Kelli likes crosses and she likes green (and her mom gave me lots of green glass) so I decided to surprise her with a stained glass cross. I picked a Celtic cross because it goes with the whole green theme plus I'm a fan of the Celts (the Irish ones not the Bostonians although, so long as Kobe Bryant is a Laker, them too I guess – but I digress).
It started with that bevel in the middle. See it? It's not elliptical, it's an oval. Although not idea I was working with what I had on hand.
What I didn’t expect was that I was going to screw it up so bad. Usually I solder the pieces upside down so that the front lines are cleaner. I didn't figure out that with the height of the bevel I couldn’t go that route until after I had tried to tack-solder the whole thing.
Crap. It was a mess. I had to rip it all apart and, much like a petulant child, I figured I was done with glass for today and maybe with this piece altogether since it would require unfoiling all the pieces then re-washing and drying and then refoiling to get it right. Blah!
After walking the dog, who reminded me I was ignoring her, I decided to put on my big girl's pants (or something much more masculine) and just start again.
Taking all the foil off is a big pain in the ass since you have to remove all of the old adhesive so that the new foil will stick properly. This is a time consuming, tedious deal. Did I mention that it's a pain in the ass?
After it was over I had a very dull Xacto blade which was replaced just the day before but the pieces were back to where I needed them.
The reason I like all these crafty hobbies is that they teach me patience and force me to slow down. This piece certainly has lived up to that expectation.
Incidentally this is a pretty big piece for a sun-catcher (9 1/2 inches) and with all the small interior pieces couldn’t possibly support its own weight so I got to solder support wire on the back of a piece for the first time.
Fun stuff.
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