Peek Of The Week - Having A Smashing Time With Glass!

Michelle, a very dear friend of mine, bought me a very unusual Christmas present that we put to use just the other day.  She’d bought a glass making group session for five friends and herself at ‘Number8Glass’ (http://www.number8glass.co.uk) at their new purpose built studio.  I hadn’t done this kind of thing before so I didn’t know what to expect; in fact we all went along with an open mind, hoping to have a good time.

And we succeeded!

We were met by the lovely Katherine in her home before she took us through to her new all-singing, all-dancing studio in her back garden.  It’s a fantastic building, definitely one crafty space I am very jealous of; it’s large, spacious, glass fronted, stylish and modern but functional at the same time.  I want one!

The six of us settled around a table – Melissa, Elaine, Jo, Gaynor, Michelle and I. We were all given aprons and safety goggles to wear.  Katherine explained all the goodies that were laid out in front of us – glass rods, crushed glass of varying grades, Mica powders and the necessary glues.

It was a world away from making cards and I was definitely out of my comfort zone!

After a few hints and tips from Katherine we were each given a small square of glass, the colour of which we got to choose for ourselves.  We then set about designing our pieces…

My attempt, in its early stages...

I roughly drew my design on a piece of paper; I wanted a simple pink and gold design and I created this using glass rods and a special type of paper designed to withstand great heat in a kiln.  I coated this with Mica powders to co-ordinate with my design and then I sprinkled white and pink crushed glass over the whole design.  A smaller piece of glass was laid over the top, which formed a seal when Katherine put this in the kiln.

We had a choice of shape for our finished piece – we could opt for flat, or a shallow dish, or a deep dish.  I opted for the shallow dish.

...and as a finished piece. 

In this blog I’ve included pictures of some of the other designs – Melissa’s rabbit, Elaine’s beautiful angel wings and Michelle’s exploding star motif.  Jo’s design was inspired by her current crochet project, and Gaynor produced an elegant green and gold design.

Melissa's rabbit

Elaine's angel wings

Michelle's exploding star

Jo's crochet

Gaynor's Green and Gold

It was a fascinating experience and the two hours absolutely flew by.

The glass was placed in the kiln after we’d left – due to the incredible temperatures that step is best left to the expert!  Our ‘masterpieces’ were delivered to Michelle about a week later.

It was a great present.  I love imaginative and out of the ordinary gifts like this one, especially when it involves getting together and having a laugh with friends.

Merry Christmas Michelle, even though it’s late April!