October 3, 2025 • Critter Creativity
Happy October! It feels so good to be able to say that! Summer is not my jam, but Fall is and boy oh boy am I ready! I'm also giddy to share some new murrini designs with you. I've been about to explode with excitement over this week's project that has completely stolen my heart. I took several different photos of it, but the best was one outside so all the details, colors, and layers popped out.
This week, Dragonfly Kits are back in a beautiful Peacock/Turquoise theme including matching Butterflies, Leaves and Columbine Kits! But check out the new kids on the block...Lightning Bugs and Frog Eyes! Of course a few of the usual suspects are back, too...Lady Bugs, Bee Kits and Critter Eyes. This project is the latest piece in a continuation of my Dragonfly Jar Series, too. What a joy! Later in the blog I'll give you the scoop on how I put this project together.
Housekeeping notes:
All my murrini are COE 96. This week's murrini (all Oceanside fusible glass) will go on sale tomorrow, Saturday, October 4, at NOON Central Time.
This week I'll have several "Kits" and lots of singles. I can't wait for you to try these!
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This week's Murrini:
Turquoise Dragonfly Kits
It has been a bit since I've done Dragonflies. Sorry about that...these are really too special not to make more often! This time, they are created with Peacock and Turquoise Green with a transparent vein. Lisa sorted all these by size and the kits will again will be categorized by the size of the wings, body, and overall weight. Each kit will include 4 wings, 1 body and 3 black stringers for the tail (lots more black stringer than you'll need as they should be snipped thin like a hockey puck). One kit will make 16 Dragonflies!
Here's an idea of the S, M and L sizes available. There will also be a few kits in XL sizes (not shown) that are just a smidge bigger than the L shown here.
If you are new to my Dragonflies or need a refresher, please take a peek at the video I created awhile back to help explain how to cut and assemble your dragonfly murrini.
You can use 4 wings or 2 wings, depending if it is a top view or a side view, as seen in this week's project. These were lightly tack fused with a top temperature of 1300 (so that nothing changed in the exterior design). Always do a test tile if uncertain about the right temperature for a light tack fuse in your kiln. Remember, you can always put a piece back in the kiln if it didn't fuse quite enough, but you can't undo overly-rounded murrini.
NEW! Frog Eyes
Many times as I'm pulling a design and standing there pondering life, I "see" another idea within a current design or shape. This is how the Frog Eyes came about. I'm SO tickled over them I can hardly stand it. The top part is Oceanside Fern and the lower section is Amazon. I also fully fused them as dots, which rounded out more, but gives it an interesting optional look. I made extra so there would be enough for everyone. They will be sold as S, M and L. The photo above is of the M size. The small and large vary only slightly from this size. I'll also have a few "Seconds" available that just have a smaller inner design.
NEW! Lightning Bug Kits
Where I come from, we call these cuties Lightning Bugs. Of course, others call them Fireflies. Whatever we might call them, I'm excited to have this new design in my Critter lineup! Kits will come with several parts. There is the main body, upper black wings, then lower transparent wings. I looked at several graphics of Fireflies and they all had two sets of wings, so mine do as well! Lisa worked hard to keep them all proportional. Since the upper wing is black and the lower wing is transparent, they'll look best when on a lighter background. In my description of the process of this week's project, I'll explain another alternative to having them stand out, even on a darker background...as they do only come out at night after all! 😁
Bee Kits
Bee kits are back! Each Bee consists of a head, body and two wings. Kits/packages will be sold by Bee size. Small Bee kits will have 4 heads, 4 bodies, and 8 wings; Medium Bee kits will have 3 heads, 3 bodies and 6 wings; then Large Bee kits will have 2 bodies, 2 heads and 4 wings. The wings are on the SMALLER side this time, but Lisa sorted them to be an appropriate fit for each size body.
Multi-size Lady Bug
The Lady Bug gives any scene the perfect splash of red color. She will come in a multi-size package from larger to tiny. She is also best at a light tack fuse or fully fused into a little dot!
Peacock Columbine Kits
New to the Columbine family is the Peacock Columbine. The under petal is Oceanside peacock and the upper petal is white with a transparent center. This is gorgeous when assembled.
