Memorial Box

O.K., so it's been a while.......spring seems to bring with it a ton of things that need to be done. That's o.k. by me, this is my favorite time of year! I love to go morel hunting and this is the time of year for it. I've been trying to spend as much time in the woods as possible. Morel season only lasts for a few weeks. Gotta get them while you can. For those of you that have never had them before, they're kinda nutty, beefy, not like any other mushroom I've never had. I could spend all day, every day in the woods. All the wildflowers are in full bloom, you can hear the partridge drumming their wings, song birds everywhere and the leeks! mmmmm Walking on the leaves of the leeks creates a very sweet onion smell in the air. It's so yummy. Anyway, here's a few snap shots of some morel mushrooms.






Back to the glass......I finnished two urn boxes for a friend of mine. She has had two pomeranians pass away within the last six months. They were very much loved and part of the family. The urns they came back in were just black plastic. So I made stained glass boxes to put the urns into. There is a picture of the dog embedded between glass on the front, three hooks on the inside of the front for the dog tags or whatever and a hinged lid. She picked out a blue, green, red swirled glass for Jinx and a red and white swirled glass for Sassy. We picked out a specific section on the glass for the bottom of the front. The pattern on the blue glass looked like a flower. The pattern on the red,white glass a heart. I added a red heart cut out with wire detail to the front also. I think they turned out really well.











I hope it stops raining soon. I would love to go back out in the woods. But as long as it's still yucky outside I'll have more time to work on foiling pieces for the sun I want to make. The same style as the trees. I have picked out a bunch of reds, oranges and yellows. I can't wait to see what it will look like.

Small Glass Tree

Well, I had so much fun making the first tree, I decided to make one a bit smaller. This one is 15 in. wide x 21 in. long x 1 1/2 in. deep. I like the way they all turn out different. Just like real trees! This one , when it's hanging on the wall, looks like it's been growing on a hill. This smaller one is on my etsy site for sale. etsy.com

Wow, I can't believe the weather! It's snowing and blowing so badly it's comming down sideways. Atleast it has given me a chance to tinker around in the workshop. I have been saving all my scrap glass in a big clear plastic bin. Not exactly sure what for until the other day. Seeing all the different colors reminded me of my two favorite seasons, spring and summer. They are full of vibrant colors and new life. I started picking out all the browns and greens I could find. I was gonna make a tree full of summer sparkle and life. No pattern, just a bunch of pieces and my imagination of what a summer tree is. It is a wall hanging and it measures 31 inches tall by 21 1/2 inches wide. I love the way it turned out and plan on creating more projects in this style. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

link to my store

YEAH!!! I finally have a store!

Jens Stained Glass

Come on over and check it out. There are lots of artisans! It's free to look around and free to join if you want.

It's been a while, but I finally have some new projects and some new websites. My boyfriend has been doing some research for me. Check out his lens about me.......squidoo.com



I was wandering around the craft section of our local walmart awhile ago and came acrossed some really neat glass blobs. I had to buy atleast one bag, I knew I would find some use for them in my glass work. It took me a little while, but one day I decided to make some business card holders out of them. I used large glass blobs for the sides, scrap glass for the bottom and back, and assorted glass blobs for the front. I had to first sketch a rough idea and take some measurments, then draw a pattern from that. They are actually heavier than they look. Each one weighs almost a pound. I've gotten alot of raves about them.









I'm still working on a fish themed hand mirror, but getting closer. Here's another moon mirror I've gotten done. I have another one done, but I have to take it apart and replace the mirror. Hope to have it up here soon also. Notice that the mirrors are not one flat piece, it has some dimension to it.







This is a simple cross I made using clear irredescent glass.







I know it's kinda late , but here's a noel that's been in the workshop........it got set aside and forgotten about, oops! Maybe I could use a little more de-cluttering?!





I've always been interested in astrology and zodiacs. I finally got around to making some stained glass zodiacs. Hopefully I'll have some more pics soon. I need to draw up the rest of the patterns. I only have three of them drawn up, and only one picture as of yet. This is a Gemini done in a blue with white streaks for the background and a clear ripple for the symbol.




There are two more that I need to get pictures of......someday.

Someone left a question the other day...Do I use lead free solder on the hand mirrors? No, I don't.....If it's lead poisining that your worried about,I have worked with lead solder and lead camming on a daily basis for over 10 years. I have had my lead levels check several times and it has always been fine. Lead free solder doesn't flow as nicely as the 60/40 solder. 60/40 means that it is 60% tin and 40% lead. Most stained glass artists work with the 60/40 unless they are doing a project like a platter or vase, jewelry, ect.... I have seen a beautiful large bowl made from agate slices, (the artist said it was meant to be a fruit bowl)it was done in lead free solder. All in all lead free solder is harder to work with. If you are new to stained glass I suggest you get used to working with 60/40 solder first.

My boyfriends mom loves ladybugs. I hope she likes it.........Let me tell you the picture doesn't do it alot of justice! It looks really cool hanging in the sun. It's 11 inches wide and 8 inches tall. The green glass that I used has a glittery sparkle to it in the right light! It has to make it all the way to Florida from Michigan.....kinda got me a little worried.






I had a small 3-D humming bird pattern, that was on a metal stick, that you put in a house plant. A friend of mine has one in her plant. Her daughter asked me if I could do a bigger one, but in a mobile style........I thought about it and didn't see why not?! Well, this is what I came up with........

Hello all! The weather has been really cold lately, leaving alot of time for glass work! I was showing my blog to a friend the other day, and he asked why the doors I had done for his mom's antique hutch weren't on here.........What can I say..... this will be the third time I've attempted to post. The first time we were having troubles with internet service, the second time I had left the laptop on the couch waiting for the pictures to download........I got busy with something else and my boyfriend closed it out without saving a draft.........needless to say third time is always a charm, right?! Anyway, here's the cabinet doors I did.




I have also done some kitchen cabinet doors in the past for some friends. Custom stained glass cabinet door panels are the perfect way to bring out your personality in your kitchen!


The other day I decided to take a break from some of the orders I've been filling and try my hand at making a three dimensional rocking horse. I don't usually use patterns from others, but I thought that maybe they would make good christmas gifts for my girls. To personalize them I'm going to etch their names on the runners........They are 12 and 10 years old, I hope they like them!







In my workshop I've got all different kinds of glass containers filled with everything from mulit-colored glass blobs, shells, marbles, you name it! Creativity purposes as well as looking pretty. As I walked out there the other day the bowl of shells caught my eye. I started digging through them looking for a matching pair. After going through those as well as some that were in the bathroom I found a pair! What luck......I carefully cleaned the shells, ground them where nessesary, and foiled them. The foil that I chose had a scalloped edge, a handmade hinge, and
VOILA!!!!! A seahsell box. Well, after showing it to several friends, they want some! So here's my dilema........Does anyone know of a website that sells shells in pairs? Please feel free to leave comments! Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I need to work out a few details, but it was fun making a box out of sea shells.






Goodnight everyone!.........Hope to hear from you soon!