Created by Louis Comfort Tiffany, an outstanding artist craftsman designer who was inspired at an early age by the fine objects created by the designers and craftsmen at his fathers company Tiffany and co. in New York.

Although he started his artistic career as a painter Tiffany was a prolific designer and creator who turned his hand to many fields of art and design. He was involved in the design of furniture, pottery metalwork; jewellery in fact there was hardly any area of art and design which escaped his talents.

Around the late 1870s he became interested in glass and its possibilities as a design medium and went on to create probably the most famous glass design studio in the world, renowned for all manner of stunning glass works from vases to stained glass windows and panels and of course the famous Tiffany Lamps.

I’m sure you must have seen pictures of the lamps even if you haven’t seen one “In the flesh” they are gorgeous works of art. The famous “dragonfly design” is one of the Tiffany studios most well known lamp designs though it was actually designed by Clara Driscoll who started working for Tiffany in 1887 she designed the Dragonfly lamp in1904 in which year it won a prize at the Paris International Exposition.

It seems the women who worked in the glass studio worked mostly on the naturalistic lamp designs which featured plant forms and the men worked more on the geometric designs.

Although he may not have invented the copper foil technique of stained glass work , which is now commonly referred to as “Tiffany style” he certainly made great use of it because it allows for much finer detail and more delicate design work then the traditional leaded glass method. It also allows the creation of more intricate and extravagant shapes of lampshade. Leaded shades are naturally more geometric in nature.

To create these delicate designs the pieces of stained glass are cut to shape according to the pattern then the edges of each piece are wrapped with narrow strips of copper foil which is rubbed or “burnished” tight onto the glass. Next, with the aid of some type of flux the copper foil is cleaned to enable the pieces to be soldered together. Usually the pieces are place together on a former or mold once the outside of the lamp is fully soldered the inside needs to be soldered too. This gives added strength as well as being aesthetically pleasing. Once the soldering is completed the lampshade is cleaned and attached to a lamp base again in Tiffanies case the bronze lamp bases are beautiful creations inspired by natural organic forms.

Sadly most of us will never be able to own a genuine Tiffany lamp, fortunately there are many skilled artists working in stained glass who make stunning recreations of may styles of Tiffany lamps. Unfortunately there are many cheap imitations of very poor quality on the market but you would never mistake them for a quality product. It’s a pity people can get away with calling things “Tiffany” or “antique” when they are no such thing.

Incidentally, if you ever come across a lamp shade in a flea market or yard sale and you think it might be genuine (or dream it might be), then it is said that due to the age of the real thing, and the fact that the glue holding the copper foil tape to the glass has long since dried up, the pieces of glass are all slightly loose in their solder cage, so if you shake the lamp shade gently you will hear the glass move, this is the “Tiffany Whisper”. Is it true? Who knows? But buy it quickly, keep a straight face and hope.

They also have discounts on lots of other stained glass supplies and tools, including glass cutters, grinders, circle cutters and much more.

SAVE on Glass Crafts at Delphi Glass

A great offer from Delphi if you’re looking to start your new stained glass hobby in the new year, up to fifteen dollars saving on your first order, plus you can get a free catalogue and if you order now you get free shipping! Excellent bargains to help you cut the cost of your new hobby.

Delphi have probably the widest range of stained glass supplies available, and take it from me, I know from personal experience the prices are great, the shipping is prompt and the customer service is excellent.

So if you’ve been hesitating to start your new stained glass hobby, go to Delphi now and get started.

The Best Deals in Stained Glass – Delphi Glass

Terrariums are containers for plants, forgive me for being pedantic but they are not containers for reptiles those I believe should properly be called “vivariums” or maybe vivaria, I didn’t learn Latin at school. Of course you can put reptiles in a terrarium but then you’ve created a vivarium.

