My New Toy

And new hobby. Oy!

My early Mother's Day present is a Jen-Ken GS Bead annealing kiln. I finally got to play with it yesterday and had some fun.

Actually, I first got to play this week when I went on a glass hunt. Had a kiln. Wanted to melt glass. Needed glass. I discovered United Art Glass in Naperville. I used to drive by this shop all the time when I worked down there. I should have gone in much sooner! The person working there was super helpful. She even told me I didn't need to buy some things--something that always surprises me. I appreciate it, but it is surprising!

Saturday, I fired up the kiln. And it worked! I cooled it down.

I discovered I LOVE cutting glass. The cutter is like a tiny rotary cutter. It makes the best noise (described as a "hiss" in one of the books I'm reading). Then you chomp it with the breaking pliers and it just snaps! apart!

Here are the before and after pictures of the 3"x3" tile I made. I cut the clear, the light purple; the green and dark purple are glass squares I bought pre-cut.

Today I want to fuse some random pieces to make some jewelry. Pictures to come of that project!