My name is
Tonya Nelson and I have been fusing glass for about 1 ½ years. I took one introduction to glass fusing class and the rest of my education has come from experimentation, surfing the internet and reading tutorials from those gracious enough to share. I have made many pendants and badge reels and had thought about making larger items but lacked the confidence. When I saw this contest I thought "time to get out of my comfort zone". I was inspired by an Under the Sea painting I had seen and knew I wanted to do a wall hanging. I didn't want to be limited by my kilns smaller size, so I made three panels. Each panel is 5" tall by 8" wide. I had been playing with a tutorial I had found on
fusedglass.org called "puddles" and loved the effect. I made the sunset, ocean waves, cliffs, seaweed patches and some of the ocean floor using this technique. I used dichro slide to make the sun and frit, confetti and stringers on the ocean floor. I used enamel paints to help me cover a lot of my mistakes! I have a rebellious nature and I was trying to create depth, so I fused a large portion of the decals onto the under layer and then capped them with blue glass. The black decals did fine but the white ones did not survive this abuse. It is hard to see in this picture, but you can see some of the depth with the jellyfish and the ship. I then finished with decals on the finished panels and used white decals for the jellyfish and fish. I painted over the white fired decals with enamel paints. I love
AAE Glass decals for the variety, durability and quality. As a company they offer exceptional customer service. My only suggestion is to keep those decals coming. Thank you for offering wonderful products and for finding ways to inspire and motivate newbies and seasoned glass enthusiasts. You can find me on
ARTFIRE.
I'm a glass artist and jewelry designer in Northern Virginia. I recently left the Loft Gallery after 5 years to dedicate my time and energy into the creation and design of my lampwork beads. I currently sell on
ebay under Bubbie Beads and have extended my sales to
Artfire! I also have a website under
robbiedaly.com where I sell my glass art and jewelry designs.
I have been working with glass in a number of ways, fusing, stained glass and lampworking. I have many other skills but my main interest is handmade lampwork beads and jewelry.
After beading my own jewelry designs for eleven years, I took a class from Tanya in St. Augustine, Florida. I was new to fusing and what she taught me took my fused glass pendants from ordinary to extraordinary. Tanya’s layered techniques combined with her glass decals from
AAE Glass added another dimension to my work. The enamel in the decals is easy to fire, turns out very black and shows up well with a lot of detail. Tanya was right when she said that the customer’s buying your work will love them. I have also bought their
dichroic scrap packs and
silver jewelry settings, all of which have made up nicely and sold well. As a teacher, Tanya ROCKS!!! Her enthusiasm for glass is infectious. She is also extremely generous in sharing her knowledge and resources. I recently learned
David Alcala's frit technique from Tanya which went into making this 5” x 7” fused glass panel along with her large glass decals. I can’t wait to see what new projects are to come from experimenting with everything that AAE glass has offered. I can honestly say that Tanya has changed the direction of my calling and added value to my work. I thank the whole team at AAE Glass including Mark, Molly and John for being supportive, encouraging, and professional.
My name is Laurie Ruck and I am the proud owner of
Cat’s PawGlass, LLC. I have worked with stained glass for many years and discovered fused glass only a few years ago and have been hooked ever since! Now my dining room has been transformed into a mini-studio and my husband and I now eat on the couch. (Thank goodness he has been so supportive of all of this!). Each and every one of my pieces is made out of my home with two cats underfoot, supervising everything. I work two other jobs besides my glass business, so I am kept pretty busy-but sleep is optional-right—and the glass is worth it!
I discovered Tanya Veit of
AAE Glass last year at one of her workshops and her class just rocked my world! It helped me to break out of the mold of fused glass. There is so much more out there to fusing than just put this piece on this piece, melt, repeat. Her class was amazing and I find that I am back to dreaming about glass all of the time again. She has been such an asset in helping me to make the leap into creating my own business and getting my work out there. In addition to all of her help, personally, her products that she sells through AAE Glass are amazing! My sales have jumped through the roof by utilizing her
silver findings and her
decals. I have tried other companies, but the quality and customer support is just not there. Even with rough economic times, by utilizing the skills that I learned through the
Extreme Fusing Class taught by Tanya and utilizing AAE Glass’s glass settings and superb decals, each of my shows has been successful.
