Monday, December 9, 2024

Rum and Gin Around

One down and one to go!  Kandise got the left side of her pair of mirror image Corner Accents completed this week and it looks fabulous.  Her use of assorted clears highlighted by drops of color in the centers really lit up and sparkled when we hug this up and got even just a little light behind it.  I can't begin to imagine how great they are going to look with actual sunlight behind them!

 

Lisa finished her pair of  Sleepy Bears On The Moon Suncatchers and then decorated them with wire accents and a cute yellow star above each bear.  These are precious and will make great shower gifts!

 
 
Lorrie's newest Wedding Box was easily completed before class ended.  I must admit that the minimal design of the invitation allowed Lorrie to run wild with her choice of subject matter.  To tie things together she picked a black and white glass for the box sides which matched the invitation perfectly.
 
 
 
Mary Grace fine tuned the grinding on her Mardi Gras Mask Suncatcher and then wrapped and soldered it.  By the end of class she was able to take this along home with her and call it a day.

 

 

Linda L has the first rounded Panel for one of her Mickey Mouse ears almost completed.  The front side is finished leaving only the back to go and then she'll add some sturdy hooks to it so that it can be secured firmly into its wrought iron frame.

  
 
 
Now that her orders have been completed Susan D is back at work on her Bear Panel.  It's going to be tough to see this as it is constructed because any brown glass sitting on a table just looks black, but when this is hanging and it has some light behind it all of the details of this bear will be revealed.

 
 
Steve has another pair of painted stained glass 'windows' that he's setting into a background glass.  Lisa has suggested a borer to finish the pieces off and I whole heartedly agree.  It's a simple step that really makes a window look complete.

 
 
Meet Stitch of Lilo and Stitch fame.  Sadly, I'm so old that I thought this was a pokemon!  Now that I have the proper identity of this lab created creature I can tell you that Judy is working at breakneck speed to finish this in time for Christmas.  If she can get this ground next week she'll be able to take it along home with her to wrap and then finish it off just in time.
  
 
 
Let has got all of the center of her Fancy Flower cut out and ground so she will next wrap it and tack it together before  she adds the border to it.  She initially wanted to widen the border but before she left class Let was leaning towards squaring this off to make it a full fledged window.   If she decides to do that I believe the thinner border surrounding the oval would be the way to go.
 
  
 

June has begun cutting out glass for her festive Multi-Colored Elephant Window and something tells me that his is going to be a hit.  With the pattern only being colored in with colored pencils you can already see how rich and vibrant the end effect will be.

  
 
 
Shelley began cutting glass for her Lady's On A Beach Window and she's going to add a towel or two into the mix.  The ribbon on the left side already looks like a towel if she simply adds color to the center and she'll be able to add a towel to the right side fairly easily after she grinds everything else since she's already cut apart her pattern pieces.

 
 
Sheri started a large Bevel Cluster Window which will measure 36 x 24.   She has only two large corner background pieces left to cut and grind after which she'll be able to tack them into position and then cut the finishing border pieces.

  
 
 
Jan switched gears this week  and began work on a long, tall Santa Face.   She's decided to forgo the round decorative circles in his hat feeling that Santa's hat never had those anyway.  Jan has this all cut and ground which means that this could very well be completed when she comes back in.

  
 
 
Martha is working on numerous Christmas Ornaments (eight of them to be exact) and spent her night cutting away and grinding as well. Who says that she doesn't have any Christmas spirit??
 
 
 
Wow, Susan R's Peacock Hoop is SOOOOO very close to being completed.  Everything has been attached saved for the wire work and the beads that for the Peacock's crown.  That means that we'll see this completed upon Susan's return!

  
 

Kerry is working on 6 Christmas Ornaments featuring Santa's head.  With everything cut, ground and now foiled he'll be ready to solder these up next week.

 
 
MiMi got two more dozen and a half egg cartons  under her belt which means that she's traced out and cut out 108 pieces of glass within 3 hours.   That's a lot of glass!  

  
 
 
With all of the missing pieces of her Nativity Scene having been filled in Ann next added a border to it and then settled down to solder her window.   She's already got the front side completed which means that she'll finish this with time to spare when she comes back, just in time for Christmas! 

 
 
Lastly, Cindy is working on two more Crosses which reside in a heart shaped frame.  Since these are so very small she has to grind out a lot of the inner curve and she did indeed do that-- only to have one fall onto the cement floor and shatter.  I guess I know what Cindy will be doing when she returns.
 
