2015 Glass Craft & Bead Expo ~ Mixing It Up with Mosaics with Carrie Strope and Susan Gamble

Mixing It Up with Mosaics

Friday, April 10th, 2015 from 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Expand your creativity and enlarge your tool chest while experiencing a unique approach to creating a mosaic. Students will each construct a self-framed 6” x 8” mosaic on Wedi board utilizing an impromptu design method. 

Mixing It Up with Mosaics with Carrie Strope and Susan Gamble

You will use a selection of stained glass, your choice of a themed package of beautiful hand-made, frost proof, brightly glazed, 1/8 inch “skinny” tiles. You will take home a completed mosaic that is ready for display, as well as left-over tesserae to get you started on your next piece. 

Previous student project

 Students will receive hands-on instruction and helpful tips for precision cutting of stained glass into squares, triangles and diamonds. You will experiment with and learn the simple techniques for using two amazing heat-activated adhesive products. 

Creating a quick mosaic in SAMA Workshop

 A bonus to these products is they don’t require lengthy drying or curing time so you will be able to grout your artwork immediately during the workshop! The instructors are experts in their fields and will provide demonstrations as well as individual assistance for each step and answer questions that arise during the workshop. 

Student creation from SAMA workshop

Students bring: safety glasses and glass cutting tools. Some cutting tools will be available for classroom use.

Mixing It Up with Glass, Ceramic, beads, dichroic and more!

2015 Glass Craft & Bead Expo ~ Cold Fusion Jewelry with Carrie Strope

Cold Fusion Jewelry Techniques

Thursday 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Cold Fusion Jewelry Techniques with Carrie Strope

You don’t need to own a kiln to create stunning micro mosaic and cold fusion jewelry. Using bezel cup pendants and an assortment of bling, you will learn a whole new technique for adding pizazz to your jewelry! 

Made using dichro dots, No Days Groutless, bezel pendants and sterling chain

Several different methods of working with frit, mica, dichroic glass, UV resin and more will be covered. The tips and tricks Carrie will be sharing take all of the guesswork out of the process, so you will leave with a successful new set of earrings and matching pendant, as well as many new techniques to use for future jewelry projects.
 

Magical millefiore pendant created quickly with cold fusion techniques

If you do have access to a kiln, Carrie will walk you through the steps necessary to create pressed glass, frit balls and dichro dots at home. Students bring: safety glasses and glass cutting tools. Some cutting tools will be available for classroom use.

2015 Glass Craft & Bead Expo ~ Glass on Glass Mosaics with Carrie Strope

Glass on Glass Mandala Mosaics

Wednesday, April 8th, 2015 from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Instructor Carrie Strope

In this all day class, you will sharpen and hone your glass cutting skills while building an 11” framed mosaic that’s ready to take home at the end of class.

Glass on Glass Mandala Mosaic made with recycled church windows
by Carrie Strope

 You will learn tricks for cutting circles, how to frame your mosaics with zinc edge came, basic soldering skills needed to make your own metal frames, tips and tricks for working with No Days Groutless, and how to choose the best adhesive for your project (several different examples made with different adhesives and the pros and cons of each will be on display for discussion).

Glass on Glass Mosaic created using No Days Mosaic Adhesive

 We will discuss basic color theory to help you choose your glass, talk about pattern variations and the best way to approach cutting a pattern out of a sheet of glass and finish with grouting pointers as we complete a mosaic in one day!

Stained glass window panel with fused glass inclusions as well as
glass on glass flower inclusions

 If you've ever wanted to explore mosaics or enhance your repertoire, Carrie will show you how easy it is to start combining your skills to create unique pieces with mosaic, stained glass and fused glass.
This is also the perfect class to brush up on your cutting skills! Learn tips for glass cutting from the 2014 Super Pro Glass Cutting Champion!

Super Pro Glass Cutting Contest at the 2014 Glass Craft & Bead Expo

  Students bring: safety glasses and glass cutting tools. Some cutting tools will be available for classroom use.

Fused glass sconce night light created with the same pattern
from the mosaic mandala class. Get tips for cutting glass
to create stunning fused glass art.

