Easy to Follow Tips on How to Make Stained Glass Step by Step

How to stained glass step by step is one of the biggest questions we receive through our stained glass making website.
Below is an outline of the steps you'll follow as you create your glass art.
There are many methods and techniques and the steps we list have worked wonders for us. Take baby steps and follow a plan which is what we have provided here.
Here it is - stained glass step by step These steps can vary per project, but this provides a nice outline.
Step 1: Lead or Copper foil? We prefer copper foil when beginning. You are literally limited by your own creativity. Use your creativity.
Step 2: Get your glass and supplies/tools. There are many places to buy the items you'll need. Some are cheap and some not so cheap. Some tools you won't even use so research before you decide. Then set up your workspace. It doesn't have to be big, but does have to provide room for a small mess.
Step 3: Get comfortable with your Glass Cutter. This will be one of your most utilized tools when creating stained glass. Learn the techniques it will take to get your first piece looking beautiful.
Step 4: Do you need a grinder?? Things to consider include safety issues, choosing the right head, using water, following the right procedures, and so forth. These are all important issues when grinding.
Step 5: Working with the copper foil. This also takes some practice but because of today's ease of use, you can catch on pretty quickly.
Step 6: Soldering. There is basic soldering, spot soldering, finishing, tinning, and more soldering applications that you will want to learn on how to make stained glass step by step. Again practice with the tools as there are some that you will use quite a bit.
Step 7: Finally, clean, apply the finish, and plan to display your art. Do this as soon as you're done soldering for a clean and professional look.
There you go. Nothing to it right? This is just a simple outline - the key to any art is to learn, do, learn, do.
This is a very simple outline on how to make stained glass step by step. There are a lot of intricacies that have been left out (due to the sheer amount of info) and it is easier to follow these steps with visual pictures, video, etc. so consider that when trying to learn this art form.
If you are really serious about learning how to make stained glass, then you can save yourselves hundreds of dollars and frustration by visiting CreateStainedGlass.com where you'll find an art site filled with stained glass tips and techniques!

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Preserve your Photographs with a Photo Scanner

We all have good intentions of creating some kind of project with all of those old photos we have stuck in drawers or boxes sitting in the closet. But when do we really get around to it? We don't. They continue to sit and age. Photos become washed out, faded and damaged. We can save our photos and restore them with a photo negative scanner and believe it or not it's easy.

Your photos tell a story of your lifetime. A time capsule if you will of your early childhood continuing on to your most memorable moments like graduation, marriage and first child. We don't want to lose these precious momentos of our past. We want to keep them safe. Digitizing your photos with a photo negative scanner will protect your photos for a lifetime.

Not only will digitizing your photos save them, it will also allow you to organize them for easy access. It's so much easier to work on that special project when all of your photos are organized and easily accessable.

New photo scanners are easy to use with one touch scanning and auto color restoration. Some even remove dust and background scratches on photos. The things you can do with these new scannes is quite impressive. Not only can you scan and save your old photos but you can also save images from 35mm negatives and create .pdf files and other documents.

If you're into crafts you'll love having all of your photos scanned and digitized. You can use them to make scrapbook templates and backgrounds. Transferring photos to T-shirts and canvas bags for personalized gifts is a great idea. How about making a personalized quilt with all the photos of the grandchildren? The possibilites are endless.

Creating great projects from your old photos start with a good scan of your photos. Make sure you follow the directions for your scanner. You'll have better negative scans if you take the time to clean your negatives of smudges and fingerprints with a soft cloth before scanning.

Get out that old box of photos and start scanning. You'll never know what you'll be inpired to create.

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An easy guide to stretching your own canvas

For a great many artists, including those who specialise in pet portraits, stretching their own canvas not just saves money on commercially prepared canvases, but also provides them with a better result. On the whole, commercially prepared canvases tend to be quite light weight with just the minimal number of primer layers needed. When we set up our own canvases we can choice the quality of canvas, stretcher bars and primer that suits our painting style, so creating something that will work perfectly with our finished painting and so have a much improved chance of standing the test of time.

Step one
The most cost effective means to purchase good quality canvas is in bulk on a roll. Assuming this is what will be used, the first step is to cut off the quantity of cloth required. Do this by assembling the stretcher bars, place the assembled frame on the canvas and draw a straight line approximately 40 mm wider than the frame on each side. This is based on using a standard stretcher bar that is about 15 mm deep, and gives sufficient canvas to fold over the stretcher bars but not so much that you have to cope with great folds of material at the corners. Cut the cloth about 5 mm outside the line (it will be trimmed down more carefully after the first application of primer).

Step two
Using your preferred primer (a universal primer is sufficient, providing a good key with good flexibility for both acrylics and oils), apply a single coat firstly to one side then, when that's dry, the other side of the canvas. Make certain you go to right to the edge, covering the line previously drawn. Once both sides are dry, trim the canvas to the line, this will all help stop the edges fraying. I also prefer to use pinking sheers for the final cut to help with this.

Step three
Canvas has a front and a back, check you have the front (the side on which you will paint) face down on a flat clean surface and place the assembled stretcher in it's centre, so that there is 40 mm additional canvas on each side. Make sure that the reverse or 'flat' side of the stretcher frame faces up, with the 'lipped' side on the canvas. Starting with one of the longer sides, fold the canvas over onto the back of the stretcher as tightly as possible, but making sure that the opposite side keeps it's 40 mm excess. Pin or staple the canvas at the centre then, whilst holding the canvas taught, approximately 40 mm from each end, leaving the corner free. When that is completed, fix the canvas in between, so that there is a pin or staple more or less every 30 - 50 mm.

Step four
Begining at the centre of the opposite side, use specialist canvas stretchers to pull the canvas over the bar. Whilst keeping this as tight as possible, pin or staple the centre point of the canvas, then 40 mm from either end, and then at points every 30-40 mm between. Now the canvas is attached across the longest sides, the same can be done to the shorter sides, pulling as out as many wrinkles as possible.

Step five
At this point, all sides are fixed, the canvas is tight over the frame, with the corners still free. To fix the corners, pull the centre point of the canvas corner over onto the back of the frame, so that it is in line with the join (the point of the corner should face inward inline with the centre of the joint). Now turn up over one of the loose sides onto the corner, followed by the other side on top of that. As all these are held in position, apply a single pin or staple to hold the folds in place (see attached photograph). This then is repeated on each corner. When finished, insert the corner wedges to tighten the canvas further and remove any minor wrinkles.

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