July 12, 2024 • Fall Is Calling
Happy Friday and thanks to everyone who reached out to me this week with kind and positive comments about the new schedule. If by chance this is the first time hearing about it, I’m going to move to a bi-monthly posting of NEW items…the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month instead of every Saturday (details can be found on my Beth Alongi Glass Facebook Page). My shop will still be open every day like it is now and I’ll still ship orders on Mondays and Thursdays like before. This new schedule is only for NEW Murrini and my Blog, which will also be bi-monthly. I’ll send out reminders for a bit until we get in the swing of it and once again a peek at upcoming dates:
Thanks again for your understanding. My hope is this new model will work out well for everyone.
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And the WINNERS ARE...
Thanks to everyone who played the game last weekend! Over 100 people played. I loved reading your answers and all your fun comments. The correct answers were:
1. One dragonfly didn't have a tail.
2. One piece was signed.
3. One jar had rim lines at the top and the other didn't.
I put everyone who had the correct answers in a bowl (nearly everyone had them correct) and drew out these 5 names:
Congratulations to all the winners! I’ll be in touch about sending each of you a 2oz. Big Mix of Seconds!
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This week’s murrini are all COE 96 Oceanside fusible glass. They will post tomorrow, July 13, at Noon Central Time.
For those who know me, you know I LOVE the mountains. I’ll take a snowy peak over a sandy beach any day! 🤗 So I have a NEW leaf shape that has been tugging at me to make. It’s simple, but gorgeous. The Aspen Leaf. I tried it two ways, one with a subtle center vein (Yellow vein in a Sunflower Leaf) and it is just that…subtle. The shape is a bit rounder. For the second version I put a Vanilla Cream vein to make it bolder, but still subtle because it’s just the center line. The shape of it was intentionally a bit wider than tall. Both are beautiful and I mixed them together in my project. It’s just a slight difference, but I was trying to get the perfect Aspen leaf. I love them. The first version of the Aspen leaf will be in the Fall Leaf Mix, the second version (with the VC vein) will be sold by itself as a single. More on this week’s project in a bit.
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Fall Leaf Mix (also sold individually in this listing)
This is a fun variety of fall leaves. These are a TACK FUSE murrini because they will round out and lose their pointy end in too hot of a top temperature. I have a fully fused version below so you can see. Either the Chipper Nipper or wheeled nippers work well by putting the blades in the fattest part of the leaf (never top to tip). You will receive two of each design in your 1.7+oz. package which sells for $30 as they are weighing in heavy. Also, each leaf in the mix (except for version 1 of the Aspen Leaf) will be available individually in 1oz. packages for $18. When you click this listing, you will then select if you want the mix OR one of the single versions of the Opal Ombré, Orange Leaf, Olive Leaf, and the Transparent Ombré Leaf.
Aspen Leaf
This is the version of the Aspen leaf that is not in the Fall Leaf Mix. The center line is more prominent but still beautifully subtle. The Chipper Nipper or wheeled nippers will snip this precious leaf easily. These will be sold in the larger 1.5oz. packages for $26. Sizes will vary slightly in each package.
Slight SECONDS Fall Ombré Oak Leaf
Interestingly, this beautiful leaf was meant to be in the Fall Leaf Mix, but alas, it had a bit of a light area running down part of the exterior of the pull. It was embedded in the glass and I wasn’t sure if it was just a scratch, perhaps the way a vein was appearing, or some kind of inclusion. I fully fused a piece that had the strange marking down the side and it is not seen in a full fuse and certainly won’t be seen in a tack fuse. It was perfect under polarizing filters. I used wheeled nippers on these and it will have a weird crunchy sound when snipping, so be ready for that! Enjoy this cutie at a discount as 1oz. packages will be sold for $16.
This little fella was tack fused to my necklace (one of this week’s projects you’ll see below that I dropped and broke) but you can see the beautiful colors transitioning from darker green to light ambers.
Multi-size Sunflower Daisy Field
The Sunflower Daisy Fields are back this season! From large to tiny, this mix of millefiori sizes make a great scene where you want smaller flowers in the back and larger ones toward the front to show depth. They are in this week’s Aspen Grove project. They are beautiful tack fused to fully fused and snip perfectly with the Chipper Nipper or wheeled nippers. These are sold in 1.5oz. packages so you get a good variety of sizes. $26.
Tack Fuse Pumpkins
The Tack Fuse Pumpkins are also making a comeback from last year. They will round out quite a bit in any schedule hotter than a tack fuse. These are sold in 1oz. packages for $19. There are 5 or 6 canes in each package and sizes will vary slightly. Wheeled nippers or the Chipper Nipper work on these by placing the blades on the sides of the pumpkin (not bottom to fragile stem). If you miss them this week, I will have more next week.
Tack Fuse Monarch Butterflies
These Butterfly Wings are so colorful and perfect for any fall scene. This is a TACK FUSE item. Anything beyond a light tack fuse and they will lose their detailed outer design. A fully fused version is below so you can see what happens. These cuties are sold in 1oz. packages for $19. For snipping instructions, go to the “Tips” section of my website where I have a butterfly snipping tutorial.
Sea Shells
Sea Shells were also re-made for those who missed them the first time. These have a fun mix of Vanilla Cream, Persimmon and transparent Walnut and stand out beautifully on sand or blue water. I preferred snipping these with wheeled nippers with the blades placed at the top of the scalloped side and the other wheel on the flat bottom. They are sold in 1oz. packages for $19.
