When working with stained glass, it’s always wise to factor in the likelihood of breakage during the construction of a panel. That’s what glass does. It breaks. It cracks. It shatters.

And when it does, you say, “Oops!” or some other four letter words, sweep away the shards, pull out the extra glass that you purchased for just such an occasion, and go on with the project.

But sometimes you have only a limited supply of a particular type of glass, and you have to plan carefully to get the best use out of it. And so it was with my Spring Birds panel.

The background glass was rather spendy, and so I bought just the amount that I thought would be needed for the project.

When it came to cutting and fitting the largest background piece into the panel, I was ever so careful to get it just right. There would be no second chances, because I had no other piece of that kind large enough to replace this one.

I got the piece in, sighing with relief as I tapped the horseshoe nail into place to keep it from shifting and, as I turned away to get the next piece to put in place, I mindlessly gave the nail just one. more. tap.

And I heard it. That heartbreaking, glass breaking, shard making sound. I looked back and saw this:

Oops, indeed!

Long story short, after a trip to the Uroboros glass factory and many dollars later, I was able to replace the broken piece and finish the panel.

I guess when you work with glass, them’s the breaks.

Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Oops!