I Feel A Song Coming On

June's Multi-Colored Cat is complete and now that it's hanging in the light it looks as snappy as it ever could be.  Not only do all her pieces fit together flawlessly but she also took her time coloring her window and waxing it giving the lead a wonderfully uniform copper coloring all throughout the window both front and back.   Too many people color their windows too quickly and end up having dark and splotchy  results.   

 

  

 

 

Paula finished up the work on her Girl with a Pearl Earring Suncatcher and it's a knockout. There's a certain beauty that can come out of simplicity and in this case the size of the piece also comes into play. There's always an implied but personally interpreted size that patterns should be made to. You can make a project so large that it appears clunky, or you can make it so small that it appears cramped. This Woman, however, is the perfect size.

 

  

 

 

Next we have Keri's Hand Mirror which was completed within two weeks and came together without a hitch.  I've saved the pattern because, well, you know how our students are when they see a new hand mirror being made!

 

 

Cindy's 3D Cactus and Flower Turned out wonderfully but getting that 'simple' flower together was a two hour affair. That said, it IS rewarding to see that the end result was well worth the time and effort!

 

 

 

 

 

Lara has official wound up all of the assorted sized Honeycomb Suncatchers that she's been making. I'm only picturing two of them here but she's put together just under 20 of them to decorate a friend's business!

 

 

 

 And here's a look at some of them hanging in their front window.

 

 

Mary Grace's Rider Spine Window was completed this week alas, Mary Grace remained at home. It turned out wonderfully and we hope to see Mary Grace back in the shop soon!

  

 

  

Susan D's Circular Woodpecker panel is almost completely foiled now which means that soldering will be happening before you know it.  Once the foil is applied to all of the pieces you can really see what the project will look like after it's been soldered.

 

 

 

Let may not have anything completed this week but she's got two projects in the works beginning with this Flower Butterfly that just needs wire work to finish it off. Let took it home with her because she really wants to do all of the wire work herself without feeling rushed due to the time restraint of our classes. I'm sure that we will see this completed upon her return.

 

  

 

Let is also working on a small Virgin Mary Window that she had seen Tracey make just a few weeks ago.  I'm currently unsure if she'll be putting a border on it or not but we will have a definite answer to that question when she comes back in.

  

 

Linda F grabbed the sheet of glass that she decided to use for her background and traced out and then cut out all of the pieces in just one short class. She has a little grinding to do before she wraps and tacks this together but wow is she flying through this project.

 

  

Here's a top down view of MiMi's lamp. She has the top half of it almost completely soldered (which is why I chose this angle) and she's only had one run through so far. That is amazingly good soldering! 3D pieces are tough enough to lead but balancing a large lamp in your lap and not allowing solder to run through is one of the toughest things you can hope to master! 

 

  

Martha has all of the glass cut for the lid of her Wedding Box and even has the side panel tacked together. The top will certainly be completed upon her return which means that she may be cutting a box bottom when she comes back in. 

  

 

Mary's been cutting away on assorted greens to make all of the stems and leaves in her Sunflower Window.   I'm thinking that it's time to consider border color(s) for this so we can order anything that we might not have in stock for her when she needs it.

 

 

 

Susan R has the second Bird for her Birds on a Branch Suncatcher all cut and ground. These are going to feature some wire work which will give the birds added detail which will bring them to life when they are completed.

  

 

 

Barbara's got her Irises all ground and has taken them along home with her to foil. I believe that the leaves will get drawn in next week after she quickly tacks her flowers together and she may even begin cutting the glass for them as well.

  

 

 

Julie decided to get her Irises cut out so she could end what could be the most tedious part of her window. Like Barbara, she's used a single sheet of purple glass for the Irises and has carefully positioned each piece so that there are easily discernible dark and light petals. Although you can see that here in the picture it will be much more apparent when there's some light behind this window.

 

 

  

Tracey soldered the second wing for her Butterfly Yard Decoration but inadvertent left the wing she had completed last week at home. That just means that the butterfly will be joined together next week.

