The Delphi Blog

When youre in a creative slump, try slumping with a new mold! Delphi just added three new molds from Creative Paradise to its selection. Ive attached information on each of these molds, along with project ideas to get you inspired. These fusing molds are made from ceramic clay and are highly durable. But be sure to cover them well with kiln wash before use to prevent cracking. Four coats of kiln wash is recommended. Slumping 3-D Sunflowers Step 1 . Trace the slumping mold onto a piece of paper, so you know how large your glass can be. Begin arranging glass on this pattern, starting with the flower base glass. Step 2 . Arrange flower petal glass in layers and fuse. Step 3. Arrange the fused flower on top of the mold and slump. Slumping Pattern Bar Plates (pictured top left) This unique dam mold makes it easy to make pattern bars or thick fused glass. Interior measures 2-1/2 x 6. Step 1 . Cut up small pieces of your favorite glass or use scrap glass to create a base layer. Step 2. Use long strips of fiber felt (item#4824) to create the channels. Fill around the fiber with scrap glass. Step 3 .

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time in my backyard. My father (a retired horticulture professor and perpetual gardener) has been preparing my quarter-acre lot for a vegetable garden. As soon as I saw this project guide, I could envision stained glass dragonflies peeking out amidst my beans and greens. They are perfect for adding a little sparkle to your summer landscape!  DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN HERE Materials: Wissmach Sky Blue and Crystal Stream X for Wings, 1/2 Sq. Ft. (or other glass color of choice) Wissmach Dark Blue/Medium Green Opal for Body, 1/3 Sq. Ft. (or other glass color of choice) Flux Solder 7/32" Copper Foil 20-, 22-, and 16-Gauge Copper Wire 2 Small Green Nuggets 1/8" Copper or Brass Rod Black Patina Directions: This is one of many of the garden stake designs in Leslie Gibbs' book , Garden Art in Glass . There is a lot more information in her book about wire, rods, and other hardware used in building the garden stakes. Always wear eye protection, keep a clean work surface, and solder in a well ventilated area. When you’re ready to begin, make two copies of the original pattern provided. Number each pattern piece

Why does my kiln make a buzzing sound? Here are some of the sounds that a kiln makes: The heating elements hum when they turn on. That is because they vibrate in the brick grooves due to magnetism between the coils. This sound is normal. It diminishes as the kiln gets hotter, because the elements soften. The clicking noise of a switch-operated kiln is also normal. It is the sound of an infinite control switch cycling on and off. When the clicking turns into a popping noise, the switch is probably about to fail. You should keep a spare on hand. Relays are another source of clicking. To turn on the elements, a digital controller sends twelve volts to the relays. The relays, in turn, act as switches and send full voltage to the elements. The relays click every time they turn on. A chattering noise, however, indicates that a relay is about to fail. A crackling noise followed by loud POP from the kiln's switch box usually means that a loose electrical connection has just failed . If you hear crackling, which sounds like sparks, turn off the kiln. The loose connection creates a tiny electrical arc, which overheats and burns ele

Please remember to continue voting for Beads of Courage to win a $25,000 grant through the Pepsi Refresh project. Beads of Courage helps children RECORD, TELL and OWN their stories of courage during treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses. Through the Program children receive different colored beads each which symbolize their unique and challenging treatment journey. You can vote once every day until the end of July. VOTE NOW!

Your aunt has asked you to make an identical matched set of bowls for her. But Im going to suggest that you try to get her to think differently. Experience tells us you can repeat a design to create a set that is close but chances are they will not be precisely alike (thats one of the appeals of handmade). So instead of identical, work within a design theme then create variations on that design to give each item in the set individual character. In other words, plan to make your designs different right from the beginning and people will appreciate your creativity as a special endowment. Besides matched sets are made by a robots not one-off artists like us fusers. This Randys ProTip brought to you from the book Introduction to Glass Fusing by Petra Kaiser. Visit Wardell Publications.

July 17 and 18, 2009, saw a unique event in Colorado lampworking history. The Colorado Project, a nonprofit organization committed to building the glass community through philanthropy, held its first annual event in Denver, Colorado. Shack Man Glass Studio in conjunction with Glasscraft, Inc., hosted the two-day event. People from all over the country came to participate and show support. Glass Artists with a Mission The purpose of the event was to create a collaborative glass art installation consisting of a four-foot-by-eight-foot mask to be sold at auction to raise money for Learning Landscapes, a University of Colorado program that rebuilds playgrounds in disrepair. Composed of lampworked pieces of crucible-pulled color and a huge bead necklace and headdress, the mask was impressive to say the least. The community aspect of the event was emphasized by having nearly 150 glassblowers rotating through lampworking stations at both Shack Man Studio and Glasscraft to produce the beads for the headdress and necklace. The work for the mask itself was done by Nathan Aweida, Cary Hollenberg, and Adam Graf

