Summer Wedding Mix, Love Birds, Pansies, Pink Daisies, Mushrooms, and More
How can it possibly be MAY already!? As we watch the heat starting to ramp up, so do the summer wedding plans! I had a wonderful time putting this mix of murrini together. I mixed things up this time with both old and new designs, but also created with a new wedding color combo utilizing Oceanside's Champagne Pink Opal and Chambray Blue. It's just delightful mixed with transparent Ruby, Celadon, and Vanilla Cream. I also tried some new molds (new to me) and it made for the cutest project. More on this later in the blog, but here's a sneak peek at this beautiful mix and this month's project featuring my parents on their wedding day!
Also included in this month's murrini are matching "Wedding Hearts", a new "Love Bird" duo, a new summer variety of Pansies, a few requested remakes of Mushrooms, Baby Blue Blossoms, Red Centered Wildflowers, an Oceanside Pink Daisy and Wildflower, and more! Later in the blog I'll also give you a sneak peek at this month's extra special goodie bag, too!
Housekeeping Notes:
All my murrini are COE 96 and made with Oceanside fusible glass. These will go on sale tomorrow, Saturday, May 2, at NOON Central time.
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For those of you who get my monthly email, just a follow up note on the results of the survey you all took last month. Thanks to everyone who took it, because it was really helpful for me. I was inquiring about how you liked your murrini packaged. If you wanted each cane very similar in size, or if you preferred mixed sized canes in each package. The overwhelming answer (85%) either preferred mixed sizes or had no preference. For those of you who prefer all the canes in your package to be the same diameter, just let me know after you order and if it is important for your projects, I will look through the packages and do the best I can to find one with the most uniform sizes.
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Oof...I got a notification from Shopify that USPS shipping rates are going up slightly as of 4/26. Sorry about that, but the good news is (except for my friends from Illinois), you don't have to pay sales tax when purchasing from my online store.
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This Month's Murrini:
17 Piece Big Wedding Mix
In this huge mix you'll receive 17 different canes! A Ruby Ripple, Transparent Olive Leaf, Transparent Champagne Wildflower, Slender Transparent/Opal Leaf, Champagne Opal Leaf, White Rose, Chambray Daisy, Ruby Wildflower, Chambray Leaf, Tiny Ruby Ripple, Champagne Wildflower, Champagne Rose, Celadon Curved Leaf, Champagne/Chambray Slender Leaf, White and Ruby Teardrop, Champagne Pansy, and Artsy Ruby Leaf! These BARELY fit into the package and average weight is 2.5++ounces (some in the 2.8 range). What a fun sampler! Each cane can be snipped down into approximately sixteen 3mm slices. That's over 270 slices of murrini! I added in the Tiny Ruby Ripple, because I find I sometimes need an itty bitty element in my dainty designs. The roses in this mix are on the larger side, perfect for Flip and Fusing!
Love Birds
This little love duo are unique just to this month's color theme. The little girl bird is made with Champagne opal, Champagne transparent, and White. The little boy bird is made with Chambray blue, a little Oceanside Gray, and he sports a white belly. These are a TACK FUSE murrini so you don't lose the look of their exterior design.
Each package will have three pairs of Love Birds, but the sizes of the pairs will vary with some larger birds and smaller birds in the same package. However, Lisa did make sure the little boy bird was slightly bigger than the little girl bird in each pair.
Wedding Hearts (Multi-size)
Celadon, transparent Olive, both opal and transparent Champagne, transparent Blue, Chambray, transparent Ruby and Vanilla Cream make up these beautiful wedding hearts. Each package will have a variety of colors and sizes. You will want to take these murrini to a light tack fuse only to retain the exterior shape of the heart.
