How I Made A Faux Stain Glass "GlowLight"
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To download or view the 5 second MPEG video (473Kb) showing this with lights flashing, click HERE. It's quite pretty. It looks a bit like candle light! For a closer look, click on the thumbnails.

To download the TEXT version, go HERE.

What I used:

• A pattern printed onto a piece of paper in the size I wanted my final artwork to be. I made TWO. One to use for tracing and one to go under the glass.
• A piece of clear glass large enough to accomodate the entire pattern and then some. This was my work surface.
• 2 ceramic tiles - 12x12" - to sandwich flat items for baking.
• I used a computer graphics program (PaintShop Pro v.8) to color the template. You can use coloring pencils or any medium to color in the pattern with. Grab whatever's at hand. You'll be pretty much destroying the patterns as you go along.
• I used oblack paque clay for the "leading." You can use any color you want.

• Translucent clay blended with small pinches of opaque clay to match the colors I had on my pattern. When you mae your light take care not to blend the translucent with too much opaque clay or you will lose the translucency. Start with a small pinch at a time.
• Lots of scrap clay for the walls to hold the lights behind the design.
• 1 pointed tool for tracing (see Fig 1)
• 1 Exacto knife
• Undiluted Transparent Liquid Sculpey
• 1 toothpick
• 1 pasta machine for rolling accurately thin sheets of clay
• Typing paper (optional)

• Pencil with an eraser
• I used a skein of yarn. You can use fabric, cane slices, whatever you want to cover the outside of the light with. You can use a gourd, a drum a trash can. Think outside the box.
• I used cardboard to shore up the scrap polymer clay walls.
• Scotch Tape & Packing tape
• 16 gauge wire and hand tools to bend it with
• 1 string of 35 holiday lights
• Corn Starch
• Soft brush
• A texture sheet
• 1 extension cord

1. Find a pattern to meet your skill level. My skill level in stain glass is beginner, so I picked an uncomplicated pattern. The pattern I chose was in an Acrobat PDF file, so I converted it into a JPEG file by capturing it off my screen with Paint Shop Pro v6.0 and colored it there. Then I printed out two copies of the pattern.

2. Next, I prepared translucent clay - one for each color used in the pattern - by blending a small pinch of opaque clay at a time into the translucent. After blending each pinch into the translucent, I squished it out kinda thin (uniform wasn't necessary here) and held it up to the lamp to make sure it still let the light through. I wanted the clay to be firm yet pliable when it is thin. That way it will maintain it's shape as I worked on it. My clay was too mushy after I conditioned and colored them, so I sandwiched the sheets between two sheets of typing paper for an hour or so. If you're impatient, sit on it instead. That will cut the time down to about 30 minutes.

3. When I got the clay to the color I wanted, I ran my clay through the pasta machine on the medium setting. I have a 9 setting Marcato Atlas with 1 being the thickest setting. I used setting #4. I laid the colored sheets on one of the ceramic tiles and set then it aside. This tile is where I will be tracing the pattern onto the clay and cutting it.

4. I conditioned my opaque clay (I used black) for the leading and rolled it into a sheet the same thickness as the colored sheets.

5. I conditioned all my scrap clay and set it aside for later.

6.  Once the clay was all prepared, it was time to start working with the pattern. I found with this technique it was easiest to start at the center and work out. It was also necessary to prebake some sections during the assembly to avoid damaging the design.

7. I placed the pattern on top of the clay color corresponding with the center or focus of the pattern. In this instance, the focus and the center is the rose. You will note in Fig 1 the clay extending from under the pattern matches the rose color. I burnished the paper briefly so it would adhere to the clay to prevent it from moving.

Using a pointed tool (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look at the tool), I traced around all the lines for everything using that particular color of clay. I pressed hard enough to make an impression in the clay below yet not hard enough to go through the paper. Each line would be traced over more than once before I was done!

Alternatively, you can use a straight pin and pierce thru the pattern along the lines to leave a trail of tiny holes.

8.  When I had traced the outlines for that color clay, I removed the pattern and set it aside for later. See Fig 2. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

9. Next I cut out the pattern along the trace lines so it would come apart like a jigsaw puzzle. I hung onto my scraps until I was finished in case I made a mistake and needed to start over or if I didn't have quite enough room on the sheet to trace all the elements of the design in that color. Then I would simply moosh the scraps together, run them through the pasta machine on medium and trace the sections I still needed to cut out.  (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

I placed the jigsaw pieces onto my other tile and placed the one I used for cutting the clay on top of them. This keeps them flat. Without the weight on top, the pieces will warp and cockle. I baked these pieces at the manufacturer recommended temperature for 20 minutes.

10.  After baking, I let the pieces cool on top of the stove with the tiles still sandwiched together. When they were cool to the touch, I reassembled the pieces into my design. I pulled my black sheet of leading in front of me and placed a straight edge (I used a ruler) onto it. I cut one side to get a perfectly straight edge to start with and set the scrap aside. I moved the ruler in just a fraction of an inch - about as wide as the clay was thick and cut a very thin, long strip. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

11. Now here's the tricky part. I needed to pay attention to where the top and sides are of this very thin strip of clay. Since the entire design was rolled out to medium thickness, including the leading, I wanted to place the strips around the pieces so the top of the strip remains facing up.  I did not want turn the strip on edge. This way, the leading would always be the same thickness as the design. I started by completely outlining the centermost piece (See Fig 4) then pressed the leading onto each section firmly to avoid any holes the light could shine through. I attached each piece from there, outlining the sides that did not snug up to the previously laid leading. (Click on the thumbnails for a closer look.) If I were to just wrap leading around all the pieces before assembling it, the leading would be double thick in some areas.

I assembled just the center or focus of the design. I set aside the buds for later (See Fig 7). I placed the center piece onto my work ceramic tile and placed the other tile on top of it to keep it flat. I baked this piece at the manufacturer recommended temperature again for 20 minutes.  

12. When I put the center or focus piece into the oven, I had snugged all the pieces so they were together real tight! When I pulled the design out and it had cooled, I held it up to the light and saw daylight and cracks from shrinkage during baking and it was rather flimsy. To remedy this I put the center piece face DOWN onto my baking tile and poured a thick layer of undiluted Transparent Liquid Sculpey (TLS) onto the back and smeared it around so it was spread evenly. Then I flipped the centerpiece back over and placed it back on the tile face UP. I baked withOUT the cover tile on top of it (so not to squish all the TLS out from under it) for about 8 minutes to harden the TLS. After it cooled, I used a tissue blade to slice the center piece away from the tile and held it up to the light. The cracks were filled in and the center piece is was now stronger!

13. I repeated steps 7-9 with the secondary areas of the design. To pick out what that would be, remember I was working from the inside out. With this pattern, the next element was the leaves. I also chose the leaves because they were more intricate than the background pattern, so they would be easier to assemble if prebaked. I worked through steps 7 through 12 again with the stems and leaves. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

14. I picked up the undamaged paper template and slid it under my glass work surface. I placed the centerpiece and all the other baked pieces loosely into their corresponding places and set it all aside. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

15. At this point, I traced and cut out the remaining elements of the design (see Fig 8). I followed the steps 7-9, but I did not prebake these!   (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) I wanted these to remain soft and pliable.

16. Going back to the glass surface, I assembled the remaining elements working from the inside out, placing the leading between each piece as I went along. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) When I had all the pieces assembled, I went back around and worked them together so there is no daylight or cracks. I did this by holding the glass with the design on it over my head and up to a light. I added clay or worked with fingers and tools to get all the cracks blended in and all the pieces tightly put together.