  

Remember, if you're over the line you MUST grind!!!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Monday, December 2, 2024

Block It, It’s An Unknown Color

Let's Art Nouveau Flower Window was made both quickly and efficiently.  As soon as she saw this design she knew she had to make it.  The really interesting thing about this design is that the Fleur De Lis is very well hidden until pointed out.

  

 

Susan D finished her Eagle and her Black Crow Birds and they are looking great.   The Eagle is only 9 inches wide so you know that those are some tiny pieces that make it up--especially the claws!

 

Martha's Cat Window was finished and is now ready to hang on the opposite side of large window
that will also contain the similar Cat Window that Cindy made a few weeks back.  The two are an obvious pair but Martha changed her up by adjusting the colors of the cat to match the cat it is supposed to represent.  Oh and she adding a potted plant to it as well!

+
 
 
Betty made a Christmas Ornament with the name IVY traveling diagonally across the front of it.   The only concern she has is that she might get orders for names like Tallulah, Genevieve, Balthazar, Wilhelmina, or Bartholomew.  This ornament will ONLY work with 4 letters or less and even four letters would be pushing it!  Betty also completed this lovely Nativity Scene Suncatcher as well.
 
 
 
Susan D also got the twisted wire attached to the top of her Christmas Santa Sleigh finishing it off nicely.  She also made a small Holly Leaf Suncatcher using large red glass beads for the Holly Berries.
 
 
And here's the complete decoration in front of Susan's house complete with reindeer, Santa, and a snowman.



Sheri's got a Grinch Corner Piece created which can either hang as seen or positions on the bottom left corner of a window to make it appear as though he's peeking in the window.  

 
 
And Linda F's got a Grinch head of her own and it's a perfect clone of the Grinch that Sheri made.   That means that both or these ladies have no problem following a pattern right to line.
 
  
 
Here's what the Grinch Corner Pieces look like when they've been placed against the bottom edge of a window. 

 

This is Lorrie's second to last Address Window and she's knocking these out at a rate of one and a half per week.   She has the final window at home and it's already fairly well along in its construction so I think that we'll see the last of these when we next return.



Susan R has finished foiling all of the pieces for her Peacock Hoop and even began tacking all of those pieces together.    Now that those complex tail feathers have some solder holding them together she no longer has to worry about the possibility of them escaping the confines of their pins and sliding off the board into a puzzling mess!

 
Linda L has returned and what a pleasure it was to see her walk into the door this week after 5 long months!  She's trying to get back into the swing of things and she's starting with a pair of round Mickey and Minnie Mouse  silhouettes.  These will actually fit into the ears of one LARGE Mickey Mouse Wrought Iron framework.  It's hard to describe but we'll surely show a picture of the completed piece when it is finished.

 
 
MiMi has two more egg cartons filled with pieces and is amassing quite the collection of Styrofoam  Lamp Piece Holders!  It's all about organization and MiMi is certainly organized here. 

 
 
Lorrie also got the lid to her newest Wedding Box finished which means that she'll be working on a box bottom next week.  I'm thinking this will also be a completed project.
 
  
 
 
Lara's large Book Suncatcher had to be put on hold as someone she knows wants a Sun/Flower Burst Window made in time for Christmas.   I have no doubt that she'll be able to finish this in time because, well, Lara! 
 
  
 
Lastly, Kerry is working on a Christmas surprise that we can't post but rest assured it's something completely Kerry! 

We'll catch you on the flip side.
 
Paul

Monday, November 25, 2024

Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea

Barbara wanted a Magnolia pattern but rather that the same Magnolia patterns that we've seen done over and over she wanted something new that was tall rather than wide.   This is the pattern we came up with and I think she's done a fantastic job on it. 

 

Kerry's Swedish Chef is actually a call out to the Muppet Show and his window (based on a meme) is the perfect likeness of him.  I have been woefully ignorant of this guy (I knew of him but only saw 1 or two episodes that featured him) but I have rectified that predicament thanks to you tube.  All I can say is "Bork, bork, bork!"


Let loved the Cardinal Cross that she saw Cindy make (from a pattern drawn by Terry) and decided that she had to make one of her own.  The end result is impeccable and her use of bevels as accent pieces as well as her attention to detail set this off wonderfully.

 
 
Meanwhile, Cindy has been busy prepping for a show she'll be selling at next week.  During class this week she was able to finish a pair of Christmas Bells, another Holly Heart,  a large Candy Cane, a 3D Butterfly, and a pair of Business Card Holders.   Here's hoping she sells all of this as well as the many other items that she's taking with her!
 
