Giraffe night lite

Here's a night light made for an upcoming baby shower.

This is the finished product.

First fuse was to make the letters and giraff.
Started at L2, kiln vented for 1 hour-to 750 deg. Closed vent and increased to L4.
@1130 deg. - 40 min incresed to L5
Kiln temp at 1350 deg. in 30 min. Hold 15 minutes.
Kiln off and cool overnight to room temp.

Total Kiln Time: 2 hr. 25 minutes, then cool

Fuse to BE White Lace thin
Start at L2 for 2hr 15 min. Temp at 1000. Increase to L4.
Temp at 1200 in 30 minutes. Increase to L5.
Temp at 1325 in 15 minutes. Hold 15 minutes.
Off and cool overnight to room temp.

Total Kiln Time: 3 hr. 15 min.

Slump
Start at Lo. Temp. at 560 deg. in 60 min. Increase to L2
Increase 1 level every 10 min.
Temp at 1300

First new method of the year-FnF-first attempts

Here is what's been going on lately in my studio. As you can see, I'm not the one doing any work in there.

I've been wanting to try a method called Freeze N Fuse, so my friend's upcoming baby shower made me shake off the laziness and just try this method since I found the molds around Christmas time at Sur La Table and Michaels for this very occasion. The above picture was my first attempt. I don't think it was successful because 1) I should have held it at 1325 longer so it would have more of a shine, and 2) the shrinkage pulled the three pieces apart.

2nd attempt with some success and not much thought. Actually I fired the one piece on the background twice. The second time it popped off and shifted, which is why it's off center. I didn't want to waste kiln shelf space so I fired the one dinosaur FnF by itself, to much success. If only I'd learn quickly from these moments.

3rd try...Not anywhere close to being successful for the same, and for other reasons. Ummm...shall I repeat shrinkage? I know this about powder and frit but I just didn't remember it. I also lost some detail by trying the two colors on Mr. Monkey.

Well I had my ah-ha moment when I realized I should fuse the pieces individually, and then do a second fuse to the background.

So now my forth attempt is in the kiln as I type.

More to follow when it's out of the kiln. Time is running out to make this night light. If this is successful, I'll have some on my etsy site. And I'm thinking of trying another on-line site called Art Fire. I'll have to check into the costs for that.

Additional tools to make this method work:
Squeeze bottle for water (used empty Glass Tac bottle filled with water)
Q-Tips to wipe off the excess powder from parts of the mold
Chocolate mold
small paint brush
paper towels to blot excess water