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!

Well, I finally got around to scanning the pictures into the computer. Here's the sun, moon,& stars mobile as well as the old man moon mobile.





I love creating new things, and yes, sometimes they just don't work out! But then again, there are times when the ideas are more fantastic than I could have imagined. It's exciting when I'm in the middle of a totally new idea. Will it, or won't it work out? Usually with a few design tweaks, even the flops end up being wonderful. I've started working with a layered concept for some of my projects, i.e the hand mirrors and the mobiles. I find this even more fun! Stretches my imagination a bit!

Anyway, here's some of my other recent projects.......

I made this boxer for my mom for her birthday.....

Here are a few name signs......

Last night I dug out the big box of old sterling silverware that my boyfriend gave me and started creating......this is what I came up with. I want to come up with a butterfly design as well. Who knows what I will come up with. There's a whole shoe box full of all different kinds and styles.....look to see more soon!

The flower mirrors will soon be available for order....need to find a trustworthy way of shipping them. I had sent three of them to my aunt the other day, packed in a box that had lots of packing around them as well as each being individually wrapped in bubble wrap......I got her e-mail yesterday and they had smashed in one of the corners of the box completely.......two of the three mirrors were completely shattered!!!!!!! I had written "FRAGILE GLASS" on the sides and top of the box....appearantly that didn't matter. Thankfully I had insurance on them...... Now I need to get busy making two more to replace the broken ones.

Here's the latest project......a dolphin mobile. I also have a" sun, moon and stars" mobile that I make as well as an"old man moon and stars" mobile . I'll have to get those pictures downloaded
soon.

Jennifer's Custom Stained Glass

I am quite new to all this......so please be patient with me! Let me introduce myself....my name is Jennifer Curtiss. I've been doing stained glass since the early 1990's. I had a wonderful art teacher in highschool that got me started and have kept reading and learning on my own ever since. It is a great passion of mine, I hope you enjoy your visit......And please visit often, as new things will be added periodically.

Here are some of the hand mirrors I've been working on lately. They measure approxametly 15" long x 6.5" wide. Whether hanging on the wall or resting on a dresser they are sure to command attention!