February 6, 2026 • Corning Class, Beautiful Flowers, Experiments and the Powder Printer!
Just a quick thank you for your understanding with my once-a-month blog/project/sale. The extra time it allows me has already been a blessing for me and my family.
My class at the Corning Museum Studio was absolutely amazing. The "Welcome to the Torch" instructor was Christa Westbrook. I can't say enough wonderful things about her. She made the class both fun and interesting. She was very prepared with meticulous handouts and her demos on the torch were so in depth that you could immediately go back to your station and recreate it (well, you know...a beginner version of it!) 😅 She is an amazingly talented glass artist and I am honored to have her as a new friend.
With this being my first time at Corning, I wasn't prepared for all the activities they had planned for us in our down time. Evening lectures, presentations, tours, etc. Plus the studio was open until 11pm to be able to go in after dinner and keep practicing. I was exhausted in the most fantastic way.
Christa took this photo of our class hard at work. There were 9 students in our group. If you have Instagram, find her @xristawestbrook to get your socks knocked off!
Here we are on my last day. Smiles abound!
My morning view from the hotel of beautiful Corning.
The town sparkled at night!
This was my work station showing just a few of the many tools I had to work with. My space wasn't as tidy as the week went on. 🤣
Just a little variety of the treasures I made. Not shown are tons of beads, marbles, leaves, pendants and other practice pieces. I also worked with my own murrini and twisted canes. They did ok, but COE 96 (soft glass) is not as user friendly in the torch as the COE 33 Boro (hard glass) which has a high resistance to thermal shock. It was nice to have the opportunity to learn more about hard glass vs. soft glass and how it moves in the torch. Maybe some day I'll get a torch setup in my shop, but for now I'll just dream of the things I'll create next time I'm in a class at Corning. 😊
Then came winter storm Fern......
This unfortunate weather event meant I had to head out a day early. I missed class Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. My heart was BROKEN, but why add more stress to my 87 year old mom who was worried about me driving 12+ hours home INTO the storm. So I had no other option and left Corning filled with JOY, as I knew I would be back for another class some day. What a great experience...do it if you can!
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Back home and in the shop, I had a month filled with fun experiments. I love nothing more than new glass gadgets! I recently purchased the Powder Printer. It was created by Paul Tarlow and his wife Angela Beucler. If you haven’t had the chance to watch it in action, Paul created a really wonderful tutorial (I’ll have the link to it at the end of my blog), which I watched several times and followed closely. It was so thorough it allowed my first experiments to be a total success!
Feeling Springy, my murrini this month consists of a really beautiful grouping of flowers and leaves, some requested remakes, and the addition of a little Valentine mix for good measure. Let’s get started with a little sneak peek at this month's projects and then all the details of each murrini.
Housekeeping notes:
All of my murrini are COE 96. This month’s murrini will go on sale tomorrow, Saturday February 7, at NOON Central time.
I only use Oceanside fusible glass unless I specify differently in the listing. With that said, the Lilac Teardrops this month include COE 96 Youghiogheny Plum.
This Month’s Murrini:
Wildflower Mix
This yummy Spring mix of wild flowers will have five different designs. Each package has two of each design (10 canes). What I love most about these sweet flowers is they look beautiful tack fused to fully fused. They have an outer frilly design that remains when tack fused, but when fully fused, the petals spread out but still remain separated. They will flip and fuse as well as flatten beautifully.
Dogwood Mix
Since Easter is approaching, the Dogwoods are back in stock! If tack fused, the almond flower petal keeps its top indention. If fully fused, it will round out, but still keep its split look. Place four petals around the center dot to create your flower. Kits will be sold by size of petal (S, M, L) with one center cane, four petal canes, and two leaf canes. Check out my Feb 14, 2025 blog for some creative ways to use the Dogwood murrini.
Dogwood Leaves
I'll also have a few packages of just the Dogwood Leaves available. Sizes will be mixed in each package, but will be running mostly on the smaller side. Tack fuse recommended to keep the point pointy!
