I am starting to really like doing Mosaic, pretty soon I will be making something big. I had a hard time deciding the grout color, I started with a tan color but didn’t like it to much so I had to stain the grout. I think I am getting a handle on it though. I made this picture frame in a couple of days for my daughter hope you like it as much as I do. Maybe one day I can start selling some commissioned items.
This next project was for our two newest grandchildren. I decided that we would work a piece using something I learned when I was young. My father taught me to write my name in bubble letters and I use to doodle names all the time using the bubble letters. I thought it would be something different to try in stained glass. The letters were easy to draw, but cutting them was not as easy as I thought, thank goodness for the saw. I still have two more to do. I hope the kids enjoy them. I enjoyed making them and plan to make some more with regular letters next time.
Stained glass panels are great ways to add color, style and atmosphere to your home. They are relatively inexpensive and allow you to dress up a space or room without major renovation, which can be time consuming, dirty and not to mention expensive.
Many people still associate old churches and cathedrals with stained glass with themes that depict biblical scenes. But stained glass have long ago moved into homes and used as decoration. Model themes can range from logos of your favor professional sport teams to replicas of famous Tiffany glass designs. Color glass Panels comes in different designs, themes, and sizes that is sure to compliment and enhance any room or space in your home.
There are many opportunities to use stained glass panels inside your home. Here are a few suggestions on where to use stained glass for updating or remodeling your home:
Windows. A panel can be used instead of shutters or drapes to provide privacy or hide an unpleasant view, without blocking out natural light. The colored glass can also add color to a room when the panel is in a location where sunlight can pass through it.
Room divider. A panel can be used as a room divider to separate two living areas instead of putting up a permanent wall. You can either pick a design that blends in with the surrounding furnishing or that stand out as the focal point. Read more »
Since the early part of the 20th century lighting designers have created lamps and fixtures to captivate our senses. Much like the tranquility one feels staring at a warming fire or the excitement one feels staring at the spectacle of a lightening storm, accent lamps – those with colorful stained glass patterns, mythical figures, pastoral scenes or action, evoke our emotions.
While illumination is a function of lighting, many of the lamps of the sensory ilk, including lava lamps of the 50′s and 60′s, and animated action lamps of the 20′s and again in the 1950′s, favor more the sense of accent, entertainment and decoration than the practical function of task lighting.
Static yet colorful stained glass lighting appeals as eye candy. Beautiful patterns of Wisteria, Iris, and nature captivate, whether lit or not. Not much has changed since pioneer Louis Comfort Tiffany introduced his first stained glass art lamps more than 100 years ago. Vintage original Tiffany fixtures can be bought for more than the cost of a down payment for a San Francisco home. (see: http://www.chandeliers-and-home-lighting.com/tiffany-chandelier.htm ) Read more »
I have just completed my first Mosaic and am very excited to share this with others, hope you like it. The project took me about a week because I kept changing my mind on what design I wanted. I found the mirror at a garage sale for 2 dollars and thought this will be the perfect mirror to try my first mosaic on. All of my glass was left over pieces from previous stained glass projects, what a way to use your scrap glass. The photo’s below show what the mirror looked like when I purchased it and in process through the final grouting, please ignore the person in the mirror. All the glass and edges had to be masked so when I was ready to grout it wouldn’t get on the mirror.
Next was to draw the design on the frame, I am not a very good artist so that was a bit difficult, but I made it through with determination. Next I cut all the pieces and laid them in place. Looking pretty good by then so I carry on with the next step which was to start gluing all of them down (I used Glass Metal and More glue by Beacon adhesives) and applying the grout (Simple grout). The glue and grout both came from Home Depot premixed, which I like very much. Final drying time was 48 hours. This grout also comes in different colors, I chose the grey to match my decor. The only thing left was to clean up the the entire piece with a sponge, clean all the edges and finally clean the glass. I am very happy with this first Mosaic project, I hope you also will enjoy viewing this piece. I will have to do some more of these little projects, to share with my family and friends.
Patinas are used to color or darken solder lines. The most common patina colors are black and copper. Using patinas brings the focus on the glass and the design of your stained glass piece. This makes the glass colors, textures and designs of the stained glass piece the main focus. Below is one without patina and one after patina.
Before you apply patinas, be sure all flux residues is removed. This can be done using a commercial flux remover or washing the stained glass piece with dish soap and baking soda.
