New Glass Colours

Looks like Spectrum has their mojo back. After sitting back for too long, they are finally getting back up to speed and increasingly adding new colours (oops, with some help from Uroboros too!).

 In the past year we've seen Celadon (green/grey), Persimmon (orangy brown), a Deep Chocolate Brown, Lemongrass, Terra Cotta, Black Cherry and now two really nice Opal Greys. Charcoal Opal is a rich, bold dark Grey that works well with strong colours- #280-76SF. and Pewter Opal is a lighter, mid-level Grey that compliments many of the warmer, subtle shades- #280-72SF.


A reminder of some of the stuff added fairly recently, here's some of the expanding opal line-



Fusers Reserve- a seemingly unlimited variety of one-of-a-kind colour mixes-

One of the most unusual and stunning line of glass- the Aventurines (3 choices)(check out the series of Seuss themed fused plates Zenia and Mike are working on-

Reactives (just ask us to explain this cool effect) and Collage-

And a gentle reminder of some of their other glass-Opalarts-

and Spirits-

And while all of this glass is Sys96 Glass specially formulated for fusing, remember, it is glass and is also suitable for all your stained glass projects as well!

Funny, we don't miss Bullseye at all...

November Monthly Sale Now Up

The end of the month is traditionally the time when we get to put something on sale, but more importantly it's also another opportunity to post an embarrassing picture of Zenia. 
Ah, but it's Halloween and one of our old employees, Anja dressed up so appropriately that Mikey is compelled to post her picture here instead, and to wish everyone a great Happy Halloween! Stay tuned for more Zenia next month.
Oh, yeah, go here for the Monthly Sale.

Coneart Kilns

Damn, Mikey found my bar!

I really don't know what else we can say about this kiln manufacturer, except I wish we could sell more of their kilns for them.
Frank, Mike and all the rest of the staff are simply too easy to get along with, are all very knowledgeable, and extremely accommodating and supportive whenever we call. They make a great kiln (six models specific to glass fusing- five of which we now carry in inventory)


The most important point to consider when buying a kiln is it's legality for sale in Ontario. We have the CSA Overlords assuring our electrical safety and we find people making unfair comparisons between Coneart which is CSA Approved and most competing brands which we've confirmed, aren't. Apples to apples...

Not only a great kiln, but great employees too!

Coneart is a Canadian kiln manufacturer, which means CSA Approval comes on each kiln they sell. It also means that as they are local, you pay only for the kiln and not for shipping it from the U.S. (they'll even deliver direct to your door too!). This gives Coneart more than a 25% price advantage over its American competitors. And if you need service, we can help you there too- no packing it up and shipping it off somewhere at great expense and risk!

All Coneart kiln pricing includes The Whole Works- that means our pricing includes a stand, shelf, kiln posts, lid prop, kilnwash, an extensive Fusing Technical Kit with handouts and disc and even Mikey's private telephone number in case you forget how to program your kiln when we're closed.

Pricelist page as found here, although Vanna Opal thinks Mikey might be putting them on sale soon...

Wow, Look Mom, Free Stuff!

We have a series of binders with well over 200 free patterns for you to choose from- including suncatchers, lamps and even Christmas themed stuff. And now we've added another binder of free projects and patterns devoted to fusing and slumping for your amusement (frustration?). Yours for the taking.

Don't have a kiln? Then come in and use ours (only $10/firing!), or rent one and take it home ($5/day!).

How Does He Do It?

All this choice, for a lousy 5 bucks shipped anywhere in Canada, and Mikey's not proud- he'll ship one piece or 400 for the same lousy 5 bucks!

Mikey Explain Our Social Media in the First person

This whole social media thing might be getting a little out of hand today with so many different ways to interact, but it seems that as a business owner, to remain relevant and vital you must participate in most of them. 

Not as easy at it might seem. 

Oh, sure, we are computer savvy and have no problems setting up and administering the various accounts. We even are reasonably good spellers, occasionally use alliteration and are somewhat competent to write content, post pics, etc. But there is a certain etiquette that occasionally eludes us- after all, we are digital immigrants and today's social media followers are all digital natives- yes, we are possibly just as smart, but not as 'with it'- perhaps that's why we find ourselves making a living at a 1200 year old craft. And this all came blatantly obvious to me yesterday, when my over exuberance for the new medium Instagram was blatantly pointed out to me by said natives as perhaps as being, shall we say, a bit over exuberant?!