Baby Blues
This cutie was a requested remake. I had a very similar version last month as a tiny, but created them as a regular sized cane this month. These flowers are beautiful tack fused to fully fused. All blossoms like this are also great flip and fused, too. Sizes will vary in each package slightly.
Winter Red Trio
This is a really pretty trio consisting of a Heart, Ripple Petal and Leaf. This mix is best at a light tack fuse to retain the outer shape of the heart and leaf. However, the Ripple Petal will be great at all temps. The hearts and ripple flowers are made with Vanilla Cream and Reds. The Artsy leaf is a bit lighter in color (Oceanside Pewter) than my most recent gray leaf. The mix comes with three of each design (9 canes).
Red Hearts
I recently sold out of hearts, but they aren't just for Valentines Day! Hearts are perfect for so many creations where a little love is needed ❤️. These hearts are definitely best at a TACK FUSE. If contour fused or fully fused, they will lose their outer heart shape. Sizes will range in each package from tiny to large and inner designs will vary for a really fun variety.
Red Wildflower
I will have a few of the Red Rippled Wildflowers available as singles, too. They fuse beautifully at a light tack fuse to a full fuse. The exterior color is Vanilla Cream, so be careful when fusing onto any background color that might react with them (blues/green are mostly likely to cause a reaction).
Artsy Pewter Gray Leaves
I love the artsy look of these leaves. As I mentioned above, these are created with Oceanside Pewter Gray and are a shade lighter than my most recent gray leaf. This photo was taken in good lighting and they appear a bit lighter here.
Blue Tulip Duo
I love this Tulip Duo. The darker blue tulips are mostly Hydrangea. The lighter tulips have a white exterior, but below the blue tip you notice a creamy blush area, which is Champagne opal. The tulips are definitely a light tack fuse murrini.
Olive Green Ripple Petals
These Ripple Petals are bold and sassy! Filled with both opal and transparent Olive Green, they also have an occasional pop of Sunflower and Yellow. They are fairly consistent in size and are mostly medium to large size canes.
Multi-size Gorgeous Green Leaves
This is my favorite all-purpose leaf. Each package will be multi-size from very small to larger for a nice variety.
Little White Wallflower
This is another favorite blossom of mine. I’ve made it for years and its name is fitting. It’s like that girl standing against the wall, just waiting for the handsome guy across the room to come over and ask her to dance...and when dancing, she lights up the room! Simple, yet elegant, this blossom is wonderful tack fused to fully fused.
Reactive Peacock Teardrops
These little innocent looking cuties are definitely reactive once you fuse them. I have just enough Vanilla Cream in them to cause a slight reaction that will happen on the OUTSIDE of the teardrop. The hotter you fuse them, the darker the outer portion will become. The more layers you see in the teardrop, the more reactive/dark the exterior will be. I prefer these at a lighter tack fuse as they will really round out in a full fuse and be mostly dark. Later in the blog you’ll see a fully fused version that shows this. They will be sold in 1.5oz. packages and sizes will vary from smaller to larger.
Lilac and Plum Teardrops
These sweet Purple Teardrops have Yougiogheny Plum, Oceanside Lilac, Grape Transparent and Vanilla Cream in them. They are in 1.5oz. packages and will have a variety of inner design patterns and sizes of canes will be smaller to larger. They can be used as petals, leaves, or any kind of design element. They are lovely tack fused to fully fused and can be snipped with wheeled nippers or the Chipper Nipper placed on the fattest part of the murrini.
Orange Teardrops (multi-size)
I pulled these as tinies last month, but I wanted to have the bigger version available in my shop…so here they are! Made with opal and transparent oranges and yellows with a splash of Vanilla Cream for a bold pop. I can't get enough of these! Put them together in a grouping to make a beautiful flower, or just use them as a decorative element. They will need to be tack fused for an “as-is” look, however they are beautiful fully fused in a group. Try grouping them as a flower on a 3mm clear circle, then flip and fuse it for a really great pendant! They will be available in 1.5oz. packages and sizes will vary from smaller to larger.