Large Size Cane Wedding Combo
I had quite a few larger canes from some of my pulls this month, enough so that I was able to make up a few mixes of just the XL sizes. You might need your Chipper Nipper for these (Sea Bell Ceramic Scissors are my favorite chipper nipper and can be found at witsendmosaic.com). FYI, these larger canes will be more of a challenge to snip. The Olive transparent leaf is not quite as big as the others, but the inset photo is a good representation of the sizes in comparison to each other.
Pink Daisy and Wedding Flower/Leaf Mix
Hey! Where did that little pink daisy come from? Ha! This is a beautiful 8-piece variety pack with a Pink Daisy sneaking into some selected designs from the wedding mix! Most of the canes in this mix are going to be more on the medium to larger size. The flowers are all great at a full fuse, but the leaves are best at a lighter tack fuse.
All Leaves Wedding Mix
If you think you might need some extra leaves for your projects, this is the mix for you. It is a sampler of each leaf (8 total canes) from this month's Wedding Mix.
Wedding Singles
The photos above show the few designs that will be sold as singles. (I had to laugh at the title...it sounded like there would be lots of available single guys and gals at this wedding 😂). I made extra Champagne Roses and Ruby Ripples, so there will be quite a few packages of those, but there are only a few packages of the leaves. Except for the roses, I'd recommend a light tack fuse on the rest of these cuties.
Don't forget the Roses are wonderful "Flip and Fused". A tutorial can be found on my website's Tips and Tutorial section for this process. 
The above photo shows both the Champagne and White roses fully fused on clear and then the lovelies in the center were Flip and Fused. The White Roses are only available in the Big Wedding Mix. The Champagne Roses are in the Wedding Mix, too, but will also be sold as singles.
Blue Duo Soulmates
This soft blue duo looks like they were made to be together...so they must be soulmates! The slender leaf is two-toned which matches the daisies that have light petals and a transitioning Chambray and transparent blue center.
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Requested Remakes:
Baby Blues
This beautiful blue blossom is gorgeous tack fused to fully fused. This is a design I've had for many years. I sold out quickly in February, so was happy to make them again. Enjoy this sweet milliefiore that fuses perfectly in all temperatures.
Vanilla Cream and Red Wildflowers
Another highly requested remake was this Vanilla Cream and Red Wildflower. The petals are separated by clear, so they will full fuse beautifully. I LOVE this design.
Brown Mushrooms
Red Mushrooms
Both Red and Brown Mushrooms are back! This is definitely a LIGHT TACK FUSE murrini. If too fused in temperatures that are too hot, the design will round out and you'll lose the look of the cute little stem. Also, sometimes the dots are on the edge of the mushroom and that dot will spread out into an odd looking line if fused beyond a tack fuse. 😉
Multi-size Gorgeous Green Leaves
A wonderful leaf to have in your arsenal is the Gorgeous Green Leaf. Per usual, it will be multi-sized leaves in each package from larger to tiny, which makes this pack of pretties quite versatile.
Pink Daisies
Gosh how I wish Oceanside would make their pink glass again. I only have a small amount of pink glass in my shop and when I do wedding colors it just feels right to use some of it. I never put a limit on how many packages you can buy of course, but I might suggest ... just with these, you grab just one package and give more people the opportunity to enjoy them as well. 💝
Vanilla Cream and Pink Wildflowers
This was supposed to be a remake of a flower I created in Gabby's Wedding Mix from last year, but the black dot in the center is new, which gave the Oceanside Pink Center a bit of a darker look. It is adorable and the Vanilla Cream petals are bold and sassy. Great at a tack to full fuse.
(Smaller Centers) Vanilla Cream and Pink Wildflowers
I'll also have this cutie with longer petals and smaller pink centers. They are definitely not seconds, but are more toward the second half of the pull. There will only be a few of these available, but the inner design was different enough that I wanted to keep them separate (I always want you to know the exact designs you are getting in each package).
Pansy Pack
Just for some summer fun, I created some nice bold Pansies! Each package will have one of each design in it. They are packaged by weight, so there will be two size options available: XL and regular (XL and regular sizes are both represented in the above photo).
