Don’t Burn Your Hands Off! {Microwave Kiln Tutorial}

Happy Friday folks! Wow, this week flew by! I have been wanting to share some of the fused beads I started making last weekend with my Microwave kiln but I was debating whether or not I wanted to do a video tutorial to go with it. All it took was one viewer asking me to and I got to work:

 

This craft is NOT for kids. The glass is hot and if you aren’t careful you can burn your hands off…well, maybe not off…still, why chance it? This video will take you though the process of using the kiln, cutting glass, assembling the bead and fusing it. All with the flawless video production you have come to expect…ha ha ha, I can’t even type that with a straight face! 😀  Everything is live to tape so you can see the kiln in action…also “live” means that anything can happen (and usually does) in my videos, that said, enjoy.

Details: I have a Fuseworks Microwave kiln, I just saw the one I have for $67 on Amazon with free shipping. I’m not sure if it comes with glass or not but mine came with a few sheets of kiln paper and some glass to practice with. I recommend buying a large sheet of thin smooth shelf liner paper from the stained glass store as well as scrap glass which is about $2 a pound, way cheaper than the Fuseworks stuff and it works just fine, in fact it is what I used in the video. Below are the beads I made. About an hour after the video went live last night someone offered to buy them, woot! Now that’s a feather in my cap!

 

That’s it for a today, I hope you have a lovely weekend, tomorrow I have plans to go roller skating and see a psychic…not that I believe in that (I think it is hogwash) but it should make for an amusing evening…especailly if there is wine involved:) I’ll let you know how it goes. I got a fortune cookie last night that said “You will receive a great honor” and frankly I give more credence to the cookie. Til next time happy crafting!

WOYWW & Fun with Epoxy!

Howdy crafters! It is still Tuesday night here but in Jolly Old England it is Wednesday and that means it’s time for What’s on your work desk Wednesday! I was sent a tube of 5 minute Epoxy from the Gorilla Glue company and I had a ball all weekend using it to make pendants that will be turned into pins and necklaces at the craft fair I will be doing in December:

 

I had always been a little intimidated to try two-part epoxy but it is really easy to use, sets up fast and is super-duper strong when it is cured, you can even use it for resin charms but it is best as a glue because it is really thick. Here is a video to show you how I used it…be warned, I’m even more giddy than usual {but that might just be the glue fumes LOL!}

Here is a peek over at my other work surface, recently cleaned. I had been cutting a lot of glass over the weekend so I needed to wipe down the counter and vacuum all of the glass dust and shards:

 

Don’t you dig this awesome caddy?  The local hospital gift shop closed and my friend Glenna (she’s a nurse) snagged 2 of these awesome displays for me to use in my craft fair booth of for studio storage! Thank you sweetie!

 

Currently my gelatos are in there along with a few odd completed projects that I will share one I get them packaged up all pretty 🙂 Well, this is a bit long-winded for me (I’m a faster talker than typer) so I will wrap it up and direct you to The Stamping Ground if you want to have a peek at other great crafty desks…maybe next week you will join us, eh? Till next time happy crafting!

A giftie for my Sistie…er, Sister!

When my sister gave me the Fuseworks microwaveable bead kiln for my birthday I knew I wanted to make some beads for her to thank her:

Stamp: Stampin Up!, Paper: K& Co., Die Cuts: Creative Cuts & More, Punch: Martha Stewart

To display and protect the beads in the mail I used a shaker kit from Creative Cuts and More. To keep the backs of the post style earrings from poking through the envelop when I mailed it I placed some plastic packaging behind the card and mailed it in a padded envelope, they arrived safe and sound 😉 To attach the beads to the metal bail and ear posts I used E6000 glue, it’s rugged so beware! Have good ventilation.

For the earrings I used black glass for the bottom layer, then a bit of silver leafing, then transparent green on top. For the pendant I used black glass with a foil pattern and clear on top. The foil did no damage to my microwave in the kiln!

That’s all for today, thanks for stopping by and till next time happy crafting!

The coolest craft ever!!!

…Or maybe I should say “hottest” craft! For the past two days I have been obsessed with making fused glass in my microwave!

Can you belive I made this in the microvave!?!

I am NOT kidding, my sister (who is the most awesomest sister in the world) remembered that I saw an ad for a microwaveable bead kiln in a magazine and bought me one for my birthday! She gave it to me Thursday! I love this thing, it is made by a company called Diamond Tech and the brand is Fuseworks, she got me the beginners kit that came with some colored glass rectangles, glass shards, foiled glass, millifeori slices, the kiln, kiln paper, glass cutter and heat resistant gloves. Now, I have an old wimpy microwave so I was very skeptical that it would work since it recommends a microwave with a wattage of 800-1200 but it worked! I just had to nuke it longer! Here is how it works:

Place a piece of kiln paper on the kiln and lay your staked glass on top. Place it in the microwave for 2-4 minutes.

Here are some glass scraps on a peice of kiln paper 😉

Put on the gloves and peek under the lid to see if it has melted yet, if it had take the kiln out and set it on a trivet to cool for 30 minutes (no more peeking under the lid!) If not heat it for 30 seconds to a minute at a time until it is melted.

Let's Take a peek in the kiln. Yes, it glowing, it's that hot!

After cooling for 30 minuted remove the lid and let it cool some more, trust me the glass will still be hot and hot glass looks just the same as cold glass (don’t ask me how I know)

Remove the glass from the kiln and enjoy!

After a few beads I knew I was hooked so I went on-line to see where I could get replacement glass and kiln paper and no surprise It was pricey, a small bag with a couple of glass scraps was $6 so I found some old glass I had leftover for a stained glass project and tried that in the kiln and it worked just fine! I even sandwiched some glass slivers between a microscope slide and that melted too! I also found that if the kiln paper was still intact you could use it over again, try to remove the bead without disturbing the paper, I got 4 firings from one piece of kiln paper. The kiln paper keeps the hot glass from sticking to the kiln. After experimenting with random glass I decided to visit mt friendly neighborhood stained glass supplier where I bought a jumbo coffee can of colored glass scraps and a 18″x18″ sheet of ultra thin kiln paper fro under $15. The lady at the stained glass shop was familiar with the kiln, she even had one of the Fuseworks kilns. The glass I got from her was 95 COE (coefficiency of expansion) and the stuff in the kit was 90 COE but they both worked just fine. As for the ultra thin firing paper I had to use two layers of it but I could get multiple firings if I was careful and as a bonus it left the back of my glass and edges a lot smoother.

This is so much fun! I am glad you can use off brand supplies with it although the beginner kit gives you a lot to work with, I approve of this kit and if you shop around on line you can likely get  a good deal on it! I saw them for $95 various places.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting…now what can I melt today….