How I Made A Faux Stain Glass "GlowLight"

Fig 11

17. After assembling all the elements of the design, I then chose to place a border of leading around the entire piece to bring the design together and give it a finished look. I ran some more opaque (black) clay through the pasta machine on medium to create a very long strip about and inch or so wide. I snugged this up against the assembled design, stretching gently and pulling so it would fit all the way around. I cut the ends of the clay on the snugged strip so they were abutting, not overlapping and blended the seam so it became invisible. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

Fig 12

18. After making sure the strip was firmly attached to the design with no daylight or cracks, I trimmed it freehand to get an even and pleasant looking frame. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) Leaving the entire design on the glass, I placed my 12x12 tile on top of it to keep it flat and baked at the manufacturer recommended temperature for 20 minutes. I let it set on the stovetop still sandwiched until the tiles were cool to the touch.

I peeled the design carefully from the glass and flipped it over face DOWN; poured a thick layer of undiluted TLS onto the back and smeared it around until it was even. Next I flipped the design back over onto the glass with the face up and baked it withOUT the tile on top and baked for another 15 minutes. When it cooled, I carefully sliced the design from the glass. The TLS filled in any gaps that were created with shrinkage during cooking and gave the entire design strength. I set the design aside.

Fig 13

19. Now I needed to make the walls where I could stuff the the lights. I grabbed my pile of preconditioned scrap clay (mud pile) and ran it through the pasta machine on the medium setting. (Note: In retrospect, I should have used the thickest setting and then I wouldn't have to had to do the wall three times to get the right depth for the lights.) Looking at Fig 12, you'll see some of my mud pile in the pasta machine. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) I then took that sheet and folded it lengthwise so I ended up with a nice, long, continuous sheet of clay.

Fig 14

20. I trimmed the scrap clay so it was about an inch or so wide, giving me nice straight sides. I placed the design back onto the work/baking surface face DOWN. I stood the sheet of clay on its side and then pressed it to the side of the design. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) The first sheet I had wasn't quite long enough, so I simply began with another sheet to make it all the way around and then pressed the ends together.

TIP (2008): If you are going to decorate the outside of the wall with canes or other polymer clay decoration, apply all of that to the wall while it is still laid out flat. THEN wrap it around the design.

Fig 15

21. The sheet of clay had a tendency to be a bit wobbly (See Fig 13), so I formed a tube with 3 pieces of typing paper and sized it to fit quite snugly against the wall before taping the paper together. I used ordinary Scotch TapeŽ. You can use any brand and it will hold up just fine under the low baking temperatures we use. I put this contraption into the oven on the lowest rack setting (I use a conventional oven) and baked for 20 minutes at the manufacturer's recommended temperature. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) If the tube of typing paper is too tall, feel free to size it down so you can fit it into your own cooking appliance.

Fig 16

22. After the first sheet cooled, I applied a second layer to make the wall taller by running a very thin layer of TLS around the top 1/8" of the first layer's rim, then pinching the lower side of the second sheet to the upper edge of the first layer. At this point, I discovered the bond between the first layer and the design was rather tenuous, so I applied a square snake of clay at the base of the wall to seal any cracks between design and wall. This would insure the wall would not separate from the design. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) In order to get the snake to seat with no air bubbles and so it would grab both wall and design, I used a standard #2 pencil eraser to press it into place. I placed the typing paper tube back into the design and baked.

Fig 17

23. I applied a third layer to the upper edge of the second layer using the same method as in Step 22. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

(Note 2008: In retrospect, I should have used the thickest setting on the pasta machine. With that thickness the wall would have been strong enough and I would have been able to cut the wall to the height I wanted originally. That would eliminate steps 22 and 23.)

Fig 18

24. I placed the typing paper tube back into the design and baked for 15 minutes.  (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)

Fig 19

25. Now here is where the imagination can run rampant. You can cane the walls, apply fabric with TLS or glue, use powders, paper, whatever your heart desires. I chose to use a light green yarn and just wrapped the whole skein around it! (Note 2008: Ewwww. It looked so tacky. I have long since removed the yarn applied back in 2001 and decorated it with bas reliefs in polymer clay.) I secured the edges of the yarn with white glue. (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.) The yarn held up just fine under the cooking temperatures with no discoloration.

Warning: Do not apply white glue to your artwork until the last step. The glue will turn a nice, toasty brown when baked! If you need to apply glue before baking, use one of the heat tolerant glues like Sobo.

Fig 20

26. The walls of my design were still quite flimsy so they needed shoring. (See? I shoulda used that thicker setting.) I found a nice long cardboard box and cut a piece out of it. At this point, I didn't concern myself much with the length or width so long as it was longer and wider than what I needed! (Click on the thumbnail for a closer look.)