April Sale!

I don't know which gets people more excited- the posting of our Monthly Sale or the embarrassing pic of Zenia which announces the sale. Once again, we give you both. Cringe as you gaze upon this photo, and go here for our April Sale...
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Next Intro to Fusing Seminar...

Happens on Saturday April 6 from 10am- 4pm.

Learn how to make really cool stuff like the Dr. Seuss, Yellow Sub and Pink Floyd projects as seen on our Facebook Page.

Class runs for six hours, costs only $195.00 and covers instruction (we even teach the technical side so you can fire on your own), a $40 store credit and ALL FIRINGS for whatever you make that day. We even throw in some handouts and some really pretty pictures!

Two Experiments

Seems Mikey wasn't happy with his iPod dock, and wanted to build one more suitable to his warped thinking. It also gave us a chance to do a piece about 1.5" thick that needed several firings to execute properly. 
We first laid up a base of alternating colours eight layers thick to represent the wooden plinth of a turntable and fused it into a solid block in a stainless steel dam (lined with fibre blanket). Because of the thickness, we fired very slowly to make sure the differential in temperature was minimized to prevent thermal shock. In this case it was 200 degrees/hour to 1100, with a 20 minute hold. We then fired to 1460, with a 15 minute hold, finishing off with a crash cool down to 970 with a hold of 120 minutes. 
The top cap that consisted of the turntable platter, arm and controls was then added to the prefired base and refired, this time to a temp of 1430 to allow for a bit more of a 3D effect, rather than fusing it to flat. Here's the finished result-

Next, because we had this piece in a steel dam with fibre blanket lining the perimeter we ended up with a rough edge that really doesn't look as attractive as it could. It also looked a little too 'rigid' for our liking. We were looking for a more 'play-doey' kind of look, so back into the kiln it went for a hopefully successful fire polish.
Once again, because the finished piece is about 1.5" thick we have to fire up slowly, and make sure to include a longer anneal soak time so take note of the notes above. 
The danger of this firing is that we fire too low and all is for naught (?) or we go too high and end up with a puddle. Taking an educated guess, we shot for 1350, with no hold and got lucky-

iPod broken in by the Infamous Figimodo, playing his favourite band- Little Axe!

Just a Quick Note

If you are or have been a student of ours, or you have taken advantage of our FREE STUDIO SPACE ALWAYS, then as Neil would say, 'this note's for you'!

Just Genius!

We do have some of the cleverest students.
It can be very frustrating sometimes when working on a piece to try and see how it's progressing colour wise, and yet still hold everything in place as you cut, grind and solder into place. 
Sheila has come up with a brilliant solution- get a piece of clear plexiglass (easily gotten at Home Depot, etc) and cover it with that sticky white grid cloth that is used to repair drywall (ditto). 
Bingo! The sticky grid holds the glass perfectly in position and sticks it all to the clear substrate to make it ideal for viewing on a lightbox, etc.

Figimodo Tries His Hand at Fusing

First attempt was a big (small?) failure. But perhaps the perfect size if you're Figimodo?
Moving on, we get Vanna Opal in to help out (strange that she would step up to the plate on this one- she usually shrinks everything... Mikey). Here's the two piece sushi set that is on sale this month done in a clever pattern-

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Finally a Foiler That Offers All the Benefits Without the Vices

Don’t end up like this person.
He didn’t buy the FIGFANS (Fantasy In Glass Foiler that Avoids Neck Strain) and now he’s sorry.
At FIG Tools Inc., we build tools that combine Zen-like coherency with economy and practicality.
Enter the FIGFANS, the world's best copper foil applicator. Packed with a host of proprietary technologies that truly enhances the foiling process, the FIGFANS has been intensively designed and extensively field tested to assure effectiveness and ideal ergonomics, and to avoid malicious lawsuits.
The FIGFANS is another in a long line of proprietary quality products from FIG Tools that began several years ago with the introduction of the FIG GlasStretcher.
But don’t believe us.
Try it for yourself.
After all, when you consider the alternative, we thought we’d spare you the headache.
Another quality product from FlG Tools, a humble and penitent division of FIG Inc.

The whole world seems to be mesmerized with the colour of smoke that will be released from the Vatican chimney as the Catholic Church votes for a new Pope. The College of Cardinals however, seem to be having a problem getting the right colour. Black means no Pope yet, while white signifies that a new Pope has been chosen.  We learn this has been somewhat problematic as they have been getting grey sometimes. The Papal authorities upon investigation discovered that the College of Cardinals had been using a Paragoni Kiln. But with the world's attention zeroed in on the chimney smoke, no mistakes can be allowed so Vatican officials have since ordered one of the new Coneart Kilns now specially being made for Mikey at Fantasy In Glass.

The Cardinals had initially considered the FiGGy 120v Square kiln with an interior dimension of 15.5" x 15.5", but realized that with 117 ballots being cast that the FiGGy BiGGy 240v Square Kiln with an interior at almost 24" square would be a better choice. Rumours that the kiln was serving a dual purpose baking pizza between votes has not yet been confirmed...

And yes, we now have these two 'SQUARE' kilns in stock!

Continuing Warm Glass

So, here's a very shallow slump, which is fairly easy whatever program you might follow. But most firing schedules will get the glass too soft as they are designed to give success regardless of the mold's shape. Ideally you want to minimize the glass picking up texture from the mold, yet get it soft enough to conform to that mold's shape. The Slumpy #297 has such a subtle shape that we can do a 'cooler' slump. 
You see, there are two general ways to slump; one is to go higher in temperature with a short hold, or go for a lower temperature with a longer hold. The second approach will minimize the picking up of texture, yet allows the glass to do a nice slump. 
So, this is a single thickness SP Black Aventurine capped with a double thick (4-5 mm) SP100 Clear (Mikey added some silver foil circles in between the two layers 'cuzz he's a showoff)- 
1- 300/hr to 1050, hold 5 min.
2- 400/hr to 1215, hold 15 min.
Too easy...

Yes, We Are Social Media Savvy

We've had a Facebook presence for a couple of years now. 
Not just Mikey's Diary of a Demented Store Owner blog (as if that wasn't enough already... Vanna Opal)
And as for Facebook, when I say we, I mean both Fantasy In Glass and Figimodo.

Join us on Facebook and "Like us" to make our blog entries, product announcements, and industry tidbits part of your Facebook newsfeed.

And then we've also been on Twitter (@fantasyinglass) for awhile. This is the spot where staff will post great and special sales you won't hear about anywhere else!

And of course, we're also onYouTube. 
Logos below will link you directly to those spots-

    

... and for iPhone and Android smartphone users, we are on Instagram- under Figimodo Fantasyinglass-

FANTASY IN GLASS ACCUSES UROBOROS GLASS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT FOR USE OF THE WORD 'GLASS'

Toronto, CANADA- Fantasy In Glass Owner Mikey filed suit in federal Supreme Court in Ottawa today accusing the Uroboros Glass Company of copyright infringement for widely using the word 'Glass' in the title and marketing of their products. FIG claims de facto exclusive legal use of the word. "We have established the strongest brand name in the history of modern civilization. Whenever someone sees the word 'Glass' they immediately think it should be preceded by the words 'Fantasy In' so we want to avoid any confusion amongst consumers", said company owner Mikey.

Attorneys for Uroboros had attempted to dispute the suit as 'frivolous' and weak efforts to placate the staff of Fantasy In Glass with Uroboros T-shirts and aprons have proved to be unsuccessful.