Cutting and nibbling

I got the hang of cutting straight lines through small sheets of glass quite easily. However, cutting curves and shapes is another matter! It’s much more fiddly! The type of glass makes a difference too. Clear glass is the easiest, followed by tinted glass, and the opaque glass is the hardest. Patterns in the glass can easily throw the glass cutter off line too!

I managed the leaves for these flowers ok, although the shapes aren’t exactly as planned. Sometimes the cutter has a mind of its own and its difficult to maintain a smooth, flowing curve! Even after what feels like a smooth score, the glass often doesn’t break neatly along a curved score. I’ve found I need to attack curves from both ends. Even then, I am generally left with sharp corners, which have to be nibbled smoother with glass pliers.

When I cut the glass for the petals for these flowers, I found the tiny pieces very fiddly to hold and break along scores. That said, I don’t think these coasters are too bad for my first attempt! The shapes of the petals have fused well, although the orange is a bit too bright and solid next to the transparent lilac for my liking. At the moment, I’m still working out how the colours of the glass behave in the heat. Also, I’m using an economy bottle of small pieces of coloured glass, which I bought to use to practice making pictures like this. Therefore, I don’t currently have a broad range of colours to choose from.

It’s a messy job, cutting small pieces of glass. Bits were flying everywhere! Although I was wearing safety glasses, I realised I had my slippers on yesterday, when I should have been wearing solid, closed in shoes. I don’t want to cut my feet or walk glass into the house! I keep forgetting my dust mask when I’m working with glass powders and fibres too. I must get better at keeping myself safe!

Anyway, let me know what you think. Do you like these? Should I try some more? Do you have any suggestions for designs that you’d like to see? Thank you.