Color swatches for crackle bowls December 14, 2018

Color swatches for crackle bowls December 14, 2018

These two swatches used the same combination of colors, however one was placed on clear glass and the other was placed on white glass.  Colors used were 1 layer of Red opalescent on bottom covered by 1 layer of dense white opalescent and then covered by 2 layers of petal pink opalescent.  Both look pretty similar except for the background.

I was wondering what it might look like to use black glass and cover it with dense white and then try to make thicker or bigger islands, so the white i
slands would be surrounded with black.

The next examples now in the kiln are both on clear glass.  The first one is a combination of 2 layers of golden amber transparent on the bottom covered by 2 layers of yellow opalescent on top.  The second example has 2 layers of pea pod opalescent covered by 2 layers of canary yellow opalescent.

I want a lighter color then red or even green or blue for dishes.  Pictures are coming.

The glass on the left  is 2 layers of pea pod opal covered by 2 layers of canary yellow opal.  I havent yet cleared off the bottom fiber paper so that is why it looks white thru the cracks.  Both examples were on clear glass so once the fiber paper is cleared off you will see clear underneath.  The glass on the right is 2 layers of golden amber transparent covered by 2 layers of yellow opalescent.  The colors on the left are the prettiest, a softened pea pod green.

The next one I am making is an actual piece, a 6 1/2 inch diameter circle which has 2 layers of powder blue opal covered by 1 layer of deep royal blue transparent and 1 layer of dense white opal.  Pictures are coming.

This morning 12/19 I made a 5 1/2" circle with 2 layers of dense white opal covered by 2 layers of steel blue opal. In this case I sprayed with water after 2 layers were put down, not after each individual layer.  My initial observation was that it did not work as well as praying with water after each individual layering of powder.  Big clumps of powder raised up in a sloppy way.  Hopefully this will take care of itself after the firing.  Pictures are coming.

Glass hoppa Swizzle Sticks

Here is what I found works best in my kiln.  First use a piece of thin clear on the bottom, following the template provided.  Place a round pebble on the bottom point.  Place a 3mm piece of clear on top.  Prior to that add rectangular piece on top.  The top layer of 3mm glass will cover whatever piece is placed on top and assume that it is fused together.  If you use a top rectangular piece of thin dichroic, then cap it with a piece of thin clear.  If you use a 3mm rectangular piece on top then it does not need to be separately capped.  If you want to decorate the post of the swizzle stick, do so before capping it with clear.  Finally use the firing schedule that is provided by Glass hoppa, but add 15 degrees to all the "processing temperatures" because he is firing per spectrum glass.  Use thin fire paper to fire them all. 

The glasshoppa current projects are only accessible through Patreon.  His projects are certain worth it.  

Glass Hoppa projects

Glass Hoppa Projects:

Rainbow pattern is a 2 part.  First you tack fuse at the following


400dph...................................1065 degrees............................hold 30 mins
300dph....................................1375 degrees...........................hold 5 mins
Full.............................................900 degrees..........................hold 1 hour
100 dph.......................................700 degrees............................off

Then you slump:

250dph.......................................1075 degrees.......................hold 30 mins
250 dph.......................................1235 degrees......................hold 10 mins
Full...............................................900 degrees.......................hold 45 mins
100dph..........................................700 degrees.......................off

Textured coasters

                                                    This is a one of two 6" x 12" granite textured coaster  that I can make with my mold, and after several tries I came up with the winning schedule to use.  There is a video with instructions on creativeparadiseglass.com  website, a tutorial on how to work with the GM113 mold,  but I am going to give you the complete instructions here.  First I have used two layers of 3mm COE 90 glass which I prefuse with a slightly lower temperature to fuse the two pieces together into a panel and make sure the edges and corners are rounded not sharp.  I do that twice and have 2 prefused panels.  The firing schedule for the panel is as follows:

300 dph                             1265 degrees                           hold 30 mins
300 dph                             1455  degrees                          hold 10 mins
full                                     900    degrees                          hold 1 hour
100 dph                              700    degrees                          off

         

Once both panels are fused I put the finished pieces on top of the mold.  