Each kit makes 12 complete Columbines. You will receive 4 under petal canes, 4 upper petal canes, and a HALF cane of the dotted center (because the center needs to be snipped very thin and you should get 14-15 slivers from each half cane). When snipping your upper and lower petals, you will get 16 even pieces if you snip each cane in half, then each of those halves in half and so on. Consistency in height of each snipped piece is key. Also, several pulls were done to create these kits, so some petals may look slightly different depending on the pull it came from.
Note: For the best end result, I'm highly recommending you fuse these in a TWO STEP process. More on this in the video below.
Blue Columbine Kits
Per many requests, I made another batch of the Blue Columbine. If the Columbine is new to you, I highly recommend watching the video and assembling using the two-fuse method.
Here's a quick snip I did of the half cane to show 15 possible slivers from it. More details are in the video. I used my chipper nipper for these.
Ivy
Ivy is the perfect leaf when you want a little vine growing up a scene. You'll find Ivy climbing up the jar in my project this week. Sizes range from larger to tiny. The tinies will have a bit more of a swirly inner vein, but the larger ones will be more straight as seen in the photo above.
Multi-size Hazel Critter Eyes
These sweet eyes have a black center with transitioning brown/blue/green shades until they are finally surrounded in white. They fully fuse into a very cool eyeball dot as well. Each package will be multi-size from larger to tiny canes.
Ombre Peacock Leaves
These beautiful ombre leaves were a special request to make again. I used all the beautiful turquois/peacock colors that Oceanside makes. They have a transparent vein and are also best at a light tack fuse to retain their outer shape. Sizes in each package will vary slightly.
Tack Fuse Turquoise Butterflies
This sweet butterfly is a tack fuse Murrini. What makes her special is her outer shape, which rounds out quickly in too warm of a top temperature, therefore, a light tack fuse is recommended. For the easiest way I've found to snip the butterflies, see my tutorial in the Tips/Tutorial section of the website. This week they are on the slightly larger side and most are packaged with 4 canes per 1oz. package.
Turquoise Snowflakes ... kinda ;)
Ok...I know you are looking at this and saying "this isn't a snowflake". You are correct. The head of one of my Dragonfly body pulls never fully developed and it just didn't make the quality control cut, however...it does make an interesting flower or snowflake. These are not seconds, as the murrini is perfect, just not a perfect dragonfly body! So just in case you think you'd like to play with these, they'll be sold at a slight discount for fun!
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Here's this week's murrini fully fused/tested on clear
In a full fuse, the outer part of a murrini spreads out and the center pulls in. This causes the intended design to quite often become distorted, hence a tack fuse being recommended for most designs. As you can see, the shapes this week become too rounded/distorted in a full fuse.
Above is a full fuse test of the Frog Eyes, Hazel Critter Eye and Lady Bug. Each snip was around 4-5mm. They are cool fully fused like this, too!
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This Week's Project: Lakeside Critters
This project is the newest addition to my Dragonfly/Jar series. I can't tell you how much I enjoy looking at this piece. Fun and whimsical, with a peek into the secrets of the night.
First I started with an approximate 8X8 piece of 3mm clear as the bottom layer. I lightly dusted this with clear glass powder and sat it in the kiln (photo of this is not shown). For the upper layer, I cut a transparent dark blue upper piece, and the lower piece is a blue and white swirl. All Oceanside glass. I made a circle from 3mm white glass and sprinkled on grey FINE frit in a pattern that would look like the craters in the moon. Finally I dusted on night clouds with white powder (fairly thick).
I put my main piece in the kiln over the clear that was prepped and ready to go. I also fused a small piece of clear for the jar. This is two pieces of 3mm clear dusted with clear powder in between to help avoid bubbles. I fully fused these pieces.
Once my piece came out, I decided I wanted some layering of the cattails and ground around the pond. The ground is medium Chocolate frit. I put this back in the kiln and fully fused again.
Also going in for a full fuse was the jar with the Lightning Bugs. I placed all the parts of the Lightning Bugs on my fully fused "jar" with some Glastac glue (just to hold them in place). When the glue dried, I placed WHITE glass powder all around the bugs for two reasons. 1. I didn't want the shape to change too much so I wanted to lock them in. 2. I wanted them to be able to stand out on a dark background, so the white around them would do just that. I then sprinkled on yellow powder to make them look a bit more "glowy" but this somewhat disappeared, which was fine. Now note...I dusted the entire piece heavily with CLEAR powder. This was to help make a nice solid layer. The white and clear powder look EXACTLY the same, so be careful there. 😅 I put this in the kiln for a full fuse.
