Oops, We Forgot

Sometimes we're not the swiftest I realize. Forgot to mention that the latest issue of the great (and free) Stained Glass News is now in. 
This issue's free pattern is a bit of a step up from the extremely lame one that came in the last issue. They have been duly advised. We have inside knowledge that an even better one is future pending...

In SGN #99, you'll find:
• new items, including: some new books, supplies for an exciting new fusing technique, a new bead mold, new System 96 and FX90 items, new tools for stained glass, and some new accessories for your fused glass projects.
• reader hints, a reader's workshop and more on "The Readers' Page"
• Today's Yard Art Jacqui Bush—New columnist, Jacqui Bush, has been making beautiful yard art with her students, and shares inspiration for this fun idea with readers.
•Glass Tapestry David Alcala—Another new columnist, David Alcala, has been the talk of the town… glass fusing town, that is. David shares a little about how his unique techniques came about, introduces his new products and upcoming book, and prepares to lead us on this exciting new journey in glass fusion.
• Stained Glass 101 Matthew McMillan—In this continuing series, Matthew talks about how to get the dimensions of the custom installation onto paper, things to think about during fabrication, and offers tips on how to turn a large panel safely.
• You Can Make It Linda "Scotti" Scott—Linda shows how to use leftover scraps of latticino, moretti and other bits and pieces to create beautiful jewelry.
• Fire It Up! Susan Molnar—This time, Susan shares one of her mistakes, and shows how it turned out to be a fun technique.
• this issue's Free Pattern: Floral Hat offers a breath of fresh air… spring air. This pretty hat is easy to make, yet very pretty.
• a page of photos from readers in The Readers' Gallery

Correction

On November 31, 2011, the Diary of a Demented Store Owner Blog erroneously reported that the Canadian Stained Glass Wholesalers Advisory Board (membership- 1) had advocated the kidnapping and tar and feathering of Mikey F. Figgy (our beloved leader). In actuality, Mikey's middle initial is 'G'. The Diary regrets the error.

Big Bullseye Sale at Bullseye

Being the largest fusible glass supplier in Canada means that we always try our best to carry almost everything possible. 

And that has meant maintaining inventory in both 90 and 96 glass or namely Bullseye, Spectrum and Uroboros. 

We made a conscious decision awhile ago to significantly reduce our Bullseye line for several reasons (see here for some). 

Was it the right decision?

Seeing stuff like the email below reaffirms that we believe we did;

What Were We Thinking?!

Time To Remind Everyone...

March comes in like a lamb...
... and out like a goat...

Intro To Fusing Seminar

Thinking about utilizing those artistic/technical skills you've developed over the years for the betterment of mankind? Or maybe something else if you're Dr. Evil? 

How about considering our Intro seminar on fusing being run tomorrow?

Same tools, same skills (or lack of), take the day (10-4) and learn how to fuse and make a whole bunch of stuff! 

No need to preregister- just show up.

Taught by 'I'm Not From Barcelona Louie'- see here for more info...

Showing Off Some Customer Work

Want to see Mikey's head spin? This is Al the Lithuanian doing the Ukrainian Trident symbol-

and here's Dr. Vic with another intricate piece-

March 2012 Sales Up!

The monthly sale has been a tradition at FIG for quite awhile now. 

It also is an opportunity (excuse) for Mikey to post an unflattering picture of Zenia. After all, is it not an integral part of the process of announcing that the next month's sales have been posted? 

Hey, if we can't make fun of the results of our gene pool (she does call Mikey 'the man who is married to my mother'), who can we we make fun of? 

Glass manufacturers perhaps? 

Even better yet- maybe suppliers? 

How about Gary Beige? 

See my point? Nah, I don't either. 

In any case, we finally found a pic and now the sales have been posted (don't see March at the top of the page, do a page refresh).

Gaze upon Zenia at your own risk. Safer to just click here...

