Last month I briefly talked about my silk screen printing fused glass artwork. Well this month I bought a tutorial from Laurie Spray regarding how to make screen printed butterflies. I’ve talked about Laurie many times, she’s one of my favorite instructors and I’ve taken several classes from her (including screen printing). The butterflies are incredible but I couldn’t remember how we made them, so the tutorial really helped. Here is a picture from class and my two butterflies I made in class. We had such a blast! If you’d like to see what else I made in that class check out this link.
I’m sure it won’t be a surprise to see that I made several butterflies! In fact, I went a bit nuts. I’m so happy with them. I have several different types of butterfly designs. They can be made with any color of enamels and/or glass. Some are relatively small, some are medium, and some are kind of big.
I shaped them and added rare earth magnets to the bottom of the butterflies. The pictures don’t do them justice most are luminescent.
The butterflies can be displayed many ways, but I do not recommend putting them on the refrigerator. At first I used a magnet on the base (and on the butterfly), but I the pull of the magnets was too strong and I broke one (on the right).
I love the glass bases, the key is to put metal on them vs a magnet. Here are some of the first bases I made.
For this base I did it correctly and put metal on top. I like how the butterflies can move a bit, but be careful and use two hands to put the butterflies on the base and two hands to take the butterfly off the base. I’m going to add fairy lights underneath.
They can also be displayed on anything metal. I also like how the mirror reflects them.
I also bought this amazing stand from Laurie, it turns the butterflies into a sculpture. Remember be careful the butterflies are fragile.
I look forward to hearing which butterfly designs are your favorite. BTW I will be getting a couple more butterfly designs soon.
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my sites; my Art fire Store, my Etsy store, Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube and my Pinterest, and. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Keeping my kiln warm,
Karen
