Harder Than I Thought

Over the past couple of days I kept moving along with my glass stack experiment. I will admit it ended up being harder than I thought...or at least trickier. 

I glued the side pieces on....that went OK. 

And I grouted....and that seemed to go OK....but I sure made a big mess.  I took the photo below right after I took my gloves off....it had to sit for a few minutes before I started cleaning it up.

I still need to do some more cleaning and buffing...but this is where I left it today before I headed to Maine. It's OK....but as usual I've learned some lessons and there are things I will do differently next time.

One of my problems is that I may have made the wrong decision about which edge of the glass to expose.  I chose to have the side glass edges exposed on the front creating this pinstripe frame. I could have had this line on the sides which I think would have been better.  Some of the edges of the glass have a very grainy texture....especially that top blue piece so it looks a little rough. 

I also don't really like the white grout....it should have been tinted and I may still be able to do something about that.  It is an off white and looked darker when I put it on....but it sure dried brighter.

I'm not loving the neutral glass I chose...it's too tan. It should have been more on the creamy white to gray side or I should have just stuck with the blues and greens.  So I need to plan my color scheme a little better next time. I really just jumped right in and didn't really do much auditioning or planning at all.  

Grouting is a little harder than I thought and probably just takes practice....and maybe some better tools. I think the general concept is good...so I'll do a little more research and planning and try it again on a smaller scale.

My favorite part of getting back to the glass was wearing these white cotton gloves.  My sister Becky, who passed away several years ago of breast cancer, gave me a whole bag from her time working at a factory.  They are especially useful when you are soldering glass because of the heat and they protect my fingers when I cut glass. And when I need to grind a piece of glass it gets wet and I have a built in towel right on my hand.  I actually got a little emotional when I put them on this time....I miss her!