HOW TO MAKE A STAINED GLASS WINDOW

in high school i learned how to make stained glass windows, and got really into it. my teachers let me use any art classes (even ceramics?) to work on stained glass - and would even ask me to stay after school to help them on their own window projects.

for my birthday one year i got all the materials to continue working at home - my very own glass grinder, glass cutters, leading, soldering iron, solder, flux and a ton of glass to work with.

sadly i didn't have the space in NYC to set everything up so i left it all back in missouri. that was until this christmas when my mom and i packed everything up and shipped it to my apt in brooklyn.

well, i finally got around to starting back up. since i haven't made a window in at least eight years i wanted to do something little with the scrap glass and lead i had before starting a huge project and buying more materials. and of course i took pictures of the process.

here's how you make a stained glass window:

not perfect, but it's not so bad!

of course a few things came back to me while i was doing it - like how insane i was to have so many little pieces on my first window in eight years. and it was a little rough finding my soldering groove. i'm also trying to sort out some flux issues (not sure why the flux i'm using is sticky? it never was before?). if you'd like more info about the process i put captions on flickr.

anywho. i have a couple ideas for my next window.

really excited to get started on it.

BEACH BROS

far rockaway

july 2011

ALL WRAPPED UP

to hell with feather extensions, i put an 80's style wrap in my hair one day at the beach in june. still rockin' it strong.

MONTAUK'D

chris and i try to spend a weekend in montauk at least once a year. i wish it could be more. relive the magic of 2010 and 2009.

montauk, july 2011

HORSEBALLS

aka ladder ball, redneck golf, hillbilly horseshoes, testicle toss, ball dangle, bolo ball, snake toss, slap nuts, latter toss, and tower ball

dave and shannon

far rockaway, july 2011

LET THE WEEK OFF BEGIN

this is what the inside of my brain looks like right now

panama city, panama

june 2011

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

it's a big day/weekend/month for me.

first of all, today is my last day at Popdust. starting august 1st i'll be the photo editor for Refinery29. it all happened pretty quickly and im crazy excited about the opportunity. i think it's a perfect fit for me (they've already instagram'd my nails three times 1, 2, 3 - which equals true love in my world)

on top of that awesome news my MOM also gets here today to visit for the weekend. this will be the second time she's been to NYC and i can't wait to show her around. i've made soooo many plans for us to beach and eat and drink and dance.

and if that wasn't enough (which it is) i'm taking all of next week off for myself to do absolutely nothing. aaaaaaaah summer. i couldn't be loving life more right now.

LIVE SNAKE

we had to hide the cake somehow....

NINAS BIRTHDAY CAMPING CAKE

sadly i missed nina's birthday trip this year because i was in missouri for the 4th of july. (last years pics here, here and here) BUT luckily i was still able to take part in the traditional birthday cake making.

me, andrea and todd threw out some ideas about what it should be then decided on a camping theme. andrea made an awesome gluten free cake with buttercream icing, then the three of us went to town decorating.

those are fondant trees, raisinette stones, pretzel logs and green coconut grass. i wasn't there to give it to her but i got a pretty excited text from nina when she saw it. see it with the lit candle sparklers (and with bear) here

BURGERS IN THE HOT TUB

is there a better place to eat burgers? doubt it.

lauren and lauren

june 2011

FRIENDSHIP BRACELET: THE PATTERN

a lovely flickr friend hit me up last week asking if i would be willing to share the pattern for the friendship bracelet i posted a while back. i bought a bracelet with this same pattern in mexico a year and a half ago and loved it. after wearing it every day that entire time i finally decided it was getting a little gross and i needed a new one.

but i didn't have a pattern to give this new friend - i had just figured it out by looking at the old bracelet. so i printed out some pattern paper and voilà! my first seed bead/friendship bracelet pattern. i wanted to share it on my blog too incase anyone else wants to give this a try.

the entire pattern is below. if you make one send me a pic! i'd love to see it.

PARK IT

nyc

july 2011

MONTAUK BOUND

chris and i are ditching the city again this weekend (shocking, i know). we're driving out to montauk after work today to spend saturday and sunday surfing, beaching, and hanging with our buddy moose. there will be tecate.

BEACH BABEZ

no idea who these ladies are, but pretty sure they came straight from a hawaiian tropic commercial

far rockaway

july 2011

I SHOT THE COVER OF ALIVE MAGAZINE

i shot this pic back when I worked for Blender

Pretty cool. (RIP Blender)

IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE

yep. it's one of those melt-your-popsicle-faster-than-you-can-eat-it hot days today. best thing to do is put on your short shorts, drink a giant iced sweet tea, and listen to some nelly.

FISHER PEOPLE

crappie and bass fishing with chris, mom and larry

truman lake, missouri

LOOSEN UP THOSE POCKETS

tightwad, missouri

a very stingy population of 63

SUMMERTIME CAMPING IN MISSOURI

long shoal campground

truman lake, missouri