Diary of a Demented Store Owner

Thursday 31 May 2007

Some New Books of Note


In my search to provide everything to everybody, we just got in some new books of note;
Starting with Horses In Stained Glass- a cat enthusiast? Then this book is not for you. But if you're into horses, then it is. Features suncatchers and panels for lead or foil work. Nineteen designs- only $19.99.
And two warm glass titles- The Art of Fusing (teaching you how to use frit, confetti and stringers as design elements in a fused piece, and Beginning Fritography.

Enough Heavy Lifting


Working around the store involves a fair bit of heavy lifting and deep thinking (not me, the staff). So what do I do when I go home? Paint little tin toy soldiers? Maybe read a little Tolstoy? Nah! I read the latest Princess Auto flyer.
Get this- Princess Auto is selling a table top diamond saw for an amazing $48.88! This is a simple table saw with a mitre guide, fence and even tilting table. While you can't cut shapes with it, it's perfect for straight cuts, and perfect if you're a fuser for cutting thick glass such as slabs and pattern bars. They're even selling 4 1/2" diamond replacement blades for an amazing $3.33(picture not exactly as sample).

Sunday 27 May 2007

Uh, Oh! SwissCheesed GlassWerks Recall Notice


Due to a technical error by our staff, (honest, we thought he was taking his medication) we regret to announce a recall of all Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks amber cathedral colors. Color #'s 1656, 1658, and 1659 are affected. All other 327 colors are unaffected. It seems that the size of the holes and their spacing is not to spec, and will have to be remanufactured. If you have used any of this glass in any projects, either remove the faulty glass as soon as possible, or call for write for a free retrofit kit. This kit, comprised of silica, soda and ash along with a zircon encrusted applicator is available free of charge with any proof of purchase. Swiss Cheesed Glass Werks apologizes for any inconvenience this might have caused and assures the public that it will take whatever measures it deems necessary to get to the hole truth on this matter.

Wednesday 23 May 2007

Swiss Cheesed Glasswerks! Not new but exclusive to FIG!


Check Your Glass For Holes!

If you're looking for great cutting glass, we suggest you look on the back side of your glass.

For holes the size of a dime. Or a 15mm jewel. Lots of them.

Because glass that has these holes is a full three decibels louder when being cut.
Which may not sound like much. On screen.

But an increase of three decibels will double the cutability of your glass cutter at the tuning frequency (30 hertz).

And reduce what's known as 'cutter wheel excursion'.
With resulting added sensitivity your glass cutter requires less pressure to generate force to the glass.
Of course, with this type of glass, there's one thing you'll miss.

Frustration.

Simply, Swiss Cheesed Glass Werks' cathedral glass is unmatched in ease of cutability when compared to glass without holes. It cuts with less pressure, and therefore less stress on your cutter wheel.

Now remember, this is a science, so there's more here than just drilling holes.

Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks' engineers fine tune each sheet of glass for optimum performance and efficient cutability.
All of which means that if your glass doesn't have holes you might want to talk to a Swiss Cheesed Glass Werks dealer.

And get the hole truth!

IT'S NOT JUST SAND, SODA ASH, LIME AND SOME OTHER STUFF part 5

Part 5 of Mike's story of the beginnings of Swiss Cheesed Glasswerks; WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM USING THIS WONDEROUS GLASS
Your Friends! The hard reality is that most likely most of your friends are not as cool as you and are probably in possession of stained glass objects that are upsetting their energy. Which brings me to the subject of our responsibility to our fellow man. It is our responsibility to uplift our brethren and that means exposing them to Swiss Cheesed Glass' magic. (To be continued...)

Monday 21 May 2007

Things Happen


ETOBICOKE, CANADA- According to an unconfirmed report, a thing happened Monday at Fantasy In Glass, a large, friendly, well stocked stained glass store in Toronto’s west end, though experts say it is still not clear exactly what the thing was. ‘All we know at this time,’ Humber College professor of phenomenology Rudolfo Fishingbacker said, ‘is that some kind of thing happened.’ Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, are struggling to put the whole thing into proper perspective. ‘You don’t expect a thing like this to happen,’ Etobicoke resident, Joe Chase said. ‘Not with the way thing’s have been.’
In a statement published late Tuesday in the Fantasy In Glass FigLeafLet, owner Mikey urged all stained glass hobbyists to remain calm.

