Glassline Fusible Paper

May 24th, 2009 WendyLee

Sounds pretty cool doesn’t it, paper that you can fuse in between layers of glass to give added texture and patterns.

This is another product that I get students to play with with teaching when teaching images on glass. It is a paper that can be fired at high temperatures between layers of glass. The paper does not burn off or warp and colurs stay bright and vibrant.

The samples of the cabochons below is using the Fusible crinkle paper in pretty mauve colour. The paper looks like crumpled up paper that has been painted and then flattened. I use these 2 examples of the paper so that people get an idea of what it looks like when fused between glass. When people have a visual of what a product will look like its easier for them to then design and create somthing using the paper.

Using this product is very easy it can be used as you would any other paper. So you can cut it using scissors, plain or the fancy serrated scissors. Use paper punchies to punch out interesting shapes to fuse into your work.

As you will see in the above image you can still see the paper, its not like a decal in that the paper burns off and leaves the colour behind. The paper stays there. You also need to leave a border around the edge of the paper otherwise the glass will not fuse correctly.

Its a great product that has many possibilities.

Glassline fusible paper is readily available from Delphi

Glassline fusible paper

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Hit and Miss Decals

May 16th, 2009 WendyLee

Sometimes things do not work the way you want to regardless of the best laid plans.
Opening that kiln door will always lead to suprises, they can be good suprieses or they can be bad ones. Sometimes so bad you want to throw a tantrum.

Working with Ceramic decals on glass can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. Some will work beautifully and others won’t for no apparent reason.

The pig cabochon below is one of those ones that didn’t work. For some reason the colour of the pig leached out and smeared. The decal was fused betweeen two layers of glass. I don;t know why this one didn;t work out when the others in the same run did work. Perhaps it was a slightly inferior decal. Not sure if decals have a shelf life, perhaps it hadn’t been stored properly or was just a bit old.

I wonder if this is what happens to a pig with Swine flu?

The cabochon with the frog decal below is also a miss. The frogs shorts started to smear and the colours are not as vibrant as they should have been. Which is a shame as it such a cute frog.

The stone cottage decal was a hit, it worked perfectly. The colours are lovely, no smearing, no bubbles!

All decals were used in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, except for the minor detail of using them on glass and not ceramics.

You win some and you loose some, but thats part of the excitement and the learning process of working with glass.

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22kt Gold Decals for Glass

May 12th, 2009 WendyLee

These are commercial glass decals that you can purchase at most glass supply places. They are available in 22k gold and platinum. They are as easy to use as the other decals but these ones are a low fire decal. Meaning they are to be fired at a lower temperature.

I always use these just on the surface of a cabochon or a pendant, I havn’t tried fusing these between layers of glass being a low fire decal I doubt they would survive so I have never tried it.

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Sepia Waterslide Decals

May 3rd, 2009 WendyLee

Sepia coloured waterslide Decals for glass have also been released in a variety of different patterns. These are ideal if you do not have access to a printer that can print waterslide transfers for you.

I purchased a couple of different patterns and had a play with them to see the depth in the colour and once again if distortion occurred if fused between 2 layers of glass.

Both pieces were fired on bullseye white. The first one was also capped with clear glass so that it was fused between 2 layers. The colour was a rich intense rusty red. I think by having the piece capped it added to the intensity of the colour. It could also have been because the kiln was fired at a much higher temperature to fuse the layers together that made the colour more intense.
The second piece was just fired on white bullseye sheet glass with no capping. The colour that came out was more a brown colour and was not as rich as if it had been capped.

For a full range of commercially available Sepia waterslide decals checkout this website : Sepia Slides

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Ceramic Decals on Glass

May 1st, 2009 WendyLee

Did you know that you can fuse ceramic decals onto your glass? Well you can, not only are they readily available, easier to find then glass decals, there is also a huge variety of them available in heaps of colours!

The other great thing about usiung ceramic decals or any waterslide transfers is that they are compatible with any COE of glass you are using.

For ceramic decals to play and experiment with there are always heaps of Auctions on Ebay and the best thing is that shipping is cheap as they can always be posted in an envelope.

Below are some of my class samples from my “Images On Glass” workshop that I have taught.

The glass eyes set are both fused on white bullseye glass sheet. The first one was fused between 2 layers of glass and the second one was fused just on the surface of the white glass.
There really isn;t muchdifference between the 2 samples although the colours of the uncapped one appear to be a little more intense, but only a fraction.

The butterflies below have always been my absolute favourites as they make such beautiful pendants. They are also a favourite of my students as well.

The first one is fused on Bullseye french Vanilla sheet glass and capped with clear glass, the second one is fused on the surface of white glass.

One thing I have found is that Ceramic decals do not hold up particularly well to multiple firings, the colours can lighten and if the decal is on the surface of the glass it can become a little crusty and rough.
So it is always best to fire the pieces as little as possible.

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