Things come together in stages

So, some back story to our project seems to be in order.

The original idea was to incorporate the hand sewn embellished art that I was using for greeting cards. The plan was to create 1" x 3" hand sewn water colours sandwiched between glass microscope slides and soldered.

As with most ideas, this one expanded in the brainstorming process into something that could be personalized, something that was more elaborate and on and on and on. Of course the brainstorming ideas became more and more fantastic so there was some reigning in. Then came the part where I started to put some of my ideas to work. Well, I tried to put them to work but with one thing or another the ideas didn't quite mesh with the physical objects. What we had originally planned was put on the back burner while I put my old noggin towards figuring out a solution.

One day while I was re-organizing my supplies (something I do a few times a year to get my workspace cleaned off and to help jump start my desire to make things) I came across the stash of glass paints that I'd used to decorate wine glasses for gifts one year. I had glass slides and I had glass paint, I could do something with them both (once again making the whole having to clean my workspace up worth while).

tIn the early stages of a new project I like to play around with materials to see what works, what works best and what isn't really working at all. In this case I started painting directly onto the glass slides that make up the ornaments. I used an applicator bottle and drew trees, and snowflakes onto the slides and squished them together creating some interesting bubbles and shrinkage. I waited for the paint to dry and then sandwiched them giving me a more predictable finish. Then I smeared paint onto the slides and drew into the tacky finish before sandwiching; interesting but not a graphic as I wanted.

Then I got the idea to try stamping into the glass paint. Being a closet print maker; the idea to carve my own relief blocks for use in this project (as well as for greeting cards and possibly for gift wrapping our holiday gifts or making gift tags) was naturally the next step. Also having a stash of safety-cut print making blocks was a great incentive.

I decided to use stamps that I had carved myself to keep my designs as unique as possible. I do have a few bought stamps that I have used on some of the pieces along with my own designs but the bulk of the designs are mine. I've added some photos of the stamps I've carved and used for you to look at.

The launch date for the new line is right round the corner. I've been busy getting listing descriptions, materials and shipping info ready to upload on Monday. I'll be starting with a about 5 ornaments and then listing a few more every other day or so. In addition, we'll be looking for brick and mortar selling opportunities as well.

This stage of the process is daunting, it's like taking that giant leap into the unknown, the only thing to do is to take a deep breath and dive.