Oops! Now what?!? Working with frit and No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive

"Embroidered Dogwood" fused glass plate created with frit,
Glassline paints and No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive.

The creation of this plate is an epic tale. So grab your preferred beverage, sit back and enjoy the ride!

Clear fusible glass base with painted trace lines done with
Glassline paints.

In the beginning, there was a circle of clear glass and some glassline paints to outline the design...I've been working on a series of floral themed platters. Some of them are very realistic looking, but mostly, I lean towards abstract and lots of color. My aim for this particular plate was to make it look geometric with a sense of needlework. After tracing the outlines of my design from a template to the clear glass base and letting the paints dry (10-15 minutes), I was ready to add details and color with various frits.

Building frit design from the center outward over the
dried paints. Frit is held firmly in place with
No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive.

When I'm using frits, the size grain that I use depends upon the outcome I'm going for. When adding fine detail lines, I use fine frit (size F2 in System 96 or size 01 in Bullseye). The fine frit allows me to create highly detailed imagery. It is also easy to sculpt with the No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive. If I have larger areas of my design to fill in, I'll switch to medium or coarse frit sizes and often blend colors, as well as mixing opals with cathedrals. Once I've got my design established, I find a good starting point in the center-ish. This makes it easier to work on your piece without brushing your arms across your design.

Detailed frit designs are added in a circular motion building outward.

I lay down a bit of No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive, then cover it with frits. I sculpt the frits into the shape I want them to be. It's easiest to work from the inside out (in this case).  By starting in one spot and then working next to it, you've got a wall of frit to support each new addition. I decided to experiment with adding some coarse frit accents in areas (to mimic the knotted stitches in embroidery), and then covering them with fine frit. Here, we're viewing the plate from what will be the front side when the plate is finished. It's helpful to have a mirror to work on, then you can see what the front side of the plate looks like as you're working without having to lift the plate overhead.

Checking the progress, looking up at the underside.
If you build on a mirror, you can check your progress as you work.

Although there are no trace lines outside of the flower in the center, I wanted to continue building in a pattern around the edges. Each new color got placed and sculpted until I reached the edge...

The design is nearly finished! And then...

Super close to being finished, and can you believe that it still hasn't occurred to me that I'm working with "enemies"? Wait, what?!?

A picture of the finished frit design before firing in the kiln to
burn off the adhesive and save my design...hopefully.

Yea! It's all finished, and about this time I realize that I've used a piece of 90 COE clear base with 96 COE frits. This is one of those projects that sat in my studio for a few months after being painted before I was able to get to it and add frits. A great lesson in keeping an extremely well organized studio if you plan on firing glass in the kiln. Either stick with one kind of compatible glass, or segregate your pieces from step one! 
So, now I'm left with a beautiful mosaic platter. I could have left it glued together as a flat piece and the No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive would keep it glued together for good. But, that's not the intention I had when creating this plate, so it's time to trouble shoot. And, admittedly, that's one of the great pulls that fused glass holds over me. I love problem solving and understanding the whys behind the process. So, time to experiment...

First attempt to burn off the adhesive...obviously failed.

Getting to know No Days... The picture above shows the results of my poor plate going into the kiln after the first attempt at burning off the adhesive. 

The firing schedule follows:

300ºF per hour	600ºF	1.30
off

NOTE: All following firing schedules will have the above layout, with the first column being degrees per hour (in ºF), the second column is the target temperature in ºF, and the third column is the hold time: hours.minutes).

Obviously the adhesive did not fully burn out. The frit is still stuck firmly to the plate and has not dropped to the kiln shelf. Looks "carmelized." Yum.

Detail of caramelized glass...Frit is still stuck in place!

---

Okay...so the adhesive really holds! Let's see what a second burnout attempt looks like...

Second burnout attempt.

I left the kiln vented for the entire firing so I could observe what was happening. [Also, my studio is in the garage next to a window that I can open for ventilation. I always recommend trying to keep your kiln in a space that is not a living space. That way anything that burns out while firing (binders, adhesives, fiber papers, etc.) will not stink up your house.]

At 800ºF, there was visible smoking.

At 920ºF, there is no visible smoke, but I could smell the adhesive burning off and see brown on the kiln shelf.

