Friday, April 15, 2011

Epic Windows




I love Gallery Glass.  This wonderful product from Plaid Enterprises can do so many things.  I've worked with it alot over the years and have used it in numerous different applications.  But painting my windows is my all time favorite. 


The windows in my craft room are huge.  Seriously.  8' x 6', to be exact.  And the natural light coming through those windows is the reason why I put my workbench in front of them.  But, when I open the blinds, from across the street there is another building, and it's occupants, staring straight at me while I work.  It didn't make me very happy when I realized it.  Gallery Glass is a simple and beautiful solution to this problem. 



So, I made a little daisy pattern and used Liquid Lead to trace them onto a Leading Blank, all part of the Gallery Glass line!  I made a zillion, at least, of these little daisies, not really knowing what my windows were going to look like at this point, and how many I would need.  It's always a good idea to get all the leading done at the same time because it takes about 6 hours for the Liquid Lead to dry and cure, and be ready for the next step. 



I also made some "castings" out of the Gallery Glass Window Color.  This is so simple and really makes a window look absolutely like it has real stained glass in it.  Here, I squirted Aqua and Lime Green Window Color on a large Leading Blank and used a palette knife to mix a little and flatten it out into one full sheet.  This also takes several hours to dry.  I put my sheets, and I made several in different color combinations, on the floor in the craft room right in front of the windows overnight and was ready to go.


The next day, I used some Snow White for the petals and Sunny Yellow and a new color, Gilded Oak, to paint in my daisies. 

Then I got to work on the windows.  I took some Redi-Lead strips, also from the Gallery Glass line, and sectioned things off the way I wanted them.  I measured and divided like Math was my favorite thing to do.  (it's really not)  I got the windows "leaded" in about 4 hours!  Whew!



I applied the dry "casting" sheets to the window and cut them to fit.  Easy Peasy! 



And where I cut the sheet a little short, I filled in with Window Color straight from the bottle.  I applied the daisies into the design and used my absolute favorite, Crystal Clear Window Color, to fill in the sections surrounding the daisies.  Applying Crystal Clear straight from the bottle, I squirt and swirl until the dry effect is something like bubbly-glass!  This is so beautiful when the street lights come on outside the window!  



I also used a little Gallery Glass Etching Medium, applied with a large stencil brush, to add to the design.  I did this on the upper portion of the window that will likely be covered by the blind most of the time. 


And here is the finished window!  I'm so glad to be finished with this project, you wouldn't believe.  I can finally put my workbench back in place and get back to makin' the paint fly from my brushes! 
What do you think?