Corning Again

The mecca of the glass world lies a mere 4.5 hours by car from Toronto in Upper New York state in the picturesque town of Corning. We've talked about the many glass related attractions in this town aside from the stunning Glass Museum many times over the years. If you go to our 'PICTURES' page you'll see lots of pics Mikey has posted to give you a sense of what a great destination the town can be. 

Of special note are some absolutely breathtaking Tiffany windows in a tiny nondescript church in the residential area of Corning. If you've ever been stuck listening to Mikey ramble on and on about these windows you'll probably remember he always finishes up with a rather vague description of their actual location, and what the church looks like. We're not sure why, but something about growing up in the late the sixties comes to mind. But we are here to help. Here is a picture of the street signs of the corner where the church sits and above is a picture of the church itself. 

A link to the photo album is here.

FYI

I had a comment posted to a blog entry we did a couple of years ago (there's dedication from a new reader!). It's somewhat insightful but as it was posted to such an old entry, the likelihood of anyone seeing it is doubtful.  As such, we are posting it here (unedited) for your consideration-

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another Open Letter From Mikey In The First Person...": 

I run a stained glass shop within driving distance of Bullseye. A previous manager of my shop was contacted a while back by a Bullseye Rep. and was asked where he normally get his Bullseye glass from. He told them who his supplier was and they came back and said that they could sell Bullseye directly to us at 30% less than we were paying at our supplier. We would have to carry ONLY Bullseye fusible. No Spectrum, no Uroborus nothing. I think that it is pretty bad business to shoot your distributors like that. My shop is also within driving distance to Bullseye. Now Bullseye will sell directly to the public at amazing discounts. How are retailers supposed to compete with that? My shop still carries Bullseye but it's not a priority. On the other hand, I do my best to stock all of the system 96. Spectrum has as many distributors as they will ever have in the different regions and they do not sell directly to the public. I like Bullseye glass but Spectrum cuts a lot nicer and there are some great options in opals, cathedral, wispy and confetti. As a company, I have no respect for Bullseye.
In case you haven't heard, Wissmach has begun producing a line of System 90 compatible. I have tested it and it is really nice. And it considerably less expensive than Bullseye. 

Really?

When advertising goes all wrong.

By Slumpy, as seen in Glass Art Magazine...
(oh yeah, we do have those molds...)

Bullseye Glass Catalog #8

The latest version of Bullseye Glass' product catalog is now available. 

Go here to see all the glass and other products they make that you can't buy here in Ontario ...

One of the Fringe Benefits...

... of taking one of our classes- you get a hand painted work apron from Theresa!

Oh, the Horror!

... as seen in a Toronto restaurant last week...

Sale Squares Shipping Almost Free

Our recent decision to offer over 140 colours of glass in 6" x 6" squares and to ship them everywhere in Canada has been tremendously popular (they all also are fusible- Sys96). So much so that our form generator broke!
If you are ordering and find the order form not loading, we tweaked the form address, so you might have to refresh your page and then all should be fine. 
If not, then consider calling Gary Brown...
Test it out here...

Seminar Second Chance!

Two seminars that were scheduled for last week have been rescheduled to this Saturday, and we still have some room in both-
Puddles and Plates ...

in the morning and Bas and Fibre Relief ...

in the afternoon.

More details here.

The Things You Find

... cleaning out an old drawer...

The FIG Reasonably Helpful Hint of the Once in Awhile Month

Dig out that old Neil Sedaka (isn’t it Neil Dekaka?...Mike) CD (Tina’s is usually in her player… Mikey) and remove the disc, ‘cuzz we’re gonna give you a great use for that case. Take a hacksaw and cut a single notch through the middle of the top side of the top part of the CD case. Still with me? Put a roll of copper foil inside said case. Pull foil through said cut slot. Bingo! Instant foil dispenser. Relegate Neil Sedaka CD to burnishing tool. Can’t figure it out? Come in and see our sample (but leave Neil at home...Ed)(He prefers Tony Orlando...Mikey).

