It’s not everyday you’ve got access to the results of an intimate craft, so delicate that any ounce of imperfection ruins it. Something so beautiful and handmade, designed and created with intense skill and precision… kinda sounds like true love, right? (insert blushing smiley face here).
Glassbaby, a Seattle-based company specializes in the above, producing candle holders made from the heart and hand.
The process? Glassblowers gather a ball of clear, molten glass on the blowpipe and blow it into a bubble. Next, a piece of colored glass is dropped onto the bubble and rolled over it. Finally, a layer of clear glass is gathered over the color, creating the unique, three-layered starting point of a glassybaby. After reheating, the three-layer glass ball is blown out at the glassblower’s bench. Then the hot glass is dropped into a mold and blown out again to give it some height. Returning to the bench, blowers transfer the glassybaby from the blow pipe onto a punty pole and it is reheated. The glass is then spun on the punty pole and cut down to the familiar glassybaby shape. It’s “knocked” off and stamped with the mark of authenticity… and there you have a glassbaby!
