Hallelujah!

Earlier this week I posted a small piece of a stained glass window that used to hang in our church.  The church was renovated a few years ago and they just didn't want to throw away so much beautiful glass and so it has sat outside in the back of the church for 8 years!

Dirty and muddy but oh so lovely!  My good friend Carol sent me a text with an announcement in the church bulletin that they were looking for crafter's to try and do something with the windows and Carol very sweetly thought of me.   The funny thing is that I had just been thinking that I'd like to get more involved with the church and here an opportunity just drops in my lap!  (Of course, since then I've been thinking I need a million dollars and am hoping that will just drop in my lap as well... :)).

I belong to an online craft group and while I had been thinking of using resin to make either crosses or jewelry with the stained glass, I wanted to put it out the the creative cosmos on the craft site and see what ideas they came up with.  What an amazing group, jewelry, signs, garden stones are just a few of the great ideas they came up with.  A nice thing about having so much of it is that I can probably try all of their ideas!

First, I wanted to try resin.  I took a hammer to the window and broke it apart.  I put it in a paper bag first to protect myself from glass flying around.  Then I ripped open the bag and put it in a box so it wouldn't slide around.

Next, I separated the pieces and then started laying them out to see how I liked them together.

I purchased a circle bezel and the resin kit at Michael's (using a coupon of course).  A circle bezel is simply a jewelry base that you can decorate using resin or other materials.  Think of it as a flat bottomed frame that you can fill with whatever you like.  The resin is a liquid that you pour in while wet and it hardens to a rock hard finish that is completely clear.  Below is an image of bezels that I pulled from an Etsy shop called Ilovepaperkits. (https://www.etsy.com/listing/97690852/10-1-inch-square-pendant-bezel-settings?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=supplies_low&gclid=CLPtjqO3sL0CFSqXOgodCS4AwA)

After mixing the resin and the hardener, following the directions on the box, I poured just a little bit into the bottom of the bezel to act as glue for my first layer.  I decided to line the bottom with some of the silver leaf that I bought for another project, making sure some of the leaf stood up from the bottom.  I then laid out the pieces of broken stained glass and then poured in the rest of the resin until it formed a slight dome over the top of the piece without going over the edge.

Silver Leafing the bottom of the bezel

Here is the finished piece!  I love it!  It has some air bubbles in it but for a first try, it's exactly what I was looking for!

I tried another one as well, only this time I added a small cross charm..Here are the two finished products together.  The resin makes it look like the glass is encased in a clear droplet of water and the colors really POP!

I've gone back to the craft group to ask them how to ensure no bubbles are in the final piece and received some great advice.  They are sort of like having Martha Stewart on speed dial!  My plan is to take these to the church to see if they like them and then start designing a Christmas ornament using the glass.

Have a wonderful week everyone, we are starting to warm up here in Virginia and the daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground - it's such a welcome sight after our winter here!  This week coming up I am starting my photography class - let's see if I can improve my photo quality!

Keep on Swimming...

Spring is here and I am just starting to get to the top of my work pile!  Something about the temperature being above 27 degrees just makes me feel happy and motivated to paint!

Coming soon!!

Over the past few weeks, besides my list of ornaments I'm painting, I also have had several opportunities to work for two amazing designers.  One of the projects was to silver leaf two large mirror frames.  I have always thought silver leafing would be easy, and it is, except if you want an even coat over a large object.  I'll post more on this in the next week or two but I finally had to tell the designer that I was not comfortable with my (lack of) technique at this point and didn't want to ruin the frames.  She's working on a Plan B, and I will continue to work on the silver leaf technique for next time!

Another project is a small mural above a kitchen sink.  This one is for another designer.  I have submitted my second drawing to her to show the customer and am waiting to see what she thinks.  It's  a real process to paint something for someone with definite ideas of their own (her customer) - and rather fun too.  The challenge is to ask the right questions to extract what the customer is thinking and then be able to draw it out for them.  I really enjoy this part and learn so much!  I find that many times the customer doesn't want to hurt my feelings and say they don't like my drawing, but I really have no ego about it at all even though I appreciate their concern.  Photos and more on this coming up soon as well.

Yet another project will be painting a hutch that will be delivered next week.  I have a friend who is a handyman that will change out a piece of the hutch to make it less "country" and then I will repaint it.  Can't wait to see what color she wants!

On the home front, I have changed my family room one more time!!  Bob has been travelling and, well, you know me, that means changes!  Once my new couch comes in, I'll take photos....

All exciting learning experiences for me and I love it!  Have a great weekend everyone!

I was asked to bring an entree and "something else" to my son's Indoor Track banquet this evening - here is my "something else!"   Hard boiled eggs dyed in the team colors of burgundy and gold and all of the Peeps holding little sports flags!  I used the top of a Styrofoam cooler and lined the bottom with plastic grass.  Then I attached the Peeps to the base with a toothpick so they would stand up.  Big hit!  Yes, even high school kids love Peeps!

You can see a bit more of the Styrofoam base in this shot.