Frog Eyes
These fun Frog Eyes are back in stock! They are great at a light tack fuse for an as-is look, or fully fuse them into a dot for a rounder version. No matter how they are fused, these make me smile. Find a really fun project using the Frog Eyes in my Oct 3, 2025 blog.
White Roses
Back by request are White Roses. They are created with Vanilla Cream and clear glass. I will have them packaged by size of cane. The more canes in each package, the smaller they will be. They are so beautiful flip and fused. If you are new to the "flip and fuse" process, you'll find a how-to in the Tips/Tutorial section of my website.
Here is a sample of them flip and fused. They spread out beautifully and really show each inner petal. Last year I created a sweet little dish using the White Roses, which can be found in the "Gabby's Wedding" blog on April 4, 2025 if you'd like to take a look.
Cardinals
Our favorite red-feathered friend is back. Each package will have either 5 canes or 6 canes and sizes may vary in each package. I prefer this fella at a light tack fuse.
Ombré Green Leaves
Ombré Green Leaves are also back this month. They will range slightly in size from smaller to larger. A light tack fuse is recommended to keep the point pointy. 😜
Daffodils
Like my other blossoms this month, the Daffodil is perfect tack fused to fully fused. The Daffodil has a transparent center and is the perfect addition to any garden scene. This beauty will also be gorgeous flip and fused.
Hazel Critter Eyes
Critter Eyes were another requested murrini that I was happy to recreate! They have shades of blue, green and brown with a little inner highlight in each eye. I like to make them with the highlight as it takes me back to photography days where the professor always said "If their eyes don’t have a highlight, they look dead." Yikes! So we have a highlight! 😅 Sizes will vary in each package, but are mostly small/medium size.
This month’s fully fused tests:
Here are all of this month’s murrini in a fully fused test. You can see the blossoms and ripple petals all look wonderful fully fused. The heart, tulips, cardinal, leaves and teardrops all round out too much. Also note the Reactive Turquoise teardrop (second from right on the second row). The hotter you fuse it, the darker the exterior will be from the top view. 
The above photo is showing the underside, which is often super cool! The top row is the Olive Ripple Petal and the Teardrops. The layers look spectacular from underneath. Also, the flowers this month are amazing as well, which also tells us they will be the bomb flip and fused!😜
Finally, here are the Frog Eye and Critter Eyes fully fused into dots. They are cool this way, too! Also, the White Roses shown after being flip and fused. If you are new to the flip and fuse technique, you can find more information in the Tips/Tutorials section of my website.
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I’ll have a few SECONDS this week:
SECONDS Olive Dragonflies
I will have a few packages of really lovely SECONDS Olive Dragonfly Kits. What makes them seconds is they will have slightly under or over formed inner designs in the wings, but will be sold with perfect bodies and tail canes. The 4 wings in each package will vary in size, so you'll have a variety to work with.
SECONDS Critter eyes
The SECONDS eyes will have smaller centers with lots of white around them. Sizes in each package will range, but they will be heavy on the smaller sizes, but will also have a few larger canes as well.
Small Centered Wildflowers (Slight Second-ish)
These cuties are not really seconds, but are nearing the end of the pull where the centers have become smaller. Some people love this fuller petal look, but they'll be discounted slightly since some of the inner design may not be present. They will be sold individually (either all yellow, all green, or all orange).
SECONDS 2oz. Tinies
I had enough SECONDS Tinies to make up a few big 2oz. bundles. These are perfect to use when you need filler, but not necessarily a "perfect" design. I tried to get at least one of each design in each package, but they will have more of some designs than others. There are lots of butterfly wings fluttering around. 😉
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Powder Printer Projects
Here is step 1 of the Powder Printer process. I won't go into too much detail as I recommend watching Paul's video as he's the expert in explaining how to do these steps. In the above photo I'm making my base wafer from white powder and the kiln shelves have kiln wash on them. I'm using Paul's recommended temperatures in my Hot Shot 24G.
