Books of lampshade patterns

The second in a series of three pattern books for making stunning three-sided stained glass table lanterns. The book is subtitled "Lazy Afternoon Lamps". Presumably you are free to illuminate them when you wish, but afternoons, especially lazy ones, are ideal for some unspecified reason. A broad range of patterns are included, from the silly to the sublime (mostly sublime). Included are some Oriental motifs (Japanese lanterns, sushi), a couple of handsome patriotic designs, some flowers, a beautiful cat, a couple of nautical designs (seahorse, orca), and we won't mention the silly ones, as there are only one or two. One page of detailed instructions are included for assembling the lanterns.

The first in a series of three pattern books for making stunning three-sided stained glass table lanterns. A broad range of patterns are included, from Victorian to contemporary. Some abstracts, some flowers, a couple of bamboos, a bird, a few flowers, a mountain landscape, a frog, and an owl are all represented, as well as one four-sided grape pattern. Detailed instructions are included for assembling the three-paneled lanterns, although they sort of gloss over the "prepare a triangular wooden base, 8 inches on a side", as if it were as simple as preparing a cookie sheet.

The second in a series of three pattern books for making stunning three-sided stained glass table lanterns. The book is subtitled "Lazy Afternoon Lamps". Presumably you are free to illuminate them when you wish, but afternoons, especially lazy ones, are ideal for some unspecified reason. A broad range of patterns are included, from the silly to the sublime (mostly sublime). Included are some Oriental motifs (Japanese lanterns, sushi), a couple of handsome patriotic designs, some flowers, a beautiful cat, a couple of nautical designs (seahorse, orca), and we won't mention the silly ones, as there are only one or two. One page of detailed instructions are included for assembling the lanterns.

The third in a series of three pattern books for making stunning three-sided stained glass table lanterns. We don't want to imply that the good and talented people at Aanraku are running out of ideas for their three-sided lanterns, but... among the beautiful -- nay, breathtaking -- designs, we see a group of four of platypuses. Multiply that by three sides and you get 12 of the little fellows, which would be fine for the platypus aficionado, except platypuses are solitary creatures and do not congregate. In fact, there is no collective noun for platypuses for this very reason, just as there is no collective noun for hermits. Nor for dictators. If you can suggest a collective noun for any of the above, please drop us a line.

But we digress.

Just as with Books I and II, this stained glass lantern design book has something for everybody -- sailboats, sun and moon, a chameleon, a fairy, a lighthouse, angel fish, some landscapes, flowers, birds, and the ubiquitous cat. Aside from the aforementioned platypuses, this is an excellent collection of usable and attractive designs.

50 full sized patterns as well as 22 color illustrations cover a wide range of subject matter in this important book. Fan lamps bases are shown on our website, in the hardware section under Lamp-making Stuff. The stained glass part of a fan lamp can easily be removed and changed at will, so you can have a wide variety of designs in the bureau to switch around from season to season and from mood to mood, or when one of them gets dirty.