A Present for Tim and Christy

Maple leaf dish

Sept 26th:  I started this fused glass dish about 5 months ago but then just didn't have the time to work on it - with the long hours at work etc.  But, I finally finished it this week and it is ready to be delivered - Happy fall T+C!  I made it to match your living room accent colors  :)

How I made it...

• Step 1 - prepare the "patterned piece".
  I laid some Maple leaves on a clear sheet of glass and sprinkled blue glass powder around the edges.  Then carefully lifted off the Maple leaves.  This left a blue maple outline on the clear glass.   Then this was fired to fix the blue glass powder to the clear glass.
   
• Step 2 - assemble the "tile".
  I cut a piece of spring green glass to the size of the dish I wanted to make (8"x13").  This is the bottom layer of this 2-layered dish.  Then I cut the "patterned piece" and two shades of blue to assemble them above the green layer of glass.  This is the top layer.  The green shows through the clear background of the patterned piece, highlighting the leaves.  This was fired at 1500F for the assembled pieces to fuse in to one solid tile.
• Special effect - where the green (sulfur bearing) glass meets the lighter blue (copper bearing) glass, there is a chemical reaction that causes an artistic feature - a thin brown line
   

  

  Thin brown accent line on edge

  
   
  
  
  
  
     
  
  
  
   
• Step 3 - Finishing rough edges.I sandblasted the fused glass tile to get any impurities and rough edges out, and also to give it a matte finish.  This particular piece also had some devitrification on the patterned piece - but nothing that a good sandblasting wouldn't cure  :)  I was a little concerned that the sandblasting might diminish the blue powder pattern, but luckily, it had no impact on the powder.
   
• Step 4 - Slump
  I scrubbed it with soap and water to get it clean of any debris and then slumped it over a mold, in order for my tile to take its final shape.
   
• Step 5 - Tim/Christy - now I just need to come by one of these days and deliver it to you guys  :)