Sunny, relaxing summer days are coming!
Here’s inspiration to give you a lift. It’s time to start thinking about delicious family picnics, breezy boat rides and warm sand between your toes. This series of bowls combines simple lines, a pleasing color palate and a whimsical touch of nature with classic seaside style. Beach Day Bowls are perfect accents for creating beachy comfort in your home all summer long.
When I come across a pattern that really brings me joy, I like to recreate that design in different sizes. Then I display the companion pieces around my kitchen and family room to set a seasonal mood throughout our living space. If you’re attracted to this pattern, consider making it in a few different sizes to get the most out of the simple, yet stylized ocean theme.
How-to make the bowls.
These bowls are made with two layers of glass. The base layer is clear glass. The second, design layer is made up of cut glass pieces. Start by cutting the clear base.
Enlarge the pattern to your desired dimension.
Use the pattern as a guide to cut the design layer. Cut the paper up. Glue the paper to the glass with a glue stick. Cut the glass as close to the paper pattern as possible to minimize the amount of grinding needed.
Cut the glass as accurately as you can.
There are some deep, inside cuts in my pattern. Grind the pieces to improve the edge quality and overall fit of the design. Assemble the cut glass pieces on top of the clear base. Use fuser’s glue to affix the design layer to the base layer. It’s okay if your pieces don’t fit perfectly. Let the glue dry. This will prevent the glass from moving when you apply the frit.
Attention to detail makes a difference.
Use a spoon and pour fine blue frit on top of the glass. Use a paint brush to move the frit into the gaps between the pieces to fill in the space and add a linear detail. Remove any excess frit by sweeping it off the glass. Be meticulous about your cleanup. Doing your best work on every step will dramatically improve the quality of your finished artwork.
Use a razor knife and cut a bird footprint stencil out of stiff paper. I use file folders or poster board. You can also use plastic stencils available at your local craft store in the scrap booking department. Place the stencil on the area of the design that represents the sand. Sift powder brown frit over the stencil. Carefully lift the stencil off the glass.
Fuse the assembled project to a full fuse temperature using the firing guide on my website.
Place the fused glass on a slumping mold and fire it to a slumping temperature using the guide on my website.
My bowls measure 10 inch x 10 inch, 6 inch x 6 inch and 4 inch by 4 inch. You can make these bowls in different sizes and get the same beautiful results.
Want to learn more? Check out my Artfull Home Video for 15 fast and easy projects.
Happy Fusing!
Lisa
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