Our tip this week goes out to ALL of our students because I see this happen probably 20 times a week. When using your flux brush to apply flux to your project there are 2 things you NEED to remember.
1) Wipe off the brush after it comes out of the flux. You don't want puddles of flux on your window-- that makes it hard to get a nice, even bead.
and most importantly,
2) Don't press the brush down so hard that the bristles splay out all helter skelter as in the picture below.
You should apply the flux the same way you would brush paint on a wall. The ends of the bristles should flow over the copper foil, not be smashed down into it. The picture below shows how the brush should be positioned. If you apply your flux like this the flux will work better AND your brushes will last FAR longer. Remember, it's stained glass, everything requires a gentle touch.
Ok, it was a busy week here at BSGW and we're going to start things off by looking at Shelley's Chef Window which was completed this week and which everyone loves. In fact, the pattern is already out being copied to be in use again in the near future! Check out that wire moustache-- it's awesome!
Roy put the finishing touches on his round Humming Bird Window while he was at home and I must say that everything (right down to his photography) on his second piece is picture perfect. He's certainly got the hang of this Stained Glass thing already.
Beth started working on this cross the week before last and ended up walking out the door with it being ready to hang this week. It all balanced out beautifully but Beth is ready to work on a window or two before she does any more suncatchers. Suncatchers are always misidentified as quick, easy projects but windows are truly the ideal way to hone your soldering skills. Suncatchers keep the heat and make multiple passes with your soldering iron trickier and trickier. That said, I dare you to look at this Cross and then tell me that Beth didn't do an incredible job!
Well now, Cindy has been busy, busy , busy! This UL Suncatcher is her first of seven different suncatchers that she completed this week.
Since good things appear to come in three's lets look at the three Stylized Crosses that Betty completed this week. She says she loved making these and with more cut out already I'd say that we'll be seeing a lot of these over the weeks to come.
Then we take a look at Betty's LSU Tiger Claw window. It all turned out great and although it didn't go as quickly as Betty had hoped it would, she has nothing to be concerned about. When she makes this again she'll be ahead of the game because she now knows that even though the subject matter may cut into the border we still add border pieces AFTER the center section has been tacked together.
Why wait until next week to see another of these lovely Stylized Crosses? Let's just look at the one that Linda F finished while she was in class this week. These have traditionally been done in multi colors but I like the fact that Linda put her own spin on things and made hers entirely out of different textured clear glasses.
Terry completed another Angel this week and made one small (but big) change to it. Look closely and you'll see that this Angel explains the title of this post! Terry also cut out and made a Geometric Suncatcher during class as well.
And the last of our finished projects this week comes from Angie. This is her first Lawn Ornament and she plans on making another of these while she's at home Once you know how these 3D pieces go together you realize just how easy the effect is to achieve!
Now Patrice did some incredible work as she managed to get the center portion of her 4H clover cut, ground and wrapped all in one class. And let me tell you that some of those pieces are TINY! With just four more pieces left to grind she she will then tack this together and start working on the remaining pieces which are all straight cuts.
Susan R has begun working on a Multi Colored Owl of her own this week and she's moving along at a nice steady pace. These are becoming very popular in class and Susan is one of the early adopters to this pattern.
As I suspected, MiMi came in and blew me away with what she accomplished on her own at home. Since everything was ground and wrapped to perfection she was able to get a border cut and attached to her window this week. She's already begun soldering it and should be finished with it before you know it.
Then we have Becky S's Seahorse Window which is altogether recognizable now. A lot of this has been ground already (as you can tell by the use of pins scattered throughout the pattern) so it's safer to say that things are moving along swimmingly (get it?)
Rowena worked on two projects this week and has almost completed both of them. First she has her Heron Window which she's soldering the back side of, and secondly she has another Modern Art Suncatcher that you'll be seeing more of later on. I have no doubt that these will both be completed upon her return.
Myrt wasn't sure what she wanted to make when she walked in the door but after looking through some of the patterns that we have she decided to make two angel wings. They're all cut out and ground already so Myrt took them home to wrap and possibly tack together as well.
Susan D has all of her Peacock Background cut and ground. She's well underway wrapping these pieces and once the bottom section is secured with solder she will move on to working out the Peacock's Crest. That will surely happen when she comes back in.
Tracey is moving along in leaps and bounds. She got the remaining pieces of her Small Sunflower Panel cut out and then she ground everything perfectly! She's taken this home to wrap and there's a good chance that if it's wrapped when she comes back in that it will leave the shop as a completed project!
Jan started grinding the pieces to her Jesus Window and she's about half way there now. She's decided to change the color that she had picked for the halo because the orange she cut it from makes it look like Jesus has red hair! (The name Carrot Top was mentioned several times.) Look for an amber/yellow halo to be cut when she comes back in.
Mary grace is close to the halfway point on the grinding of her large Iris Window. She's now using my tried and true method of using the next piece to effortlessly get a perfect fit for each of the pieces. Once you understand the concept it's a piece of cake and Mary Grace surely had a slice or two of cake as she worked at the grinder this week. Look how nicely things are fitting together.
Angie also worked on her own version of the Modern Art Suncatcher. I told you that you would see more of these! Popular and easy, these pieces are a great way to use up scrap glass. And the best thing is that colors can go any way you please with this pattern.
Brenda now has all of the glass cut for her second (and last) Beveled Transom Window. She even has everything ground and only has a few border pieces left to wrap before she can tack this together and then get along to soldering it.
This is Barbara H's version of the Small Sunflower Panel and this week she managed to get all of her pieces cut out. She's taken them along home with her in the hopes of getting it ground and possibly wrapped, so we'll see where she stands on this when she returns. She's done great with the cutting so I doubt this will cause her any trouble at all.
Melissa think that you can't see any progress on her window but I surely beg to differ! She is so very close to being ready to tack this together and then she'll be able to tackle the missing pieces under the arms of the Fleur De Lis'! She's dying to get to that step and I think it will happen before she knows it!
What's this? Another Modern Art Suncatcher? Yep, as I said, they are popular! This one is being done by Cindy (I think--it's hard to keep track of them all!) and since it's all cut and ground I know we'll see it hanging up next week.
Lastly we take a look at the pattern that someone started this week. If you've been following the blog for a while you might be able to guess who is making it from the subject matter. Let me give you a hint: Her name starts with the letter 'L'. Lin, Lind, LINDA!!!!! Yep, Linda L is making another Mickey Mouse and this one is very patriotic. Expect to see glass on this pattern very soon now.
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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