Please feel free to visit my website at
www.catspawglass.com for some of my new pieces that I have created in my home.
My name is Diane Schlichting and run a small home business called Creative Glass Arts, dedicated to fused glass jewelry and art pieces, as well as stained glass and other types of jewelry. I began working with fused glass about 6 years ago after taking a fused pendant class at a local glass shop. I was hooked and quickly bought my kiln. From there, my passion exploded into stained glass as well. I love working with fused glass, creating new treasures to look at and share with other people. Opening the kiln after a firing is like opening a present on Christmas morning, a new treasure to discover! I mostly sell my finished pieces to friends and local craft markets and art fairs and have recently created an online store on Zibbet at www.creativeglassarts.ca Although I have not put up many projects there yet in the glass area, and focused mainly on my pendants, I have hundreds more pieces that are available directly at art fairs. I must have at least 100 pendant alone! When I first saw David Alcala's sand art items I was blown away by them, and tried to figure out on my own how on earth he did it using glass. Finally got an idea and tried it myself. This is my second project using this technique and I love the tree decal that is incorporated into my scene. The decals at AAE have opened up a whole new world of endless creativity for me, always something new to try and explore. I love using them to create scenes out of nature and learn something new each time I use them. They fire perfectly, never wear off and even withstand multiple firings! Three of my favourite pendants are also captured in the photo. I hope I have been able to capture their beauty with my camera. To take a workshop at AAE would be a dream come true as except for that one workshop and an introductory stained glass class, I am self taught. I would love to be able to expand my abilities and learn from a master such as Tanya. I think Extreme Fusing 2 would be better suited to me in terms of learning new skills and techniques and winning an entry to that would be a dream come true, getting to add on David's class would be the ultimate in an exhilarating learning experience! 
JANET MARTINI have been doing stained Glass for about 30 years as a hobby. I started doing fused glass four years ago after my daughter in law signed me up for a fused jewelry class at Bearden's Stained Glass in Kansas City. I took Tanya's class in San Antonio last summer and learned so many new techniques, that have opened up lots of new creative opportunities. This piece was done using Tanya's layering method with the pelican decal. I shaped the palm fronds by bending stringers in a candle flame. The piece is mounted on plate glass placed in the back of a shadow box.
My name is
Maureen Connor and I've been creating jewelry for about 5 years. I began working with glass a little over 2 years ago and am amazed by its versatility and beauty. I originally made jewelry with semi-precious stones which I love but found it difficult to find stones and beads that really inspired me to be innovative. But glass...now that's a different story! The colors, cuts, styles, embellishments and innovative techniques feed my soul and amuse my muse every day. You can find my glass pendants online at
Meant 2b Cherished.
Last year, Tanya Veit ventured to my local glass shop (
ArtGlass Connection) and I was fortunate enough to take her class. When she came back a few months later, I took it again! She is so generous with her teaching and there was so much information in the class I felt like I needed to take the time just to "get" it all - plus, it was fun. I was thrilled when she opened her studio in Cape Coral. The
decals are wonderful additions to glass pieces. Either as a small finishing touch or the focal of the piece. They are versatile and easy to use. I get so excited every time she comes out with new designs.
I've recently started added color enamel paints to the decals once I've fused them to a pendant. It adds an extra unique flair and sets my work apart. This piece is called
Dragonfly Meadow and has shades of pink, gold, green, bronze and brown added to the white decals I chose. The background of the pendant was created using
David Alcala's technique which was introduced to me by Tanya. I am very excited to have the opportunity to learn from
David at Tanya's studio.
African Savannah Fan
The fan incorporates Bullseye and Uroboros glass arranged and slumped over a gently scalloped fan mold to create the colors and depth perspective of the African Savannah. A zebra mom and her baby stand in the foreground, resting in the shade of a tree, while elephants and giraffe can be seen in the distance. The fan uses hand blended frit from AAE Glass as well as AAE large and jewelry size decals. I've worked with stained glass since 1997 making panels and small gifts and doing commission work for friends and co-workers. Upon leaving the construction business a couple of years ago, I decided to do what I love - work with glass - full-time in my home studio.
