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I attempted to re-create the fused glass butterfly vase that’s all over Facebook and Pinterest with … minimal success.

I started by drawing my pattern and laying out my glass. There was limited availability of orange fusing glass in the studio, so I had to combine some pieces in order to complete the pattern.

When I finished laying out the orange and white pieces, I filled in the gap with black frit and set it in the kiln.

Upon its release from the kiln, I discovered that a bunch of the pieces were striker that had been placed in the wrong box :(( I was convinced into believing that it looked intentional. Other than the shapes composed of two different colors, it turned out okay. It’s difficult to see in this photo, but there was a thin stress crack running in between some of the orange pieces.

I then set the glass on top the vase cone type-thing and into the kiln.

Unfortunately, disaster struck, and the stress fracture split as the glass folded around the mold. It’s a cool-looking piece, and I’m currently trying to figure out some uses for it. One piece has broken off that I may be able to use as a business card holder, or something along those lines. My theory is that some of the frit in the jar was made from incompatible glass, or glass in which the temperature coefficient of expansion was different from the rest of the glass used in the piece.

Overall, a valuable experience, and I’m glad I made the effort!