Freestyling Stained Glass Jewelry

After putting down my cutter for a few years I had decided it was time to come back to my stained glass path. But I wanted to do something different than the usual suncatchers or panels or garden art I had done previously. My daughter suggested jewelry which was entirely new to me, and then she turned me onto Etsy and then, well the rest is history...

My Process:

Design
While hanging out with my husband I almost always have paper and pencil at hand to sketch out ideas. Out of 20 ideas, maybe 5 or 6 will get refined enough to take down to my basement studio, and then only 1 or 2 will end up making the cut. I have found that some designs that may look very simple in a panel end up being very complicated when trying to reproduce them in a miniature state.

Glass
Once I've come up with a workable design, the next step is to choose the glass. I base most of my color and texture choices on personal preference, but some color decisions are based on what's in or popular.

I then hand cut the glass and fine grind all glass edges to fit into the design-sort of like piecing together a puzzle. Grinding the edges also ensures the copper foil will have a rough surface to adhere to and, most important., it ensures you will not get poked by sharp bits.

Foiling
The glass pieces are thoroughly washed and dried in order to remove all glass dust,and then copper foil is applied. I use a variety of widths for my pieces with a black backing. Finally, the foiled pieces are burnished so there are no air bubbles, and so that all folds, corners and curves are smooth.

Soldering
Glass pieces are put on a surface where I can stick pins to hold the design together while getting joined up with solder.
Only Lead Free Solder is used for your safety.
I coat the pieces with flux which helps the solder to melt and adhere to the copper foil. Then I work the lines of the piece to build up a nice solder line thats smooth and thick covering all corners and edges. Sometimes the solder is thickest at the back of the piece, I do this on purpose to reinforce your piece so it lasts forever. Then the soldered jewelry is washed in warm water with dish detergent and a toothbrush to remove all signs of the flux.

Patina

Patina is limited in colour ...there is black or copper..and sometimes you never know once applied what the completed finish will look like..many stained glass artists over time have developed a trick or two to achieve different looks but this too is limited. Once all pieces are coated and rubbed with patina they are let to dry and then I rinse them thoroughly with warm water to remove any chemical traces of patina.

Waxing--Burnishing Again

Jewelry is coated with a carnuba car wax, let dry for the wax to cloud, then a rough cloth removes excess wax, a toothbrush removes any sticky bits from the creases and the piece is then polished and polished and polished.
Now its ready to be Etsy- fied.... photos, listing etc.
So what are you waiting for? You know I made this for you!

I hope this gives you an idea of the work that goes into each individual jewelry item I create.
What I didn't mention is each item created, is created with joy and peace and a love for what I'm doing and I hope to pass this good karma onto you when you wear it.