And I fire this as follows:

250dph                               1235 degrees                        hold 30 mins

350dph                                1280 degrees                                10 mins

full                                      900 degrees                                   1 hour

100 dph                              700 degrees                                     off        

                                                                                                                                                       

Pocket vase continued............................

Pocket vase upside down.  it worked out with a few concerns.  There is a line apparently on the top piece of glass where it meets the bottom piece and begins to rise up to form the pocket.  It looks like a crack but is consistent around the whole piece so could it perhaps me the natural occurence of the glass going around the fiber paper?  And as I thought, the glass did not evenly meet the bottom glass when it came down.  So some parts of the four sides worked well but others did not.  I suppose this could be taken care of by grinding or some other sort of cold work.  And also I would prefer the corners to be rounded.  So the corners should be rounded before it is put into the kiln.  Also, I was thinking to make the top piece bigger than the bottom but that would not work because I did not take the temperature up high enough to round out the corners.

So next I am going to do a part sheet with some sort of design on it, then cut out the pieces for the pocket vase.  Round the corners using the grinder and then cut out the fiber paper.  2 layers of 1/8th inch worked fine and fuse it using the same firing schedule.

I created a part sheet with stringer squizzles on top and I added a prefired small blue bead.  It came out tack fused, it might have been better if I full fused it, and I placed it on the bottom of my pocket vase and fused a plain layer of blue transparent glass on top.  I used the following firing schedule:
300dph..........................1000 degrees...........................hold 20 min
300 dph..........................1250 degrees..........................hold 20 mins
full ...................................900 degrees......................... hold 1 hour
100 dph.............................700 degrees..........................hold 1 hour 20 mins

I used one layer of 1/8th fiber paper instead of 2 layers that I used the first time, but this time when I ran water through it it dripped from the bottom.  The bottom layer of glass has swirly stringers tack fused on it along with a few strategically placed beads.  When the plain top piece was fused over, it appears that the glass may have risen to get over the stringers and the beads and that allowed some air to get in, so the water had places to run through.

The only things to do is to start from the beginning without anything on the surface of the glass, using the same length and one layer of fiber paper and the same firing schedule as I used above.  Put in the wires straighter and go from there. 

This time I full fused the pocket vase:
300 dph.............................................1000 degrees......................................hold 20 mins
300 dph..............................................1250 degrees.....................................hold 20 mins
600 dph...............................................1460 degrees.....................................hold 20 mins
Full......................................................900 degrees.......................................hold 1 hour
100 dph................................................700 degrees.......................................off

Full fusing helped, no water dripping from the bottom or corners.  This time it was a real hassle to get the fiber paper out.  Maybe next time I will do what was suggested to wrap the fiber paper in thin fire paper, and I am planning to use not two layers of fiber paper which may have been 1/16th thick but use thinner paper.  In an case, make the fiber paper space less thick.  Use some pretty glass.  I still have the glass with stringers and dots.  I dont see any reason tht the stringers and dots on the top of the glass will interfere with the fusing together of the two pieces.  So I will put clear on the bottom and use the decorative glass on top.  Also try to shape the fiber paper like a long nosed triangle and try again.

I have tried it two more times with a processing temperature of 1445 and the result was still too fused and then 1425 still fused and then 1415 and the water slowly dripped through.  Now I will go back to 1425 and hold only for 5 minutes.  the tops piece will not need to fully cover the bottom piece, but it should be close and I will use two layers of fiber paper wrapped with thin fire paper.