In May of 2011 I discovered Tanya Veit of AAE Glass and took her Extreme Fusing I class in Chicago. It was well worth the drive from Omaha! Tanya is nothing short of amazing with the amount of material covered in the class and her boundless enthusiasm is infectious! Her class really inspired me. I opened my Etsy shop HummingbirdArtGlass in October of 2011 which features fused glass jewelry with settings from AAE Glass. I will be participating this year in the local art and craft fairs in the Omaha/Council Bluffs Metro area. My first fair will be March 24th at Lewis Central H.S. in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I love the variety of the decals as they allow for so much flexibility and creativity in their use. I would love to see more horse decals sometime in the future as I'm part of a large horse community and horse lover and horse owner myself! The silver settings are high quality and they really give the glass a beautiful finished look. AAE Glass' customer service and their willingness to promote other artist's businesses is like nothing I've ever experienced. Tanya and her partner Mark are shining examples of the spirit of support and generosity (and Tanya's a hoot in class)!!!
My name is Jennifer Pottner, owner of Rock Candy Beads LLC. Although I've been selling gemstone beads for nearly 10 years, I also have a passion for creating with glass and am a 100% self taught, self representing glass artist since 2008 specializing in lampwork beads. For the last year, I've been fusing glass and am completely addicted to it! I've never taken a class or workshop on glass and would love to take one of Tanya's fusing workshops. Since discovering AAE Glass decals, I can't imagine fusing glass without them! They add so much character and personality to the pieces I create and, like others, I find myself designing the glass around the decals! I've used other brands of decals with very poor results and can honestly say that AAE decals are superior quality and the only ones I will use. I really like that they fire evenly with consistently good results and the enamel is shiny with a nice finish. The decal designs are great, and my only suggestion would be that I'd love to see some southwest style decals to go with my southwest designs. This "SEA TURTLE" pendant is one of my favorites and my family's favorite as well (we all voted on which piece to submit for this contest and he won unanimously). The pendant has a custom slider bail on the back that I created so that you can hang it on chunkier beaded necklaces and it's easy to put on and take off. I sell at local gem/jewelry shows in the Cincinnati, Ohio area and am also on etsy at rockcandybeadstudio.etsy.com 
DOLPHIN WAVE GLASS - Call of the Mermaids
I have been working with glass for the past 23 years. I started with a classic daisy design in the stain glass world in a woman owned shop in Falls Church, Virginia. This is where I first ventured into work with glass. After retiring from my Government career in 2007, I then had the opportunity to work on glass full time! I love being near the water (my 2nd love), and that is one reasons I moved to Florida. Storms, and tides churn the ocean to create amazing scenes in the wonder water cities below the ocean’s surface.
Now Tanya offers several glass classes that allow me to be able to express these great under water themes.
So in my piece I used both large and small black AAE decals to make my “Mermaid Cove”. I used the small decals on each corner, and then a turtle, shark, and sea grass surrounds the large mermaid who is centered in the bottom of the bowl. I also used Tanya’s new ‘Surface tension technique’ to give me a multi-colored surface of ocean blues waves! Stringers and large black AAE tree decals line the bowl to give the cove atmosphere.
The great advantage of AAE is you can use their cold working equipment and/or kilns to finish off your work in a shorter amount of time.
I hope to take my business “Dolphin Wave Glass” to new heights with many of Tanya’s techniques.
AAE assist you with improving your skills; provide a wonderful studio to work in, and will supports your goals to help you meet your business needs.
Thank you Tanya and AAE.
One of the websites I frequently visit is Bullseye.
My name is Lori Masters and I have just recently started fusing glass with my dear friend Tonya Nelson, who has taught me a lot in a short amount of time. Fusing glass is something I have wanted to try for a long time. I love all of the different and creative possibilities it offers. I have taken stained glasses, and also beading and wire work. I have always loved arts and crafts. I like to try new and different things.
I used aaeglass music and 80's style decals on my wind chimes which kind of symbolizes our friendship. We both grew up and went to school in that era. I also think the music and wind chimes go together nicely. Glass stringers were used on the top piece for the staff and silver dichro for the inside of the records. I don't know much about music, so I don't know if the notes on the staff make any sense. The larger notes on the ends are made of black 22 gauge twisted wire and I added Chinese crystals along with glass beads to give it some bling. I buy a lot of my beads from Fire Mountain Gems. Thanks again to my friend Tonya for all she taught me.
