Hen Pecked

Busy, busy, busy.  The Holiday season is upon us and people are starting to worry about getting their projects completed in time.  But everyone started early enough so I don't think we'll have anyone being upset that something wasn't finished in time.

Ok, here's Brenda's latest completed window featuring a female subject matter.  This time there's only one in the spotlight but just look at that gorgeous hair.  Neither a split end nor a lock out of place thanks to Terry's careful hair management on Brenda's pattern.  This is a very stylish window that's reminiscent of art deco designs.  Let's just say that Brenda's on a roll.

This wee we saw Donna complete her Bluebird and Flowers Window and she did a wonderful job at that.  This is Donna's first project with us and it looks like we'll be seeing a few more as the weeks go by.  I'm partial to the color blue so I really like her choice of colors. (I might have have a hand in recommending the border color as well...)

Susan completed these 3D Votive Candle Holders very quickly.  All she needed to know was how to get the pieces held together in a perfect circle before she tacked it.  The answer is simple-- you don't!  But you do come close.  I've found that once you have them taped together (from behind) a slightly snug rubber band will help shape the project into a fairly even circle.  Then she just tacked the edges and added a bottom.  Voila! Instant wonderful gifts!

Susan also managed to get one of her flower pots completed.  This will be a Lawn Ornament so a metal rod behind it will give those flowers some extra support.  Even as a suncatcher I think the design would hold up without fear of it pulling apart-- there are a lot of contact points throughout the flowers.  Susan has another of these ready to be soldered so I'm sure we'll see a repeat of these soon enough.

Tim rounds out the last of our completed projects this week.  His Angel Window looks amazing-- nothing short of perfect.  Like Donna, this is Tim's first project with us and his ability to work with glass is well above average for someone so new at this.  All you have to do is look at his completed window to see that!  Next up for Tim will be a few picture frames.  And we'll see how they progress when he returns next week.

Martha has her LA Police Badge Window pretty close to being finished.  The lettering is now 100% complete and fired onto the glass.  In fact, all that's needed here are 5 pieces of background glass and then a border.  After that Martha will only need to solder this to be able to call this a finished project.  Will she have completed in time for Christmas.  I'm saying, "Certainly!"  :-)

Ann has her 2 windows just about finished now.  With the borders attached all she needs to do is solder these and then wrap them up for Christmas.  These are small windows (approximately 12 inches wide by 8 inches tall) so you know all those pieces are incredibly tiny to work with.  Because of that she had to wrap them with 3/16 foil rather than 7/32 so the pieces wouldn't get lost in lead.  Another benefit to using the smaller foil is that these will be easier to solder since it won't take as much lead to cover the foil.  And because of that the soldering iron won't have to melt as much as it normally has to which means it will stay hotter and make soldering that much easier.

 

Meanwhile, Bonnie has almost completed her seven Multi-Purpose-Desk-Accessories.  She cut these out at home and then had me check each piece to make sure they all had for perfect right angles.  If the corners aren't perfect 90 degree angles they won't align when you try to solder them together.  But all of Bonnie's did so she got them all wrapped and assembled without a single issue.  With just a quick solder job to go and some decorative glass globs on the back sides, we'll easily see these completed in time for Christmas.

 

Jane's window is REALLY coming along now.  Everything but the sky is ground and ready to be wrapped.  there are a lot of pieces in this project and it's easy to become dismayed at the lack of perceived progress, but Jane has been a trooper and not let that slow her down.  Next she'll tack this together and then cut out the pieces of her sky so it will all flow together perfectly.  She's taken this home to wrap during the week so we should see it tacked together when she returns with it.

 

Myrt has her Eye Of The Tiger Window ready for solder.  When she brought it in it was all tacked together but it didn't have any borders.  She decided to go with a thin inner border cut from a purple cathedral glass and then border that with a wider border of yellow glass that matches what she used in the tiger itself.  She then added some brass channel around the edges and now she's taken this home to solder. 

Shelley has finished cutting all the glass for her Bird and Flower window and is now working on grinding it for a perfect fit.  She's got the left side, including the bluebird, fitting together nicely and will tackle the flower on the right side of the window when she returns.  All in all, another job well done.

 

Now that Sonia has her Peanuts Window all foiled you can easily see just how nice a project this is.  I think the point Sonia is making with this project is that Charlie Brown is reflecting on the futility of life's senselessness in a seemingly colorful but ultimately monochromatic world.  The two posts divided by an ocean obviously symbolize the remoteness between he and his friends.  That or he could just be thinking that he loves Snoopy.
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Terry's latest Rooster Window is so close to completion you can smell the chicken wings! She added a border and some channel this week and has the front completely soldered already.  With only the back side to go Terry will have this out the door in no time at all.  Terry always works at a fast pace and this project is certainly no exception.

Terry also worked on her version of Myrt's Eye Of the Tiger Window.  It's all cut out and after she gets it tacked together she'll only need to add a border or two to finish it off.  I've always liked these Tiger Eye windows and always planned on making one myself.  But somehow I never managed to get around to it (yet).

So there you have it.  A lot of completed projects and more on the way.  With just two weeks of classes left to go before Christmas arrives I suspect we'll see a flurry of activity around the shop.  And it will all be recorded here for everyone to see as it happens.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks