Sometimes it’s nice to add a little something extra to your float or bottle fusing project, here’s a handy list of product that I’ve used over the years, the suppliers that I purchased them from, and a tutorial or two to get you started.

• Paint – Glassline and Hues 2 Fuse and Unique Glass Colors
  • Buy from:  Delphi Glass
  • Tips:  These are kind of expensive and require a little practice to get an even coat.  Good for detailed painting work.
  • Tutorials:  Tie-Dye Fused Bottles, Glassline Paint on Bottles, Painted Hummingbird Plate
• Mica and/or Carefree Lusters- both as powder and mixed in medium
  • Buy from:  Thompson Enamel, Kaiser Glass
  • Tips:  I use hairspray as a medium, Barry Kaiser’s Mica Medium comes highly recommended.  Mica works best either capped or on textured glass surfaces
  • Tutorials:  Gecko with Mica, Recycled Glass with Mica, Triangle Beads with Mica
• Glow Powder
  • Buy from:  Sundance Art Glass
  • Tips:  Works best capped, works with all glass CoE.  Can be expensive, but a little goes a long way, I like the sample pack
  • Tutorials:  Glow Rocket
• Float Fire – multi color frit with flexible CoE that works with bottles and float glass
  

  Cherry Red Float Fire

  • Buy from:  Armstrong Glass
  • Tips:  This is an incredibly useful product, works great for stamping, stenciling, adding texture
  • Tutorials:  Adding color and texture to float, Flaming Heart Windchime,
• Enamels – powders and Frits
  • Buy from:  Thompson Enamels
  • Tips:  Try the sample pack, lots of colors for not much money
  • Tutorials:  Coming soon, but in the mean time here’s a photo of the sample pack color charts I made 
• Copper wire, sheet
  

  Tracings on copper and brass sheet

  • Buy from:  Dick Blick, hardware stores, craft stores
  • Tips:  discarded electrical wire and cords are a good source of different sized wire, you will have to cut off the plastic covering though.
  • Tutorials:  Metal inclusions in recycled glass, Fused hummingbird with metal
• brass wire and sheet
  • Buy from:  Dick Blick, hardware stores, craft stores
  • Tips:  make sure you get solid brass, often steel is brass coated, and it doesn’t work out when fused.
  • Tutorials:  (same as copper)  Metal inclusions in recycled glass, Fused hummingbird with metals
• liquid gold, paladium and Mother of Pearl lusters
  • Buy from:  Glaser Ceramics
  • Tips:  these are low fire lusters, put them on very last and fire to the recommended temperature to bring out the metallic color
  • Tutorials:  none yet, but stay tuned!
• organic materials – sand, dirt, leaves
  • Buy from:  your own yard
  • Tips:  filter dirt and be prepared for long holds at about 1100 to burn out organics
  • Tutorials: Fusing dirt and sand, Fusing with leaves and color
• plaster
  

  Recycled window glass turtle plate

  • Buy from:  any craft store
  • Tips:  useful for making inclusions and cast in patterns in glass, fondant molds from the cake decorating section are excellent for this
  • Tutorials: Plaster inclusions in recycled glass, Recycled bottle glass trinket boxes (the lids have plaster inclusions)
• Dichro slide
  • Buy from:  Delphi Glass
  • Tips:  If you’ve never used this before, the sample pack is a good idea, lots of colors to play with for not a lot of money
  • Tutorials:  Coming soon!
• Water slide Decals
  • Buy from:  Delphi Glass
  • Tips:  Be prepared, these can be very thin and tear easily as you move them onto the glass.  Work slowly and carefully.
  • Tutorials:  Working on it.

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