Colonial Stained Glass in Marietta, GA. Donna and Susan taught me well. My shop is in my sunroom on the back of my townhouse. It is a nice setting and I love working out there. My cat Boo allows me to use a portion of his space (because from day one he made sure that the sunroom was his.) Now about my lamp. It started with a class that Susan started in November. I selected the Peacock design because it was so unique. This pattern had 200 pieces. I used the Worden Lamp System . This system included the pattern, form,

It is true. Even the best of us get bored. We work and learn and experiment with one medium or one itty piece of said medium (which, like a new love, we are infatuated with - can think of nothing else)but, after a while -things can get stale. It's normal. The beauty is to realize that all these lovely and wonderful and awe inspiring mediums do not have to live in a vacuum. When you get bored with onedo a little of what I like to call Medium Mash-Up. My latest mashups have been with my own fused glass and silver. You can only fuse so many pendants and plates before you've had enough. For me, that means it's time to move on to another process for a while. After working in silver (mostly rings) and loving itone day I found myself staring longingly at my lonely and unused kiln (I think she was jealous of my new fling, er, medium) - it was then I decided to bring my glass and silver work together and introduce them. I began taking small bits of my favorite pieces of sheet glass and fusing them into amazing little gems that I could set like stones. Using the knowledge that glass likes to naturally be around an 1/4 thick, I knew that by cutting small squares, they would bead up

The students and parents of Mrs. Johnsons first grade elementary class at Westchase elementary in Tampa, FL, recently created glass art mosaic tables to auction off for its annual fundraiser. The students used stained glass chips and venetian glass tiles to create kiwi, watermelon, orange and apple designs onto 19 wrought iron tables . The fruit designs, created by Martin Cheek , were a big hit with the kids and the parents. At the auction, the tables received the highest bids of the evening. Supplies were donated by Diamond Tech and Delphi Glass . See more photos of the students in action here.

It seems that Pinners can't get enough Bottle Art. (If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet , you will.) It's a great place for artists to gather inspiring images from around the web. I started a pinboard for all of the bottle art inspiration floating around the blogosphere. Below are 7 projects I've pinned from our very own artist gallery. See more on my pinboard here . What are you making with bottles? Upload your bottle art to the artist gallery and you just might see it pinned to Delphi's Bottle Art pinboard! 1. Bottle Art Necklace 2. Recycled Champagne Bottle Beads 3. Soy Candle 4. Windchimes 5. Planter 6. Bottle Bird 7. Mic rowave Kiln N eckla ce

As catalogers, we send out a lot of paper. We hope that people keep our Delphi catalogs for a long time (and Ithink many do), but then what? The thought of all that paper ending up in the waste basket makes me sad. Imagine my joy to find a pinboard by Catalogs.com filled with creative uses for old catalogs! Here are some of my favorites. 1 . Star ornaments (top left) 2. Stretchy bracelet 3. Catalog button flowers 4. Envelopes from catalog pages I've repinned these ideas and others on my Pinterest pinboard here .

As you know, many of the associates at Delphi are also talented glass artists. I recently caught up with Delphi's Internet Marketing Specialist, Stacy Daniels, who told me about a special plate she's making for her brother and his fiance. She is celebrating passover with the couple - it will be their first Passover together. Passover is the Jewish holiday celebrating freedom from bondage under the Egyptian Pharaoh. It is celebrated with family dinners called seders. Passover this year is April 6-14. Stacy is creating a special seder plate for her brother and future sister-in-law, one she hopes they will use for years to come. You can create a sedar dinner plate like Stacy's using System 96 OpalArt , fusing mold #92308 , frit for decoration and Gold Firing Pen item#5175G for embellishment. See Seder Plate Molds and Judaica Fusing Supplies at Delphi. Also, see what some of our customers have made in Delphis Artist Gallery. Artist Credit: Top right, Angela Chadbourne, Fort Stewart, GA ; Jackie Sitzenstock, Carmel, NY; Shary Weisman, Millsboro, DE

Photographing glass objects is not easy, and yet, it's often the photograph that sells the piece. If you're advertising classes online or selling your work on Ebay, Etsy or ArtFire, good photography is essential. Here's what you will need: 1. A light tent. You can purchase one for about $100, or you can make your own relatively inexpensively. Read this article for step-by-step instructions on making your own light tent . 2. Light fixtures. You need at least one light for illuminating directly onto the object from above. If you have a desk lamp with an adjustable "neck", that will work. If you are getting too many shadows, or too much glare, you may need a set of lights to illuminate the sides of the box instead. Just make sure you're using "daylight" or "full spectrum" bulbs, and that all of your fixtures are equipped with the same type of bulb. 3. A Camera . Here's a great article by Steve Meltzer author of Photographing Arts, Crafts and Collectibles outlining cameras. Even your point-and-shoot will work better once you have your light fixtures and tent set up. Good luck! For more great photography resources, check out one of these great photog

Thank you to everyone who entered our Art Glass Fairytale contest. I'm continually amazed at the creativity of our customers - I had no idea our artists were writers too! It was very difficult choosing a winner for the Fused Glass grab bag. Many of you shared personal stories of hardship or tragedy and how you overcame them through glass. Thank you for inspring us! Congratulations go to Jude Wilder-Roberts for her tale of Uroboros and the Very First Rainbow . You can read her story below. We may also be featuring other entries in future blog posts or catalogs - so stay tuned! Once upon a time in a dreary, colorless land lived a girl named Uroboros. Since there were no colors in the town of Youghiogheny, where she lived, everyone was sad. One day while collecting drift wood on Kokomo beach, Uro found a piece of beach glass. The pale green of the stone made her smile. This was a very strange and unfamiliar sensation to Uro, but she liked the way it made her feel. Uro searched the beach for more of the beautiful stone. When she had some different colors, she headed home to show her parents. Unfortunately, Uro's father, Van Gogh was not excited by her find, but

Gail Christofferson, a Delphi educational customer for many years, is leading a student/community based project for Ostego Elementary, a new elementary school (home of the knights) in the Ostego area of Ohio. More than 1,000 students of all grade levels, as well as more than 300 community members, have participated in creating a large-scale mosaic mural measuring 7 feet high and 20 feet long. The year-long project, "Mosaics by Knights," is intended to be a permanent art installation in the commons area of the new elementary school. Members of the Ostego community were asked to submit design ideas, and with local high school art teachers guidance, a combination of multiple entries will be used in the finished piece. Christofferson and her team are in the final stages of student and community involvement, and the project should be installed sometime this spring (2012.) It is important to realize that not only will there be a beautiful piece of art for all to enjoy, there will also be a sense of pride that our community can share in having created the piece together, said Christofferson. Photos: Students working on the project; project illustration; and the panels