Kiss My Glass Designs is owned and operated by Melisa Kjellander—a glass artist turned entrepreneur—who, along with a little help from her friends, makes all of the pieces by hand in her glass studio in Weston, MA.  Each piece is a miniature work of art, made with dichroic and stained glass, cut by hand, and fused in a kiln. 

Kiss My Glass Designs officially began in May 2005, and the website was launched in August of that year.  But of course there was a lot leading up to that moment…….

How it all started……..
Melisa (hereafter known as Missy)—the intrepid traveler and lover of all things colorful and sparkly—came across dichroic glass while traveling (for her ‘other job’) on the west coast, where it seems to be all the rage and easy to find. Once back in New England, she was her usual “got-to-have-it” self, but couldn’t find it in any stores around here. Being the resourceful researcher she is, she googled in search of the sparkly, vibrant jewelry. She came across Glass Orchids, a well-established name in Dichroic glass jewelry, and found that they offered a workshop on how to actually make it.  Missy knew she had to have lots of dichroic, and it seemed like making it herself might be the best solution—at least as far as her budget was concerned.   

The spontaneous workshop turned out better than expected, and before she hit the Massachusetts border on the drive home, she had decided to buy a kiln and have a go at making a business out of it. 

THE ARTISTS
Melisa decided she was going to be an artist when she was four. It was the year she started ballet, and also the year she received her very first art set. She turned out to be a bit of a klutz (her crowning moment was pirouetting face first into a pole). The art set worked out quite a bit better, and from then on, whenever her head wasn't in a book, she was creating things. Over the years, she tried her hand at painting, ceramics, photography, video editing, collage work, computer graphics, web design, interior decorating...and slowly, she realized that what she loved most was using color in innovative ways and creating art that really resonates with people.

At Hampshire College, she completed a self-designed major in Creative Arts and Educational  Psychology, using photography and writing as a way of fostering identity development. When she graduated in 2001, she made the leap to staff at Hampshire, traveling across the country recruiting the next generation of Hampshire students, taking a month off to take a graduate certificate course in publishing, and in the office, focusing her creative energy on Hampshire's print and web publications. Each year, she tried a different craft to sell at the college’s holiday craft show. One year it was painted 'stained glass' votive holders, then it was celebratory, colorful drip-painted wine and champagne glasses. (You see where this is going, don't you?) She kept working with glass as a creative outlet while in graduate school at Harvard. This year, she works full time at a boarding school and is a dorm parent in her "off" hours, so production has definitely slowed down a bit, but she promises that once school gets out, she'll have a bunch of new, fun stuff on the website!

Melisa gets a lot of help from her friends--particularly Gina Chirichigno and Kate Lang. Gina is destined to have her own designs on the website soon, and we suspect Melisa's sister, Tiffany, isn't far behind. The more the merrier!

ABOUT DICHROIC
The Kiss My Glass creation process is long (but satisfying). The artists start off with art glass in (many, many) different colors--some transparent, some patterned through an etching process, and some opaque. The (not so) secret ingredient in Kiss My Glass is the dichroic glass.Dichroic (literally) means two colors, and is thus named because the glass is coated with a thin layer of metallic oxides which reflect different wavelengths of light at different angles. Because of this, art made with dichroic glass contains brilliant colors which change in shifting light. The glass is hand-cut into tiny pieces, which Kim and Melisa artfully arrange into at least three layers--and sometimes as many as six. After many hours in which they nearly go blind focusing on tiny shards of glass through blurry safety glasses, the artists wind up with a tray of approximately 40 pieces. When everything is just right, it's carefully carried to the kiln (after stopping several times to readjust the incorrigible pieces, which all seem to have a mind of their own.) The pieces are then fired in a kiln at 1500 degrees. After they cool, a diamond-bit grinder is used to refine the shape and composition of each piece. It will be fired a second (and sometimes third) time to polish and anneal it for durability. (That's right...chances are you can drop your Kiss My Glass without breaking it--though it's not highly recommended.) Adding the findings and hardware is the last step before the product gets added to the Kiss My Glass lineup and gets to travel with the artists to shows and make an appearance on the website. Because of the (long and intricate) process, no two pieces are ever the same--which is just the way it should be!

ABOUT THE WEBSITE
The artists are also the brains behind the business, which is nearly as much fun as creating the product. Everything from account management to the website is carefully executed by Melisa. Kiss My Glass Designs is not just about adding sparkle to your outfit (ahem, life). It's an experience, right down to the signature packaging, which comes complete with its own bit of inspiration (in the form of a sassy quote picked 'specially for you.) This means that a) each piece is ready to give as a gift when you receive it; and b) you get a little surprise even when you order for yourself.

Here's what we want you to know about Kiss My Glass:

• Photographs are inadequate. Dichroic glass is much more spectacular in person than online. We're so sure of this, that we offer a money-back guarantee (less shipping) on all purchases returned in the original condition.
• If you're buying a gift for someone else, please use the comments section of the checkout page to tell us what type of quote (ie birthday, friendship, etc.) you'd like included with your gift. If you prefer to have more control, or want to send a message of your own to the recipient, just use the comments section to say so!
• Kiss My Glass Designs offers free shipping on all orders over $50, as part of our commitment to customer service.
• If you want to receive promotional emails, you should create an account at our webstore.

You can buy Kiss My Glass online, at shows, or in select retail stores. If you know of a store near you that would be interested in selling Kiss My Glass, just drop us an email. If we make a connection at your suggestion, we'll send a special surprise your way!

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Website design ©2006-2008 Melisa Kjellander, for Kiss My Glass Designs.