No doubt people have put plants into all sorts of containers for as long as both have been available, but the terrarium as we call it was invented or discovered by Doctor Nathaniel Ward in 1827 during some of his scientific research involving moth pupae which he had housed in glass jars. To his surprise he noticed that small mosses and ferns were growing in the jars and continued to do so for a number of years without any attention or any extra water being added. His further research into the phenomenon gave us the terrarium or Wardian case as they became known. They were very popular during the Victorian period as decorative displays for the home.

What is a Terrarium

So what is a terrarium? Strictly speaking it’s a closed self sustaining environment usually constructed from glass or nowadays plastic. The fact that it’s sealed means that you don’t have to water it as you would normally do with your house plants. The moisture given of by the plant leaves, and that which evaporates from the soil in the terrarium, condenses on the sides and roof of the container and runs back down into the soil. It can be quite tricky to get the balance between moist and dry right in a new terrarium, so it’s best not to seal it straight away but let the conditions settle first; after all using fresh soil or compost and watering the new plantings will probably mean the inside is too wet to start with so you need to let some of the excess moisture evaporate through the opening first.

Plants for you Terrarium

You will find all sorts of plants being recommended as suitable for terrariums including flowering varieties but it’s not a good idea to put flowering plants into a sealed container as the petals will fall and rot they should be okay though in a terrarium which you can easily open and remove dead leaves or petals from. Best to stick with slow growing plants like ferns and bromeliads. You can also include attractive rocks and it possible to create a very attractive landscape in miniature.

Make a Terrarium

You can buy terrariums from simple square or rectangular tanks, to elaborate stained glass creations. I made one based on a Geodesic Dome. You can try and make terrariums from all sort of containers, there was a fashion at one time for using large glass bottles or “carboys” though these sorts of containers are not always made from clear glass which would be best. And remember if you use an unusual shape container like some sort of bottle or jar you will need some special tools for planting; you can make your own from old spoons and forks tied to lengths of wood. Site your container where it will get good light but not strong sunlight. Happy miniature gardening.

Why would you want to buy stained glass kits? Well I suppose one of the most obvious answers is it makes it easier, so why not.

You may have a desire to take up stained glass as a hobby but you don’t know very much about it so you’re intimidated by all the strange terminology. What exactly is a fid? What do you do with lead came? What’s copper foil for? Now you might be like me and when you get the urge to try something new you just throw caution to the wind and jump in with both feet! (How’s that for mixing metaphors). So you just pop along to your local library and see what books you can find on stained glass, or more likely these days you surf the Internet for information, I do too. But I still like to get my hands on a good book now and again.

Copper Foil Or Lead Came

Okay so you’ve got some basic information about stained glass, you know what a fid is (it’s for opening the channel in lead came or burnishing copper foil) But you’re still slightly overwhelmed by this new information. Do you want to do stained glass work using the very traditional lead came which dates back to medieval times or would you prefer to use the copper foil method which was put to such famous use by the Tiffany Workshops. And there is a bewildering choice of stained glass available.

Whichever method you use you will find you can do very similar projects; though copper foil usually has the advantage for making more complicated designs with very small pieces of glass such as lamp shades especially “Tiffany” style lamp shades, or trinket boxes or kaleidoscopes. Now you’ve realised that you need a whole lot of new equipment for your stained glass hobby, well maybe not need exactly but the right equipment makes things much easier. So you’re looking at buying glass cutters fids, foiling machines, soldering irons, glass grinding machines, extractor fans. You also need to find patterns for the projects you want to make. Or maybe you could just buy the essential tools like tools for cutting copper foil (scissors) or lead came and a soldering iron (a good temperature controlled soldering iron should be suitable for copper or lead work) and assemble some ready cut kits. With pre-cut glass pieces you won’t need a glass grinder which can be one of the most expensive pieces of equipment

Start The Easy Way

There’s no shame in trying the easy way first, you’ve got to learn the skills necessary. Classes can be good but what if there are no classes where you live. Buy yourself some kits and have a go. See what’s available and choose the sort of thing you want to make, decide whether you’re going to do copper foil or lead came. Some beginners prefer copper foil but these days lead came is available in fine pliable form especially for the smaller kits such as night lights and votive candle kits. maybe you’d like to make a sun catcher to hang in the window or a lamp shade or nightlight. There are thousands of kits available and of course they are available by mail order via the internet if you haven’t got a supplier close to home.

