Painting glass ornaments

A few years ago I purchased a set of clear glass ornaments during the after Christmas sales intending to 'do' something with them for the next year.  Well that never happened.  The box of ornaments was packed away and forgotten, until we did a whole attic clean up.

The box of glass ornaments resurfaced just as I was trying to decide what to bring as a gift to our Trout Unlimited chapter's Holiday gathering.  I had been thinking of doing a trout painting for the Chapter's spring auction, and so had already massed reference materials on my desk.  I had three colors of glass paint and a black glass marker to work with.  Maybe I could paint a trout on the glass.

Where to start?  I measured the circumference of the glass ornament.  Then I made three appropratily sized pencil drawings of Brook, Brown and Rainbow Trout.  Now I had my reference sketches.

For some reason, I decided to try painting on the inside of the ornament instead of the outside.  This is known as reverse painting, painting from foreground to the background.  That didn't sound so hard.  I traced the drawings onto strips of tracing paper.  Then taped the paper to the outside of the ornament.  I used the red, blue and yellow paint to mix appropriate fish shades.  So far so good.  Now to paint.

Well here was a problem I hadn't thought about.  When you insert a brush into the ornament it can only paint the lower half.  I needed to make a special brush that could be adjusted to reach all the inside area.  I broke an old brush and used heavy wire to re-attach the two parts.  With the adjustable brush I now could paint the trout on the inside of the ornament.  I still had to be very careful when inserting and removing the brush to not touch the rest of the interior, and it was difficult to place colors without mixing them.  You can see the results of this first trial to the left.

The second ornament I painted on the outside of the glass.  This was so much easier and quicker.  I used the black glass marker to sketch the trouts image first.  After the black marker dried I painted the base color of the trout and built up the textures and colors. As a final touch I added a small fly inside the ornament.

You can compare the two in the image painted from the same reference sketches below.

Two new long stitch patterns

I took the opportunity to go with new friend Susie to purchase leather sides from a local Tandy store during their once-a-year sale.  Based on what I found at the store, leather only comes in giant and double giant size.  Now that I have enough leather to make books for several years, I can put what I learned in Hollis Fouts classes to use.  I designed two long stitch patterns and got to work binding.

The first black leather journal was another variation using stitch length, with a slight twist.  The pattern required four signature templates, and I used Crawford red 4 thread cord for the binding.  The central diamond shape of the pattern was made by passing the red cord through a small loop of black cord (as seen at right).  The black cord loop was stitched to the leather cover before the signatures.

The closure for this book is a red button with a red and black twisted cord loop.  The corners of the leather were rounded to match the button's shape.  I also added a red and black twisted cord  bookmark to the middle of the book.  The bookmark ends with a red teardrop bead that matches the red button.

The second black leather wrap journal was my first try at adding two signatures per sewing station.  The stitch patten has a diamond at each end of the spine with a wide space in the middle for the leather strap to wrap around the book.  This pattern required only three signature templates for the 10 signatures.

I used Crawford tan 4 thread cord for the binding on the second book.  Working with two signatures at the same time was difficult at first, but became easier with each pair I added.  It is important when adding a second signature through the same holes not to split the cord of the first signature.  This required more attention and made the binding go slower.

Below is a photo showing the spines of the two finished black leather books. I was happy with how my first two patterns turned out.

Mistakes can be opportunities

Mistakes can be opportunities to try something new.  When I was making my first Coptic bound book I punched holes in the wrong side of the back cover.  Instead of making a new back cover I decided to punch additional holes on the correct side and finish binding the book (note holes opposite the bound spine in the photo at left).

I thought about adding decorative chains and beads, but that didn't fit the design.  So the book sat unfinished waiting for inspiration.  Six plus months later inspiration finally struck.  I would incorporate the four holes into a unique closure for the book.  I cut two pieces of Crawford 4 thread black cord, and threaded each through two of the holes.

I gathered the four ends together and secured them with a figure eight knot.  Then I braided the four threads to make the wrap for the button.  I tried several different buttons before deciding on a small black silk covered button.  I added a one of Steve's black and silver glass beads and a small carved butterfly to the free end of the braided threads.  The finished closure is shown at right.  Below are two additional photos of the back (left) and front (right) of the book showing how the cord exits the holes in the back cover, and come around to secure the book by wrapping around the button on the front cover.