Here is step #2 where I have built up colored powder over the base wafer. Note the lower left darker green is Adventurine Green powder. It came out perfectly sparkly after a full fuse. I need a little sparkle in my life!
Here they are after a full fuse. Perfect! I used ZYP on the underneath side of the little shelves in this second step. ZYP worked great.
After washing the pieces, I snipped up this week's murrini and got out some molds...pondered how I wanted to use each piece from the Powder Printer.
I started with my oval shapes first. In my mind's eye I saw a blooming flower with little detailed centers. I laid them out and used some red stringer for stems. I wanted to make a free-standing piece, so I put a sharpie mark on the area where the piece would eventually slump over.
I decided just to put a little center area of murrini inside each petal. I just recently bought some Papyros LiquiFuse gel and used it for all my projects this week. In the initial tests, I didn't have any post-fuse residue or anything funky happen. It's very similar to GlassTac!
I filled each petal and added some random hearts and a little bit of Vanilla Cream stringers (wiggled in the torch) to finish up the piece. Here it is after it has been tack fused, but before the slump.
Next is my white filigree shape. I decided to cut a piece of 3mm clear to sit it on, so I could "float" my murrini inside each circle.
With a little bit of LiquiFuse, I placed alternating teardrop flowers in each outer circle. Easy peasy!
Here it is after the tack fuse!
This shape (and color choice on my part) had me a little befuddled. I wasn't sure where to go with it. But I knew I wanted it to be my Easter piece with the Dogwoods and Tulips on it.
I decided to fill each section with fine frit. So I cut a piece of 3mm clear glass as the base and added blue frit for the sky and green frit for the grass. I placed some of Joni's brown variegated stringers (after wiggling them in the torch to taper the ends) as branches of my Dogwood tree.
Here is the completed piece before the tack fuse. I placed some medium Moss Green frit around the center, then placed my tulips above it (just to give my tulips some grass to be growing out of). I then placed my Dogwood petals around the center dot, and the Dogwood leaves along the design to finish it off. I knew because of the very uneven base, my Dogwoods may move and shift during the tack fuse process, but I was ok with that.
Here is the tack fused version. The flowers held up pretty good as far as moving around. I was very happy.
I decided to build my final piece inside my Hot Shot 24G. This kiln is great because I don't have to lean over and can build projects directly on the shelf! Here you see my fully fused stencil and my murrini chopped and ready to go. It's on Papyrus's new "Organic" kiln shelf paper, so that is why it doesn't look white underneath.
I filled each opening with this month's murrini. The outer flowers are the Little White Wallflower. I did put a teeny tiny bit of clear powder around the White flowers as they were slightly smaller than the hole. Since it was a tack fuse, I needed powder around them so they had something to tack to. For the larger holes, I filled them with this month's murrini but I couldn't get them as tight as I wanted. So I got some of last month's TINIES and filled in all the gaps. A PERFECT way to use your Tinies!
As you can see, the larger holes are filled with murrini and EACH MURRINI is touching another murrini or the side of the opening for a nice tight fit. I thought I might pick up the piece after the tack fuse and have a murrini or two still on the kiln shelf (that didn't quite tack onto something else within that space), but alas...every murrini stayed. Note I have an open hole on the upper left. I kept that open on purpose as I wanted this to be a suncatcher and needed a place to put my string.
Here is the final piece. Look how the sun catches the Adventurine Green. I couldn't love this anymore! It is also equally pretty from the back side!
Here it is from the underneath. The murrini facing the kiln shelf will always be nice and sharp. The Powder Printer design looks a bit white and patchy, but that is because I used white powder as my base wafer. In retrospect, I would have used clear powder as my base so the Adventurine Green could be seen from both sides.
Now to finish off the last three pieces...
I have my Valentine Flower on a GM81 Bend It Mold from Creative Paradise. My Dogwood piece is gently balancing on the GM50 Large Cone Former, and the scalloped Teardrop piece is on a stainless steel former I got several years ago...I think from Slumpy's. All my molds are sprayed with ZYP.