Many experiments after the above one but now by george, I think I've got it.  I used a rectangular piece of clear glass measuring 4 1/4 inches wide by 6 inches tall.   That worked well for what I choose to do.  On the left side I placed a yellow flower with a curved stringer for its stem, growing out of a piece of grass (blue and green frit).  On the right side I placed the pocket for the bud.  The piece of the glass that I draped over the fiber paper on the right side was something like 2 1/8th wide by  4 inches tall and the fiber paper pack that I put beneath it was smaller that that, perhaps the width was do one inch to 1 and 1/8th inch wide.  I am not sure because when I was putting it together I started changing somethings depending on how it layed out of the 1 layer of clear glass beneath it.  Since the pocket itself was placed over three layers of fiber paper wrapped in thin fire paper I had to account enough glass to fuse over it and make a mound.  It seems to have worked so I hope these measurements are close enough.  Remember to always look at it and determine whether or not the glass is correctly placed.  Picture coming.  I also used the following firing schedule:

300 dph......................................................1000 degrees......................hold 15 mins
300 dph.......................................................1250 degrees.....................hold 15 mins
600 dph.......................................................1425 degrees......................hold 10 mins
Full................................................................900 degrees......................hold 1 hour
100 dph .........................................................700 degree........................hold 1 min
off......................................

Impasse

I am at some sort of an impasse, not knowing which way to go, with so many choices.  And for some of these choice I go halfway and then don't finish.  Is this my ADHD, am I so unable to finish tasks?  Yes, that partially seems to be the case.  For example, I have done several pot and screen melts and I now have a wet tile saw, but I have not completed a full piece yet that incorporates a piece of the screen and pot melt.  I did do one, incorporating that with black glass and that somewhat turned me off; the black glass was a little too extreme for my taste so perhaps that was the reason.  In order to incorporate a piece of screen melt into a larger piece, you need to have the right color around, and I did not have the right color around.  To get that color you have to be able to recognize it in a catalog and order it or go all the way to Manchester, and bring your chunk with you and match it.  Also, most of the screen melts come out thicker than 1/4 " and so in order to correctly put it in a piece I would probably have to layer 2 1/2 to 3 pieces of glass.   I now know that I could fire polish the piece and then it would flatten to 1/4" inch, although, in some cases this fire polishing causes devitrification.  The only way around that is to sand blast it which I cannot do, not having the machine, or cover it with a thin layer of fine clear frit and fuse it again.  If that works, I would still have to incorporate that into another piece, fuse that piece and then slump it, meaning two more firings.  I don't know, I haven't done that yet, but will it devitrify after all those firings;  would the glass even survive all those firings?  That would make 4 total firings.  And it is difficult to cut the outside piece correctly, making sure that everything fits and is in line.  So what should I do, I have one piece from a screen melt that has some devitrification on it and I dont want to do anything with it. 

I have also been cutting curvy squiggles in glass and found that pretty hard to do but I did do some and are not quite determined what to do with that, so now for both I am going to put them aside.  I originally thought I could cover the squiggles with some decorative stuff and hang them in a screen melt.  But that is problematic, how should I hang them with bails, or drill holes, and drilling holes takes some work.  My drill does not work very fast and I am not so committed to that piece yet, so for this also I have to set it aside and think more about it.

It came to me to try out pocket vases.  I could use my clear glass, which I have quite a lot of, but this will take a lot.  I will have to open the kiln while it is draping and watch the progress.  But i feel like it is worth a try and I also seem to like to try new things.  Okay, so first I will put away all the other things I have been working on and remain unfinished.  I have a lot of those kind of things and I want to finish things in the future.  Then I will gather materials for the pocket vases.  Here we go.  Pocket vases seem to be more complicated than they appear.  When the top piece of glass drapes over the fiber paper what will happen?  If I want to include or create a design in the top piece of glass should i do that first.  Well yes I should and then cut it into 2 pieces for a pocket vase.  Also is the firing schedule I am using for this pocket vase going to work.  I used the following firing schedule:

300 dph............................1025 degrees .......................................hold 20 mins.
300 dph.............................1245 degrees ......................................hold 15 mins
full......................................900 degrees ......................................hold 1 hour
100 dph..............................700 degrees........................................hold 2 hours
off

Well now I am going to look at Bullseye tip sheet on part sheets and making some on clear glass that I think will look nice in a pocket vase. 

