What's next in the shop

With all the beautiful sapphire items for September being featured on Etsy lately, I thought I should put a new design together using some rich cobalt glass. I sketched up this new design recently~while waiting for pictures to upload. I originally wanted to build this piece much larger then what I'm building this one at~maybe I'll wait and see if there is a positive response to this piece first. Once completed, the above panel will measure approximately 11 1/4" square (28.5cm)

I ordered these lovely teardrop shaped smooth glass jewels. Once I started working on this panel I noticed that one out of the four is a lighter color then the rest and would really stand out once this piece is completed. I contacted the company and they will be sending an additional darker gem so I'll be able to continue working on the panel.

I finally completed my frog/dragonfly suncatcher~unfortunately, it has been cloudy or rainy every day since so I haven't been able to get really good photos.

My owl suncatchers are on sale until September 23 marked down to $35 each~here is the latest owl to be added to my Etsy store. You can see more pictures of it here.
I also have a Dark Streaky Brown Owl, a Grey Hoot Owl and a Snowy Owl.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy weekend!!

Snowy Owl Stained Glass Suncatcher

I love owls, I really do. Birds of all kinds fascinate me. I got interested in birds about 10 years ago and have traveled to both ends of the State of Tennessee to see various species~a real bird freak. I've been lucky enough to see a few owls out in the wild, but I've never seen a Snowy Owl. They usually don't make their way this far south but there was one that showed up last winter in Spring Hill, Tennessee, just a few hours away. I kick myself now for not making the effort to go see it.
Here is a new owl that I just added to my Etsy shop. Below are are steps involved in creating this piece.
I use the same pattern that I use for my other owls minus the ear tufts. The paper pattern is cut out and glued to the glass. Then the glass pieces are hand cut following the paper pattern outline. I've selected 3 different types of opal white glass along with black glass for the bill and lemon yellow glass globs for the eyes. Two glass globs of similar shape and size are selected making each owl and cat ornament unique.
Next, the glass pieces are grinded down to size to fit together like a puzzle. The bill will be tacked on later.
Each piece of glass is then wrapped with copper foil except for the outside edges.
After all the pieces are foiled, the entire owl is tacked down and its time for solder.
First, one side is soldered then the piece is turned over and the backside gets soldered also.
The entire owl is then wrapped with a "U" shaped lead came for strength and stability.
A single loop is soldered to the back of the owl for hanging.
Black patina is applied darkening the shiny solder and lead came to a rich dark gray.
The black bill is tinned with solder and tacked to the body of the owl. The bill is then treated with black patina.
Next comes the paint. Both pupils are hand painted~not an easy thing to do on the curved surface of a glass glob. The trick is to get both pupils similar. Now, the little guy can see.
I attach about 4 inches of black jack chain to the loop so the owl can hang. Additional chain is available upon request and at a minimal cost. Time to take a boat load of pictures and get this guy listed for sale.

What's new for Sunday and the uncoming week

The rains continue here in West Tennessee. Earlier, the little dry valley behind our house was a creek, before nightfall I could see it was a river. Good thing we are high up on a hill with no chance of flooding.

We had a slight break in the clouds and I was able to get a couple of shots of a new owl I had just got done. I love the color of the eyes. They are glass globs in a tangerine orange color. I bought these from ArtfulMosaicSupplies on Etsy. The owls I make where inspired by two things-they are closely related in design and construction to the stained glass cats I make and a dear friend of mine has been asking me to create single birds that she would be able to display and sell for me at her bed and breakfast along the shores of Reelfoot Lake in the northwest corner of Tennessee. We've been birding friends for years.

I also had a couple of visitors in my home studio this afternoon. I create and sell from my studio along with my Etsy shop. They were asking about the possibility of me creating a custom piece for their home. Custom work is always exciting for me. I could tell he had a bit of Wisconsin in his speech. We got to talking about different things and I mentioned that I was from Michigan...wouldn't you know it, so was she. She was from Dearborn and I grew up not far from there in Southfield but spent most of my teen years south of 8 Mile Road and knew Dearborn and Detroit very well, although my memory is hazy, its been 20 years since I left. Small world. We chatted about how much Detroit has changed. It was really nice to talk to somebody from 'home'. I would really love to able to take a trip up and see for myself before too many other great buildings are tore down and the place becomes totally unrecognizable.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for a glass delivery this week so I can start work on a cabinet door insert for a local client and I need to make a custom black kitty for an Etsy buyer. I didn't have enough black glass when I created a couple of other kitties for her recently. I'll add a couple more black kitties to my Etsy shop since I got wiped out of cat faces in the past week. It'll be a kitty making marathon.

And I've decided to continue my store wide sale for another week.

How was work today?

Work was fun today!

I got started on a couple of more owls. I was so happy with the way the first one turned out I just had to make a couple more.

This guy was supposed to be my snowy owl...Haha! he might be some kind of schmoo instead, I really won't know until I get him done. He does look a bit like a penguin if I tweek it a bit...hmmm. I guess I know what I'll be doing next.

The glass for the wings and the top of the head is so dark here. Its a streaky gold/dark brown glass.

I like the markings in this glass. Its a combination of medium amber with some white swirled into it. Its a very warm glass with some sun behind it, it'll be a golden owl.

I hope to have them done in the next few days.

Brand new design in my shop

~~Stained Glass Eastern Screech Owl Ornament~~

I am super excited about this new design I just added to my shop. I think I was waiting for pictures to upload to my Etsy site when I started doodling and owl. On paper it looked like it would be a really cool piece using the same techniques and stylized design as I use in my stained glass cat face ornaments.

So, the next morning I drew up my working pattern, choose the glass I wanted to use and got started. Saturday I cut all of the glass and Sunday I foiled all of the pieces. My original plan for Monday was to solder this owl along with another hot air balloon and then to finish the owl on Tuesday. Once I got started on the owl I knew I just had to get it done. That meant a late afternoon cup of coffee so now I'm all wound up!!

I've used four different shades, types and textures of amber stained glass along with amber glass glob eyes. I hand paint the pupils. When the sun comes through the eyes they just glow.

This piece measures 6 1/2" tall by 4 3/8" wide. Check out my Etsy site for more info.