Where Your Imagination Can Lead To Inspiration
My name is Monique Perrin-Erb, but better known as Micki Erb, owner of All Fired Up Studio. In the winter it really gets cold here with temperatures as low as -25C or colder. So, sitting at my torch all winter long is a no brainer. I hate being outside in the cold.
I have been captivated by color since I was about 3 and it has been a constant in my life. I have always been drawn to art since I was incredibly young, but my parents imprinted on my mind that a starving artist cannot feed a family. So, I got my degrees and worked my hours, paid off my bills but at night when my daughter was asleep, I would pull out my sketch pads and draw, color and let my imagination go wild on my time. Then I signed myself and my mom in a stained-glass class and at the last moment, my mom had to pull out of the class because she had been put on Coumadin which is a blood thinner. I was going to pull out too, but she said she would not hear of it. Mom wanted me to tell her everything I learned and would wait for me at home wanting to know exactly what I learned. My mom knew that this would unleash me from my past restraints to finally find my voice.
I began my glass work about 30 years ago, and lampworking over 20 years now. So, my first class was intimidating watching what everyone was doing, trying to learn and not make errors. But after 6 weeks and seeing the completion of my first 14-piece project, I was transfixed. God the possibilities were endless. The colors were exploding in my mind.
Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose
Did you know that glass bottles are 100% recyclable, meaning that they can be re-cycled repeatedly without losing any quality or purity? And 90% of recycled glass is used to make new containers. Recycled glass is also used for kitchen tiles, parking lots, insulation, and beads. As consumers, we use glass containers for food, perfume, drinks, and more. It is likely that some of those containers have re-cycled glass in them.
Recycled Glass Terminology
Time for some more glass terminology! Today's vocabulary is used with re-cycled glass. The word is cullet. Cullet is broken glass that is melted and added to raw material to make new glass. When making glass, manufacturers mix soda ash, limestone, sand, and cullet. This mixture is heated up to between 2600- and 2800-degrees Fahrenheit. Then it is shaped into new containers. Cullet is especially useful to glass manufacturers for several reasons. First, because it has a lower melting point than regular glass, the furnaces don't have to work as hard. Second, the cost of cullet is lower than that of raw materials. And third, the energy reductions result in fewer greenhouse emissions. So recycled glass makes products cheaper, more energy efficient, and more environmentally friendly than manufacturing glass containers using all raw materials
I have also revamped my packaging so instead of using poly padded mailers and I am switching to Eco-friendly padded mailers but will keep my pillow boxes because they are reusable in many ways such as adding your jewelry components, jewelry, you can reuse them for birthday, anniversary wedding parties. And you can produce many more uses. I would like to see many more adapt this way of thinking for the future of our children and the many generations to come.
