No Peeking, Jackie!

I've been intending to complete this project for quite awhile now.
I had taken some super cute photos of doggies Dylan and Reese a year ago (surprisingly good quality from a disposable camera!).
I set the pics aside and didn't show the owners, knowing these were so special that I knew I needed to make something.
I did blog one, hoping the owners didn't see it.

At first I was thinking I'd place the photos back-to-back under glass and make a Christmas ornament.
But that would have meant reducing the size of the images, and I really wanted the full impact of a 4" x 6".

So I thought, well, I can still place them under glass, but I'll make two, with a dog-themed quotation on the reverse.
The finished product can hang on a wall or whatever.
I found some amazing beveled glass at Alpine Glass (a stained glass store in San Diego).
Soldering stuff at the ready

I envisioned these hanging by a chain, so an employee at Alpine glass showed me how to twist copper wire around a pencil to make the loops for hanging.


Christmas came and went, but I still wanted to finish this.
Jackie (their "mom") just had a birthday this week, so I pushed myself to work on the project.
Ta Da!



One of the reasons it took me so long to get around to putting these together was that I got hung up on what paper to use on the reverse--what paper should the quote be on?
Certainly not something plain...but what?
Should I collage the reverse in dog-themed images?
Nah...too busy.

And it finally dawned on me what to use for the reverse--the greenery from Fiesta Island (the same location as the other photographs).

So I took a photo I had of Leroy, and I cropped out the green.


That way the reverse is in the same color family, and I think it works
(a bit of glare from the night shot...lights hitting the glass)



But let's be real, shall we?
These are far from perfect, but the more I messed with it, the gloopier it got.
Ugh!
But then that tends to be my style, if you followed my making of the butterfly charms at all.

At one point, I peeled off the copper tape that I had already soldered, and started again.
Aarrgghhh.

Then my iron got too hot, and repeatedly going over an area left it burned (oops!)
I have one iron that doesn't get hot enough, and another that gets too hot.
I need a really decent stained glass-quality soldering iron
So I mended it.


Finally, at some point, I just had to step away and call it okay.
As Sally Jean Alexander would say, "Love and embrace"
(I will be blogging about my class with her soon, by the way).

I'm pretty sure Jackie is going to love these though.
Between those cute faces and that gorgeous glass--they'll make her smile.