Creating multilayered fused glass dichroic pendants with patterned and clear glass

I've written several posts about my attempts to make multilayered dichroic glass pieces. Many of these attempts have failed because the glass broke or didn't fuse correctly, but I'm finally getting the hang of it! I'm now creating pendants that have four, five, six... and even seven layers of glass.

Lately, I've been experimenting with clear dichroic glass. I haven't worked much with this material, but the clear glass is great for fusing onto colored base glass or for creating layers. It has patterns and textures just like the dichroic glass on black, but is transparent. Therefore, when you fuse patterned clear glass on top of patterned opaque glass, you get a combo of those designs.

The trick to layering glass is to make sure each layer is even. I always start with a piece of base glass -- generally clear, black or white -- and then top it with opaque dichroics on black. However, I make sure that all of the dichros are the same thickness. This way, the next layer of glass will lay flat across. If you add a piece of say, Wissmach textured glass, which is lumpier than most other dichros, it'll be harder to get an even fuse. I like to use a dab of Krazy Glue to keep my pieces in place. The glue keeps the glass still for working purposes, but eventually burns off in the kiln.

Next, I add a few small clear pieces, choosing ones that have interesting tints and patterns. I then top it with a piece of clear base ... and then this is where the fun begins: I add a couple more layers of clear glass, again mixing up tints and patterns.

So far, seven is my record; that large blue piece that's at the top of this post is my seven-layer one. I didn't like how it turned out when I first took it from the kiln, but fell in love with it after it cooled and hardened. It reminds me of an ocean scene and I really like the color combinations.

I've found that if you pile the pieces on too high, the colors will become muddled and the glass will lose its shape. Basically, it's a bit like building a pyramid; I use more glass on the bottom and then use fewer -- and smaller -- pieces as I build up.

To heat such thick pieces, you need the larger microwave kiln. I do an initial firing for 9 minutes, then do 1 1/2-minute intervals. There's no way that these items would hold up in the small kiln; they'd probably break after about a minute of heating. Low and slow is the way to go!

I'm glad I'm paying more attention to the clear dichros because I'm going to be having my students work with colored base glass -- and I plan to show them how to fuse them with clears. I think they're really going to enjoy this lesson. I'm certainly enjoying my glass experiments.

Check out the rest of my handmade jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Making fused glass jewelry: pendant FAILS!

I usually use this blog to show off and advertise my successful handmade jewelry projects, but actually getting to that point where I have something boast-worthy takes a lot of work! I've also had many failures along the way and I think it's important to show those, too. This is going to sound cheesy and cliche, but I don't get too frustrated when I mess up a project because it really is a learning experience. I figure out what went wrong, correct the problem -- and then try not to repeat it.

Take these "layered" dichroic pendants, for example. They're real beauties, right? Not.

When making them, I was attempting to use transparent dichros so I could add depth to my layers. It took me a long time to figure out how to even make triple-layered pendants, but now that I'm regularly doing that, I'd like to add something more. The idea was to slip thin transparents between the main layers so I could add some shading and texture. Instead, I went overboard and got ... well, a mess.

I like what I did with the base colors. I usually use black, white or clear glass for my base, but here I used two different dichros UNDER a layer of clear. This gave the base a super-shiny texture and I had a lot to build from.

However, this is where I went wrong. I piled on too many pieces of glass and didn't really think about which colors would work best with the base. Basically, I was experimenting to see how certain combos would turn out. But I should have gone lighter on the glass and definitely shouldn't have added those solid colors on top.

My worst mistake, though, was placing the small piece of rainbow glass in the top center of the pieces. There was too much glass in the way for it to fire properly and it turned into a messy blob.

I haven't given up on layering. There's only so much I can do with my microwave kilns, but I'll keep practicing until I figure out which tricks work! I've made a lot of mistakes, but wouldn't have gotten anything done if I'd given up.

Check out the rest of my handmade fused dichroic glass, wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.