Heck, yes! Orders are processed on secure servers at PayPal.com, which uses SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption to protect your data during transmission. You may use your Paypal account, or pay via e-check, credit cards without a Paypal account.
FAQ
Absolutely not. You can pay with a credit or debit card using Paypal but without signing up for an account.
Underneath where it says "Have a Paypal account? Log in", you'll see a "Don't have a Paypal Account?" link - click here and follow the instructions.
Stock orders typically ship within 3-5 business days after payment is received, but please allow up to 7 business days. Knitting needles may take an additional week to make and ship, and allow 2-3 weeks for custom orders, once payment is received.
You may view the status of your order (including USPS tracking information) in Paypal, but please feel free to contact Laurie for detailed shipping info. Jewelry, accessories and coaster sets typically ship USPS Priority mail, larger platters ship FedEx Ground.
Ideally you'll be thrilled with your purchase, but if you're not happy, Laurie's not happy. If this is the case please email Laurie within 14 days of receiving your order to set up a return, for either exchange or a credit back to your account (the same way you paid), minus any shipping fees. Please securely pack the item (see below) and send it back within a week of setting up the return, in new and unused condition.
During the holidays, if you've ordered between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's just the wrong darn thing, please email Laurie before New Year's Eve to set up a return/exchange, and mail back no later than two weeks after the return is processed. Custom items are not returnable.
When shipping a glass item back, please try to re-use the original packaging. If it's no longer available, please wrap the item in bubble wrap and surround it with no less than 3" of packing peanuts. A refund will not be available for an item that's been broken in transit back due to faulty packing.
I sell all of my color and design experiments, discontinued goods and the occasional mis-fire product either through etsy at kikuhandmade.etsy.com or at my open studio shows in Oak Park, IL.
Absolutely - just order the item you like, then add a 'custom print' (under the 'custom' category) and list your color choices. Feel free to email me for color questions, I can even email you a mock-up of what your color choices will look like.
All the time! Do you have a pic of your dog, your logo, your band name or just an idea buzzing around your head that you'd like to see on glass? Email me! I can put a lot of images onto everything from belt buckles to coasters to platters - I even do custom portraits and art panels.
How it works: email me the image you'd like to see on glass and what product you're interested in, along with any color ideas you have. Typically faces don't work great for smaller items and look best on custom portraits, which are quoted out individually. Images should be high contrast (I can do that) and won't have a lot of grays - I can print one "ink" color (it's really glass enamel) onto one background glass color - any additional colors require additional screens @ $5 more per screen. When you email me your ideas, I will work up a mock-up and email it back to you, you can order once we finalize the design and I'll get started just as soon as the order is in my system.
Feel free to check out my Flickr account to see examples of custom work I've done in the past.
Since my studio is also part of my home, I set up an open studio shop twice a year, in May and November. Outside of that you could place an order online (or email me) and pick up at my studio by appointment only.
Fused glass - also called "warm glass" is when two or more pieces of compatible* glass are heated slowly and basically melted together in a kiln, to between 1400-1450 degrees. After the initial 'melting' period, pieces cool very slowly - called annealing - to reduce thermal shock (which will shatter the glass). The results are flat panels of glass, like my coasters, buckles or art panels. To get the platter shapes, pieces go back into the kiln and heat even more slowly to under 1300 degrees, and also follow an annealing schedule.
My pieces incorporate one extra step in the beginning - the silkscreening. After I create my artwork and make my screen(s), I print directly on the pre-fused glass with glass enamels, then fuse. The resulting patterns are made of glass and therefore become a permanent part of the glass during the fusing process.
*glass fusers need to use compatible glasses. Kiku uses only Bullseye glass - made by hand in Portland, OR - which is tested compatible for a coe (co-efficient of expansion) of 90. Glasses of the same COE heat and cool at the same rate, whereas glasses of different or unknown coe's heat and contract at different rates which leads to shattered glass. This is one of the reasons I can't work with recycled glass, the other being I'd lose the amazing selection of colors that Bullseye offers.