  

 

With all of the background cut and ground Sheri's Scissor Tailed Flycatcher only has three pieces left to cut. She's currently on the fence about putting a beveled border on this. I think it looks great without one but if she really wants this to sparkle in the sunlight then bevels certainly won't hurt. 

 

  

 

 

Jan's Virgin Mary is nearly complete and certainly will be upon her return. She's done some nice work on this so I can't wait to see it with some light behind it.

 

  

 

Betty, as always, has a multitude of suncatchers under construction here. Although they aren't finished yet they very well could be next week because every single one of them is very near completion. Do you remember what I said about patterns having a definitive size to make them look either clunky or cramped? Well, I do believe that the smaller beveled crosses you see Betty working on here are the definitive size for that particular pattern.

 

  

 

I knew that Bee had traced out a pattern last week and I knew that I didn't get a picture of the pattern believing that I'd simply remember what it was and snap a pattern picture afterwards. Alas I'm old and I couldn't remember what she was making to save my life. This week she showed up with her Cross/Heart window (which I recalled the instant I saw it again) all completed save for the border which she now has all set for soldering.

 

  

And to wrap hings up here I will report that Judy's Dog Window got his face ground. I wish I could show it to you but them's the breaks!

 

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Who IS The Phantom Ducker?

Cindy's Wolf Window has been completed and she's also sent us a picture of the window installed.   She certainly finished this off in record speed and the recipients of the window absolutely love it. 

 

 

 Here's a peek at the window as installed from outside. Forgive the reflections-- they're hard to avoid when taking pictures on a sunny day.

 

 

Kandise soldered up her Sunset and Mountains Window and then finished it off by then washing, coloring, washing and waxing it. As you can see her colors work with each other spectacularly and that green path through the mountains really brings it to life.

 

 

 

 

Let made two windows this week the first of which is this stunning Tulip Panel that actually uses the same glass for it's border as the window above. There's a slight color difference because Let's window was taken in daylight while the Sunset window was taken at night in fluorescent lighting. This Tulip Window represents the glass much more accurately.

 

 

 

 

Let's second project has a very unique style about it. If you love symmetry, as I do, this will certainly appeal to you. As I pointed out two weeks ago she's changed the pattern so that the center section has 'star bevels' rather than round jewels or nuggets.  Don't just scroll on by without admiring Let's perfectly straight lines throughout that beveled center portion of her window because that is not easy to accomplish without determination.

 

 

 

Nettie put the finishing touches on her Wedding Box and its simplicity is what gives this gift it's real beauty. I guess it's Wedding season because you're going to see another Wedding box a little further on down in this post and interestingly enough Nettie will begin making a second box next week along with another student!

 

 

 

 

Betty completed four Wire Stemmed Daisy Suncatcher as well as a Brass Key Dragonfly.   She originally left the lead silver on the Key project but then colored it copper to better match the brass color of the actual key that the wings were soldered onto.  The end result was so much better as you can see below.

 

 

 

Keri's last two Pink Princess Philodendron Leaves have been completely completed(!) and she is officially taking a break from making these.  You'll see what's next in store for her a little further on down.

 

 

 

Susan R's Birds on a Branch are taking shape as the first of her four Birds has been cut.   She's certainly impressed other students with her pattern because we already have two other people who want to make this proving that Susan certainly has great taste! 

 

 

 

I knew I was going to do this. I took three pictures of Paula's newest project and trashed the one that I wrote the name of the project on. So I went on a digital dumpster dive and found that this window is based on The Girl With The Pearl Earring. It may be hard to see but that pearl earring is all picked out and it's looking just like a pearl.

 

 

 

So then, Keri not only finished off her pair of 3D Leaves, she also picked out a Flower Hand Mirror Pattern that we've never seen before.   She not only cut it all out in one night but also managed to grind it all as well!  For a relatively new student she sure is impressing people.

