stained glass – Page 5

Winter Reveal

Here are some snapshots of my latest batch of winter themed pieces / suncatchers / ornaments. This week’s beach-themed ornaments are still a work in progress; hopefully I will be able to finish them over the weekend.

Winter Scene with evergreen trees, snowman, cardinal. Approx 10.5″ x 6.5″.

Happy Snowman with cardinal panel, approx. 6.25″ x 8″

Stained glass cardinal (embedded in resin) suncatchers / ornaments with mica flakes.

Holiday Market!

I will have a booth at the Holiday Market at the North Charleston Convention Center. This event was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. The hours are:
November 19, 2021 – Fri. (10am – 8pm)
November 20, 2021 – Sat. (10am – 6pm)
November 21, 2021 – Sun. (11am – 5pm)

I haven’t seen the admission price for this year on the event website yet, but in the past, tickets were around $5 for access to all three days of the event, and you can usually get a coupon for a discount at the above link a couple of weeks before the event. The new parking garage should make getting in and out a breeze!

I will have hand made items from suncatchers and ornaments up to large mosaic windows, and a special $400 “Seasons” gift set that includes a display stand. Get all of your holiday shopping done before Thanksgiving and be able to really relax for the holidays! Check out some of the items that I will have in my booth at this link. There will even be some hand made pendants / necklaces. I hope to see you there!

Pendants, made by a friend of mine in a similar fashion as my glass pieces.

Pouring resin

Yesterday I poured / decorated the resin for the winter scene and snowman, as well as added a second resin layer to four molded ornaments. Hopefully I will be able to get finished pictures of them this evening!

Winter Scene

I’m still busier than usual at work, so my weekends are my best time for crafting. Today I finished cutting out and gluing the glass for a little winter scene and a small snowman panel (not pictured), as well as laid out the “beach” for some starfish and sand dollar ornaments.

Laying out the pieces / gluing in place.

Everything glued – waiting for the glue to dry.

Gluing the sand for the “beach” on some ornaments.

Of course, I had to cut the backer glass and sand the edges for all of these before decorating could begin. Hopefully the sand will stick well and I won’t have to add another layer before I can pour the resin, but I have a feeling I’ll need a bit more sand once the glue cures. I plan to make these into mini starfish & sand dollar ornaments / suncatchers.

Trees & Birds

I’ve been busier than usual at work, but was finally able to circle back to these ornaments to pour the resin. For these molds, I first pour a thin layer of resin and then use the heat gun to reduce the amount of bubbles. I also run a craft stick around the edge of the mold for the same reason.

I also had these ornaments assembled and elevated on silicone ready for the resin coating.

I try to cover the glass in the foreground completely, then use a sponge on a stick to spread the resin to any areas that aren’t yet coated.

Spreading the resin

Once the resin is spread, I also use the heat gun on these to remove bubbles.

Decorations set into the first layer of resin

Once the resin in the molds is starting to thicken, I place the glass pieces and then the sparkly mica chips used for the snow / sky / leaves.

For this type of ornament, I sprinkle glass chips into the resin in the clear background areas for sparkle, then I spend about an hour scraping drips off the backs of the backer glass. I can clean up any leftover drips with a razor blade once the resin has cured, but this helps reduce the cleanup. On larger pieces I like to use masking tape on the back, but I don’t always remember to apply it in time. Now just to wait until the resin cures!

Birds and Trees

Today I laid out some designs and glued them in place. These will have a lot more detail once the resin is poured and decorated. I like to use “glass chunk snow” under the trees and glass chips / mica accents for sparkle.

Glued in place and propped up for drying

Flock of Triangles

The resin cured overnight on the ornaments I made yesterday, so I cleaned them and my work area up and started on some…more….ORNAMENTS!

The large snowmen are around 6″ (not including hanger), the medium snowmen are around 3.5″ and the smaller ones are around 3″. The dichro-cicles range from around 4.5″-2″. I have some additional backer glass ready for more ornaments, but I haven’t made many “parts” for the scenes, so I decided to make a stockpile of cardinals to use.

First I cut out the triangles, then grind the edges to smooth & shape them. Then I dry them off and paint the black patch on each bird’s face. Once that dries, I paint the orange beak on top. After that layer dries, I can flip them over and start again with the black and orange layers. I like the simplicity of these little red birds.

Ornaments II

The other morning I glued the metal hooks / receivers that will be used to hang the ornaments with MAC glue. I like to glue them even though the resin coating will hold them in place. The next step will be coating them with resin and decorating the resin with glass chips and mica.

Before I can pour the resin, I have to elevate each ornament on something that the resin won’t adhere to. I usually use silicone cups or molds. They all need to have a bit of space between them so I can scrape drips off with a wooden craft stick while the resin settles. First I pour the resin and spread it around with a sponge on a stick to make sure everything is coated. Then I use a heat gun to remove bubbles in the resin. Once that is done, I can sprinkle glass chips and other decorations in the resin. Unfortunately, once I mix the resin I’m in a big sticky mess that doesn’t lend itself well to taking photos / video. I need to get my husband to help with that one of these days.

Some of the smaller snowmen’s mouths drifted a bit after covered with resin. It’s always a new challenge, sigh. I also dipped the “Dichro-cicles” and hung them on my little laundry line. We’ll see how they come out.

Ornaments

I needed to make some more projects before mixing the next batch of resin (don’t want to waste the resin), so I spent today cutting out parts for snowmen and cardinals and prepping them for the resin.

Cutting / grinding / laying out the glass

After I lay out all the parts, I decorate the snowmen with nail polish for their faces and coal buttons (I did this previously for the cardinals I’m using). Once the glue dries, they can be coated with resin and decorated. Sometimes I use glass for the noses on the snowmen when they are larger, but these are smaller ornaments.

Once the decorations dry, I can glue the glass pieces to the clear backer glass. After they dry overnight, they should be ready for the resin coating.

Dichro-cicles

So I made an attempt at creating some icicle ornaments using dichroic glass and coating them with resin the other day. Well let’s just say that my initial attempt at horizontal curing isn’t ideal and results in a lot of lumpy cleanup in the best case and disappointing results in the worst case. So I rigged up a mini clothesline of sorts to use to hold the next batch while they cure. I’m sure it will need adjustments as well, but it’s an improvement in the making!

Icicle hanging arrangement made with twine and florist wire hooks

Of course, before I can coat the glass in the resin, I have to cut the glass, grind the edges and glue the metal holder on the top that will be used to hang the icicle. Once I’ve done all of that, they are ready to coat.

I thought I might be able to do a coat of resin today, but realized that I need more projects ready in case I have extra resin. So instead I cut and ground the edges of the recycled window glass I use to make smaller ornaments with scenes, birds, leaves, snowmen, etc on them.