After 45 minutes at hold temp (1000ºF), I could no longer see any carbon burnout on the piece or kiln shelf. The frit has not dropped from the glass to the shelf.
  

After the firing was complete, the adhesive in the center of the plate had obviously not burned off. The frit on the edges of the plate can be tapped off of the glass. (This makes me want to do another experiment to see how well the frit holds on to the plate after burning off the adhesive...that's for another post...)

[NOTE: The plate is placed directly on a kiln-washed shelf with no fire paper. The clear glass on top of all the frit is preventing the adhesive from burning out in the center. It would be much quicker to burn off the adhesive if the glass base were on the bottom and the frit on top. However, I need to get the adhesive to burn out and release my frit onto the kiln shelf, so I can replace the clear glass with compatible System 96 glass! This means that it's taking longer for me to burn out the adhesive than it would under normal circumstances (frit on top of sheet glass in the kiln).]

Second attempt firing schedule:

300ºF per hour	1000ºF	1.30
off

---

The adhesive has fully burned off after 4.5 hours in the kiln and
three successive low temperature firings.

At this point, I decided to try the second firing schedule again. Why? Well, I don't want to raise my top temperature any further. If I creep up towards 1100ºF, my glass base will start to distort and slump into the frit, and my hope is to salvage that piece to create a different dogwood plate. I figured that another long hold at 1000ºF will help to get that adhesive out from under the glass in the center of the plate. Guess what?!?  After the third burnout attempt, SUCCESS! Full burnout of adhesive. The frit is still stuck to the plate in places, but can be tapped off, mostly.

Third attempt at burnout firing schedule:

300ºF per hour	1000ºF	1.30
off

The frit that has been tapped off of the clear glass and salvaged on the kiln shelf.

The frit design has been saved on my shelf so I can now prep a clear piece of System 96 glass to cap it with!

This is the frit that was still hanging on the clear piece of glass!
Can you believe the adhesive is still working after all of that?!?

I wasn't able to tap off all of the frit. The adhesive has fully burnt out, but the frit is still sticking together. It did come off of the plate when I wiped it clean, but I just trashed the bits that didn't transfer to the shelf. Below, you can see where I added additional frit to the design to fill in the gaps (aiming for the magical 6mm thickness that glass wants to be at a full fuse).

Take two...(or is it four?)...I've added a clear sheet of Spectrum to
cap the frit that was left on my kiln shelf.

I prepped another sheet of glass, this time using the proper glass: Spectrum clear with Glassline paints.

Full fuse number one...success-ish!

After a full fuse, the plate has a few divots (not to be confused with devit = devitrification; because there's none of that), plus I want to add more depth.

Time to add more depth and detail to the top side of this design
with coarse frits and a No Days Powder Wafer.
Plus, clear frit to even out the thickness of the glass.

There are areas where the thickness of the glass wasn't 1/4," so I added some clear frit to fill in the divots. Also, I wanted more of those embroidery "French knot stitches" and added bits of coarse frit for detail. Then, because the middle was still lacking, I decided to add a No Days Powder Wafer. Uh...what's that? It's still a secret! But, watch for details in the next few months. Oh! And you can sign up for Jacqui Bush's Vegas class to get a jump start on the technique, too!

I'm on a roll! Time to get these projects fired and finished!

For the finishing full fuse, I loaded the kiln with two other projects I've been waiting to fire.

The plate on the lower left is ready for it's first firing. It was also built entirely of frit on clear with No Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive. 90 COE exclusively... I did not have to fire it several times to facilitate full burnout of the adhesive because the clear piece of glass is on the bottom of the frit. This means the adhesive can escape straight up and out of the piece, unlike the previous pictures of the dogwood plate where the adhesive had to escape beneath the clear glass to the edges before burning off.
Also, notice the addition to my kiln shelf of fire paper. Firing on fire paper ensures that any air between the kiln shelf and the plate has a chance to escape, meaning that I get no big, unexpected bubbles bursting through the top of my plates!

Ahhh! What a feeling! Finally finished, well, except for the slump.