This little pendant gets a lot of comments! It is approx 1" X 7/8". The top white part is a tiny part of the "Butterfly Garden Fusing Decal" and the bottom black is a scrap off the decal that was on the side of the decal, not a part of the design at all! The top is white opal with a dusting of gold mica and the bottom is the black adventurine, all clear capped. The bail is a sterling silver bail from Mexico.
I have used some other
AAE decals. Some I fired at too high a temperature, I told Tanya about it and she patiently explained what I was doing. Some of the white flower decals that I fused too hot came out with a light ghost-like flower, people seemed to like them, I even sold a couple!
A decal I would like to see is a larger blue decal that would mimic blue & white china porcelain (like a dragon, perhaps)! I have several of the decals (like the eyes that I am just itching to use!) I have made a few
"Tree of Life" pendants, also. Just started experimenting on my own with the layered effects Tanya uses, would love to learn the REAL thing from a consummate professional!
I do not sell on any of the online stores, but my website is: http://www.artglassbypjmcdan.shutterfly.com.
I am fairly new to fusing. I started in June of 2011 with a microwave kiln and blew up by microwave in only two weeks (I don't think those things are meant for use by obsessive fusers!) Since then I've advanced to a table top and now a floor model kiln. I think I'm hooked!
I am a disabled artist, having MS for the past 20 years. My doctor says this is the best therapy I've ever done - it keeps my mind, body and soul engaged and gives me a reason to get up each day.
(I have to see what the kiln-fairies did overnight!)
My entry was a result of an oops - don't we all have those? I fused AAE GLASS's white mermaid to a black cab and wasn't satisfied with it - just too plain. So i added sea creatures in gold (sorry - from another vendor) and fired again. Perfect! I am running a contest on my website also, and this piece has gotten a lot of votes as a favorite.
I love AAE Glass products - especially the jewelry settings. The silver is amazing - really holds up well. I know when I list an item with one of those settings that it will fly off the shelf. I would love to see you offer gold and silver decals so I can give you all of my decal business. My jewelry is for sale at:
www.etsy.com/shop/kittykatglassdesigns
My name is
Martha Weekly and I live in Kansas City, Kansas. I began doing stained glass in 2000 after we sold our computer business. After a few years of doing stained glass items, I expressed an interest in fused glass and my husband surprised me with a kiln. I learned all I could through books, the internet, trial and error. After a fairly lengthy period of making bowls, coasters, trays, etc. I gained an interest in making jewelry. Obviously it required much less glass and was easier to transport to craft shows.
The piece I am entering in the contest is 7 ½” long x 5 ½” wide. I cut the moose out with my glass saw and added a mixture of frit at the bottom. I then did a tack fuse to retain a profile. Once tack-fused, I added some of
AAE’s decals after cutting and repositioning a few of the branches on the tree so I had a good place for the owl to sit. The birds were the final addition. This was my first time fusing the larger decals and I admit to being nervous about the outcome.
I have been ordering from AAE for at least 2 years and my love of their decals and dichroic glass is surpassed only by their incredible service. Mark and Tanya have done an outstanding job in all areas from quick shipping to answering questions and helping in any way that they can. Additionally, I was fortunate to be able to take Tanya’s
“Extreme Fusing” class in August at which time my enthusiasm REALLY peaked! I’m taking another of Tanya’s class next month and can hardly contain my excitement.
Hi, my name is Arlene Friesen and I have been doing stained glass for 18 years and fusing glass for 3 years. I was learning a lot from AAE Glass’ Blog and was able to attend an Extreme Fusing II Class this January where I learned even more and had so many of my questions answered by Tanya. I am submitting a photo of a pendant made with several layers of fusible and dichroic glass, as taught by Tanya in one of her classes, along with AAE Glass' most popular decal, the Tree of Life! I co-own an art gallery, with my husband, in a small town in Southern Manitoba called Posers Gallery and you are welcomed to check out our website at www.posersgallery.com. ANI MACINTYRE
My name is Ani MacIntyre. I was introduced to
AAE Glass decals last year, and love it. I ordered $300 worth and am still playing around with it. This is my first try at it. Cant wait to do tons more. Long Beach. CA.
