Recycling Broken Glass

 

Whenever I work in glass I always end up with either broken bits or things that didn't work and they all go into a tub.

Last summer I'd finally got to a place where I had enough old glass to think about recycling it.

First I had to give it a wash, then I set up my big kiln with some metal dams set up in a square, poured in all my old scrap and set it to a full fuse.

 

I should point out a couple of things here.  1. I made sure all the glass was the same brand - if you don't do this it not going to end well.  2. I lined my dam with fibre paper so nothing would stick.

Out of my kiln came a very solid slab of colourful glass and I had to think about what to do with it.

 

Later in the year I got a tile saw and a flat lap grinder.  So in the new year with some time on my hands I set about cutting up the slab and then grinding each piece down to take off sharp corners etc.  I then put half into the small kiln for a fire polish. 

 

I learn so much from this process.  For instance, you need to grind open bubbles out or you just get a cloudy mark on the surface.  Don't spend too much time shaping if using a fire polish as they are so thick they will loose their shape a bit.  Be careful using the flat lap, it will grind away your finger nails!

 

So with my second batch I took these learnings on board and tried again.

I've now got some lovely colourful chunks of shiny glass.  7 of these have had silver plated bails added and are now in my shop for sale as pendants.  Lovely chunky statement pieces.

But some of the chunks will be made into rings or brooches.  The only problems, being the price of silver right now and the amount of time I have, makes this harder to sort out.  There are some other lovely metals out there so when I have time I need to decide what I'd like to do.

I love that I am able to use my waste material to make something that hopefully people will like.  It feels much better than just chucking broken glass away. 

  

Viking Chain and Glass Beads

 

One of the gifts I received last Christmas was a kit for making Viking Chain from Abby Hook.

I'm pretty busy right now, so I wasn't sure when I'd have time to try it out, but then it snowed and there was no way I was going into the studio, so I collected some tools and sat in the warm house instead and played with wire.

It was much more straight forward than I thought it would be.  Basically you need to wrap your wire round a dowle and depending on the thickness of your wire and your dowle and if you use 3 or 4 loops will all change how your chain turns out.

It's amazing, as once you've done all you're wrapping you've got quite a solid worm of wire, but then you use the draw plate and suddenly it's thinner, flexible and flowing.

 

I made my first chain using the copper wire in the kit I received.  I then made a second from some thinner purple wire from a job lot I got off Facebook.

Lastly I made a silver chain with some silver coloured thin wire. 

Which is when I realised they needed something extra.  So once the snow recided I did go down to the studio and made some beads.  Amber to go on the copper chain, purple for the purple chain and cream and turquoise for the silver.  I actually tried two different purples, but the dark was best.

 

I pulled the purple chain a little thinner than the silver chain and the beads move around, while the beads on the silver chain can be moved, but won't move by themselves.  I quite like that they sit still.  I like having that control, plus they won't full off when I undo the chain. 

These are fun and easy to make, and nice and light to wear.  I think the silver is my favourate, but I'd wear them all.  I wonder what other colour combo's I can come up with?

Mini Needle Felted Unicorn

 

This Christmas I was gifted a mini needle felted unicorn kit.

It was super cute and when I opened the box the colours were brilliant!  I really wanted to start making it there and then, but apparently it's not approprate at the dining table.  I wasn't sure when I would get the chance to make it.

And then on the Saturday after Christmas I was supposed to go down to the studio and do something with glass.  But it was cold and even with the heater on, it didn't seem to make much difference.  And it's a mess too which didn't inspire me.  I settled for having a quick tidy then retreated back to the house.

What to do?  And my eyes fell on the unicorn kit.

 

I had to get one of the felting mats left over from another felting project, otherwise I was good to go.

It didn't take long, just the afternoon.  The instructions were pretty clear, although I decided to do legs last once I knew I had all the material I needed to making the head, ears and horn.

But it was only when I added the mane and tail that she came alive!  'im outdoors called it the 'disco unicorn' and that seems a reasonable description.  If my fringe was that long and in my face I'd have cut it off by now, but I think it suits her.   Hope it doesn't annoy her as much as it would me.

 

I also added a star on her rump, seeing as I had so much colour left over. 

A nice little afternoon project.  But I'll have to get into the studio at some point.