Honor the Fathers in your life with Gallery Glass

We honored the Mothers last month, now it's Dad's turn. What a wonderful idea someone had-- to have a national day of "honoring" for both parents. The special days are observed by almost all the diverse groups that make up this great country. Because having parents is universal--everybody had to start out with a set. Lots of people have a good relationship with them and these special days challenge us to make those relationships even better--every year when they roll around. (Wait for it...........)

In my mind, Gallery Glass is a perfect way to spread it on thick because it is a gift they can't eat or wear--so it doesn't go away when you do. It's nice that special diets and "hard to find sizes" don't matter. In my mind, it's the "one size fits all" commemorative plaque. There are several ways to approach the project for fathers. You could go with the historical favorite "Man's Best Friend" motif. I couldn't pick out the "best" color scheme, so I decided to show you both of them. The style of the dog is a bit generic, but you could possibly tailor it to your man's favorite breed with a little imagination. It could become a Golden Retriever by just leaving off the spots and painting him Amber.

The second approach is to go for Dad's favorite hobbies to commemorate his status. I posted this example to show you the idea, but you could probably come up with a more appropriate icon for the Dad in your life. The only problem is that all the oval blanks are gone, unless you had some stashed away somewhere. But this motif is small enough to be a suncatcher. You could do it on a reusable leading blank and then peel it off and apply it to one of his windows. I would change the "green" a little, however, if I were doing it as a suncatcher. Make it a little more "backyard pool" shaped instead of egg shaped. That would look more realistic.

The third approach is to give him an "award". Give him a blue ribbon (it's his favorite color) for being a great dad. Sometimes the easiest alternative is also the best one. Again, no oval blank, but you can do it as a suncatcher and apply it to the window closest to his favorite chair, where he will be able to stare at it after you leave and remember you fondly.

There is another smaller dog that would also make a good suncatcher. This is a beagle type dog and is really cute.

I'm not going to post a pattern for these items. They are simple enough that you can just right click on the image. Then click on "open link to a new window" and you can print it out from there. 

Glowing Butterflies with Gallery Glass

It's the time of year when holidays are a little scarce, so I like to concentrate on all occasion designs. Butterflies are some of Nature's finest work and they make wonderful subjects for glass crafting. This one was done on a 16"x20" poster frame and is displayed in my office window. It uses some NEW beach glass and shimmer colors that have just been introduced. The top butterfly uses the Honey Quartz Frost, Root Beet Frost, Sand Frost, and Aqua Shimmer. If you don't have the new colors, you can mix your own colors, or change the palette, OR choose the closest color from your existing supplies.

Here is another butterfly done with the new colors. For this panel I used: Cranberry Shimmer, Sapphire Shimmer and Root Beet Frost. Some of the colors I was testing didn't go forward, so  Shimmer colors that didn't go forward, but you can use Royal Blue and Blue Diamond to get the same effect. Use Fresh Lime or Snow White for the accents on the wings.

Here is a pair of butterflies that are fun to do. This panel was done by on a 12" Round Plexi panel which you probably don't have, but you can crop the design slightly and lead it onto an 8x10" picture frame glass insert. 

Here the original butterfly pattern that I had converted into a rectangle for the first panel in the post.I actually prefer it round, but the booth space I was filling with the Aqua butterfly required a rectangular motif, so I thought you might want to see how I converted the design. This is an alternative that you always have when you are adapting surfaces for a design. 

What do you know of butterflies in folklore? Many of the ancient civilizations believed that butterflies were symbols of the human soul. The Greeks believed that a new human soul was born each time an adult butterfly emerged from it's cocoon. Butterflies have been used by the Chinese and Japanese cultures for centuries as symbols of joy and the essence of happiness. Both cultures have added them to manuscripts, paintings and drawings for centuries. Early Europeans believed that the human soul took the form of a butterfly and they viewed the butterfly with great respect and often with fear. Northern Europeans thought that dreams were the result of the soul butterfly's wanderings through other worlds. In southern Germany, some say the dead are reborn as children who fly about as butterflies, resulting in the belief that they bring children. The Irish believe that butterflies are the souls of the dead waiting to pass through purgatory. Native American Indian legends told that butterflies would carry the wishes to the Great Spirit in heaven to be granted. Shoshone Indians believed that butterflies were originally pebbles, into which the Great Spirit blew the precious breath of life. Native American Zuni tribes believed that butterflies could predict the weather. The Zuni also believed that the white butterfly predicts the beginning of summer. 

So let yourself be lead by mythical white butterflies and "flutter" into summer by painting a butterfly for your window or create a meaningful gift for a friend. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Gallery Glass

 

 
Even though Memorial Day is not yet here, we have to craft ahead of the occasion so that our projects will be ready to display before and during the holiday. Here are 2 of my favorites. They are perfect for any patriotic holiday celebration--large or small. The colors are bright and cheerful, but I needed a 4th color so I chose hologram glitter for the stars in the panel on the left. These designs are perfect for picnics, Vacation Bible School projects and campground craft classes. The are timely and also very simple to do, so they can be done quickly and effectively in a group setting. It should only take each crafter 10 to 15 minutes, so the painting stations can turn over fast enough to keep the line moving.

Another of my favorite designs is the more free form flag motif of the design on the right.

To create these simple designs, print out a pattern by following the instructions on the message board on the right side of this home page. If you are doing it on the 10" blank, you will need to enlarge the design to fit the blank. If you don't have the round blanks, you can also buy clear plastic plates at the party store. They come in a variety of sizes and you can choose the right size for the "audience" you are planning to entertain. Chrildren are usually happier with the snack or dessert size, whereas adults want the more showy dinner size. You can also keep the hearts at a smaller size and duplicate them on the leading blank and mount them on the window as suncatchers.
Gallery Glass Supplies:
Snow White 16002, Ruby Red 16015, 16011 Blue Diamond,  16442 Hologram Glitter, 16076
 Black Liquid Leading.