Here is a sample of the Sea Shell tack fused. It was a top temp of 1300 with a 5 minute hold. They will round out quickly in too hot of a top temp!!
SECONDS TINY Bird Quartet
These TINY SECONDS birds are toward the end of the pull where they are distorted some, but because they are so tiny that will not be as noticeable and they are perfect for any miniature scene. There will be Woodie the Woodpecker, a Papa and Mama Cardinal, as well as the most recent Grey Sandpiper. I use wheeled nippers on these tinies. 1oz. for $13.
SECONDS Purple Dragonfly Kits with a BONUS!
SECONDS KITS. These are seconds because the designs are past the prime design. The wings are still lovely, just a bit more swirly in shape and the bodies have only a slightly distorted design. I’ll have two variations of Dragonfly Kits to choose from when you click on this listing. One that has mostly Purple and Champagne Dragonfly Wings and one that has mostly Purple and Grey Dragonfly Wings. There will be 4 wings, 1 body and 2 tails in each kit. The tails are also seconds as they’ll have a little hole in the center. But wait! There’s more! 😄 I’ll also have 1 SECONDS Purple Butterfly Wing and 1 SECONDS Purple Flat-End Petal in each package (not shown in the photo above). These kits will be $15 each.
This is a sample of the Grey and Purple Wing.
This is a sample of the Purple and Champagne Wing.
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Here’s a sample of all of this week’s murrini fully fused. The only design that does well in a full fuse is the Sunflower Daisy. Some of the leaves hang in there pretty good, but the Butterfly, Pumpkin and Sea Shell lose their fun outer shape when fused beyond a tack.
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This week’s Projects!
Fall Leaf Necklace
First I put together a beautiful necklace by using one of Mike LaChance’s open bails (this one was a brown color) and one of Joni’s Variegated Brown Stringer as the branch.
First I glued Mike’s Open Bail and Joni’s Variegated Stringer together with a bit of super glue and also glued the ring to the kiln shelf paper so it wouldn’t move as I place the leaves.
I slipped some of them under the branch and a few on the bottom that I’ll stack more on top. Each leaf needs to be touching another part of the project to get it to fuse together well. 
This was my final version except I decided to remove one of the Aspens and put the Ombré Oak leaf inside. HOWEVER…I dropped it on my granite island while putting the bronze bail on it and thank goodness only part of the leaves broke off. It was totally salvageable and in fact I liked the project with less leaves on it after all.
I'm going to wear it out soon and gift it to the first person that says "I love your necklace". :) Can't wait to share it with someone.
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The Aspen Grove
I love it when I’m walking through Aspen trees and they look like they are looking back at you, so this was fun to create…but I had a few surprises!
First I cut two 6X6 pieces of 3mm black glass. I wanted to have some trees in the background, so I found some 2mm white glass that I thought would be perfect. It was so thin and almost transparent that I had a sneaking suspicion they’d be somewhat overpowered by the black background when they fully fused. I wanted them to be more subtle in the background. I was wrong. More on this in a minute.
I put a little bit of orange and yellow frit as background leaves around my background trees.
I then placed my project on top of the second 6X6 square that I lightly dusted with clear powder to help prevent bubbles. I also had a dam at the top of the piece in case these thin 2mm strips caused me trouble. They behaved just fine. ;)
150>1150>30
350>1450>15
9999>950>2 hours
150>700>10
300>room temp
Well, HELLOOOO bold white trees! Wow. When I took my fully fused piece out of the kiln I had a few surprises. The nearly transparent white ended up being very BOLD! I was shocked. But I was not as surprised with the yellow frit. It took on a lime green appearance as it melted into the black (it does that sometimes in my murrini). However, that is what I thought would happen with the 2mm white, the black would overpower it. I love learning! :)
So I chose to use Vanilla Cream as the foreground trees as it is usually a very bold white, but look at those little 2mm buggers in the background just as white as can be! Still…I carried on. 🤣
I stirred up a little bit of my black Easy Fire enamel paint and with a very thin brush I added my Aspen eyes and streaks. I did the background trees first, then placed and painted my foreground trees.
As you can see here, I added this week's Sunflower Daisies. I put the tinies waaaay in the back then bigger as I came toward the foreground. Normally I wouldn’t have put flowers in this scene, but I wanted to show how the different sizes of the Sunflower Daisy help give the project more depth.
I then added my Aspen leaves and a sweet little Monarch. I used a light tack fuse schedule.
300>1150>30
350>1310>5
9999>950>5 hours (I went 1 hour per 3mm layer plus an additional hour since it has lots of murrini on it).
150>700>10
300>room temperature
Oh how I can hardly wait until fall. 🍂🍁
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Hints on the Horizon
Next weekend I‘ll have a few more beautiful fall items and a spectacular GREEN Dragonfly! Stay tuned for the third project in my series of glass jars.
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Helpful Links:
If you are looking for COE 96 stringer or pre-fused dots, Joni pulls matching stringer for the items I have each week. Find her beautiful work at Aggie Glass Designs.
If you are looking for Mike LaChance’s COE 96 handcrafted Bails, find his unique work at Mike’s Innovative Glass.
If you use COE 90, be sure to shop Lori’s beautiful murrini and mille options found at Wilderness Glass.