I have to say I am one of those people who see jewelry, art, crafts or something of the like and think “I can do that” instead of purchasing the item (partially due to wanting to make everything and partially due to being fund impaired 😉 ) . It is a blessing and a curse but has definitely given me appreciation for handmade items and all the work that goes into them.

My parents had done some stained glass when I was a child and I even remember doing square stained glass candle boxes for gifts with my dad one year, I’m pretty sure he did most of it though. So Last year about this time I decided I wanted to try out doing stained glass, set up leaving the kids with Mike and went to my parents for an evening in stained glass. I had prepared myself by watching some YouTube videos and had a couple ideas for an “easy” first time project, a feather.

Hello from the basement at my parents!

We watched some YouTube videos while we had our tools and supplies together  so we could follow along. I had drawn up a feather, which wasn’t super complicated or anything but did have some curves, and cut out pattern pieces which I then drew on to some pieces of glass. I’m not sure why but cutting the glass seemed so hard! The people on the YouTube videos make it seem so easy, like the cutter (to score the glass) just moved smoothly along exactly where you wanted it, easy peasy… NOT! We then used the grinder to smooth the sides of the glass and then put the foil tape around the edges, we were able to do this pretty easily but it took longer than I thought it would and wasn’t very even. We then laid the completed, foiled glass pieces on the work table and got ready to solder. Of course the pieces were not fitting as well as I thought but we did it and soldered it together… it was a mess. I left that night with a completed feather but it was super ugly, LOL!

Not a great pic but you don’t need to see it any closer!

So my first stained glass experience wasn’t exactly as I had hoped, but I didn’t give up. I went home and watched some more videos and read some articles and decided to give it another go. Different pattern but still a feather, I worked on it on my own this time as well (while my dad had his own project) and it turned out way better!

Drawn pattern onto glass

Pattern cut out

Glass ground and cleaned

All foiled

All done and in the window!

I really enjoyed making this feather and really liked it once it was done too!

Now, a year-ish later, I still have this feather in my window and I have a lot more I have been working on. I’m hoping that I can open an online shop selling some of my stained glass pieces (I have been selling them to friends and neighbors on instagram and Facebook so far) and can’t wait for our bedroom/bathroom remodel to be complete so I can set up my own studio in the house!

I’ll post more about the stained glass I’ve been working on soon!

Sarah