All you need to know about our workshops and what we teach
Since we work out of a two car garage and our studio is not set up to have more than just the two of us working in it at a time, we host all of our workshops at Copper Cat Studio, in Sparks, NV. This is great for you because they’re also the only place in town to buy glass and supplies, so it’s a one stop shop! We offer multiple workshops, for all skill levels, but only teach 2-4 a month so keep an eye on our events page to see which ones are coming up next.
Intro to Stained Glass Stained Glass 102 Stained Glass 103: Basics of Lead Came Stained Glass Techniques - Cutting Glass Stained Glass Techniques - Soldering Pressed Flower Suncatchers Pressed Flower Plant Stakes Stained Glass Kaleidoscope Stained Glass Ornaments
Intro to Stained Glass
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
Our Intro to Stained Glass Workshop is a 4 ½ hour crash course on the copper foil method. Whether you’re just looking for a fun activity for the day, have some previous experience and want a refresher course or are a beginner wanting to learn so you can continue practicing stained glass on your own, this workshop will teach you the all the steps involved in the tiffany style while doing them safely and having fun at the same time.
Stained glass requires a lot of skill + technique and can be a very expensive hobby/art form to get into. That’s why we want to give you the opportunity to get some basic hands-on experience to decide if you even like doing it before fully committing to the craft.
We provide all the tools and glass needed to complete your project and you’ll leave with a finished geometric stained glass hanging. We have a variety of glass cutters and encourage you to try all the different styles to see which one you like best, because even though we have strong opinions about what we like, what works for us might not work for you.
This workshop starts at the basics and focuses on straight cuts only. You’ll be able to choose from a variety of pre-cut glass stripes that you’ll then learn to cut and grind to size, then copper foil and solder together.
Stained Glass 102
Our Intro to stained glass workshop is a PREREQUISITE
In this 5 ½ hour follow up to our Intro to Stained Glass workshop, you’ll build off the skills you learned previously to continue in the copper foil method of stained glass. This one allows you to practice working with slightly larger pieces of glass and making more advanced cuts.
In this workshop you’ll work with larger pieces of scrap glass to create your own design within a heart, moon or teardrop shape.
Like all our workshops, we provide the tools and glass needed to complete your project and you’ll leave with a finished stained glass hanging in your chosen shape.
Stained Glass 103: Basics of Lead Came
Our Intro to stained glass and stained glass 102 workshops are PREREQUISITEs
This 5 ½ hour long workshop maybe our hardest one yet. In this workshop, you’ll continue building off the skills you’ve learned in our previous two workshops, but will be using the lead came method also known as the traditional style instead of copper foil method.
In this workshop you’ll learn the basics of working with lead came, including how to handle it safely, how to stretch it and cut it using lead dykes. We provide all the tools, glass and supplies needed to complete a finished, fully leaded, stained glass hanging in either a triangle, square or circle shape.
Because of the messiness of the putty process and the size of the pieces we’re making, we don’t give hands on experience puttying the pieces in this workshop. However we do go over the process and why it is important, as we’ll as provide a handout with all the tools and supplies needed for it, including a link to our blog post with step by step instructions.
Stained Glass TECHNIQUES - Cutting Glass
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
This 2 hour workshop is all about practice without the pressure to finish a project. We focus specifically on all of the tools and techniques used to master the art of cutting stained glass. This workshop is not only useful to stained glass artists, but those who work in glass fusing and mosaics.
With over 50 years of combined experience between us, you’ll learn all kinds of hacks for cutting the different types of stained glass. We provide a wide variety of cutting tools so you can try out all the different styles, plus we bring our specialty cutting tools like our strip cutter and circle cutter for you to play with!
We also provide some complex pattern pieces for you to practice your cutting skills on while we observe and guide you on the best way to accomplish the tricky cuts.
This workshop is all about helping you grow your skills, so bring all your questions if you have them!
Even though we provide all the tools, you’re welcome to bring your own if you have them to get more practice with what you already have.
Stained Glass TECHNIQUES - Soldering
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
One of the hardest parts to master in the stained glass process is soldering, which in our opinion just takes lots and lots of practice to get the hang of. This 2 hour workshop is all about practice without the pressure to finish a project.
Students will get to practice and experiment on pre-foiled pieces of glass. We’ll go more in depth about the basics of soldering as well as talk about decorative soldering. We have a variety of fluxes for you to try out and see which works best for you!
This workshop is all about helping you grow your skills, so bring all your questions if you have them!
Even though we provide all the tools, you’re welcome to bring your own if you have them to get more practice with what you already have.
Pressed Flower Suncatchers
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
In this 3 hour workshop you’ll learn how to incorporate pressed flowers into your stained glass pieces. Your flowers will be pressed between a bevel and a precut piece of glass and you’ll have a variety of shapes, sizes and colors to choose from.
Students will get a brief tutorial on how to press flowers, then they will learn how to use a glass grinder (if needed), our super secret trick to help keep the moisture out, how to copper foil, solder and then clean their pieces.
Each participant will leave with a finished hanging around 3”- 4” depending on the bevel picked.
Pressed Flower Plant Stakes
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
Our pressed flower workshop is now in plant stake form! In this 3 hour workshop you’ll learn how to incorporate pressed flowers into your stained glass pieces. Your flowers will be pressed between a bevel and a precut piece of glass and you’ll have a variety of shapes, sizes and colors to choose from.
Students will get a brief tutorial on how to press flowers, then they will learn how to use a glass grinder (if needed), our super secret trick to help keep the moisture out, how to copper foil, solder and then clean their pieces.
Each participant will leave with a finished plant stake around 2.5”- 3” depending on the bevel picked.
Stained Glass Kaleidoscope
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
In this 5 ½ hour workshop you'll learn how to build your own, fully functioning, stained glass kaleidoscope! You'll have a variety of pre-cut glass to choose from and learn how to use jigs to aid in the 3D construction. Once you pick your glass you’ll learn how to properly clean and tape the mirror for the inside of the kaleidoscope, copper foil the wheel and tunnel glass pieces, solder and learn how to use edge lead came to finish the color wheel.
Each participant will leave with a finished kaleidoscope about 6.5" long with a 3" color wheel.
Stained Glass Ornaments
No prior stained Glass experience necessary
In this 5 ½ hour workshop you'll learn all the steps to make your own stained glass ornament! You'll have 4 designs to choose from—the cutest mouse, a stocking, and two more classic ornament shapes.
Each participant will leave with a finished ornament approximately 3"-4" depending in the design chosen.
