Let The Sun Shine

I've been waiting a long time for the sun to shine through the clouds so I could take Lisa Pavelka's new Magic-Gloss outside for a test drive. Magic-Gloss is a dimensional glossy liquid that cures rock hard in sunlight. I baked it, refrigerated it and left it out on my work bench for a few days. It still kept a perfect surface tension, never bled over the edge and stayed exactly where I wanted it.

The Paisley texture is also a Pavelka design. I made little cooing noises over it at the CHA trade show and she let me play with one. I had to dig it back out of Helen's desk, but that's another story. The photo is polymer clay with foil adhered to it, then indented with the Paisley texture plate. To remove the foil from the design, yet leave the foil still in the indented lines, simply stick box tape on and pull it off. I saw Anne Igou do this at CHA and thought--wow, so I had to try it. mz





Now I dug a little deeper into Michelle's stash to find this magic piece. It's bright pink clay stamped with Lisa's paisley stamp and this time the raised pieces have been dusted with interference colors of PearlEx - gotta love that stamp. HB

Fuse Glass in your Microwave - OMG!

I've been trawling CHA in Anaheim this week for something that makes my jaw drop. In years gone by, fire marshals have had to prize folks out of 7 Gypsies booth when the show 'discovered' them. When they first launched, they took the show by storm.

On a quieter note, this year's amazing launch is a glass fuser. Perhaps nothing much to get excited about but this one works in your microwave. Yep! I'll repeat that, it works in your microwave oven and it fuses real glass - to temperatures of 1500 degrees, glowing red hot and all beautifully fused. The process takes 2 - 3 minutes in total and then 20 minutes of cooling time. Hours less than a regular kiln, heaps less expensive and cutting edge technology. The fuser is a small device that takes glass pieces to around 1.5 inches square - perfect for jewelry applications. It's cheap too... you'll probably get change from $100 when you buy it retail. It will ship as just the kiln or a kit with kiln and glass starter packs.

The FuseWorks microwaveable kiln will ship mid year. I've seen it in action and it blows your mind to see something that hot in your microwave. The outside surface of the kiln remains warm so you can handle it with ease. It will make the glass fusion hobby accessible to a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise go buy an expensive kiln. It's ground breaking and - for many of us - the new WOW! application at the show.