And rightfully so. 

You see, I got excited by the opportunities these new avenues offer, to share, promote and educate those who might wish to follow us and the happenings at Fantasy In Glass. I have been duly humbled and made well aware that at times, even Mikey might be a little out of step. Hey, just lost the mullet a short while ago- some things just take a bit more time...

Now, this gives me an opportunity to share with you our logic on our use of various other social media.

Firstly, Blogger- I have been writing a Diary for well over 15 years- firstly, prior to our website's existence as an email newsletter, then as a formal section on our website, and now today as a blog started back in 2006 that now numbers almost 1200 entries. It currently approaches 2.5 million visits since started and is the first place for the newest news, and has entries added on average once every three days or so. This has always been our primary choice to disseminate information and will remain so into the future.

We've had a Facebook presence for a couple of years now.  Actually, I mean two presences- both Fantasy In Glass and Figimodo, the soul and mascot of FIG. As this medium is newer than our blog, I recognize more media savvy people may go there instead and therefore we find all of our blog postings repeated here, with some additional info added to keep it interesting. We also plan to post more photo albums here, with several new ones imminent. So, to all you digital natives, join Fantasy In Glass 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. It has been low key, as we sort of just feel it out- we do post some amazing sales here that you won't hear about anywhere else.

And of course, we've had our own channel on YouTube. 

Logos below will link you directly to those spots-

      

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

Correction

Last month, The Fig Blog known as the Diary of a Demented Store Owner, mistakenly reported that a sudden and completely unpredictable auto accident had crippled Ferrous Man Joe Dinardo, and that an investigatory probe had found the Bambini Bros. completely blameless in the accident. In actuality, these events will take place next week. The Diary regrets the error. This however does give us the opportunity to remind you of all our free patterns found here...

Vanna Opal Inadvertently Does Some Good

I just knew that if I gave Vanna Opal a few sale squares to clean that of course she'd shrink them like she does to all of my clothes. Hey, another bright idea!
Actually since we came up with the idea of the 6" x  6" Sale Square it's been crazily successful. There are well over 200 colours to choose from- solid opals, cathedrals, streakies, Opalarts, Spirits and the new Fuser's Reserves, from both Spectrum and Uroboros Glass.
Yes, I know, it's all Sys96 Glass, a line that people use primarily for fusing but actually, glass is just glass- any glass can be used for your stained glass projects (it's just the other way around that doesn't work- not all glass can be used for fusing). 
If you want a nice, vibrant solid red opal for example, you will only find it in the fusible racks, and you'll pay over $30/ft for it. But what if you only need a small piece (costing $6-$) that's where these sale squares show their true value.
And yes, it is true- Mikey will ship them anywhere in Canada for a lousy $5, whether you want 12 pc or 200!

Secret To New Glass Pattern Found, Then Lost

Three staff members at Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks have claimed to have unlocked the secret to a new art glass which contains both squares and stars in a random pattern, then just as quickly lost the secret due to 'just trying to do too many things at once.'
Gary Brownie, chief researcher of the Swiss Cheesed's Really Pretty Colours Department said he and his colleagues found the formula to this long sought after colour pattern, "but then just lost it, although we knew it was there, and we just had it." 

Brownie added "It was so bizarre. I was just looking at our test firings and complaining about how the squares were more like parallelograms and having been fed up with the staff's persistent insistence with coming up with some sort of splotchy "Fremont Antique Glass type look with streaky striped edges on the sheet"  and I guess I put this beautifully perfect squared and starred piece down and couldn't find where I put it. I spent all afternoon looking everywhere, even in the drawer with all those discarded polarizing lenses and old 'Approximately System 95 or Thereabouts' stickers.  I have no idea how we find anything here.  Anyway,  I just couldn't find it."
Head of the Really Pretty Colours Research Department, David Chase suggested Brownie look in his lab coat when he finds it just in case he was going to put it there.  Commenting on Brownie's well known absent-mindedness, Mr. Chase related the one time Brownie was looking all over the lab for his stressometers, and discovered he was wearing them on his head. It was so funny. Chase is still "sure it's somewhere. I mean, where else could it be?"
Everyone was careful to think about where they went after making the discovery, hoping to retrace their steps, although doing so usually resulted in them tripping and bumping into each other. Brownie added " I really worry about telling my boss that we lost it. We misplaced a formula for an extra dark white just earlier this month. He won't be too happy."

