Bayou Salé GlassWorks: You NEVER Run In A Glass Shop!

Let's start things off with another quick but important tip this week. If the sponge in your soldering iron stand singes and turns blacker with each wipe of your iron you need to add more water to it. The sponge shouldn't be just damp-- it should be wringing wet. Also, if you are using a sponge that has a scrubby side to it the scrubby side should face down not up. You want water and sponge to contact with your iron, not apiece of rough plastic that can melt and stick to your iron's tip.

Okay then, here's Vickie's Geometric design all completed and looking great. Vickie's kept everything symmetrical and her soldering is top notch. Her grinding is nothing to sneeze at either because all of her lead lines look nice, precise and even.

Linda L got her three Rabbit Windows completed this week and they're all identical save for the color of the eggs around their paws. Linda had a minor problem with these but she overcame it and learned that soldering the back side before the border is attached is a bad idea. Luckily it's only a problem that slows you down though-- it's not the end of the world as this rabbit below proves. And check out that iridised glass that she used for her background. The pastel colors in it are perfect for an Easter Scene.

Janet completed two of the new Butterfly Lawn Ornaments and she's even gone so far as to name them May Belle and Otis. Their colors are vibrant and they certainly won't be overlooked when they show up in her flower pots! I'm just not sure if this is Otis or May Belle.

Linda L also completed one of her two Bee Lawn Ornaments. She really seemed to enjoy assembling all of the curves on this Bee and learning how to do it.

Judy also completed a pair of Butterfly Lawn Ornaments but she made two different butterflies that matched in regard to color. She did a great job on these and is getting better and better with each butterfly that she makes.

Butterflies are certainly popular now and Susan R's version of the new Butterfly features iridised wing tips with purple centers. Looking good!

Becky B started cutting out her Irises and Dragonfly Window and is going with nice bright colors. Even with just two different greens cut out this is already looking great. I can't wait to see what it looks like when the flowers are cut out.

Sherry started working on cutting the glass for her new Crab Window. She got most of her Crab cut out and then completed the green leaves before calling it a day. And the nice thing is that she was unsure if she should even trace out the leaves. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you decide to go for it and put your glass cutter to the glass.

Gale started this second Magnolia Window and learned the value of cutting off the line. In just one class she was able to get this entire window both cut and ground! If the line isn't on your glass pieces everything will certainly fit together.

Jan finished wrapping her pieces and even got her window tacked together before she called it a night. This means that when she returns she'll have a nice easy night of peaceful soldering ahead of her. The lines are all straight on this window and it looks look Jan is a professional glass maker already.

Jeanne's Mickey Mouse is really coming together and it's only the second week she's been working on it. There are just eyes and some background pieces left to go before Jeanne starts wrapping all of her pieces.

Carol's got the front side of her Nativity Scene all soldered and will flip this over and complete the back side while she's at home this week. We'll certainly see this finished when she comes back in.

And Cindy is fast approaching the soldering stage of her triple bordered LSU Fleur De Lis Window. There's only the final outer border and then the four corners left to work on before this is ready for it's channel and soldering job.

It was a happy day for Jeannette because she got all of her border cut and attached which means that she's finished cutting glass for her Peacock Window. The soldering may take a little time but with the hard work of this window finished with Jeannette will be able to take her time on it from here on out. This looks spectacular!

And speaking of spectacular, Terry's window has its zinc channel attached and the second side is almost completely soldered. Let me just say that if you like the way this window looks now (as so many of our students do) just wait until you see the top section of it which will really bring it to life.

Myrt has her Cardinal all cut and ground which means that she'll be cutting the branch and background when she comes back in. And if things go really well we'll even see a border get attached.

Rowena has just two pieces to go on her Beveled Transom Window. She'll easily be soldering this when she returns but I don't know how much more of it you'll see because this picture was already taken with the camera up against the ceiling. It's a HUGE window and I can't seem to get it all in the frame (until it's soldered and easier to maneuver onto the floor).

And Martha's yet another student who has all of her window cut out and tacked together just waiting to be soldered. There are some thin pieces in this design so the trick is to solder slowly like we always do to get a nice rounded bead, but to also remember not to re-solder a line until the glass is completely cooled off. Failure to do this will most certainly result in broken pieces.

This is Linda F's Study In Straight Cuts and it's already entered its soldering phase. Linda tells us that she has one more of these to make which she's already begun working on at home. The textures will be different but the pattern will remain the same.

Here is the second Bee Lawn Ornament that Linda L's is working on and it only needs some bead work done around the outside edge before it gets a stake attached to it. Once that is completed Linda will begin work on her Mickey Mouse Lamp.

After Vickie washed, patina'ed and waxed her Geometric Window she decided to cut out a Butterfly Lawn Ornament of her own. She only has two pieces left to cut and it already looks like it fits together so I think that's she's pretty much made short work of this pattern

Ann completed wrapping and tacking her Transom Window as well this week. We'll have a zinc channel on this before you know it and Ann will begin soldering it next week.