Steps for Applying Patinas
Use a brush, rag or cotton ball to dab patina on to the zinc frame. Do not use a brushing action, as this can leave streaking or patchy coverage. Read more »
March 13th, 2014 
Design Patterns, Home Decor, My Personal Projects, The Art Of Stained Glass 
No Comments » This post will be all about our largest project from beginning to installation and I hope you will enjoy. The first thing was to measure the area which is the transom over our front door, well that was the easy part. Working this project would be difficult since all I had was a photo of the area and my template to go by since I was not staying there at the time. The next couple of photos will show you the area and the template.
The trick would be to make this an exact fit to the measurements. I have to say I was a little worried, since there was no way of verifying as you go since I was 2600 miles away , so I could only hope it would fit when we were finished. I had to piece this together to fit my template , since this pattern was for a 9 x 12 square piece there was a lot of cutting and arranging before I could even start cutting the glass. After all the arranging and cutting the pattern pieces it time to start cutting the glass which was very difficult, I broke so many pieces after all it was only my 3rd project and I was cutting them by hand and grinding, I thought I would never get through this so my husband and I decided to by a saw from Gryphon. That was the greatest idea we every had, as soon as the new saw came of course I had to learn how to use it, to make the perfect cuts. Didn’t take very long to learn how to do that correctly and this sure made my project run faster and smoother. I would recommend a saw to everyone who wants to work with glass. The next few photos will be the in process shots we took. Read more »
![magnolia-window[1]](http://web.archive.org/web/20190505172416im_/http://artofstainglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/magnolia-window1-200x300.jpg)
Choosing stained glass windows can be a challenging task simply because of the fact that there are so many different types to choose from. You will find that the following types of stained glass windows exist: Opalescent, Cathedral, Streaky, Textured, Translucent, and Wispy.
However, the glass types of Cathedral, Translucent, and Opalescent are actually the most common types that are chosen by many for their home and/or business.
In this helpful guide, they will introduce you to these common types so that if you are in the process of choosing stained glass windows, you may have a little knowledge on these particular selections.
Cathedral stained windows are extremely popular when it comes to homes, businesses, churches, and synagogues across the nation. This type of window has a glass that is actually transparent in nature and typically reflects at least one single color. There are many different color selections available when it comes to this type of window.
In addition to this, you will find that you can choose among many different types of textures for the glass. Examples of common textures include that of Artique, Glue Chip, Iridescent, and Seedy. This type of glass was originally introduced in cathedrals in the 10th century by the Europeans, which is how it got its name. Read more »
I am behind on my post, sorry about that but the whole crew has been sick for almost a month. Things are getting back to normal now from the holidays and this terrible bronchitis, so let’s get busy. I do have to say our second project was really fun we had to pick our own thing to do, so of course I picked a girly thing and my husband picked something more manly. I chose to do a Magnolia, which I love magnolia’s and he picked a landscape scene. It was pretty easy picking the color’s this time and the teacher was very helpful. Matching colors can be a little difficult at first but that gets easier.
So we cut out all the pattern pieces and started cutting the glass, I was still not very good at that and broke quite a few pieces, which means you start over by cutting out the pattern again and gluing again. My husband was doing way better than I was at the glass cutting and grinding, this was stressing me out, I thought I was never going to be able to keep up with him. So of course this started to be a little competitive and I had to get better or I was never going to catch up. Read more »
Our first stained glass project looked to be pretty simple at first, but after my husband and I started we quickly realized it was not going to be as easy as it looked.
First we had to pick something we were going to make. The teacher told us the less pieces you have the easier the project would be, so we chose a project that only had five pieces. We picked a tulip, the patterns are just like pictures from a coloring book, my husband was probably hoping for something other than a flower, but he is such an easy fellow he just chose the tulip with me.
Now that we have finally made a decision its time to cut the pattern out, you need two or three copies, one for your cut pieces to be placed on and one you can cut, the cut pieces will be used to glue to glass you are going to be cutting. After all the pieces were cut out we then had to choose our glass colors. So many choices of glass to choose, I never would have thought all those decisions would be required, like color, texture, with a pattern in the glass, solids, swirled of course that took a bit of time especially to me, I love all glass. We final chose our colors, which were purple for the flower and of course green for the leaves and we were ready to start. Read more »
