Now Complete

Here is a final picture of the panel lamp that I made for my sister. I am glad that it turned out so well and looks beautiful!

I was a little worried. I am a little too afraid sometimes of what other people will think, but I think it was a success. Thanks Heather! It means a lot to me that you love it and will display it in your home!

Done And Done!

Interesting tidbit:

According to UrbanDictionary.com "Done and done" is a phrase to say when one has finished something that was so involved that it is as though one has done it twice.

When I read that it kinda made me laugh because on this project I actually did do it twice. However, we can all give a big sigh of relief now, because I am DONE!!! I finally finished "The Lamp That Almost Wasn't," which is the name I just now decided to give it. From hence forward, that is what it shall be known as.

Here are some pictures of the final product:

This next one is one of me holding it up to the window so that you can get an idea of what it would look like with light shining through it. It isn't a very good representation though. The red is a lot darker red, and the green is more green, and the tan is a little lighter. So...as you can see it looks almost nothing like that, and the camera I used didn't really capture a good representation. But here it is anyway:

When my sister gets a lamp base for it maybe I will take a final final picture, and I'll try to use a better camera, so you might see what it actually looks like.

Now I will be on to another project. Hmm....what to do?

6 Days Or Else!

So...for those of you who do not know the story about this lamp, I will now tell it. Disclaimer: the names of those involved have been changed so as not to reveal their true identities.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in the year 2008, there was a crazy girl named Shamelia who came up with this wonderful idea. "I will make you a beautiful lamp out of stained glass," she told her sister. This crazy girl was already working on a huge project, the "Fall Aspens" window. Just started it in fact, but that didn't cross her mind at the time. The sister, uh...Shmeather, said, "You don't have to make me a lamp!" To which Shamelia replied, "Yes, I do HAVE to because I WANT to. And I WILL!"

A thought later occurred to Shamelia. I am already working on this stained glass window, which has a billion pieces! I can only work on it between school, work, and the rest of my life! Instead of thinking logically and realizing that it would be quite a while before she could get to the lamp, she decided, "I will make it for your birthday Shmeather!" As I'm sure you could guess, Shamelia was nowhere near being done with the current project when Shmeather's birthday came around.

The birthday passed, then, still not thinking logically, Shamelia decided to make it for Christmas! Yes, Christmas was only 7 months away and she was still nowhere near being done with the window, but so what? Christmas came and went. And then another birthday and another Christmas. At this point Shamelia was beginning to realize her error in judgement, but there was no going back now.

About this time, she finally finished the "Fall Aspens" window. It had taken a lot longer than she thought it would, but who knew that school and work could take up so much time? It was a wonderful thing to have the window finished. Not only had it been a 2 year project and was beautiful (if I do say so myself), but NOW she could finally get started on the lamp she had so long ago promised her sister Shmeather.

She now began working on the lamp. This project was a lot smaller than the window, so she thought she could definitely get it done by her sister's next birthday. Don't ask me why Shamelia thought it had to be done for a birthday or Christmas. I guess she just thought it would be a good time. School and work still took up a good majority of Shamelia's time, however, so she did not progress on the lamp as planned. Shmeather's birthday came and went again. Then Christmas. Finally, the beginning of the year (now 2011) Shamelia was making some real progress. The lamp was almost done! But alas! The lamp, in it's final stages of being finished, broke! The disappointment! The shame! She tried to repair the lamp, but could not succeed. So, discarding the lamp, she decided to start over.

A couple of months later, Shamelia is finally making some good progress on the new and improved lamp. And now, once again, it is Shmeather's birthday in 6 days. She still has to solder the panels together and then solder those into the shape of the lamp. Do you think Shamelia will succeed? Can she complete the lamp in 6 days? Or will Shmeather have to wait until Christmas to receive it?



This is a picture of the current state of the lamp. I know it looks exactly like the first one, but I assure you, it is the new and improved version.

Panel Lamp #2 - Take Two

It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I would give an update on my progress...

It took a while for me to get up the courage to go back to the stained glass supply store after the horrible failure of my first attempt on making this lamp. However, I did manage to drag myself there... finally. I talked to the owner about my troubles and, amazingly, felt better about everything afterwards. She agreed with me that part of my problem may have been because my soldering iron was getting too hot. I was able to purchase a temperature controller, so hopefully that will no longer be a problem.

Then came the hardest part...picking out new glass. Normally, this is not that bad, especially if you have an idea already in your head. However, I had already found the perfect colors the first time around. You cannot always find the exact same colors because they obviously run out of certain colors and sheets of glass vary from one to the next. After what seemed like hours of looking at every single sheet of glass that she had, I had to make a decision. I tried to get the exact same ones but, as I just explained, that is not always possible. I managed to find ones that are pretty close though, so I think it will still turn out the way I had originally imagined.

Since then, I have cut all the pieces of glass. Now I just have to grind the edges down, foil, and then solder. I'm hoping for better results than the last time and hope to have another update soon... and pictures...

Panel Lamp #2

At this stage, all of the pieces have been cut, ground and foiled.

Now I am ready to solder the individual panels.

Here I have already soldered the panels and am preparing to stand the shade up so that I can solder it into the shape of the lamp shade.

When I made my first panel lamp this part of the process sounded really easy. You just tape the panels together and then pull up in the middle and it will come up into the shape. However, it was nowhere near that simple. I tried and tried and could not get it to cooperate. In fact, I thought about giving up a couple times. I persisted though, and eventually succeeded. So this time I prepared myself. I was ready to take a frustratingly long time. However....

...SUCCESS!!!!

And on the first try!

I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself.

I am almost done now. I just have to solder the rest of it and then I will be done! And on to the next project!