The problem here is my Valentine piece is only 3mm and my other two are 6mm. I didn't want to over-drape my Valentine piece, so I kept my top slumping temp at 1240, but held it only for 20 minutes. I knew that would be enough time for the 3mm piece, but wasn't sure that was going to be enough time for the 6mm pieces.
My hunch was right. The 3mm piece is great, but I had hoped for a "droopier" look from my other two pieces. However, once I looked at my Dogwood piece off the mold, it looked exactly like a basket and I went with that!
So here is the final version. I bent a 6" green Twistie into an arch in the torch to make the handle. I also took some of Joni's brown variegated stringer and heated it onto the handle of the basket in the torch. I annealed the handle overnight, then with some E6000, I attached the handle to the basket. Note: the bottom of the piece was not flat and unable to stand on its own, so I made a small 3mm clear circle and used E6000 to glue it to the base so it would stand. A pretty darn cute little experiment!
For the Teardrop dish, I did have to put it back in the kiln for another drape to get it to come down a bit more evenly. I slowly took it to 1240 again, but held it for 40 minutes. Note the darker exterior of the peacock teardrop. This is the reactive property of the design which I love.
I'm using it as a little candy dish.
Thanks for coming along with me on a fun experimental journey this month. I love trying new techniques because there is so much to learn from test projects. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the Powder Printer pieces. I'm looking forward to testing it again soon with a few of the other patterns I bought! Stay tuned!
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Hints on the Horizon:
My next drop of new murrini with be the FIRST Saturday in March, which is 03/07/2026. I'll have lots of flowers, leaves, birds, and so much more!
If there is a murrini you'd like me to have in stock again, please email me with a photo of it and I'll put it back on my list.
NEW! On a fun note, I have a DISCOUNT code with Hot Shot Kilns! If you purchase a kiln from them and use ALONGI10 at checkout, you'll receive 10% off your order! I don't receive anything from Hot Shot Kilns when you use this code, but you'll get a discount and it lets them know you are a friend of mine! I'm a FAN y'all!!
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Helpful Links:
If you use COE 90, be sure to shop Lori’s beautiful murrini options found at Wilderness Glass.
Oceanside's recommended Firing Schedules.
If you are looking for COE 96 stringer or pre-fused dots, Joni pulls matching stringer for the murrini I make. Find her beautiful work at Aggie Glass Designs. Joni is also my supplier for the Window Cards that we can use for our artwork.
For beautiful COE 96 Twisties, check out Sherry's lovely work at Love•Peace•Create•Shop.
Kiln shopping? Check out my friends at Hot Shot Oven & Kiln. They'll give you great customer service along with a great product made in Wisconsin! For a 10% discount, use Alongi10 at checkout! I don't receive anything from Hot Shot Kilns when you use this code, but it lets them know you are a friend of mine and lets you know I'm a FAN of their KILNS!
Looking for a good Chipper Nipper or Leponitt wheeled nippers? I recommend purchasing these two "must-haves" from witsendmosaic.com. They call the Chipper Nipper "Ceramic Scissors". The wheeled nippers I prefer are the Leponitt G30C. They also have lovely jewelry bezels, too!
If you are looking for Mike LaChance’s fusible COE 96 handcrafted bails, find his unique work at Mike’s Innovative Glass.
For beautiful COE96 frit blends, check out Val Cox's website.
My favorite flattening technique is from a tutorial by Nancy Sala. It’s worth the $8 for the excellent tips she gives. Once purchased and she sees your order, she will email you the tutorial in a PDF.
I buy my Easy Fire Enamels from Cheryl Chapman's website.
Looking for a pneumatic chopper? Sue and Brad Darte make a great product backed by excellent customer service.
For Janice's pre-cut COE 96 ornament blanks, find her at LakeRabbitDesigns.
For information on Paul Tarlow's Powder Printer: Check out his Fusing Factory website and his Youtube Video for creating with the Filigree Stencils.