June 6, 2025 • All Things Leaves
Happy Friday! I’ve had a wonderful break! As you know, several weeks ago I had murrini called Gabby’s Wedding Mix, that I had created for my niece's upcoming wedding. Gabby and Klayton got married in beautiful Stresa, Italy, and we all were there. It's fun to get spiffed up once in awhile. As much as I missed my glass shop, I had the BEST vacation and the wedding was perfect in every way. Guy and I also did a little bit of an extended trip, both before and after the wedding, and I took a silversmithing class in Tuscany, which was another highlight of my trip. Here are a few pics.
However, before I left on my trip, I got all the murrini goodies ready for Saturday’s sale and also planned a fun game! I have all leaves coming out tomorrow, Saturday, June 7. They will be sold as mixes and as singles (but mostly as mixes). This should get us fixed up with both Summer and Fall leaves for all your upcoming projects. It’s a fun variety and my project for this week uses all but the Aspen leaves. (See my Aspen Leaf project in the Aug. 2, 2024 toward the end of the blog).
Also, this week’s “Thank You Note” is a scratch off game! One lucky artist will get their order for FREE this week and 10 others will receive a coupon for a mini tub of Nicole’s Sugar Scrub with their next order. My sister came to stay at my house, to be with the parents while I was out of the country, and she made all the scratch off cards for me so I wouldn’t know which card is the winner. It will be a surprise for me too! There are 100 cards, so the first 100 people who order on Saturday will receive one. More on this at the end of the blog.
Housekeeping Notes: All my murrini are COE 96 made with Oceanside fusible glass. They will go on sale tomorrow, Saturday, June 7, at NOON Central time. For all my leaves, I recommend a light tack fuse to keep the pointed tips pointy, but a fully fused version of each leaf will be shown below.
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This week’s Murrini:
Summer Garden Leaf Mix (and as singles)
In this mix you’ll receive two each of the 5 designs (Philodendron, Green Ombré, Curved Amazon, Dark Green transparent, and Gorgeous Green Leaf). There will be two sizes of packages due to weight. One size will be 1.5+ oz. in weight. The second size will be 1.65+ oz. in weight. The 1.65+ oz. leaves are just slightly bigger (or a few in the package will be). All of the leaves shown above will also be sold as singles as a variation when you click on the Summer Garden Leaf Mix listing.
Transparent Fall Leaf Mix (and as singles)
Five designs are also in this beautiful mix. The colors are warm and buttery, with ambers giving them a honey appearance and a splash of orange is added in for fun. I experimented with a two-toned leaf. One side is light amber, the other side is a darker amber. It is difficult to see in the photo, but you can get a better look at it in this week’s project. There are two solid color designs (Amber and Chocolate tapered leaf, and the Orange curved leaf). The Oak leaf has alternating colors with light and dark ambers and there is an ombre leaf going from dark to light with beautiful greens and ambers. There will be two of each leaf design in each 1.5+oz. order and again a little bit larger package at 1.65+ oz. All of the leaves shown above will also be sold as singles as a variation when you click on the Transparent Fall Leaf Mix listing.
Opal Fall Leaf Mix (and as singles)
Like the other two mixes, there are five designs in this opal mix. A solid Red, Yellow and Olive Green leaf, as well as an Ombré Oak leaf and Ombré tapered leaf. These colors are bold and fun. These were more consistent in size and Lisa was able package them all at 1.5+ oz. You will receive two of each color, totaling 10 canes per order. All of the leaves shown above will also be sold as singles as a variation when you click on the Opal Fall Leaf Mix listing.
Fall Aspen Leaf Mix
There are 5 shades of Aspen Leaves. Amazon, Fern, Yellow, Marigold and Flame. They are absolutely beautiful together. I created a sweet little project with these last year, so if you need a refresher (and to see them fully fused), take a peek back toward the end of the August 2, 2024 blog. These will only be sold in 1oz. mixes, which is one cane of each color. Sizes in each package may vary slightly. 
Here are my test pieces showing each leaf fully fused. As you can see, they are best at a light tack fuse (like in my project) to keep their shape. 😉
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This week’s project:
Fall’s Beauty
Years ago I had a class and we made a similar tree project. It’s quick, easy and fun to put together. I used one full cane of each of the 15 different leaves (except for the Aspens leaves). You could make this project any size you’d like.
I used my Taurus saw to cut out the tree shape from Oceanside Chocolate 3mm glass.
I took a 2.25 X 12” piece of 3mm clear and using my wheeled nippers I snipped all along the edge, which gave me the scalloped shaped pieces that I am going to use as the base to set my leaves on.
I drew my tree shape with a sharpie on Thinfire kiln shelf paper and started laying my pieces out. First I did the exterior of the tree, gluing each piece down with a tiny dot of superglue (this way my piece won’t move as I transfer it to the kiln).
I continued to fill in the inside of the tree shape with my clear pieces of glass. I do have most of the tree completely covered in clear.
I snipped my murrini down (one full cane of each design) and you can see the progression, in this next series of photos, as I placed the leaves right to left. I’ve also made a similar project where I put down one color at a time so they were all evenly spaced out. You just need to make sure that each leaf is sitting on a piece of the clear glass. If you didn’t get your area completely covered in clear, a little open space here and there is just fine. I did put the tiniest bit of glue on any leaf that was trying to move on me when transferring to the kiln.
Here it is after a very light tack fuse. There are lots of stands available out there, but this little wooden stand has a 3mm groove cut into it and the base of the tree sits in it perfectly. I put a little bit of putty in the groove first (the kind that never sets up that I got at Hobby Lobby) just to help it from lifting out too easily. This also gives you a peek at ALL the leaves from this week. The transparent leaves are so much fun on clear when the light is shining through them. A super easy and fun project to make.
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Hints on the Horizon: I’ll have Fall themed murrini up next with the cutest little project. July will be all things Christmas!
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Scratch Off Game Details: The first 100 people who order this Saturday will have a Scratch Off in their Thank You Note. Just scratch off the silver circle to reveal what’s underneath. ONE lucky winner’s card will say “ORDER IS FREE!!”, 10 cards will say “SUGAR SOAP” and the rest of the cards will say “Drats!” which means you didn’t win anything this time (of course everyone is a winner in my eyes!). If you are one of the 11 winners, then take a picture of your scratch off next to your name on your packing slip and email or text it to me. I’ll refund the total purchase (including shipping) to the one lucky winner and for those who won Sugar Soaps, I’ll keep a list and you’ll receive one in your next order. This is going to be so much fun! A special thank you to my friend Tricia who made the fun “Scratch Off” cards this week instead of our usual glass ones. 🤗 And to my sis for making the scratch off inside.
For those who are new, Nicole is a friend of mine that makes her own soap. I still put two of these little tubs in random boxes each week. She’s a military wife and mom that creates these wonderful soaps (and other goodies) so she can be a stay-at-home mom. She also involves her kids in the business as well. They are a beautiful family.
Also, this week’s goodie bag will be 2” tiny twisties that will coordinate with this week’s opal leaves!
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Helpful Links:
If you use COE 90, be sure to shop Lori’s beautiful murrini and mille 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 items I have each week. Find her beautiful work at Aggie Glass Designs.
For beautiful COE 96 Twisties, check out Sherry's lovely work at Love•Peace•Create•Shop.
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.