(nice hat Neil)

Music You Must Do Glass By

... or not.

But we have to agree that most worthwhile pursuits often are made sweeter by the addition of music. It is proven that the success rate of cutting deep inside curves on Uroboros Black Ripple glass increases by 40% when listening to the blues (What? You think Mikey is good based on his own meagre natural born talent?  That's why he plays the blues all day long in the store).

Mikey's sporadic musical suggestion of the day is the new Little Axe album 'If You Want Loyalty Buy A Dog' just released.

This dynamic album is the culmination of a 25 year long musical partnership between producer Adrian Sherwood and musician, Skip 'Little Axe' McDonald. From start to finish this is a dynamic and un-compromising meeting of the blues, reggae, and various roots music. Also beautifully recorded if you are an audiophile.

Everything's $1000' Store Goes Out of Business

TORONTO, ON- Citing 'phenomenally poor sales' the retail store Everything's A Thousand Bucks Glass Store filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. "When we started, we were really excited about the concept. It was working for the Everything For A Dollar Store, why not try it?" the store's owner Guiseppi Rengia said. "You could walk into my store, plunk down a grand and walk out with anything you saw on my shelves. We had it all- from flux brushes to copper foil, from Youghiogheny to Bullseye glass.!  Unfortunately the public just never seemed to respond." 
When pressed for reasons for the store's failure, Mr. Rengia was unsure, "It's hard to say. I wouldn't want to speculate but maybe we didn't do good enough of a job marketing ourselves. You know, with stores like Fantasy in Glass and that Mikey, it's a tough industry." Rengia said he would eventually like to open a 'more upscale shop, perhaps in the eight to ten thousand dollar range' to fill the space formerly housing his Everything For One Thousand Dollars Stained Glass Store located in the Acme Mall between Tom's Crystal Emporium and Canadian Tire.

Young Fusers of Canada

passes another student.

Congratulations to Lindsey!

And We Thought Our Kiln Was Old!

A kiln which was used by the Zapotec 1,300 years ago has been found in the Atzompa Archaeology Site in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Preliminarily, it was assumed that it might date from the first occupation years of the site, between 650 and 900 of the Common Era, more than 1,300 years ago, parting from associated ceramic found and the depth -2.2 meters- where it was found, well below the stucco floor that covered it, which corresponds to that age, but further studies would confirm”. 
First signs of the kiln were detected during the 4th exploration season, in August 2010, after liberating the façade of a small monticule located to the north of Casa de los Altares, where a hollow under broken stucco was found. A probing well of one meter depth revealed the adobe walls, and it was during the following excavation phase (March-December 2011) when the ancient structure was completely unearthed: a cylindrical adobe wall and the stacking ports.

February 2012 Sales Now Up

While we're sure there are a few of you who are excited to see the Fantasy In Glass sales for February, we know there are many more who are anxious at the prospect of what horror this month's picture of Zenia will inflict upon the innocent.
Here goes...

Monthly Sales found here... 

Solder Explained

Did you know that...
... the atomic weight of lead is 82, its symbol is Pb, its density at 300k is 11.4. Tin’s symbol is Sn, and its electron configuration is ... oh, never mind, that’s way too much information.

Solder is an alloy of tin and lead, and the proportion of the two affects the melting point, but in a strange way. The most popular alloy for almost all stained glass work, and most definitely copper foil work is 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead... Helpful Mikey)(a titanic intellect in a world full of icebergs...Ed). Looking at the two metals by themselves we see that tin melts at 450F and lead at 621F. But something really weird happens when you combine the two- the melting point drops down to as low as 361F depending on the mix of the two.
Check this out:

Ratio tin/Lead   Melting point
0 / 100     621F
30 / 70     496F
50 / 50     421F
60 / 40     375F
63 / 37     361F

If we continue to raise the amount of tin to lead past 63% the melting point begins to rise again to where it is 450F at 100% tin, therefore 63/37 solder has the absolute lowest melting point. Pretty weird, eh? (what, you forgot about Marv Albert?...Mikey) And you thought that ratio was a gimmick? With respect to cost, the last time Stan (Mike’s metals commodities broker) checked, tin was about ten times more expensive than lead, telling you why solder prices can vary so extremely according to the amount of tin they have.

