Pretty Magnolia Suncatcher

I play with fused glass A LOT.  I recently made up some suncatcher blanks that I intend to use at a painting convention that is coming up soon.  I made them by inserting the hooks and fusing the two pieces of glass together in my kiln so that students could etch and paint on the blank and it wouldn’t need to be transported back to my home studio and fused.  The students can etch, paint, and take the finished Fused Glass suncatcher home with them.  It’s a win-win situation.

Here’s what I did:

I found a stencil that I liked, the Magnolia, and after cleaning the glass with alcohol, I attached it to the glass blank.  After removing the parts of the stencil that needed to be etched, I applied the Etchall etching cream and set my timer for 8 minutes.  After 8 minutes, I moved the cream around to make sure I had applied it correctly, then I waited another 7 minutes.  With the plastic stick tool, I scraped off the etching cream and put it back in the jar.  (YES, you can reuse this cream over and over?)   Then, I removed the outer stencil and wiped the glass off with an unscented baby wipe, polished it with a paper towel and wash it.  

The Magnolia etching came out so nice.  Now, I could have left it like it was, the etching was that nice.  However, I wanted to add some paint to the image, and the Etchall gave the glass just the right amount of ‘tooth’ to hold the DecoArt Glass Paint on the surface.

I found a photo of a yellow Magnolia with red highlights and I proceeded to paint the entire Magnolia with the Yellow glass paint.  I put a shadow in the center with Black and let it dry.   When that was pretty dry, I picked up the Red paint and started to highlight and shade the Magnolia from the center out.  I added some Red to the stamen, and I dotted some Red onto the little round parts (I don’t know what they are called!) at the end of the stamen.  

The paint was very streaky, so I gave it another coat, starting with Yellow, and  highlighting with Red.  Blending all the time, and letting the paint partially dry between coats.

Once I got the flower where I wanted, I

let it dry.  This paint can be baked in the oven OR just set aside for a couple of days to dry completely hard.  Easy Peasy.

This will make a great gift.  Just tie a cord or attach a chain to the hooks 

and your Suncatcher is ready to go.

I hope you enjoy this project.  Always remember to “Have A Colorful Day”