Jan. 20...Birds and Critters!

Well, let me start off this week's blog with an apology for not having enough birds last week. I never know what will go quickly and what won't, but I had no idea the birds would go so fast. I clearly didn't have enough made up. So this week I dedicated all my time to making more birds with a few different varieties besides a Cardinal. I've got some tweaking to do on the new ones, so they'll be sold at a little bit of a lower price since they aren't the final version but I should have plenty for everyone!

I also have another announcement. I'm going to keep my shop open every day! I'm going to ship twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays. (See my updated FAQ section for more details) If you want to purchase mid-week, but have me hold your order until you see what's new on Saturday, I can do that, but you need to PUT IT IN THE NOTES OF YOUR ORDER. If not, I will assume you want them shipped on the next upcoming ship date. If you want to wait until you see what's coming on the upcoming Saturday, I'll be sure to combine your orders and refund shipping overages. Happy to do that.

Another thing that happened last week was I got a few messages from folks mentioning things were selling out before they could check out. I know the Cardinals and Pink Daisies did go fast, but none of my other new items sold out immediately. So, if you had other things that went quickly, it was probably a listing that was from last week and I only had a few left. If you see something you need before noon, feel free to order it and per-usual I'll combine all orders and refund shipping. Also, if you have signed up with ShopPay, checkout is very fast, so keep that option in mind if you want to check out quickly. If you have any questions about this just let me know.

So here we go with ....CRITTERS!! All Listings are Oceanside COE96

Starting with Cardinals!
Same as last week only I tweaked his beak from yellow to orange. There is quite the controversy as to an exact beak color, but being a St Louis Cardinal fan, I defaulted to yellow. This week he's more of a true orange/red. 1.5oz $27. These are a LIGHT TACK FUSE item and snip best with sharp wheeled nippers. Again this week, thank you to Lori Moreno from Wilderness glass for sharing her bird designs with me!

I'm calling this the "Test Tweet Trio". While I was in bird mode I made a few other fun designs. I'll change them up a bit next time so I'll have these up at a little bit of a discount. ;) The cardinal shape is just a smidge different and the other two birdies are adorable. Here they are tack fused on two different background colors. 1.5oz Design Test Discount $23


Also note the leaf in this scene. It's this week's Dogwood leaf. I have it snipped very thin. I love it like that in a tack fuse scene. Sometimes trying to get them that thin I'll have a mis-snip, but just tuck it under something and you'll never know.

This will be the Test Tweet DUO. I had a few extra red birds and grey birds, so they are in a mix of their own. There are only a few packages of these. 1.5oz Design Test Discount at $23

 

Dogwood Kits!
In this kit you'll get 6 Dogwood Flat-End Petals and 4 Dogwood Leaves. ALSO in this kit will be a frit mix of a Trans Green, Amber and Ivory that I blended up to make it smaller. Just place your 4 petals in a grouping and with a spoon put just a touch of this fine frit in the center to finish it off. See pic below. 1.5+oz canes and .25oz frit. $30

 

Dogwood Leaves
After making up the Dogwood Kits I had enough leaves left over to make ONLY 4 Packages. So don't be surprised if they zip out of your cart before you can pay. ;) They are very subtle and a new design for me. If you like them and want more I can put them back on the "to make" list. 1.5oz $26

 

Bee Kits are back!
You'll get 4 bodies, 8 wings and 4 heads. They are on the smaller side but there will be a slightly larger one in each package. Tack fuse is best to retain shapes. 1.5+ oz $30

I made a tack fused bee sample in one of Mike LaChance's open bails this week surrounded by clear medium frit. TOO CUTE!

 

Monarch Butterflies are back!
Light tack fuse. Use one side only to see a butterfly from a side view or put two together at the black line to create a full butterfly. 1.5oz $27

Also surrounded by clear frit in one of Mike's Open Bails.

