Brenda & her husband who live in Central Alberta, brought us this 100+ year old came window which is a family heirloom that they rescued from a century old family farm home.
This is what the window looked like when it was brought to our studio.
Here’s my latest offering — a cross-woven design that can be either elegant or happy-go-lucky, depending on your choice of bead colours. It closes with a snap clasp so it’s easy to put on and take off with one hand. I’ll be teaching this class at … Continue reading 
I can’t believe how long it has been since I have posted. My apologies to the hundreds of faithful followers of this blog. Alright, lets be serious. I know there are only a handful of you out there that visit from time to time, and I really do appreciate the time you take to visit and comment. Hopefully I won’t let as much time pass between posts in the future.
Over this past winter and spring, I haven’t been out photographing as much as I would like. But I did manage to take the camera out a few times and over the next few posts, I will try to share with you some of the images I came up with.
Over the last few winters, I have been wanting to shoot at Abraham Lake near Nordegg, Alberta. It is famous for its ice bubbles that form when methane gas from decaying matter becomes trapped in the ice. It is about a 2-1/2 hour drive for me to get there, and after getting skunked the previous winter, I had to try again.
As usual, I was hoping for a great sunset to add drama to the scene but unfortunately, shortly after I arrived, the weather started to roll in. It may have stolen the light but the clouds did add to the moody atmosphere. The wind was impressive. I had crampons on my boots which is definitely a must. Without these it would have been impossible to set up to take pictures. The wind would literally blow you across the ice if you didn’t have these sharp cleats digging into the frozen water.
What made this outing even more special was bumping into a couple of other photographers who had come all the way from Texas to shoot, not only this frozen lake, but many other amazing sights in the Alberta Rockies. It reminded me how fortunate I am to live so close to tremendous scenery. Hope you enjoy a few of the scenes I managed to capture and, as always, thanks for looking!
Wonderful clients who live SW of Olds Alberta also commissioned us to do their last interior transom window. The first 2 are on our website as Alberta Rose Transom Window Summer of 2014 and Beveled Transom Window 2015.
For the 3rd window our clients wanted to have the transom window designed from a painting that they have, which shows storm clouds over the prairies with the grain fields in the foreground, backdropped by Alberta’s majestic Rocky Mountains.
To accomplish this design we once again solicited the awesome design skills of Martha at Paned Expressions Studios in Edgewood Maryland. The design measures approximately 36 inches wide by 12 inches high.
What was really neat about this project was the opportunity to use some very neat art glass from Youghiogheny, Armstrong, Kokomo and Spectrum Glass. With this design it was of utmost importance for us is to watch glass direction carefully as advised by Martha at Paned Expressions Studios as it could have turned out looking like a bad abstract.
This picture is of the finished window prior to installation in our clients home. The sunbeam rays were made using Youghiogheny #YO-1000SP Ice White. The light effects from either backlight from sunlight and/or room lighting is quite simply stunning. The next time we visit our clients we will get a photo of the window installed, hopefully showing the sunbeam light effects.
Design by Paned Expressions Studios
Earlier this year we were asked if we would make a donation to the BC Alberta Guide Dogs in support of their 1st Annual Trivia Night fundraiser which raises funds for the development of guide dogs for kids and others with Autism, as well as seeing eye dogs for Blind people.
We made this stained glass dog from a free Spectrum Glass pattern which was used as a silent auction fund raising item. It measured approximately 8 inches wide by 11 inches high. We used Wissmach 145SP glass for the majority of the dog.
The 1st Annual Trivia Night Fundraiser was most successful.
Design by Tessa McOnie
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