Wednesday 16 May 2007


Over the twenty five years or so, we've gone through alot of glass (and brandy too when you think about it...Sam). One that has always excited us, but never matched that excitement with sales has been Spectrum's Baroque glass. This is a swirled glass that is a copycat of a full antique Reamy or Danzinger glass that sells today for around $40/ft. Next time you're in check out the door to Mikey's Ivory Tower (the 'office;) as the window in that door uses the 'real Thing".
The Spectrum Baroque line has 18 colours and regularily sells for $10/ft and up… but not while our dwindling supply lasts as we've put Baroques on sale at $3.33/ft! (no limit, sorry- no dealers).

Store Name Comes Up Twice In One Day


TORONTO, ON- In an incident observers are calling “kinda weird,” stained glass emporium Fantasy In Glass’ name came up twice Monday in separate conversations had by Toronto resident Dave Gros. “At like noon, I forget what brought it up, but me and this guy Shawn were talking about that one part in The Crow where the guy with the real creepy look jumps through a stained glass window that looks kinda like something you could find at Fantasy In Glass he told reporters. “Then, like five hours later, me and my buddy Rebay were vegging out, watching Bay Watch, and drinking a few brews when I said, ‘Did you know that you could use this here Toyo Supercutter that I got at Fantasy In Glass here to open your beer?’ It was so freaky.” Adding significantly to the freakiness, Mr. Gros said, was a narrowly averted triple-referencing of Fantasy In Glass at approximately 11:30 p.m. “Me, Jeff and Josh were gonna try and make a stained glass teddy bear nitelite for Jeff’s cousin- they have to get married next week- with glass we bought from Fantasy In Glass but we wound up playing Playstation instead. That would have been insane.” Retail analyst Serge Dullannoy estimates the odds of a single-day triple-Fantasy In Glass reference to be 50,000 to 1.

Tuesday 8 May 2007

Another Tough Class Ends at FIG!

While all our classes are special, this one seemed to be perhaps a little bit more so for a beginner group. The pic above shows the food spread that is mandatory for every last class when you come to FIG, and the pic below is what Mikey is now thinking of making mandatory- beer taps! Yes, folks, it's true, we were treated to a new beer called Rickard's White, a Bavarian style unfiltered wheat beer from Molson's (shameless free plug).

Sunday 6 May 2007

Inventory Factoid #17

Just finished inventory and we're all a little punchy (and a little preoccuppied with figures although Mikey's always a little punchy when you come to think about it...the FIG Staff in unison). So here's one for you- we have 13,948 invididual lampworking rods (in about 108 colurs) in stock as of this date!

Saturday 5 May 2007

New Stuff!


Stained Glass News #76 has just arrived- free with any purchase!

More New Stuff!


Several new books- Art of Fusing Pictures in Glass, Beginning Fritography and Fused Sinks and More and finally after almost a year, Solingen German Lead knives back in stock

Sale on Spectrum Artique Clear

Spectrum calls it scribed antique glass, because that's the best description of how it's made. The texture is literally scribed into the glass surface, immediately after sheet forming, while the glass is still extremely hot and pliable. The scribing system generates a meandering gyration, mimicking the hand-held motions of glass cylinder blowers. Not quite the same quality, but also not quite the same price. Especially now as Mikey's put it on sale at $3.88/ft when you buy a 24" x 24" sheet. Hurry as supply is limited...

Wednesday 2 May 2007

Sam Confirms Triolyse Glue Really Works!

While picking up Sam from the Emergency room the other day I thought to myself, what possessed Sam to .... oh never mind. The main thing is that he figured out that this new Triolyse glue we just got in really works!
It's clear and stays that way, initial setting time is 30 seconds, you can apply it with pinpoint accuracy, and there is absolutely no mess. And most importantly- it holds tight! It's the best thing we've road tested and is ideal for gluing glass to glass, even opaques, which a UV light glue can't cure. It’s optically clear when it dries, which is great for glass to glass fusing, mosaics, three-dimensional stained glass and jewelry, among other applications. It’s also great for gluing metal to glass (like jewelry findings) with fast and easy cleanup. We've sold out our first batch but a second order is due any day. Under $35.00 making it cheaper tyhan anything comparable!

End of an Era

The ring mottle, a glass invented by Louis Tiffany and perfected by Bullseye, sadly is no longer. They've announced that they have ceased production. Kind of at a good time though as Mikey has little menial and pointless work for Zenia the Bead Girl to do for the next few days. So to make her feel as if she is actually a productive member of society, she's been busily cutting it all up into lovely bite size sale square sizes and we've put it all into our Sale Square Racks at Sale Square prices! And they also are eligible for the 'Buy 5... get one free, buy 9... get 2 free and so on deal!