  
 
 
 
Could it really be Christmas without seeing Grinches being made in one form or another?   Judy completed her full sized window with just moments to spare before she headed home with this colorful and easily recognizable window under her arm.   Her handmade window is proof that, “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
 
 
 
Annette is another person who has been more than busy trying to get a large number of items done quickly.  These are the last three of her twenty(!) Christmas Ornament which each feature a Bible verse paired with different bows.  the most impressive thing is that she completed all 20 within two scant weeks!
 
 
 
 
Bee's Dandelion Tribute Window features many focal points with everything that you see inside of it having  meaning.  When this is done I will tell you all about them but until then let us just sit back and watch how Bee brings this all together almost effortlessly.

 
 
Betty is making a Christmas Ornament of her own which features a name rather than a bible verse.   She's also got a Nativity scene suncatcher under way and I'm suspecting that these will very well be completed when we see Betty again next week.

 
 
With each passing week Cheryl's Harley Davidson Window becomes more and more legible.  With only a few pieces of black background left to go in the main 'title line' Cheryl will soon be able to move along to the 'MOTOR' section or the 'CYCLES' section.

 
 
Kandise got all of the pieces ground for her left side of her pair of Corner Accent Pieces and then moved along to foiling what she ground.  She's made excellent time with her foiling and I must say that the evenness of her work is top notch!  There's no doubt at all that she'll begin soldering this when she comes back in.

 
 
Lara's Books and Flowers are really showing their stuff this week.   The red lines on the pattern  denote pages that will actually be formed from wire work on top of glass.   To make things easier Lara is wrapping all of the pieces that she has already cut out in foil and then she'll tack them together so that nothing will shift as she works on the larger 'paper' pieces.

 
 
Let began this Flowing Geometric Panel while in class and even managed to get it all cut out.  She's a big fan of grinding things while she's at home and I know that she's anxious to see this completed so who knows how this will look when she walks in the door with next week!

 
 
Next up we have another Grinch and this one, along with a Beveled Celtic Heart, is being made by Linda F.   The heart is all ground and only waiting to be foiled now while the Grinch still needs a little bit of grinding before she can foil it.   The interesting thing is that her Grinch looks as though it's already been ground -- but it only looks that way because Linda cuts patiently and precisely.   That means that she will spend far less time at the grinder!
 

 

Lisa is working on a pair of Teddy Bear Moons that are absolutely adorable.   A large yellow star will hang from the top point of each moon suspended by a chain above each bear giving it that little extra 'nudge' from cute to adorable.  They already look great so I can't wait to see what these will look like once they are completed.

 
 
With the sixth of her Address Windows ready to be soldered Lorrie is making excellent progress.   Her deadline is still weeks away which means that she has far more time than she actually needs to complete both this and the last window that will finish off her set of seven windows.   She also got a background cut out for her Wedding Box and will likely get the top finished shortly.

 
 
Mary Grace is working on a Mardi Gras Mask and from the looks of things she'll be tacking this together when she returns.  All this needs now is a slight amount of tweaking and then she'll be able to foil the five pieces that make this up.    I don't know whether this will be a suncatcher or the subject matter of a window but we will know the answer to that question upon her arrival upon her return.

 
 
She is the Egg Man!  She is the Walrus!  She is MiMi and she's got another color of glass almost all cut out which means that she'll be moving along to a new color upon her arrival next week.  the egg cartons are filling up quickly now!
 
 
 
Here we have another Window Corner Grinch in the works with this one is being made by Sheri.  She has it all ground which means that that he's ready for some foil.  Since she took this along home with her I'm betting dollars to donuts that this will be wrapped and tacked together when she comes back in.

 
 
Susan D has both of her Bird Suncatchers foiled and ready for solder.  I would say that these will be headed out the door for the last time when Susan comes back into class because the soldering process on these will certainly go quickly.

 
 
After this week Susan R has only two feathers left to go!   The end of this project is  approaching ever nearer  and before you know it this Peacock is going to be soldered and tacked into its hoop.   Susan wanted a show stopper and this is certainly going to fit the bill. 

 
 
And to wrap things up here we are looking at the Elephant of Many Colors that June is about to begin making.   This week she traced the pattern onto poster board which she will then cut into the individual pattern pieces which in turn will be traced onto the various colors that she'll use.
 
  
 
And that, is as they say, is that.  Happy Turkey Day Everyone.  Gobble Gobble! 

Paul