After my pieces fused, I started adding the final layer of designs. First was my frog. I used the eyes to judge how big to make his head. After his head was just right, I made the body, then legs.
As a final touch to the frog, I used Oceanside Amazon stringer for frog lips (yes...frogs can have lips!), and in the locations I thought might separate in the tack fuse (neck and where the legs met the body).
I had pre-tack fused the under portion of the Columbine and the upper petals. I sat the two pieces on top of each other and when they were solidly resting in place, I put a touch of super glue to hold them down. I also added more Chocolate medium frit around the frog, added another cattail and an ombre leaf.
My frog's tongue is a piece of Oceanside red stringer I put in the torch to make it twirly. I added more ombre leaves around the frog and placed my bee body, head and wings. Don't worry, the frog didn't eat him, he was just giving him a little lick. 😂
As I was working on the right side, I got my cattail stems on, some ivy and the lid to my jar (which was a strip of two 3mm layers of grey glass with clear stringers fused inside to make it look like lines in the lid). Once my jar was complete, I snipped down the lid to fit and put it in the grinder for all the final touches. NOTE: I put some clear glass powder down where the thick 6mm jar was going to go just to avoid excess bubbles in the tack fuse.
My jar is flipped over so the fireflies look like they are INSIDE the jar. I added a little stringer on the jar with more ivy growing up. I also placed some Hazel Critter eyes peeking out of the ivy. What is the critter? You tell me! 😜 I put a Lady Bug on the lid of the jar for fun.
I was over-the-moon with this version of the Dragonfly...ha ha...so that's where I placed one. Don't forget the tail of the Dragonfly are the black stringers I pulled and they vary in size slightly so the tail can taper. You will cut that stringer pretty thin so they sit flat on the project like a hockey puck. I put 4 dots, but you could put 3 or even more! You should have more than enough stringer to play with them.
I placed a Dragonfly on the top of the jar, but it is from the side, using just 2 wings. Her little legs are Peacock Oceanside stringer that I pulled in a flame to taper really thin. You could easily paint legs on as well! I put one butterfly in the scene who is up there checking out all the shenanigans going on below her.
A final note. I LIGHTLY tack fused the final scene on. I didn't want anything to change with the shape of the murrini and designs. I also went up 50 degrees per hour to 300, then 150 degrees per hour to 1150 (then going faster to my top temp.) I came down after the anneal and after my hold at 800 at 150 degrees per hour until room temperature. Nice and SLOW due to the thickness and all the layers. My anneal hold was 6 hours. In the Helpful Links below I also have a link to Oceanside's firing schedules. Just keep in mind their "tack fuse" top temp is much hotter than mine. Depending on which kiln I use, my tack fuse top temp is somewhere between 1300 - 1315.
I hope you have as much fun playing with these Critter murrini as I did.
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Hints on the Horizon:
On Saturday, October 18, I'll have three murrini groupings of different color combos with a really great project that is simple and will make great gifts. I collaborated with Joni, from Aggie Glass Designs, and we are excited to show you.
Also a reminder that my annual Scrap Sale will be happening again this year on Black Friday! Stay tuned for more details!
Reminder:
I'll be taking a short break between sales and will have my online store closed for about 10 days starting on Monday, Oct. 6 through Thursday, Oct. 16. I'm going to take a little "Family Time". This will not interrupt my normal 1st and 3rd Saturday sales, tho!! So I'll open my online shop back up Friday, Oct. 17 with a new blog and then a sale the following day (10/18) per usual. 🤗 Fall is my favorite time of the year. Sometimes I just have to force myself to step out of the shop and enjoy it. So that's what I'll be doing (and making cat tails). 😁
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A note to new artists: Quality is my priority. I only sell the best section of each pull. The designs found in your murrini order will look like the samples shown in the blog (sizes of the canes may vary slightly, but never the inner or outer design). "Seconds" or "scrap" canes are those designs that are not yet fully formed or are starting to fade away, murrini with tiny air holes in the design, or with chips or dings. I sometimes sell the nicer Seconds at a discount, or you might find them in the free goodie bags, but more than likely I've saved them for the annual Scrap Sale (coming again this year on Black Friday).
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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.
Interested in a new kiln? Check out my friends at Hot Shot Oven & Kiln. They'll give you great customer service along with a great product made in Wisconsin!
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.
For Janice's pre-cut COE 96 ornament blanks, find her at LakeRabbitDesigns.