FIG In Litigation

FIG ACCUSES SWISS CHEESED GLASS WERKS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT FOR USE OF THE WORD 'GLASS'

Fantasy In Glass Owner Mikey filed suit in federal Supreme Court in Ottawa today accusing Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks 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 Swiss Cheesed intend to vigorously dispute the suit as 'frivolous'. Attempts to placate the staff of Fantasy In Glass with Cheesed labelled T-shirts and aprons have proven unsuccessful (thus far).

Gary Harrington and Great Music

(hang on to your hat from the 30 sec mark on)

Last  night, as I was drinking my third Shirley Temple of the night (yes, I do push the envelope at times), the late and great Chester Burnett (Willie Dixon's muse) was crackling and popping on the turntable (vinyl rules, especially Chess Records vinyl!), and The Wolf was in all his glory he was. How Many More Years was the tune. Who knew how topical it would be as he howled those words.

It reminded me that not only is stained glass something that brings us joy, inspires and invigorates us, but so does the workings of a great artist like Howling Wolf.
As such, I have mandated the balance of January as Old Blues Artists Month. Don't like the blues? Maybe try the malls, 'cuzz that's all we're going to play.
As an aside, music wouldn't sound as good as it does without the great guidance of and equipment procurement by such great guys as Gary at Harrington Audio. If you are considering any stereo or home theatre purchase and need some help, advice and equipment I can't speak more highly of a guy like Gary- website here... 

It's Not Like Bragging

Mikey just uploaded to the Fantasy In Glass website over 200 pictures of the stained glass found in the museums at Navy Pier in Chicago (excluding the incredible Tiffany windows that he posted awhile back)(if you are on Facebook, you would have already seen them as he posted them there a couple of months ago.
Go here to see...

Things That Make You Wonder

Anyone can buy a Taurus III Ringsaw in the States in a retail store for $324.00.
That's about $200 less than what you have to pay wholesale for the same saw here in Canada. A substantial difference that cannot be explained away and justified by any added costs of landing the saw here.
Came across an article in the paper the other day on why we pay so much more for goods in Canada compared to the U.S.- seems we have less competition.
Hmmm...

Stained Glass News #98

... is here. 

Pick up your free copy next time you're in. Just don't get your hopes up on this issue's pattern- rather lame and below their usual high standard in our opinion, but, you be the judge.

In SGN #98, you'll find:
• new items, including: a few new books, a new soldering iron, new lamp design, new System 96 items, some new bead molds, another new adhesive for mosaic artists, and a new (old) texture from Kokomo… and more!
• reader hints, a reader's workshop and more on "The Readers' Page"
• Mosaics and Stepping Stones Julie Bishop-Day—Julie gives you a step-by-step on "crash glass."
• Let the Glass Do the Talking Judy Coleman—Judy addresses the beauty of beveled glass.
• Design it Your Way Carolyn Kyle—In this continuing series, Carolyn talks about things that you should know before coming to the glass store to pick out glass.
• Health and Safety Fleming Fallon, M.D.—Fleming continues his series on adapting to changes as you age, and changes that you can make to continue enjoying your glass hobby. This issue he talks about lighting and your eyes.
• The Beadmakers' Corer Andie Kosak—This time, Andie takes you step-by-step through making a Millefiori decorated bead.
• this issue's Free Pattern: Skier is an overlay pattern that will appeal to the snow skiers in your life.
• a page of photos from readers in The Readers' Gallery
• and more…

Wow!

Over 140 colours/styles of glass for stained glass and/or fusing, measuring 6" x 6", starting at under $2/pc (most under $4), any quantity, shipped anywhere in Canada for a measly 5 bucks!
Selection here. Order form here.