 

Fish Kits are back!
Gosh I love these guys. The fella with the yellow nose is a new shape this time. His booty is flat so the tail scoots up nice and they just make me smile. Tack fuse recommended to retain exact shape 1.5+oz $30

This is one of Mike's transparent blue XL bails with Val Cox Frit. Super fast to make and absolutely adorable.

Wanted you to see my full fused tests. They are still pretty cute, just very different.

 

Hazel Critter Eyes.
I had so much fun with these eyes this week, so I'll have to show you ALL the cute samples...bear with me (ha!). Each package will be multi-size, but most will be in the medium size range. 1.5oz $26

This is a sample of the eye fully fused. One is on Olive glass and the other loose ones were snipped at about 5mm and just fully fused as a dot. Doing this gives them a rounded look when you go to tack fuse them to your critters.

Jerry the Dog ... his eyes are just snipped from the cane and tack fused. They are flatter looking and not as rounded. So these eyes have LOTS of possibilities.

 

NEW! Willie Worm Kits!
In each kit you'll get 6 to 7 two-inch twistie canes and three Critter Antennae canes! This will be WAY more antennae than you'll need, but will be fun to put on other critters in case you didn't want an entire package of antennae. Snip the twisted canes into as many pieces as you want to FULLY FUSE into dots. Snip some bigger than others to get varying sizes for your Willie. Adorn the head with a thinly sliced antennae and voila! Willie is ready to climb around in your garden. You may have left over dots as one two-inch cane will make around 8-10 dots depending on what size caterpillar you want. But I made have partial Willies to show you how cute they look peeking out of a leaf! Each cane makes 1 to 1 and a 1/2 caterpillars. 1.5oz $19

This project is 12 inches tall and about 4 inches wide. This shows the willies are pretty good size when put together and the antennae are a perfect fit as they have a rounded bottom to fit snugly against your dots


Also fun to layer off the glass for a fun effect.


One cane made this full and partial Winter Willy.

 

Critter Antennae!
The design is surrounded by clear and impossible to photograph. ;) But hold it up to the light to see inside. Snip these very thin if tack fusing which helps to make the clear less noticeable or fully fuse and they also look great. Most of the antennae are in the willy kits, so I only have a few packages of "all antennae" this week. 1.5oz $26

Antennae fully fused onto clear.

Easter Crosses are back this season!
This year they have a flat bottom so they snuggle up against your scenes better. Snip thin for a tack fuse or full fuse. See note under the below image for a tip on how to make the clear disappear perfectly into any color of glass. 1.5oz $26

In this scene I had a 6X6 inch piece of Oceanside Wispy Blue and White glass, then a 6X6 piece of 3mm clear placed on top (with a TINY bit of clear powder dusted between the layers to help prevent bubbles). I had a template on paper drawn up of the scene and marked on the clear glass where I wanted the crosses. I placed my crosses on the clear glass and fully fused. After the full fuse, the crosses blended perfectly into the top layer of clear glass and then I created the tack fused portion of the scene and put back in the kiln for a final firing. It has lots of nice dimension and I love that you can't see the clear around the crosses.

Fully Fused onto clear

Fully fused into a heart.

Thinly snipped and lightly tack fused.

Multi-size Intricate Blue Hearts. Yep...extra fish tails! But they are SO versatile. Use them as hearts, group them into flowers or so much more. Tack fuse to retain outer shape. 1.5oz $26

Grouped into a sweet little flower. :)

 

Pink and Vanilla Cream Flowers
This week's Pink Daisy is also mixed with Vanilla Cream in the centers. You'll get a mix of full pink centers, partial pink/vanilla, and all white with pink tips in the petals. 1.5oz $26

Tack Fused


One variation fully fused onto clear.

I think that wraps up this weeks Critters! What fun I had making all these samples. If you have any questions just "Chat" with me through the chat button at the bottom right of my website!

Hints on the Horizon
Next week I'll have SOFT colors of mints, chambrays and champagnes. I'll have beautiful mixes of daisies, tulips and leaves. I love them!