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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Love Instagram? Share your photos on fused glass!

You're a photographer. I'm a photographer. 
My Instagram feed is a little bit of everything...
Well, aren't we all photographers capturing what interests us with our smartphones, DSLRs and point and shoots. How many photos do you take every day, week, month, year? I bet your answer is "a lot". Photos of your kids, cats, dogs, sunsets, thrift store clowns, cute outfits, vacation, shoes, stuff you want, people you find interesting...after they have been shared on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter they are just stored on your phone, computer or Dropbox. Am I right? Maybe some of these photos see the light of day as prints, but most of them are probably hiding out on a hard drive somewhere, never to be seen again.


It was the idea of all those awesome images you captured being hidden away that got me thinking. Instagram photos are square...coasters are square. Why not make some coasters with my Instagram photos! These images were all taken with my smartphone and shared via Instagram. How cool would it be to set out a set of coasters the next time you have friends or family over and they feature your awesome photos? As you can see from these samples the colors stay fairly true, with the exception of the bright pink/magenta. {I knew this color wouldn't print true on the decal, but needed to confirm how the color would shift.}

Here are my Instagram photos:

These are the bright pink azaleas that, as you can see below, turned a little more brick red.
This was a giant puffy flower, not a dandelion.
Interesting, but it needs a darker background to really be impressive.
I have to admit this is a pretty cool macro shot. Sometimes I get lucky!
This was a panorama and I cropped it down to an interesting square.
And here are photos of the coasters I created. These photos were taken with my smartphone, so they are not particularly awesome.
photo of coaster with a full color Instagram photo fused on it, fusography
Notice the color change, but the image still looks pretty good.
photo of coaster with a full color Instagram photo fused on it, fusography
This image looked about the same fired.
photo of coaster with a full color Instagram photo fused on it, fusography
The pinks in this image stayed fairly true to the original. 
photo of coaster with a full color Instagram photo fused on it, fusography
I was thrilled with how this image fired. The color is so vibrant. This photo doesn't so it justice.
Of course, I can fuse full-color images to anything I create, but coasters are something functional and decorative that everyone loves. They are a great choice for holiday gifts, a newlywed couple, parents, grandparents...well, pretty much anyone! Coasters are $15 each with a minimum order of 4. Design can be different for each and you can create a collage too. The coasters are 4 inches square and the image is 3 1/3 inches square. I will resize your image for you if you prefer. The image does not have to be square, I've made some with rectangular photos and they look great too. If you image has white in it, it will be fused to white glass, but you can opt to have a color border. Just like with a printed photo, white does not print.

photo of JFG sign in full color fused to a fused glass coaster
JFG sign against a vivid blue sky makes for a neat graphic coaster design

Fusography is a great gift idea and if you are considering it for Christmas gift giving, please make sure you place your order by the end of November! Fusography orders take longer to create and the decals are only printed once a week, so be sure to plan accordingly. Call or email me if you have any questions!

PS Only 54 days until Christmas 2013...and counting.
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