Hello Sunshine! Looking Towards Spring!

Really we can't complain....

We had a 70 degree Christmas after all.. thank you El Nino, come around anytime!

But now it's freaking cold and snowy and ::Sob:: I want Spring!

I really hate going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, know what I mean?

I miss birdsong! I miss daylight! I miss flowers and even green weeds!

So, like many of us, I need something pretty to color the drab grey days.

Winter always seems like the time do do stained glass, I don't know why. I guess during the spring and summer there is so much to do outside that winter is the time to buckle down and do what we can indoors.

This pattern is one I've made a smaller version here. It's small and I used leftover glass to make it.The soldering also leaves a lot to be desired. I'm getting better though..!











 
I've always wanted to make a larger size. What I especially love about this pattern is that it looks spectacular but it's easily accessible to the beginner who wants to do stained glass because the majoirty of the lines are straight lines or soft curves. This is the pattern  book I bought on Ebay. I do not see it on Amazon but you could look for it where I found it.

 Because I decided to do this 'on the fly', I did not have any opportunity to copy my original so I simply traced two versions of the pattern from the original. Number each pattern piece the same on both. One pattern is used as a template and the other for your actual pieces to cut out.


 In stained glass, we use a special scissor that cuts out  some of the pattern. You can use normal scissors as long as it's relatively free form like this pattern (i.e. it doesn't have to be a specific size) but if you are making something in a frame, you will need to shave down your pattern so it fits. 

As you can see, these scissors have double blades with a space in between that shaves off some of the pattern. You can find stained glass equipment here.

Showing the space it cuts out.

Cut each pattern piece out from the pattern and with a Sharpie marker mark each pattern piece on your glass along with the number of that pattern piece. This is IMPORTANT as after you cut your piece they begin to look the same but they may not fit the same so you need to know what goes where.

Using your pistol grip cutter, score on the line your chosen piece of glass. When doing a curved piece, score and break away from you, supporting the piece you want to keep with the pliers.



Straight lines are a bit easier as you can see. 

As you are cutting your pieces, lay them out on the pattern as so to get a feel over what you may have to re-cut, sand down or snip away to make your pieces fit together.

Solder doesn't stick to glass so you have to put a sticky backed copper foil on the glass to get the solder to stick. I usually try to place the cut end on and inside area and overlap the tape by about 1/4" so that we don't have an abrupt end that may leave some exposed glass where no solder can adhere to.

As you foil it lay it out. I always wish it would stay this pretty copper color and have yet to find any solder that is actually copper color. It's so pretty but alas it is not to be. I bought one that said it was copper and used it on this but it was to make a copper patina, not really what I wanted.

As you foil, lay out your pattern to make sure everything still fits and you want to straighten the edges. My glass teacher made the point that you can always adjust in the middle (add more solder etch) but if your edges aren't straight, everyone will be able to tell.

Adjust where you need to to get your outside edges as straight as possible.

Right before the area you want to solder, take a little flux on a brush and brush a little on the area. Then come in with your 60/40 solder and join them together. Too much flux will cause the solder to sputter. When first doing stained glass it's normal to do this until you get the feel of it so don't beat yourself up if it happens.

The soldered piece. Not perfect but no too bad!

Here is the finished piece, cleaned up and with what daylight we can get in January. Just a little bit of color to an otherwise grey month.