When making the mixes, I ran out of the Peacock color first, so I'll also have a mix available with the remaining four colors shown in the photo below: Red, Orange, Chambray and Lemongrass. These are going to be on the smaller side, so there will be approximately 5-6 canes in each package. One each of the four colors, then one or two additional canes added in. There will be no packages of single-colored pansies available this month.
Since I was making topiary samples for some of the other mixes, I made a Pansy version as well. These are just lightly tack fused. The leaves are best tacked to retain their exterior design, but the pansies are great at all temperatures.
Pansy Leaf
We can't have Pansies without its leaf! These dark green leaves have a light center vein with transparent veins branching from it. I've also had several people use this design as a tree. I love all the possibilities!
This Month's Goodie Bag
As a special treat.... the free goodie bag this month will be a package of two-inch Wedding Twisties! They are all the beautiful colors from the wedding palette and will coordinate perfectly. I thought they might be fun to add to your wedding projects or hearts. I should have enough for everyone, but of course it is "while supplies last".
This month's fully fused test pieces
I test a murrini from each pull by fully fusing on clear, then view them under polarizing filters to make sure there are no surprises as far as excess tension or compatibility issues after the pulling process. This also allows us an opportunity to peek at each murrini after a full fuse. The pansies, blossoms, daisies and wildflowers look fantastic, while others, with an exterior shape, often round out too much.
Also, the above topiary was a tack fused sample of the requested remakes for this month (I created it with slight 2nds I pulled out from the Goodie Bag tub). Mushrooms and Gorgeous Green Leaves require a LIGHT tack fuse to keep them as-is. However, the Pink Daisies, Baby Blues, Vanilla Cream and Red Wildflower, and Vanilla Cream and Pink Wildflower are all wonderful fused at any temperature.
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SECONDS
TRIO of Wedding SECONDS
This month I'll have one grouping of SECONDS. These are end-of-pull designs that have become a bit wiggly, off-center, small centers, or may have chips or dings on the outside. The packages will be 50% Tiny Teardrops, with a few Hearts and Ruby Ripples to make up the other 50%. They will be a 1.5oz package.
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This month's project:
Wedding Frame and Stand
I wasn't sure what kind of wedding project to make this time, since I've done both pocket hearts and little dishes in the past. As I pondered my project, I came across CPI's Frame molds and thought oh boooyyyy! These are new to me, so I picked up two sizes of easel molds (the one you see here, LF252, and the larger version LF253 not shown...but looks huge) as well as the necessary GM277 bend mold. These are SO COOL and I can't wait to make more in the future that match my projects. They also have an extra small easel and bowl easel, which I think I'll probably be needing. 😜 I purchased my molds through Ed Hoy, but I'm guessing they can be purchased through any of your glass retailers who sell their molds, like D&L. Of course you can always purchase through CPI's website (creativeparadiseglass.com) and find the tutorials there as well.
After spraying my mold with ZYP, my first attempt was to test it with clear scrap. I had WAY too much glass in it and the easel was a beast! I also didn't like the way you could make out the edges of the pieces of clear when they fused together. I weighed the beast and figured I needed about half that much glass. I also didn't want it to be all one color, so I was sitting on some excess fine clear frit and knew it would create a bunch of bubbles, but that was the look I was going for. Kind of soft, yet not a solid color nor see-through. So I weighed out the frit, refilled my mold and fired again. You can see them side by side and 7+oz. of fine frit was pretty spot on.
Next I had to think about the front and the back of the frame. Since this was a test, I decided to place the wedding murrini down first, then carefully sift the fine clear frit over the top. The cool thing about this process is the frit would fill in all around the murrini and help retain the exterior shapes.
Alas! It did exactly as I had hoped it would! I was totally happy with it just like this, but the back side was just frosty white. So I decided to tack fuse murrini on that side to see which I liked better. That meant that this side would be the side facing down on my bend mold as I didn't think the tack fused murrini would play nice against the bend mold.
