Stencils and Glass? Yes it’s a thing, a good thing!
BYOS – Bring Your Own Stencils, that’s what I did…to a glass making studio! Stencils can be used in so many mediums and my experimentation with glass produced some beautiful results if I do say so myself :). Here is how I used Stencil1 stencils with glass to make a hummingbird glass window ornament:
Materials You Will Need:
- Detailed Birds Stencil 4 Pack
- Tape
- Glass Dust
- Detail Brushes
- Solvent
- A Sturdy Flat Surface
- A Small Spoon
- Elmers glue
- A Stove or Kiln or all this in a glass studio
I wanted to work on an optimistic, Spring themed image and the hummingbird was a perfect choice. It’s also great because it is a stencil design with a lot of bold open shapes, perfect for filling with glass powder!
I was provided a 7″ x 7″ white sheet of glass, that’s my surface for today! You have to wipe it clean with alcohol, no oil should be on the surface. I then planned the layout of the design and thought it might look best to turn my square glass shape to a diamond-like position and attach a chain to the top point for hanging.
I brushed in a little bit of watered down glue into the wing area and then sprinkled in glass powder.
I continued the process with a few colors of powdered glass. you can see here that I am creating ombre blended effects by the way I sprinkle the dust. I also always use my darker colors on face details, it helps to really see the detail of those features!
Here’s a shot of the different glass dust colors the studio offered. I love supporting small, local businesses like this. You don’t have to buy all the supplies, just visit, create, and everyone is happy! But yea, I also was like so how much is a kiln, haha! The art is addictive!
I also created a frame around the piece using these long sticks of glass, similar to hard pasta. It looked a little too structured for my taste so see what I did next…
I added these chunkier glass pieces around the edges to add some “atmosphere” to my little birds world. It adds some whimsy and texture. I then used a tweezer to adjust them to the composition I wanted.
Notice how I cut a small triangle shape up top and layered my hook in the layers of glass, a hook sandwiched between two pieces of white glass. The piece of white glass you see above the art piece is being used to simply prop up my hook so it doesn’t flop down while the glue is drying it inside the “sandwich”.
Once you remove the stencil, add your other elements of glass, you can use small tools to clean up your design. You can push some sand around, move shards around, and get it all to it’s final position before it get’s fired.
Your stencil has done it’s purpose and can be washed with warm soapy water. It’s ready for storage and to be used many more times!
The design was then spritzed with a very thin glue spray, almost like hairspray.
The piece was then placed on special paper that it sits on in the kiln. That’s me Eddie 🙂
Here’s a shot of the piece all finished, I am so happy with how the dust gets darker. Oh, forgot to mention I placed a small black glass bead for the eye. I think the eyes should pop in an image so this little bird got a nice dark eye.
Once completed, hang your piece proud! As shops reopen, please search for your local glass studios and bring Stencil1 stencils with you to try this technique. We would love to see what you make!
Please share your creations with us @stencil1.com