 

  

 

 

This Iris Window that Barbara has begun is of her own design. She's not entirely happy with the leaves but she is going to grind and tack the flowers together and then use her drawing as inspiration for a new assortment of leaves.

 

  

Martha has the majority of the hard work done for her Wedding Box. The G will form a side panel that rest along side the right side of the invitation to form a larger box top.

 

 

 

Julie has begun grinding the bottom quarter of her Heron Window so she can tack it together before cutting out the next section which will include the Irises. This will prevent any of the bottom pieces from sliding around as she's working on the most detailed part of her window.

 

  

 

 

Lorrie's Humming Birds and Flowers are all cut and ground leaving her with just the background left to cut which she has already begun working on (viewable in the lower right corner). It's more than a fair assumption to say that this will be finished before you know it.

 

 

 

Jan is only two small pieces away from soldering this Virgin Mary suncatcher. It's looking really good and she's even been working on it while at home!

 

  

 

 

June has her Multi-colored Cat Window all soldered and looking great. The only thing left to do is to wash and color this so we will definitely see this completed next week.

 

 

Sheri's Scissor Tailed Flycatcher is so close to being completely ground. I have no doubt that she'll foiling glass next week.

 

  

 

 

Linda L has taken her time with her Mickey and Minnie Window to achieve a perfect repeating and overlapping heart background.  That may sound like an oxymoron but the truth is that even though she took her time with this she was still able to finish the cutting and grinding with a thoroughly impressive amount of speed.  She's got it! 

 

 

 

With her missing piece of vine cut and all of her other pieces of glass ground Linda F will next be cutting out her background glass. The timing is perfect for this because her glass just arrived! And isn't this looking absolutely lovely?!

 

 

 

Lara's only got about three or four more Honeycombs left to solder and then she'll be working on a Bee to accent all of these Honeycombs.

 

 

 

MiMi is soldering away on her Lamp and will be for the next few weeks. She really has the hang of this and when you look closely you can easily see where she has a bead on the lamp and what is yet to be beaded. We lifted this up after class was over and all I can say is that it is already rock solid!

  

 

 

Cheryl's Mr. Bingle window is all soldered and just needs some channel attached and some touching up. She's already decided on her next project which we will reveal when she comes back in along with the finished picture of Mr. Bingle.

  

 

 

Mary Grace got her window all set to be soldered in absentia as all of the glass for her Spine Window has officially been cut and ground. Look to see this completed next week for sure.

  

 

Then you'll see that I didn't get a picture of what Bee was working on. I know it involved tracing out a new pattern but I can't remember what it was to save my life!

 

Lastly, Judy has the head of her Dog Window all cut and is now grinding it. I'd love to show a picture of it but it needs to be a surprise.

 

Ta-ta for now!

Paul 

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Faucets by Fisher-Price

Bee has completed her Dragonfly window and we are lucky enough to get two views of it.  The first was taken here in class while the second shows it installed as the back board for her stove.   Not only is her work amazing but the placement of her window (which she's back lit) is as stunning as possible! 

 

 

 All hung up and ready to view!

 

Susan D finished her Spider Plant which she's made to hold a small air plant which certainly gives this finished piece a healthy dose of realism! I think it's a WONDERFUL idea and wish that I'd thought of it myself!

 

 

 

Barbara's completed her Mardi Gras Colored Fleur De Lis and it's her choice of colors as well as her positioning of them that make this so festive looking.

 

 

 

Nettie's began to make the first of two wedding boxes and she's got the lid of the first one all ready for soldering. There's a great chance that this one will be completed upon her return next week!

 

  

 

 

Julie resumed wok on her Heron Window and now has the lower third of it all cut out. To keep things stable she's going to switch over to the grinder next week and start fitting things into place. Once that's done she'll be able to foil and then tack these pieces to prevent them from shifting out of position.

 

  

 

 

 

Linda F 's Transom Window has really taken shape this week as she got all of the pink flowers cut out. She's just realized that she missing cutting a piece of the winding stem near the right side of the window. That's easy to do in something large because the odds of missing a line while tracing out a pattern get higher since there are more lines to trace. I'll bet anything that the stem was never cut loose from the background glass. No matter though because it's simple enough to rectify.

