Artiscape 2010 - Artistic Soldering for Beginners

On Saturday morning (April 17) I took Artistic Soldering for Beginners taught by Paula Hardesty. The only things we needed for this class were round nose pliers, wire cutter, and flat pliers. We could bring our own 1 x 3" images if we wished. All other items were supplied... even a soldering iron which we kept.
I used the images Paula supplied. We cut the images to fit within the glass microscope slide 'sandwich', cutting an image for the front as well as the back. We cleaned the glass with alcohol; it is the only thing that will erase any finger prints. Once we put the 'sandwich' together we wrapped it with copper foil tape. Paula suggested, and provided, a heavy duty tape that is likely found in stores that supply stained glass tools and supplies. Paula would demonstrate each step of the process we were following and then walk around to answer any questions and assure we were understanding her instructions. I found soldering to be very easy and lots of fun!!! After the slides were soldered around the edges and on both sides we learned how to shape the wire used as an embellishment. Then Paula taught us how to create texture..... the droplets of solder seen on the front of my slides.

After we finished with our pieces we cleaned the glass with windex and then polished both the front and backs using a cream that Paula had supplied. There were some black spots on the solder that disappeared once we polished the slides.
This is the back of the slides. I didn't add any wire wrapping or textured solder. At this point I don't know what I will do with these 2 pieces. BUT, what I do know is that I will do more soldering on my own.
Since the solder we used in class contains lead, the instructor told us not to wear these so that they are resting on bare skin. I would like to learn how to do silver soldering next, I think!!!