I have this mold.  Isn't it beautiful and now I need instructions on how to fill it with frit, powder and how to fire.  Can I add glass to it?  How is the middle done?  How exactly do I fire it?

This is the mold.  Actually this is not the exact mold,  this is the exact mold

It is flatter than the one above





It is flatter than the one above.  I prefired  2 pieces of blank glass into an 8 inch circle, then I covered the center of the mold with black powder.  I layered over the black power red fine frit which I enclosed in a circle of green frit.  I placed the prefired panel over it and are currently firing it at the following schedule

275 dph............................1225 degrees...........................hold 1 hour
300dph..............................1330 degrees..........................hold 10 mins
300 dph..............................1465 degrees.........................hold 5 mins
full......................................900 degrees...........................hold 1 hour

Will the piece take the outside shape of the mold or did I have to precut that.  I think I already proved to myself that the slump stage would be successful in fixing the outer shape but I am looking at it again for this in what is a complex or multi pointed shape. I hope it does take the shape.  I filled the center part of the sunflower but in the next try I will use different colors and from this time I should know if the amount of frit that I used is correct or not.

It did not take the shape of the outside edges.  some of the ends raised a bit and another broke off.  I have to understand slumping molds better. 



Irid glass

 Irid  clear fired face down and capped with royal blue.

Small soap dish slump mold

 Slump firing schedule:

300dph................................1250 degrees..............................hold 10 min
Full........................................900 degrees..............................hold 1 hour
100dph...................................700 degrees..............................off

Uneven edges, it is hard to cut both layers exactly the same.

So I tried another one with two layers of glass: one layer of 3mm clear glass, capped with thin 2mm green glass.  I fused a stenciled design on the top of the piece of a yellow flower with black center and bright green stalks.  I am currently fusing that piece with the following schedule, hoping that the ripples, slight though they are at the edges, will show up.  So in order to achieve that I used the following firing schedule:

300dph...............................................1150 degrees.......................hold 10 mins
300dph................................................1220 degrees......................hold 15 mins
Full........................................................900 degrees......................hold 1 hour
100dph...................................................700 degrees.....................off
Hopefully this will pick up the edges in the mold, ever so slight but still nice.  I still have not been able to reproduce the effect in the picture below.  Will be able to extrapolate to other difficult slumping molds what I have to do to pick up all that they have and I get to learn a lot as I go on.

  I am going to go back to making some unusual frit combinations and filling the mold with that.  The stencil worked okay.  In future tries I will work harder to get the design sharper, more precise, fill in spaces on stencil with more accuracy.

I like the one I previously made with clear frit mixed with other colors and the frit is not fine, it is at least medium so I can see little balls in the "cast leaf".  Although the mold is in the shape of a leaf, it is also a soap dish so it is plenty deep and not a delicate cast glass piece.  But I am trying to make it that way and fired it as a thin cast piece using the following schedule:

300 dph......................................1375 - 1400 degrees.....................hold 10 mins
I used 1375 degrees processing temperature, because it is good to fire it low at least to begin with.
Full...............................................900 degrees.............................hold 30 mins
Off

 

Net leaf vein mold.  Delphi glass recommends following firing schedule:

300 dph...................................1360 degrees......................hold 20 mins
300 dph....................................1455 degrees.....................hold 5 mins
 full...........................................900 degrees.......................hold 1 hour
100 dph.....................................700 degrees.............................off and then slump recommended firing is:

350dph......................................1100 degrees..............................10 mins
350 dph......................................1250 degrees..............................hold 15 mins
Full.............................................900 degrees................................hold 1hour
100 dph.......................................700 degrees...............................off

Snowflakes and Stars christmas ornaments

snowflakes, stars and more stars.  All of these that have been fired have been done so at tack fuse level.  Now I am full fusing them to see which way I like it better.  The full fuse schedule came from Deans Blog who also had a pattern for a snowflake with 1/4 inch strips of glass delicately place all around.  This is how he says he fired it.:

500 dph.............................300 degrees....................................hold 5 mins
800 dph.............................1465 degrees..................................hold 5 mins
Full.......................................900 degrees.................................hold 30 mins
175 dph.................................800 degrees.................................hold 10 mins

Right now the most important thing is to see which looks better the tack fused or the full fused or whether I should have both.  I also have come up with an idea to use the 1/4 inch strips and place the 1" colored squares on them to decorate them in a star. snowflake like pattern  So right now I am full fusing this one and we shall see.