The Ring of Fire Artist Challenge , lasting from May-June, sparked the interest of artists of varied media all across the country. While Delphi received entries of paper, glass, ceramics, wire, jewelry, etc., it was a select group of 10 products that united them all. Every eligible entry incorporated at least one of 10 unique products making up the Ring of Fire. These products included copper metal mesh, millifiori, clear glaze, dichroic scrap, recycled glass tiles, metallic tiles, color slide, krafty blok, fine silver wire and pressed flowers. Below is a complete list of contest winners. Congratulations to Grand Prize winner of the Jen-Ken Deluxe EZ-Pro Kiln , Kristin Simpson, with her Garden Whimsie entry. Also, congratulations to Lisa Norvell for her Mountain Meadow Surprise entry which will be featured in an upcoming Delphi catalog. Stay tuned for other great contests like this one in the near future! Delphi Awards Delphi's Favorite: Mountain Meadow Surprise by Lisa Norvell People's Choice: Copper Flowers in Raku Vases by Lindsay Schubel Best Use of Ring of Fire Materials: The American Dream by Brenda Gartman Hottest Project for the Summer:

I have stashed away old jars and bottles for many years . As an avid wine lover I have amassed more than my fair share of wine bottles. I use them to line my flower beds, as bottle tree sculptures and in some of my art pieces. When I discovered the Ephrem's Bottle cutter it became an indispensable tool for recycling and reusing these old jars and bottles. I instantly made myself a complete set of water and juice glasses. They remind me of the jelly jars and mason jars I drank from at grandma's as a child. Everyone who comes to my home loves them too and wants me to make a set for them. In this video I share some of the projects from my book Bottle Art and show you how to use the bottle cutter. It is very simple and you can often get more than one project from a single bottle. Try slicing off rings in different widths until you cut the bottle to the desired height of the glass you are making. I use these rings to make wind chimes or even jewelry. If you want to add goblets to your drinking glass collection, simply turn the top of the bottle upside down once you have cut it, epoxy the lip of the bottle to the base and enjoy your beverage of choice. Watch the

For all of you glass hobbyists who would love to work with mosaics but havent gotten up enough courage, this article is for you. This project will give you the chance to create three tiles that are meant to be used as a wall hanging. We used the same process as the one for making stepping-stones. But the main difference in making a wall hanging is the thicknesswe will use only half of the recommended amount of DiamondCrete for the 12 square mold. Our design is an elegant Victorian motif that can be built as shown in three 12 square tiles and hung about 1 apart, or the project can be simplified by using just the center design. Leave out the two pieces to the far right and left of the center design and this would look fine by itself as a wall hanging or a stepping-stone. Just remember to adjust the amount of DiamondCrete for the intended use of the square. You can let your imagination run wild when it comes to cement and glass color combinations for a project like this one. The Diamond-Crete comes in a wide variety of vivid colors that can be mixed or lightened, and appropriate glass colors are unlimited as well. One or two glass colors could

The official answer from the glass manufacturers is, All tested compatible glasses have been tested by the FDA for food bearing surfaces and were determined to be suitable. However, if you add other processes or compounds to the items, for example paint, stains, decals, glazes, etc. it is important to check that these items are also approved for food bearing surfaces. In addition it is of the utmost importance that dinnerware items be properly annealed, especially if youre going to place hot food on them - the thermal shock could cause a break in poorly annealed items. This Randys ProTip brought to you from the book Introduction to Glass Fusing by Petra Kaiser. Visit Wardell Publications. Also, at Delphi we take food safety and dinnerware very seriously. We always recommend that certain glasses are capped with clear. These are usually irids, dichro and glass with texture, since these can also trap food particles. Please see this Bullseye link for more information: http://www.bullseyeglass.com/products/faq/#faq_011

Spotlighting can add a touch of drama to your images , but it doesnt work with all types of crafts. This lighting technique can easily be used with matte and flat- surfaced work, while shiny surfaces can be a nightmare to get just right. Lets start by looking at how to create a circle of light in the darkness; the simplest way is to use a snoot over the lights reflector housing. A snoot is simply a tapered metal cone that fits over the light and creates a small circle of light instead of a large area of diffused light. With your object on a black background, the circle of light will appear as a light gray area without well-defined edges. For a tighter circle with a better definededge, you need to use a spotlight (a light source with some sort of lens in front that focuses the light into a better circle).You can get all sorts of spotlights, and for small jewelry pieces Ive found that you can successfully use focused halogen table lamps for this effect. Both a snoot and a spotlight produce harsh, hard light. This type of light works well with matte surfaces but is not the kind of light to use with shiny or metallic finishes. The spotlight produces a hard, bright glare spotes