The heartache of breaking a piece of glass *not* on the score line

Hello again! Welcome back to my blog, where this time I will be showing you my hobby at the moment, where I am, and where I'm going with it! Let's start with why I decided to do stained glass in the first place. I'm a serial hobby hopper, which basically means that I've been through about one hobby every year and nothing ever sticks. I've painted, embroidered, crocheted, and had a greenhouse in the span of about 3 years. The problem with me is that I'm a naturally crafty person, so these things come naturally to me, but as soon as I hit the wall of I actually have to put in work to further this hobby I quit.

So that's where stained glass comes in. Stained glass is the first hobby I've ever had that didn't come naturally to me, I worked my butt off to start and I still am. At the time of writing this post, I'm about 5 months into my journey and I still learn new things every single day. Here's a before and after comparison for you of my work at the beginning and my work three months in. Guess which one is which.

As for this learning project, I have a specific goal in mind: I want to make a Tiffany style lampshade. I have always wanted one, but as you can see here, they are incredibly expensive and my little student budget just can't handle that. This is a step up from my current projects because 1. there are wayyyy more pieces, and 2. it's a 3D piece, and all of my current pieces are flat.

My first step would be to choose one that I like, which if you know me, is very hard because I'm very picky. Etsy is going to be a lifesaver for this, because there's a ton of examples on there, usually by artists like me, so hopefully I'll be able to find something challenging but not impossible. Looking now, I think I've picked one, and oh my goodness is she a beauty.

In fact, I think I'll make two, one that has far less pieces as a practice and one that looks more like a traditional Tiffany lamp. Here's the idea for the first one, but I'll save the second for later.

If you'd like to see more of my work, I have an Instagram page dedicated to stained glass @sunshineglass_studios. I can't wait to start this project! See you soon!

Photo of a flower lampshade by FaithsHomeCrafts