Here we have the tack fused side, which is also quite lovely!
I have to say I was a wee bit nervous about draping this, but I had already practiced on the previous all frit version and it did beautifully. Also, the interior height of my Hot Shot 24G gives me plenty of room to work with taller molds. 👍🏼
So here we have the final stand. The one on the left shows our fully fused murrini embedded into the easel, then on the right is the back of the easel which was our tack fused test. Pretty COOL!
Now for the frame. I must have had delusions of grandeur as my first sample was waaaay too big for this size easel. However, I had fun working with the stringer and murrini designs. Joni (from Aggie Glass Designs) has pulled matching stringer for this month's color palette.
This sizing error gave me the opportunity to re-think the clear frame because the photo will show around it (it wasn't too bad as I bought some transparent photo corners and it worked well). However, instead of working with a 5X7 image, I dropped down to a 4X6 size image and decided to go with opal glass.
You can make your exterior any size, but I kept the inner hole about 1/4 smaller than the photo on all sides. This way the photo can slip behind it and be held in place. Since I was working with Oceanside Opal Champagne in the wedding mix, I made the corners with it and used white in between.
I forgot to get a photo of it, but underneath the opal glass, I have 3mm clear for the opal glass to sit on (and fuse to). All pieces of the top opal glass slightly overlapped the underlying lines/edges of clear glass by about 1/8" so the cut areas were not exactly in the same location above and below; I didn't want to risk the pieces pulling apart in the fuse, as it was just taken to a heavy contour fuse temperature.
I began decorating the corners with the murrini. Each section was unique in design, but had matching Flip and Fuse Roses on the corners. After my designs were complete, I put it back in my Hot Shot 24G for a light TACK fuse.
So far so good...but now I thought to myself...how the heck can I hold the photo in place? So I took a piece of thin 2mm white glass and cut it just shy of the size of the overall frame. I sat my frame over the top and with a sharpie I drew where my photo would be. I wanted there to be some wiggle room on the sides for my photo to slide in, but wanted it to have a stopping point at the bottom for the bottom of the photo to sit on and not slip too far down.
I then put three strips of 3mm clear glass on top of the white base (leaving the top OPEN to be able to slide my photo into it). I could have used 2mm clear as well here, but wanted to use 3mm as my plan was to slide a 2mm piece of clear inside this channel as well to cover the front of the photo.
I ran this at a light tack fuse to join the 2mm white backing to the clear strips.
In the lower left you can see that I decided to use clear caulk as my adhesive. The reason I did this is because the top frame didn't sit completely flat on the back piece I had just created. I needed it to glue together, but also, the caulk provided just that little extra filler so my top sat flat against the backing.
Once the caulk dried, I slid my 4X6 photo into the channel along with a 2mm piece of clear glass in front of it and it worked beautifully!! What a fun experiment!!
Now, this is one heavy frame (with the glass backing). I'm certain I could have worked with other materials to create a backing and channel, but working with all glass is just more fun. 😉
There are going to be SO MANY wonderful possibilities with future frame and easel projects. Thanks to CPI for making such cool molds!
Since I was doing a lot of testing this month, I put murrini everywhere! The matching frame and easel are beautiful, but I could have gotten away with using less murrini or even omitting murrini on the back side of the easel, too. But hey...a girl likes options! 😛
The heart in the photo above is from one of my previous wedding mixes, but it looked so pretty with it, I just decided to show it again as well.
Have fun!
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Hints on the Horizon:
My next drop of new murrini with be the FIRST Saturday in June, which is 06/06/2026. The full NATIVITY will be back! It is already underway with a few design changes and updated colors. I think you'll love it. The project I have in mind for it will be super cool (if it works out like I hope it will). I'll also have a few requested remakes ready for you, too; Poinsettia Kits and Mountains!
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.
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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