Stunning Selection Of Stained Glass Kits Available

You can get pre cut stained glass kits for just about anything you desire from some excellent companies. Kits for Lampshades, fan lamps, night lights, sun catchers, window panels, door panels, Christmas decorations, and the list is almost endless and there are usually new ideas for seasonal holidays such as these Fall Craft Projects The kits are excellent value and you will soon learn the basics of handling the materials, foiling, handling lead came, soldering and so on. When you get a feel for it you can decide if you want to stretch you’re abilities by cutting your own glass and maybe even designing your own pieces.

Glass Crafts at Delphi Glass

Like many crafts or business you will probably find that people who are actively engaged in it will have a workshop full of tools and equipment and in the case of stained glass, whole shelves of glass waiting to be turned into exquisite works of art. But if you ask them you will find that many if not most of them started with next to no equipment. Maybe they were on a tight budget and most of us can sympathise with that. Or perhaps they weren’t even aware of all the marvellous tools and gadgets that were available to help in producing stained glass panels or windows, because they were self taught and managed as best they could with limited knowledge. I’m positive you will find stained glass craftsmen/women or artists that started in their business or hobby when many of today’s tools and gadgets were simply not even heard of. They’ll probably also tell you that you still don’t need most of them.

Stained Glass and Lead Came.

So what do you need to start with stained glass as a hobby? First thing would be glass right? Well not necessarily, first you should be aware of the two main types of “stained glass”. The oldest and traditional method of turning stained glass into windows or panels or lampshades is by using lead came, hence the term leaded windows or leaded lights. Lead came is a channel made of lead, not surprisingly. It may have an open channel on both sides into which glass pieces can be inserted or it may have a channel only on one side so this sort of lead came will be used to form edges or borders to your window or panel. The lead came has to be cut to size and then once laid out on the work bench, with all the glass and lead strips in place the lead pieces are soldered together to hold everything in place.

Copper Foil

Copper foil or the “Tiffany method” as it is sometimes known is the other method used to make objects with stained glass. Narrow strips of thin copper foil are used to wrap the edges of the glass pieces for this reason one side of the copper foil is coated with glue. The foil is then rubbed down hard onto the glass “burnished”. All the pieces are laid out on the pattern atop the workbench and as with the lead came, soldered together. Unlike with lead cane not just the joints are soldered but the whole of the copper foil which is visible is soldered to give the piece sufficient strength.

Minimum tool requirements.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Leaded windows or panels can be much larger than copper foil before the need extra reinforcing. Copper foil enables one to make smaller more delicate pieces such as jewellery boxes, kaleidoscopes or Tiffany lampshades.

For both methods the minimum tools required are a quality glass cutter and a soldering iron which is designed for the job, not the sort used for electrical repairs. A diamond file or carborundum stone is invaluable to smooth the edges of the cut pieces of glass and remove the small “blades” which are dangerously sharp. Fancy electric grinders can come later. You will obviously have to find a stained glass supplier for your glass and equipment, if there is one near where you live you can buy quite small pieces of glass even off cuts while you are still learning. As you can see from the picture above I started with an old copper soldering iron which I found in the shed when we moved house and a blow lamp to heat it. As they say, where there’s a will there’s a way.

If you’re still worried about things like the cost of stained glass, and learning to cut it (some of it is a little tricky)  you could maybe try making a terrarium, using horticultural glass (for greenhouse) It’s often quite low in price.
Have a go.

If you have ever thought about stained glass as a hobby and been put off, think again. It needn’t be expensive and who knows, you may love it. If you don’t feel up to the whole deal of cutting stained glass to patterns and so on, you could try starting with some ready cut stained glass kits. You may also find you’re really good at it, if so you may be able to sell some of your work. At least you’ll have some very special gifts to give to your friends and family.