The tack fuse schedule that I used is as follows:

400 dph..................................1000 degrees........................hold 10 mins
600 dph...................................1360 degrees.......................hold 10 mins
Full ...........................................900 degrees.......................hold 30 mins
100 dph.....................................700 degrees........................off

So it is better to pick a firing schedule some where in between tack and full fuse

This tack fuse schedule hardly does anything.  The sides do not pucker but the different pieces do stick to each other.  I think if I determine that I still like the tack fuse best then I should make it fire higher and longer to get it to have some additional effects.

The full fuse looked awful.  Perhaps because of the kind of glass that I used or even the placement of the glass but tack fused it looks better.  this time I had two projects prepared, one a snowflake that needs full fusing and the other the star that I believe looks better tack fused.  Before thinking I put both of them in there together and did not want to remove one, so decided to use a processing temperature that might be a good compromise between the two.  So I am firing it to 1410 and holding only 5 minutes.  Lets see if that lower temperature does not harm the full fusing of the snowflake and does not affect the good look of the tack fused star. I finally tried a little more heat and I liked the effect there.  In this project I am alligning the points of the squares to the post to which they are attached instead of aligning them up and down and am firing them with the following schedule.  I used this previously and I like how it came out but in this trial I am going to use the 1420 degrees as the processing temperature but I am only going to hold it for 5 minutes.  It will go as follows:

400 dph....................1000 degrees.....................................hold 10 mins
600 dph.....................1420 degrees....................................hold 5 mins
Full.............................900 degrees.....................................hold 30 mins
100 dph.......................700 degrees..........................................off

so that, above, is the best firing schedu

Christmas stocking

300 dph............................1250 degrees.....................hold 10 mins
Full...................................1420 degrees.....................hold 10 mins
Full....................................900 degrees......................hold 30-60 mins
60 dph................................700 degrees...........................off

KILN CARVING

I cannot add a picture of bullseye glass striker 1120-0030.  It turns into a pretty yellow when fired.  But I tried to make sure it is not part of a series of glass that 

"This style is not suitable for kilncasting because it can opalize and/or become incompatible when held at high temperatures for an extended period. It may also opalize and/or become incompatible in instances where processes exceed the parameters of the test for compatibility. Testing recommended when heatwork exceeds these parameters.has gold in it and thus needs a 2 hour hold  when processing."

So at further thought I am not going to use this glass for my kiln carving project.  I am going to wait to buy a light transparent glass from Stained Glass Express on Thursday.   I am also going to buy some additional fiber paper.

Did my kiln carving pick up the marks I had drawn on the fiber paper, marks of veins in leaves; ever so slightly.  I guess it will need a second layers of fiber paper.  So may be I should try that: a big leaf, one cut out covered with a second cut out of veins and on a stem.  And perhaps it would improve in glass other than white.  Perhaps I will put this on a piece of green transparent glass.  But first I cut out circles and within those cut out circles I have placed another circle.  Want to see negative and positive and its effects on glass through kiln carving. 

Positive and negative.  The one on bottom is two circles cut out, with a smaller circle in center; the one above is 2 layers of two circles.  One is 1/8th inch and the other is 1/16th inch.