Introduction to Fusing Seminar Tomorrow!

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...

Help!?

We got this note from Spectrum last week explaining something or other about their clear glass for fusing, but for the life of me, we can't figure it out! 

So rather than trying to be clever, or accidentally misinform, we thought to just reprint it here verbatim and hopefully someone out there will be able to make some sense of it (apparently, even Mikey's Enigma Machine couldn't decode it).

Here goes:

Dear Retailer,
One of our biggest challenges over the past few years has been to find solutions that keep the prices of our products down in the face of continually rising costs of raw materials. Such is now the case with our core System 96® Clear product, 100SFS. In light of the fact that we must increase the price of 100SFS Clear, we developed a new Clear fusible formula -- "Icicle Clear" (100SF-ICE) -- that we are pleased to be able to offer at an even lower price point than you've been paying for 100SFS.
Named for it's slightly bluish hue, Icicle Clear fusible is made using the same exacting standards as all System 96 products -- the same devit-resistance and tested compatibility that fusers trust world-wide. We expect the ever-so slight blue hue of the new Icicle Clear fusible to be a non-issue for the majority of fusers using Clear as a project base, or clear cap.
Those who prefer the classic 100SFS glass will be impacted by the price increase (note new price code shift below). For those customers who require completely neutral Clear glass for their work, we will continue to offer our premium Crystal Clear (100SFXTL) products, without any change in price.
Icicle Clear will now be our regularly stocked, primary Clear fusible glass, and as such is likely to pick up where 100SFS left off as our new lowest priced, standard Clear SF product. The good news is that 3mm Icicle Clear will actually cost about 5% less than you are currently paying for 3mm 100SFS!

As noted in the chart above, all Irid Clear will now be made using the new Icicle Clear fusible formula. Irid Clear in the traditional SFS formula will be available as a special order item only (minimums will apply).

Improve Your Cutting

It's late at night. 
The scotch is all gone. 
Mikey's in bed in his Puppy themed flannel pyjamas. Who you gonna call when you're in trouble with your cutting skills? Consider going here, and reviewing this pdf file on '12 Ways to Improve Your Cutting'. That way Mikey can get a good night's sleep...
And don't get caught cutting and texting, it's the law!

A Dozen Things You Need to Know to Drill Holes In Glass

A very common problem people have is how to properly drill holes in glass.
Tripped across this page while surfing the net the other day which you might find helpful.
Just go here...
And why not give Aanraku a plug- they make a great 1/8" hollow diamond drill bit that costs less than $20 for two and we've got a whole bunch in stock!

Everything Is Going Green!

Because glass contains oxides and is made from incredibly varying formulae, it is almost unrecyclable. While small pieces can be useful (heck, we sell all our scrap and donate the proceeds to charity) there is a certain amount that has little use. But if you check out this link, you might find more use for your scraps.

October Sales Up

... which means we get to post another totally unflattering pic of Zenia as is our monthly ritual.

Go here for the Sales Page...

And Now for Something Completely Different

Surfing the web, here's a few glass projects that caught our fancy, or something ...

We Have the Most Talented Customers!

The start of a series of windows, by Jim D. for his church...

More Aanraku

Forgot-
Also just in are more of their most popular...
3/4" grinder heads (2/pk)...................... $33.99

Not really, we didn't forget, we just wanted another opportunity to post a goofy pic of Zenia...

Aanraku Stuff

After a seemingly unusual long time, we find some of these popular Aanraku items back in stock and due to a strong Canadian Dollar, now at even lower prices-

1/8" drill bits (2/pk)................................ $15.99

Medium Sized Silver Jewelry Bails...... $15.99 (25pc)

and for fusers-

All metal 4 pc sifters for sorting frit..... $55.99/set

Frit Piston for making grit....................... $59.99

Have you always wanted to introduce someone else to stained glass? 
Like someone you love? Or perhaps someone you don't?
Do you find others gazing lustfully at your work?
Do you feel the need to have someone separated from others for at least a few hours on a Saturday?
Perhaps you need a Christmas or birthday gift?
Then this one-day course is made specially for that person! 

