"More Solder Magic" continues where "Solder Magic Book" left off. Although decorative soldering techniques and step-by-step detailed patterns are included, this book is written for the person with basic stained glass assembly experience. If you liked the decorative patterns seams in Weiner's first book, you'll love the new sculpted seam patterns in this one. Some a variations on the familiar, while others are combinations of the original dot, dash, and stipple patterns. Once you get the feel of manipulating solder, you won't be able to stop.

I was a bit disappointed upon reading "Stained Glass : A Guide to Today's Tiffany Copper Foil Technique". As a beginner in stained glass who had already exhausted every book in our local library and had already created one project with great success, I found the book to be a bit sparse on details. I purchased the book because I wanted to hone my skills and learn why I was having minor problems with my project (i.e. true tricks of the trade). I had ordered this thinking I would get a more definitive text on the copper foil method. However, this book doesn't fit the bill. Simply put, it is a good introduction to the craft but nothing more than that. The book tries to be three things and, in many ways, fails at all three. First, it tries to be a glossy coffee-table text -- but the photos focus more on the authors work than on contemporary or historic stained glass pieces. In fact, Tiffany and LaFarage, the fathers of this method, are barely even discussed or presented. A few examples from the masters would have at least been inspiration; a discussion of their methods would have been divine. Second, this book tries to be a beginner's introduction to this craft. However, there is not enough detail presented to sway the beginner from many common pitfalls. For example, copper foil has an adhesive backing that holds it to the glass. Dirty glass will cause it to fall off and the piece will eventually fall apart. There is very little discussion of the importance of cleaning glass prior to assembly in the text -- something a beginner may not think of. Other skills such as glasscutting, grinding, and leading are discussed but definitely not in enough detail to answer many of the questions a new hobbyist would encounter. Finally, this book is a project book. Frankly, I found the projects to be a bit dated as if they came from the 1970's. And, the focus on these projects takes away from the truly important portion of the text that teaches about the craft. Overall, this book is simply an introduction to basic skills -- but doesn't detail these skills -- filled with photos of the author's and select friends works that in some cases are truly exquisite, but do not represent the true depth of the craft. Overall, it is an average text.

My husband and I have purchased several books on the subject of stained glass intended for those of us who are just beginners. This was one of our more recent purchases. We've found it quite useful - perhaps because we're strictly focusing on the copper foil technique. We find ourselves constantly returning to the book to re-read sections for new ideas.

In our experience thus far with the book, we've found that the author has provided us with a significant number of tips that we might otherwise have missed or else have had to spend a large amount of time doing something the wrong way when a subtle change in technique makes all the difference.

Like all introductory books, it does cover a variety of subjects. The variety of projects suggested in the book provide plenty of scope for experimentation. We wouldn't make this the very first book for beginners - for that we would pick the one by George Shannon and Pat Torlen. We wore the binding out of that one very quickly because of the amount of use it got! However, having gained a little experience with the copper foil technique, we've found we're now ready to take advantage of the additional techniques and suggestions provided by this author.

Stained glass is a very visual art and there were not enough examples. The few shown were sometimes of poor quality. There are only 2 color pages the entire book. One showed stained glass pieces the other paper cut outs poorly reproduced. She talks about the magenta square on the yellow paper that everyone thought was green. I don't know if that was suppose to be the affect, it was an error, or a poor reproduction. The photography was poor because of lots of shadows. Many of the color points were done is black and white which is good when she is talking about value. It is also helpful when narrowing on 1 part of the design. She continually talks about a good design includes all elements: line, color, texture and composition but there is only the one page with its 4 color examples and not much diversity 3 of the 4 pieces shown. If you really want to learn about color I recommend "Color Play: Easy Steps to Imaginative Color Quilts". It is filled with wonderful examples and explanations. It shows the same quilts done with different variations on a color theme to show how it changes the overall look and movement the quilt. The theory is the same. Quilt books also show you how to mixture different textures, about scale which was completely left out of Line and Color magic.

I don't care much for the artist style and most of the book focuses on her art. She talks about making design individual so it would have been extremely helpful to see her points made with other styles and subjects. She likes focus on people as a subject.