Tada! Full fused again and ready to slump. This particular mold is the Round Rippled Drop Out Mold from Slumpy's. I've been really into using drop-out molds against the kiln shelf to make nice flat-bottomed plates. Flat-bottomed plates make my slumping world go 'round...or something like that ;)

Post-slump firing in a drop out mold from Slumpy's.

Wow! You made it all the way to the bottom and the end of my saga! Hope you were able to follow along without too much confusion. However, if you've got questions, I'd love to hear them and see if I can't answer them, as well :) Leave a comment on the blog and I'll do my best to answer!

The Vinery Stained Glass Shop Road Show ~ Madison, WI

Denny gave me a quick tour of his new location.
He's got this Saguaro skeleton that's been with him for years.

Denny's new location is HUGE! He's been there for 6 months and it still smells brand new. He's got tons of glass on display, as well as finished projects. I got the grand tour as soon as I arrived.

Next to the front door of the store

There's plenty of room to walk around and everywhere you look there's eye candy. The store is divided into areas for make and take fused glass pendants, lampworking, stained glass, mosaic and fused glass classes.

He's also got his very first stained glass piece that he made by teaching himself
from a book when he was 24...just a few years ago. He's also got his very own Peter McGrain portrait looking over his precious.

Denny planned a full day with his Customer Appreciation Event occurring at the same time as the No days Road Show. The first 150 customers through the door got swag bags. There was a full demo schedule for glass cutting, the Morton System, bottle cutters, flameworking, foil repair, fusing ideas, programming your kiln, and of course, No Days adhesives!

No Days Road Show ~ Harmony Stained Glass, Pasadena, TX

Welcome to Harmony Stained Glass :)

I visited Harmony Stained Glass and met with my first Texas-sized Road Show! We had such a blast and were so busy that I didn't get to take many photos. Owner Joyce Sullivan has lots of enthusiasm and a large selection of glass, tools and supplies to choose from. If you're ever in the Houston area, head down to Pasadena and say hi!

Artist Residency with Mosaic Glass Quilts

In December, artist Carrie Strope Sohayda of Calyx Glass spent one week with K-5th grade art students at Clinton Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition to creating fused glass snowflakes for the students to take home and enjoy, they also collaborated on a glass quilt that will hang in the school for all the students, staff and visitors to enjoy for years to come.

Pre-installation picture of the six 18" x 24" panels

  Before diving in to containers of glass, she walked the students through the design process with worksheets that helped the students figure out the quilt blocks they would use, what shapes made up the blocks, and playing with different color combinations using different color schemes, color theory, and the color wheel.

3 Patch Design Worksheet for the K-2nd Graders

4 Patch Design Worksheet for the 3rd-5th Graders

After getting the worksheets colored in, each student chose the color combination they liked best and got to carefully pick through the glass bins to find the perfect pieces for their mosaic. Each student got a 4" square of recycled window glass (their "substrate") that was prepped ahead of time with No Days Mosaic Adhesive. "It was an incredibly clean process to work with. I didn't have to deal with sticky fingers and students asking to wash their hands. I also didn't have to wait for the individual quilt blocks to dry before taking them home to assemble into panels," noted Carrie.

"It's hard to see in the photo, but I prepped the clear glass squares by
laying a square of No Days Mosaic Adhesive on it, and then placing
the squares on an electric skillet that I use for crafts."

The No Days Mosaic Adhesive is transparent so the students placed their clear glass squares upon their templates to guide them in placing the "tesserae," or pieces of colored glass. Once they were happy with how their quilt blocks looked, they brought them over to the "curing station" - an electric skillet that activated the heat set adhesive,  where Miss Carrie made any adjustments in placement that the students pointed out.

In the classroom, gluing down the pieces
with a electric skillet and No Days Mosaic Adhesive.

At the end of each class period, the finished blocks were stacked and set aside in a box. At the end of the last day when all the quilt blocks were built, Carrie took them home to mount on 18" x 24" plexiglass panels with a silicon adhesive. Each panel then sat for 48 hours (while the silicone cured) before being grouted.

After assembling all the squares and gluing them on plexiglass,
the panels were grouted.

The International Quilt Study Center is located in Lincoln, Nebraska in the same neighborhood as Clinton Elementary School and will be displaying the Mosaic Glass Quilt panels for their First Friday event in May, 2013.

