Scottish Thistle Stained Glass Suncatcher Flower of Scotland 011

This is a stained glass suncatcher made using the Tiffany copper foil technique. It is a purple Scottish Thistle which I have made in the shape of a ring. I'm really pleased with my design. I've made the 'bowl' of the flower from little shiny glass nuggets to match the pattern you get on the real flower. The petals on top are a pretty iridescent purple and the leaves a super bright green in two types of glass, one shiny iridescent. I have used clear iridescent textured glass between the flower and the leaves to give gentle heathery shades with a shimmer. There are 39 pieces of glass in this piece, each individually cut, copper foiled and then soldered together as well as 7 nuggets. It is one of my fiddliest suncatcher designs and I have to pluck up courage to start it but am always delighted when I have a gorgeous completed thistle to hand. I often neaten the edges of circular suncatchers with a twisted wire frame but in this case I have deliberately left the edges untouched to add to the prickly appearance. It is 14cm in diameter and hangs from a little silvery chain which is securely soldered to both sides of the top and looks pretty stunning hanging in the window. I never make two pieces exactly the same. Even from the same pattern I always use slightly different colours and textures of glass.