 

  

 

 

Lorrie is flying through her Humming Birds and Flowers Window. She only has two more Humming Birds too go before she can begin cutting out her glue chip background glass. The beautiful thing about using glue chip is that there isn't any need to worry about the grain of the glass since it's omni-directional. That means that waste will be kept to a bare minimum.

 

  

 

 

MiMi is soldering away and there was absolutely no learning curve for her ability to solder on a curved lamp. She just sat down with a towel in her lap and the Lamp on the towel and set forth making a beautiful bead. Lamp soldering requires an understanding of just how lead melts so that a nice smooth bead can be formed without having the lead run through and fall out to the inside of the lamp. MiMi made incredible progress on her very first night and got so far that I couldn't help but be impressed.

 

  

 

 

Jan has only 4 more pieces of glass left to cut for her Virgin Mary. She's decided to leave this as a large suncatcher rather than a window with background glass and a border. Kudos to Jan for really nailing this piece when it came down to the cutting and grinding her glass. She just muscled through it and has achieved what I can already tell will be an awesome piece of inspirational art.

 

 

 

  

Betty has a board full of suncatchers that she's working on with many of then almost across the finish line. Betty thinks like me when it comes to making suncatchers: cut everything, grind everything, foil everything and then solder them. It's far more productive than bouncing around from grinding to cutting to soldering, to cutting, to grinding, to cutting etc. etc.

 

  

 

 

Mary may very well have all of her Sunflowers tacked together already. I mean, I could be wrong but it looks like the flowers are all cut ground wrapped and tacked! Next up will be the leaves because she worked on stems while she was in class.

 

  

 

 

Tracey's Butterfly has one wing complete and the second one is well under way towards being completely ground.   Tracey's daughter has picked out the next window that Tracey will be making and it's another Circular Magnolia.  She's going to be able to make those in her sleep  

 

  

 

 

Now that Kandise has her border cut, ground and foiled She'll be ready to begin soldering her Sunset Window next week. She's actually already begun and since she makes quick work of that step of the stained glass process I'm expecting to see this as a completed project in our next post.

 

 

 

Susan D also worked a bit more on foiling her Woodpecker Window. She's amassing quite a collection of these circular windows!

 

  

 

 

Sheri was a grinding fool and her Scissor Tailed Flycatcher really looks like it's taking flight this week as more and more pieces are fitting into position. She wishes she had thought of surrounding this with bevels but there is a way we can still add a beveled border that I will show her upon her return.

 

  

 

Let is so close to finishing her Lily Window that it's a shame it didn't happen this week. But that only means that the remaining work on this will occur during the first few minutes of her next class thus freeing up most of her time to finish off her next project.

 

 

 

 

Cheryl filled in the two missing pieces of her Mr. Bingle Window and then set upon soldering the front side. By the time class was finished she had the front completed and I must say that she has done a FABULOUS job! I think she's got the soldering process pretty well under control now. I always say that it's like riding a bike - at some point it just clicks and poof, you have it!

 

  

 

Cindy's Wolf window is now completely soldered and only needs to be washed and colored when she comes back in. I do believe that working with these larger pieces (Cindy is used to working with many smaller pieces) helped her power through this project like a hot knife through butter.

 

  

 

 

Linda L has made short work of her Mickey and Minnie Window. With all of her background cut and ground (perfectly I might add) she now had her border on the window. She's unsure if she'll be adding a second border or not but we will learn the answer to that when she comes back in.

 

 

 

Susan R has her Cute little Yorkie Dog behind her and is now set to be working on a very whimsical and happy version of some Birds on a Branch. This is a new take on an old standard which I believe may start something new in our classes.

 

 

 

 

Martha will be working on a wedding box of her own next week and this is one of the idea's that I have for her to look at when she comes back in. the pattern.

 

  

 

And that's that. Wow is this year flying by!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks