Soldering a Fern Leaf - Part One

This week I'm working on some soldering.  Specifically making new pendants and wall art.  This first part focuses on the steps prior to applying solder.  Next time, I'll cover the steps for applying solder.  I really enjoy soldering but these first few steps are somewhat tedious to me.  

The first step is picking out what I'll frame.  That's the easy part.  :)

fern from my garden and glass

Next comes cutting copper foil to go around my glass.  A little more effort.  But still fairly easy.

cutting foil to go around the glass

The third step (most tedious to me) is sandwiching the fern between the glass, whilst also making sure there aren't any dust particles, finger prints, or that the fern has shifted.  Definitely, a bit of a pain.  I feel like I always see dust and am constantly cleaning it out.  But when I feel it's finally dust-free, smudge-free, and hasn't shifted, I use binder clips to keep it all together.

binder clips hold the glass and fern together

Lastly, I wrap copper foil around the glass.  Still tedious but not as tedious as the previous step.  The hardest part of foiling is making sure that I'm square in the middle of the tape with my glass. For this piece, I cut the foil a little bit short and covered up what was missing.  I'll use an hobby knife to even up the tape on all sides.

the glass is foiled and ready to be cleaned up
 on the edges with a hobby knife

Next time, I'll show the steps for soldering.  Happy Tuesday!

~Katie