There's Glass and There Is Glass....

I spent the whole day, up to now, working on leading and glazing the windows.

The leading part is easy, with golfer's lead weight, self stick tape.  It is just very time consuming when you have to cut the narrow strips and then apply each one.

I did find out that all plastic packaging is not created equal. 

I don't know if you can tell, but the glass on the left in the first photo turned matte and somewhat chalky when I applied the nail polish.  I was using the same kind on all of the windows.  Luckily, I had done both side windows for the front of the house with that particular piece of plastic.  Unfortunately, I don't remember what kind of packaging it came from.  I wish I did.

I have decided to leave them like that.  More privacy at the front of the cottage.

My method for installing the windows is somewhat unconventional...Since it is such a small house, it is easily turned on it's side.  Thus, no taping or weighting of the window frames.

Granted, it takes a little longer whilst they are drying, but I can glue one in and work on the windows for the next wall while I wait.

Here you see all of the windows installed.  The ones in the center of the photo are the ones that turned into privacy glass.  You can't really tell the difference at the angle that they are installed.

I also started installing baseboards...Most of them are behind Zar though.

I made them very plain.  Almost all of them will be covered with other things when I am through.

Walter just brought in the mail and I got a Christmas present.  He got me an Etsy Gift Certificate and it took me this long to decide what to buy with it.  I spent it all in one place.

Montage Supply http://www.etsy.com/shop/montagesupply sells all kinds of jewelry findings and I went wild.  Some of it will be used for actual jewelry.  Other pieces will be used for miniatures.  The service is fast, friendly and helpful...Plus, they have all kinds of useful items at reasonable prices.  This is not a paid ad.  I just like them.

I love the copper and aged brass corner pieces on the right side.  I think that they will be useful for fancying up furniture and window frames in miniature. 

Tessie likes it all...And is insisting that, as usual, it is all hers.  She allowed that she might let me have an octopus(center front).  After all, who needs two?

Anyway, I should get back to work.  I seem to be the only one in the mood to do anything to the cottage today. 

See you tomorrow.

No Sharpies...Mark It!

I went to look for the big packs of Sharpies in lots of colors this morning and neither Walmart or K Mart had anything but hot eighties colors.  Not suitable for stained glass.

Sooooo....I went with Bic Mark it.  They were cheaper than the Sharpies and had FOUR bonus pens in black.  You can't beat that.

They promised to be permanent and they kept their promise on the plastic anyway.

I had all of the lead in place, so I decided that I had nothing to lose, trying to remove the Sharpie ink from yesterday...I used nail polish remover and it worked.

The color on these pens are much more subtle than the Sharpies and in some cases I had to use two coats.  Actually, that was better.  It meant that I could have the same color with different hues if I wanted them.

I just held the plastic up behind the glass to see how they looked and I was very pleased.

Of course Tessie, the critic,  had to keep telling me to move it a bit to the left or right.  I never did get it exactly where she wanted it.

They will look different after I cut them out and put a mitered frame around them to install, but for now, I am satisfied.

In this photo, you can see some of the different textures you can get when you play with the nail polish a bit. 

I Made sure that all of the strokes went lengthwise of the glass.  It really does look a lot like some of the stained glass that I worked with in real size. 

Years ago, I took a stained glass class with a friend.  I turned out quite a few pieces....I no longer have any of them. 

I have no desire to go back to it and replace them with new ones.  I had cuts on my hands and bruises from the hammer that we put the horseshoe nails into the work board with....Minis are much easier to do and not as many cuts and bruises.  At least not when doing stained glass...The real thing is too much like work.

We are going to see the Avengers this morning.  When I get home, I am going to finish the chimney if it kills me!

Tessie and Zar have both volunteered to use a whip and a chair to keep me in line until I do it.  Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

Get the Lead In....

Back to the skylight...or as the Georgians called them "Roof Lanterns". I kind of like that term. I found it when I was looking for the history of skylights.

I decided that I would just keep going in the direction of half timber and all the things that go with that style.

Windows? What else? Leaded. Back then the glass was made in small pieces. I decided on diamond panes.

In the first photo, you can see what I used. I found a piece of real picture frame glass the right size to work in the skylight and glued it in place. Then I dug through my stash and found my golfer's lead tape. It is self adhesive, so all I had to do was cut it into narrow strips. I used scissors, but if you are going for accuracy, I would suggest a metal ruler and a sharp Exacto knife.

I made the mock up accurately and from a good grade of foam core. I am going to use that instead of going through making a whole new one. It is going to be covered completely, so nobody is going to know it's not wood, unless they take the whole thing apart. Hush! Don't tell!

Did I say rustic? It is that. I only have the skylight sitting on the roof to show you how it is going to look. I did the actual work elsewhere. It's much easier to do the strips of leading flat.

I taped a piece of graph paper to the back of the glass for better placement. That let me line up the diamonds.

after that, I framed out the window with 1/2" scale crown molding on the interior. That kills two birds with one stone. It covers the seam between the glass and the wall and gives a finished edge all around. It happens that it is the same thickness as the foam core that I am using.

First I trimmed all of the excess lead around the window. Then I framed the exterior with 1/2" scale chair rail. Logically, these windows wouldn't open. They would however, need support. I put two vertical pieces of chair rail to divide the window into thirds.

Now I have to go back to the real world and finish the laundry and cleaning. By tomorrow, I should have the roof lantern finished.

See you then.