Last week I went with my Mom to San Antonio for a glass class where we learned how to make Murrini canes to include in our fused glass pieces. Murrini is difficult to explain so a basic version is this: You take glass and heat it in a torch until it is molten, then you wrap, spread, and layer more glass onto it, then and twist, roll, flatten, shape and then finally pull to get a long piece of glass. Once this piece cools, you saw it into pieces and inside is a miniature version of what you created prior to pulling. It is very hard and very hot!! Unfortunately I never thought about taking a picture while I was working so I don't have any of me, but here are a few pictures of our instructor, Milissa Montini working on a piece.
Heating the glass
Using another strip of glass to "paint" or stripe it onto another piece of glass. This picture is purple because I took it through my special glasses to avoid the yellow fire showing.
She stuck another rod onto the other end of the glass and is now rolling and shaping it
Pulling the glass piece into a rod
She stuck another rod onto the other end of the glass and is now rolling and shaping itPulling the glass piece into a rod
The finished rod
This is an example of what the canes turn out like. These patterns were made on a larger scale and then pulled into thinner rods to create small patterns. Each slice of these canes will have the image on it. Pretty cool huh? These are WAY beyond my skill level however. 
My Mom and I had a great time together and although I missed my baby, it was so great to be an adult and nothing else! Most of our time was spent in class, but we did squeeze a little time in for sightseeing.
The Alamo
The River Walk in downtown San Antonio
These umbrellas are part of a mexian restaurant we ate at that night
The River Walk in downtown San Antonio
These umbrellas are part of a mexian restaurant we ate at that night