Glass Used

Examples of different glass used

Bullseye

Bullseye



Bullseye glass 1025-0030, light orange striker transparent glass

Petal Mold

I slumped the Petal dish mold with the following schedule :

300 dph................................................1200 degrees....................hold 30 mins
300 dph.................................................1225 degrees...................hold 1 1/2 hours
Full........................................................ 900 degrees....................hold 1 hour
100 dph...................................................700 degrees.......................off

SCALLOP SLUMP MOLD

I love how this came out, and will do another.  This time instead of fusing the panel first and then full fusing it I am going to fire it all at one time.  Using 2 circles of 3mm white glass, the question here is how white glass will do covered with pieces of 3mm colored glass for the petals, and circle in the middle of the flower.   I will use the full fuse firing schedule as follows:

400dph...........................1225 degrees.......................hold 1 hour
600dph............................1470 degrees......................hold 10 mins
Full..................................900 degrees........................hold 1 hour
100dph.............................700 degrees.......................off

This is showing some artistry with the cutting of glass and use of the grinder as well as placement and design.  This also has 2 1/2 layers instead of 2 layers and I shall see if the thicker piece works the same.

Lessons Learned:

I like this better on thinner glass so I liked this better when I put a 2mm thin clear on top of a 3mm clear to make 5 mm worth of glass.  So next I will try using a piece of 4mm clear glass which I will cover with petals etc.  I did not like adding the additional yellow pieces .  also I like adding the center circular piece so it sits over the petals, so the center appears fully round and not cut off by the petal.  I wonder how it might work if I used a 4mm piece of glass, if I do think this I will have to account for it in the firing schedule.  Should I try a full process temperature of 1460, not 1470 degrees.

SMALL SCALLOP MOLD CONTINUED 2

I fired my panel first and now I am adding several pieces to it and will full fuse it again but try to keep it a lower processing temperature.  I am trying the following:

400dph...............................1225degrees..............................hold 1 hour
600dph................................1450degrees.............................hold 10 mins
Full.......................................900degrees..............................hold 1 hour
100dph..................................700degrees..............................0ff


Next small scallop mold project will combine bullseye 1140-0030 aventurine blue with bullseye 0126-0030











I am using the spring green as the base with aventurine blue as the petals and an amber circle in center.  The overall base for the piece is clear.  I am currently firing it at full fuse as follows:

400dph...........................1225 degrees.......................1 hour
600dph...........................1470 degrees........................10 mins
Full...................................900 degrees..........................1 hour
100dph.............................700 degrees...........................off

SUN CATCHER

I definitely have ADHD or so I think, because I like to switch between at least 2 projects at one time.  This way I can let one glass project cool properly while working on the next or at least think about the next.  So here I am with a sun catcher.  I had remnants of an emerald green fractured irid glass which I used on the spiral pattern fuser.  The glass looks pretty and looks especially nice when slumped over the pattern fuser.  But I did not have enough to do another one of that so I turned it into a sun catcher instead.  I just fired two panels to be included in the suncatcher with the irid glass on top and clear glass as a base.  In order to create the two panels I fired the pieces using the panel firing schedule for a project listed on Coleur de Verre web site.  It seems to work quite well when fusing two pieces of 3mm glass together:

Panel Firing Schedule:

300 dph................................1250 degrees.................hold 30 mins
300 dph................................1420 degrees.................hold 10 mins
Full.........................................900 degrees.................hold 1 hour
100 dph...................................600 degrees.................off

Next I am creating 2 decorative pieces with clear base and am putting scraps of the emerald green fractured irid on top and tack fusing them, I hope, with this schedule:

Tack Fusing Schedule

400 dph...............................1000 degrees.....................hold 10 mins
600 dph................................1350 degrees.....................hold 5 mins
Full........................................900 degrees......................hold 1 hour
100 dph.................................700 degrees.......................off

So hopefully this firing schedule will leave some texture on the two clear pieces.  That is what I am hoping to achieve and latel I have not been able to and all my pieces full fuse.

Took a break and dont know whether or not I actually did this piece.  So instead I am working on a flower on a panel of transparent glass, one layer that can be hung outside or perhaps in a window.  Maybe I will get a chain to hang it with after drilling two holes or using bales.  And maybe next time I do this I can try curving the stringers first.