Glass Crafts at Delphi Glass

Although the modern kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster a sixteenth century Scot, the ancient Egyptians and Greeks are known to have shown interest in the kaleidoscopic effects of reflective surfaces. There is a group for enthusiasts of the kaleidoscope which takes its name from the inventor The Brewster Kaleidoscope Society.

There is also an online group for those interested in making their own kaleidoscopes, the KBKB

You may be surprised to know that there are many kaleidoscope enthusiasts worldwide from those with a passing interest to avid collectors and builders.

There are various types of kaleidoscope differing usually in the number of mirrors and the angle between the mirrors. From the basic and most common three mirrors arranged in a triangle to many variations of two mirror systems where the third side of the triangle is made from non-reflective material and the angle between the two reflective mirrors can be any angle which will equally divide 360 degrees. So you can use any of the following angles

45 degree - 8 fold symmetry - 4 point star
36 degree - 10 fold symmetry - 5 point star
30 degree - 12 fold symmetry - 6 point star
22.5 degree 16 fold symmetry - 8 point star
15 degree - 24 fold symmetry - 12 point star
10 degree - 36 fold symmetry - 18 point star
1 degree - 360 fold symmetry -180 point star

These two mirror systems produce mandala like images, though clever kaleidoscope artists manipulate them to produce three dimensional effects.

There are 4 types of kaleidoscope in normal use

The Teleidoscope this often uses the 3 mirror system but there is no chamber of coloured particles, it is used like a telescope and whatever the viewer points the scope at form the image inside. You can get some amazing and disturbing images depending on what or who you point it at.

The cell scope is probably the one we are all most familiar with the “cell” is the bit on the end that contains the coloured items for creating the image, it may also be called the chamber or sometimes the object case. The cell can be dry with small coloured objects which tumble when it is rotated or it may be filled with oil which lets the objects float in front of the mirrors. The light may be allowed to come from the end or from the side of the chamber.

A modern variation on the cell scope is the “wand” kaleidoscope which was first produced in 1990 by Wildwood creative Products in collaboration with Cozy Baker (founder of the Brewster Society). In this type of scope the cell is replaced by a tube which may be 12 inches long filled with liquid and coloured particles and glitter. Though very simple the scope produces wonderful images like a mini firework display.

Wheel scopes not surprisingly have a wheel or multiple wheels which rotate at the end of the tube to make the image. Kaleidoscope artist these days go to great lengths to produce quite spectacular wheels containing all sorts of stained glass, dichroic glass, jewels and pretty much anything there imagination can come up with. Some artists use rotating cylinder in place of wheels.

Marblescopes use a glass marble at the end of the viewing tube, early ones where not very sophisticated and so produced very limited images, but many modern kaleidoscope artists make their own hand blown glass marbles, these are works of art in their own write and produce stunning images. Some marblescopes use more than one marble to increase the complexity of the image.

There are many artists producing kaleidoscopes in a variety of media form stained glass which I use myself, to polymer clay for astounding sculptural bodies for scopes. Others use their superb wood turning skills and beautiful varieties of wood to make very desirable scopes. Some artists produce highly sought after “one of a kind” unique scopes which can command prices in the thousands of dollars. Some artists produce limited editions for the keen collector and some artists produce scopes in small production runs bless their hearts, which means many more of us can be the proud owners of small works of art.

Can you make your own kaleidoscope? Of course you can. We have the wonderful internet at our fingertips so we can find all the instructions we need. There are also many different kits available from simple kits for kids to Classic Stained Glass Kaleidoscope Kits

Go on, have some fun make a kaleidoscope.

As usual it’s made using the copper foil method of glass working.

Strictly speaking it is not a terrarium but a planter, though it would simply be a matter of closing in the open sections to transform it into a proper terrarium.

Approx sizes, W 8″ H 10″.

Made from attractive amber textured glass and embellished with amber coloured glass globs.

Approx sizes, W 2 1/2″ H 2 1/2″.

Buy it here