The Delphi Blog

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

In its 38 years of business, Delphi has become increasingly well known on the American art glass scene. What started with a handful of products sold in the family's garage, has become the country's largest selection of glass, classes and workshops. Now, Delphis art glass supplies are becoming more familiar even further from home. In what some may see as an unlikely place for Delphi products to reside, the Michigan-based company recently announced its partnership with Anguse International, a well-established glass company in Taipei, Taiwan. But Taiwan is not as implausible a place for art glass to exist as one might think. Its art and cultural scene is vibrant - teeming with woodcarvers, stonecarvers, ceramists, paper artists and glass artists. In fact, traditional crafts like these are becoming increasingly more popular with modern artisans. According to the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan, Oriental glassware art has taken a new lease on life in Taiwan: Liuli Gongfang and Tittot are two examples of glass artists who have earned international acclaim in recent years. And interest is growing. Ray Chen and May Wang, owners of Anguse International, originally an architectural gl

Youve seen the commercials on TV and read about it on the can . Pepsi is refreshing everything. They've been giving millions of dollars away in grant money to good ideas across the country. And Delphi is trying to help one idea in particular get the funding it deserves. The Beads of Courage program brings brightly colored handmade beads to children coping with life-threatening conditions and painful treatments. For each treatment, the child is given a bead to symbolize his/her strength and bravery during the procedure. Chemo. Radiation. Spinal injection. Surgery. Pictures of the patients show them wearing multiple necklaces with dozens of beads. These kids have been through a lot. Beads of Courage is asking Pepsi for a $25,000 grant, which will bring the program to 10 new hospitals and serve 10,000 children coping with life-threatening illnesses. Jean Baruch founded Beads of Courage, Inc. in Arizona while working on her PhD in nursing. Since then, the organization has established programs in more than 60 childrens hospitals throughout the US, New Zealand and Japan.The program has gone through extensive research determining its impact on the young participants, their famil

My time is limited and I can only work in 2-4 hour intervals. Are there any preventative steps that I should take to assure that my work will be in good shape when I return? Many hobbyists find themselves in the same position, and this is a very good question. We cant cover every possible scenario, but hopefully we can help. Obviously, there are areas where it wont make any difference if you get interrupted. For instance, pattern prep, glass cutting, fitting, and grinding. However, if you do find that you need to stop in the middle of applying copper foil, youll need to think about how long it will be until you can resume the job. If it will only be a few days, there isnt anything special that youll need to do. But if it will be longer than that (or you live in a particularly humid area), your foil may show signs of oxidation when you return. (Oxidation happens to metal when its exposed to the air. It can prevent a nice solder job, so its important to avoid it, or at least know how to clean it up.) To keep oxidation to a minimum, store the foiled pieces in a plastic zipper bag, or cover them as well as you can with plastic wrap. This will limit the amount of air that ca

My second day in Lansing was the day Id been waiting for. Classes. I met instructors Val Oswalt and Roy Kapp. When I say experts, Im not kidding. (Those of you whove taken classes with them know what I mean.) Online marketing expert Stacy Daniels joined me for the fusing portion of instruction. After much discussion over terms and techniques, we created small glass tiles for firing. These would eventually be slumped into small jewelry dishes. Here are a few beginner fusing tips I wrote down: 1. Theres no real benefit to using 90 COE over 96 COE (or vice versa) 2. Never fuse more than one layer of glass over your mold (create your layered effect first if you so choose) 3. Molten glass wants to be inch thick. Plan your piece accordingly. 4. All kilns are different. Dont be surprised if you have to adjust your firing schedule. 5. Take notes to keep from repeating mistakes in the future. Next on the docket was flameworking. The whole thing appeared so intimidating with the torch billowing out fiery blue and orange gas. Watching Vals hands move with such precision and coordination amazed me. Flameworking is a delicate dance - moving the glass rod and ma

Have you ever noticed ugly, hazy, gray coloration around the edges of your full-fused designs? This is especially noticeable when placing darker colored or iridized glass designs on a lighter colored background but it can happen with any color combination. This phenomenon is known as edge-devit (devitrification) and is most often caused by grinding the glass edges prior to fusing. This also occurs when using a diamond blade saw to cut your glass. One glass manufacturer explains it this way; The roughened edges in the ground area create thousands of tiny points from which crystal growth can easily propagate. The best solution is to score and break the glass as close to your final shape as possible to minimize grinding (or better yet avoid it altogether). If you must grind you could try using a light coat of clear overglaze (i.e. Fusemaster Super Spray) on the ground areas to create a clear surface glaze. This Randys ProTip brought to you by the book, Introduction to Glass Fusing by Petra Kaiser. Visit Wardell Publications .

No two ways about it, getting a good black patina on zinc came can be a problem. But it is not impossible. I sometimes tell my students that the best thing about using zinc on their project, is that it will probably disappear inside their projects wood frame, but that doesnt have to be the case. Follow these few simple steps and youll find that, with a few modifications to standard patina finishing procedure, getting a nice dark finish on zinc isnt such a mystery after all. You wont be able to get a copper sulfate finish on zinc; the chemicals just wont work, but you can get a number of shades from light charcoal to black Step One: Metal Prep Zinc fresh out of the case, like any other metal, will immediately begin to oxidize. You may not be able to see any visible signs of oxidation, but believe me, its there. To combat oxidation in preparation for applying any patina to your zinc, you should first go over the metal surface with a fine grade steel wool (000 or 0000 grade will work just fine. See photo top left). As you do this, you will notice a difference in the finish of the zinc (See photos right). Compare the freshly cleaned areas of your zinc came with untouched ar