I am firing the above with following firing schedule:

400 dph............................1000 degrees................hold 10 mins
600 dph.............................1400 degrees................hold 5 mins
Full......................................900 degrees...............hold 1 hour
100 dph................................700 degrees...............-0-
off

The firing schedule worked.  It tack fused the flower to the base and did not distort the one layer of glass underneath.  I did wind up using and irid piece of glass with the irid side down and I also used yellow striker glass that turned warm orange.   All are mistakes that don't seem so bad.

 The color it turned is not so bad, warm orange.  I should really start noting the colors that I use.
The guy at the gift shop on main street in Damariscotta really liked the glass so I would like to get so more irid and make a couple more of those plates.

Fiber paper molds

I really like the glass artist who make their own molds and mold natural or found figures in glass, but from all of the reading that I am doing it appears that I am not quite ready to start making my own molds, I am not even ready to understand how it is done.  So for now I will work with other methods, using other people's molds, beautiful as many of them are and today I tried to create texture or a pattern in my glass with cut out shapes.

I had traced the leaves of flowers and cut them in fiber paper.  This paper may have already been used in a firing project but it cut easy enough with some crumbling of the paper.  I think I may have already fired something with this piece and that is why it so easily crumbled but then lets see what happens.  I put it together underneath  layers of glass and used the following firing schedule which I labeled as the schedule for the cherry blossom and Net leaf vein molds.  Lets see how that comes out.  It goes as follows:
300 dph.............................................1360 degrees........................hold 20 mins
300 dph.............................................1445 degrees........................hold 10 mins
Full......................................................900 degrees.......................hold 1 hour
100 dph..................................................700 degrees......................-0-

off
Well that works but I have also added a first step that I believe is a bubble squeeze which allows me to fuse two layers of glass over the fiber paper and also fire them together in one step.  And that seems to have worked  What I have determined is the finished piece is only as nice as the cut out fiber paper is and I do have to work at getting that better.  Finding better simpler drawings that use the space of the glass piece better.  I still think that this project can work.  See here the results of the first try, using cut out circles.  I need to place those elements in a more artistic matter and use something other that clear glass.  Maybe i can also fill them with frit.

In this example I overlapped the circles, maybe I could do more and space them differently.

So here is I tree I traced and then fired, not bad but not great.  Would it look better in a different color glass or if someone with artistic ability had traced the tree?  My next attempt is a celtic symbol which I am fusing into a 2 layered piece I fused years ago.  This piece has a third layer of fishes and other decorative pieces fused into it.  We will see how this effects the whole thing.

And finally what have I learned.   What comes out on the glass all has to do with  how good the fiber paper mold looks and also particularly how it is placed on the glass.  The next one I will try is going to be multiple shapes placed through out the glass.  I think I like more shape then less so basically fill the whole space like the spiral fuser I have from Coleur de Verre.  This is how my celtic symbol experiment came out.

And this is how I fired it:

300 dph..............................1250 degrees................hold 10 mins
300 dph..............................1445 degrees................hold 10 mins
Full.......................................900 degrees................hold 1 hour
100 dph.................................700 degrees................off

Again I wonder how this would look with different colored glass with a smaller pattern that is repeated; with a more realistic pattern etc..................... 



so this is more of what I want to do, wonderful blue glass and the leaves themselves are out so that the way to do that is to trace a leaf on tracing paper and cut it out.  Place paper below the glass and when glass melts it will do so into the space left from the cut out leaf.  So based on this beautiful piece which I did not do, I am going to try again.  Looking for a page of various leaves or what ever and trace them.
So, I am going to slump this fiber paper circles onto the scallop slump mold.
And see how it all comes out.  the question is whether I need to cut the curved top outer edges, out of the glass before putting it on the mold. And also to see if the slumping firing schedule I am using for the scallop mold works:

300 dph.............................1200 degrees...................hold 30 mins
300 dph..............................1225 degrees...................hold 1 hour
Full.....................................900 degrees.....................hold 1 hour
100 dph...............................700 degrees....................off

    Now lets see if this advances one more space or it stays above the last picture.  I did slump the circular piece and it looks like this now.

That came out beautifully.  i want to do a few more