"The Art of Illusion A Tromple L'oeil Painting Course" by Janet Shearer does a FAR better job about explaining perspective and good details and exercises on how to do this. Line and color magic made some very good points this area and had some good examples, I just didn't think it when far enough.

What I was hoping to find was information on converting a photo or greeting card into stained glass. An example was given with a ad but it was an indoor scene without much detail. I wanted to know how to take a more complicated image and simplify it and how to place the cut lines the free/negative space. One design book mentioned shapes to avoid. I was hoping this would address difficult shapes too. It had nothing on watching out for difficult or impossible cuts. I wanted to learn about reinforcements the when and how. It was mentioned but no details were given so I still don't know anything about it.

The book claimed it talked about displaying your glass. It mentioned lighting conditions, different exposures and how they had an affect but that was all. One chapter she mentioned how a border could hold your attention in a piece, but she didn't go into border design at all. She never mentioned framing other to say it could help provide strength. There was no mention of direction of glass patterns and how to take advantage of that. Lighting is different for cabinets but she never mentioned that. She did mention that the pattern should flow between between panels as if the frame wasn't there.

Stained glass is a very visual art and there were not enough examples. The few shown were sometimes of poor quality. There are only 2 color pages the entire book. One showed stained glass pieces the other paper cut outs poorly reproduced. She talks about the magenta square on the yellow paper that everyone thought was green. I don't know if that was suppose to be the affect, it was an error, or a poor reproduction. The photography was poor because of lots of shadows. Many of the color points were done is black and white which is good when she is talking about value. It is also helpful when narrowing on 1 part of the design. She continually talks about a good design includes all elements: line, color, texture and composition but there is only the one page with its 4 color examples and not much diversity 3 of the 4 pieces shown. If you really want to learn about color I recommend "Color Play: Easy Steps to Imaginative Color Quilts". It is filled with wonderful examples and explanations. It shows the same quilts done with different variations on a color theme to show how it changes the overall look and movement the quilt. The theory is the same. Quilt books also show you how to mixture different textures, about scale which was completely left out of Line and Color magic.

I don't care much for the artist style and most of the book focuses on her art. She talks about making design individual so it would have been extremely helpful to see her points made with other styles and subjects. She likes focus on people as a subject.

"The Art of Illusion A Tromple L'oeil Painting Course" by Janet Shearer does a FAR better job about explaining perspective and good details and exercises on how to do this. Line and color magic made some very good points this area and had some good examples, I just didn't think it when far enough.

What I was hoping to find was information on converting a photo or greeting card into stained glass. An example was given with a ad but it was an indoor scene without much detail. I wanted to know how to take a more complicated image and simplify it and how to place the cut lines the free/negative space. One design book mentioned shapes to avoid. I was hoping this would address difficult shapes too. It had nothing on watching out for difficult or impossible cuts. I wanted to learn about reinforcements the when and how. It was mentioned but no details were given so I still don't know anything about it.

The book claimed it talked about displaying your glass. It mentioned lighting conditions, different exposures and how they had an affect but that was all. One chapter she mentioned how a border could hold your attention in a piece, but she didn't go into border design at all. She never mentioned framing other to say it could help provide strength. There was no mention of direction of glass patterns and how to take advantage of that. Lighting is different for cabinets but she never mentioned that. She did mention that the pattern should flow between between panels as if the frame wasn't there.

Tap into your own creative resources and "draw out the artist from within." Stimulating your inventiveness and sparking the imagination can expand your creative potential. This book focuses on the total designing process from the imagination to the assembly stage. An informative design and color guide, it is an invaluable aid for the novice as well as the instructor or professional craftsperson, Learn how to: find new design ideas, draw your own patterns, create an exciting and balanced composition, enlarge patterns with various tools and equipment, select glass colors and textures to enhance your design, effectively display finished pieces. Included are a series of exercises and procedures designed to develop free-flowing ideas, creative intuition, self- confidence, and a better understanding of the interplay of color and line dynamics. Expand your knowledge about optical illusions, light exposure, negative/positive space, rhythm, variety, mood, perspective, depth, warm/cool colors, focal points, and the color wheel with fun experiments you can try.