 For more information, check out the Lincoln Arts Council announcement, here.

No Days Artist Residency in rural Nebraska

No Days artist Carrie Strope Sohayda was able to work with High Plains Community Schools in Polk and Clarks, Nebraska through the Nebraska Arts Council Artists in Schools and Communities program during the last week of September and the first week of October, 2012. AiS/C makes grant money available as matching funds for school and community projects.

Finished mosaic panels : 9th-12th graders
102" x 36", glass & mirror mosaic

In two weeks, she worked with K-12 students on fused glass and glass mosaic projects. The seventh through twelfth graders worked on collaborative mosaic projects to hang permanently in the two schools.

Finished Mosaic Panels : 7th & 8th grades
60" x 36", glass & mirror mosaic

No Days Road Show - The Glass Galleria - St. Louis, MO

Glass Galleria owner Ann Novotny ~ all smiles!

Streuter visited The Glass Galleria in Saint Louis, Missouri the weekend of April 28th, 2012 for a No Days Road Show and Groutless Mosaic Adhesive class!

Students sampling the different styles of Toyo cutters available

No Days Instructor Carrie Strope Sohayda opened with demos of the different mosaic adhesives before diving in and having students start cutting glass for their Groutless Coasters. If you've ever wanted to try a different style of cutter or need some tips on cutting glass, then you need to get to a Road Show! Carrie had Toyo's complete line of cutters available for practicing with and explained the differences between the designs and cutting heads.

The Glass Gospel

No Days Instructor Carrie Strope Sohayda recently shared her story with Kelsey Lee of the Daily Nebraskan. Learn about her introduction to glass, different techniques she uses in her artwork, why she loves teaching and the lessons she's learned from working with glass in this interview at her home studio.
Glass Gospel from Daily Nebraskan on Vimeo. Carrie travels the country teaching at retail studios and spreading the Glass Gospel with No Days Road Shows. Check your calendar to see if you can join along in the fun! See the Road Show schedule here...

Featured Artist Carrie Strope Sohayda of Calyx Glass

Meet Carrie Strope Sohayda, Streuter Technologies' very first featured artist, now No Days Road Show Instructor Extraordinaire, as well as customer support. When you've got an issue or question, don't hesitate to contact Carrie at carrie@stretech.com!

Carrie Strope Sohayda of Calyx Glass

When Carrie's not firing it up in the glass studio, she's reading everything she can about techniques and trends in glass. As enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge as she is about expanding her own talents, Carrie teaches classes in mosaic, stained glass and fused glass to both children and adults. She is launching the first-ever glass program at the LUX Center for the Arts in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.

NO Days University at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo in Las Vegas

Spring is in the air and the Las Vegas Glass Craft & Bead Expo is getting nearer.  Have you seen the NO Days University class schedule? These mini-classes are designed to fit around your class schedule and shopping.

What are some of the techniques you'll learn? We've got fusing, leaded stained glass, and mosaic classes designed to teach you how to cut back on project assembly time using the NO Days line of products.

You'll be amazed at how quickly you finish your project!

During the ThinFuse Mosaic Class, you'll learn how to eliminate a tack firing in your kiln by adhering your pieces to your glass using NO Days ThinFuse. We'll "grout" with frit and secure that in place with NO Days Liquid Fusing Adhesive. Once the adhesive has dried, the frit will be so secure that you'll have no trouble transporting the piece back to your kiln to fire. 

glueFOIL and NO Days Mosaic Adhesive created this butterfly

Join us for the glueFOIL Mosaic Coaster Class, and learn how to get creative using scrap textured clear stained glass to make stunning mosaics. We'll piece together our designs using glueFOIL, then adhere the glass to our substrates with NO Days Mosaic Adhesive and grout immediately! You'll leave with a new technique in your mosaic arsenal and your sample coaster to remind you how you did it.

NO Days Glaze makes building a leaded window much quicker

Have you seen or heard of NO Days Glaze, but just haven't had the time or project to test it out with? Join us for the NO Days Glaze Sun Catcher Class and see how easy it is to use. You'll see that it's such a time saver, that you'll wonder why you aren't using it in every leaded glass project!