We are offering a one-day 4 hour class on how to create your own stained glass masterpiece to take home and impress all your loved ones!
All materials are included - glass, patterns, associated materials, bandaids. Heck, we even let you keep and take home your own quality oil-fed glass cutter along with a bunch of handouts and patterns!
Make your own lightcatcher by the end of the day and learn the skills of glass cutting, copper foiling and soldering along the way.
All this for a lousy for  $99.00
Saturdays from 11am to 3pm. Go here for dates...

I Started Out With Nothing and I Still Got Most of It Left

How can you not wonder about someone who writes a title to a song like that?
Mikey's latest musical discovery to do glass to, is the author of that song, Seasick Steve- real name Steven Gene Wold.
This guy is the real deal- an American blues musician who lived his life as a hobo for years, hopping trains, who is well travelled, educated and likeable. Steve plied his trade playing beat up old and handmade guitars made out of cigar boxes, hubcaps and broomsticks- not one with a complete set of strings (even plays a 'didleybow'- or a one-stringed guitar!). Seasick has developed a full and rich sound you would never expect could come from the mishmash of instruments he plays.
Some loud and aggressive, some quiet and touching, here's one that fits somewhere in the middle.

Current Hours 

Monday.......................Closed (sorry)

Tuesday .................... Closed (sorry)

Wednesday................. 10 am to 7 pm

Thursday.................... 10 am to 5 pm

Friday........................ 10 am to 5 pm

Saturday.....................10 am to 4 pm

Sunday......................  Closed (sorry)

Yup, open 24 hours (or so, a week)

Store Tour

Figimodo helped clean up the store yesterday, and felt com-pulsed to conduct an informative tour of Fantasy In Glass (located at 703 The Queensway, in the Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks building).

We've posted to Facebook for those that find the need to creep their childhood crushes here. And for those without Facebook (you two there at the back of the room, I'm talking to you), we'll have them up on our website in a few days.

Current Hours 

(effective August 1)

Monday.......................Closed (sorry)

Tuesday .................... Closed (sorry)

Wednesday................ 10 am to 5 pm

Thursday.................... 10 am to 5 pm

Friday........................ 10 am to 5 pm

Saturday.....................10 am to 4 pm

Sunday......................  Closed (sorry)

Yup, open 24 hours (or so, a week)

We Posted This on Facebook, But It Warrants Repeating Here

You know that you might be in business too long if your first employee who just got married wasn't even born when you started.
Long time customers will remember Mikey and Vanna Opal's daughter Tania working the store in the summer and weekends, and her and Zenia also running their FIG Cafe for years on the second floor of the Swiss Cheesed Glasswerks Building, above Fantasy In Glass.
Congratulations Tania and her new husband Sean!

Help, I've Fallen, and This Spectrum Pink Spirit Won't Help Me Up

Weak and disoriented after being away from Mkey and Vanna at Fantasy In Glass (located in the Swiss Cheesed GlassWerks Building), for such an extended length of time, Nicholas faints, and failingly looks for assistance. Apparently he is unaware that inanimate objects are incapable of providing such assistance.
But, such a gorgeous and relatively pricey glass is quite capable of providing help for everyone else by putting it on sale at more than 50% off!
That's right folks!
We have bought a case of Spectrum's SP4941 Pink/Black/White on Clear Valhalla and have put it on sale, while supplies last, at $11.88/ft!

Back At It

Having just recently opened (yesterday) after our 'rrrregular' summer vacation shutdown, Nicholas Picholas seems to have started the day in a somewhat of a strange and lethargic mood. It is only when Mikey catches him trying to nibble on some of the 'new' Spectrum Black Cord (also fusible) that I realize that being away from FIG and the stimulating environment it provides, has made him somewhat unbalanced. 
Don't worry Picholas, a few more days back at work and all will be back to abnormal. As for the Spectrum Black Cord, it is in our bins- just check for the odd missing corner...

Current Hours 

(effective August 1)

Monday.......................Closed (sorry)

Tuesday .................... Closed (sorry)

Wednesday................ 10 am to 5 pm

Thursday.................... 10 am to 5 pm

Friday........................ 10 am to 5 pm

Saturday.....................10 am to 4 pm

Sunday......................  Closed (sorry)

Yup, open 24 hours (or so, a week)

Oh, The Humanity!

Former instructor and close associate of Fantasy In Glass, 'Cupcake' Haff succumbed to cannibalism today