How to Create a Stained Glass Piece

I enrolled in a stained glass class this Fall. Here is how I put my piece together:
I started by picking out a design; because this is a beginning class, we didn't have enough experience to create our own. The designs were traced onto thick paper, and the pieces of the design were cut out with two-bladed scissors.
Next, we picked out the glass we wanted to use, traced the outlines of the component pieces onto the glass, and used our glass cutting tools. The tools included a glass cutter (which was oiled before being used), and a few different tools which were used to break the glass once the original cut had been made. Some glass was more textured, and was therefore harder to cut.

Once the basic cuts had been made, the pieces were refined and made to fit together with the help of a grinder. A grinder is a spinning piece of hard metal (with a sponge attached to keep it from getting dry and causing damage). It allows you to wear down a piece of glass in a controlled manner.
Starting from the bottom corner, each piece is smoothed out, and made to fit relatively closely with the other pieces. It is an arduous process, but, as the grinding process continues, the piece begins to resemble its final form.

After the glass has been cut and fitted together, I started lining the individual pieces with a flat strip of copper.
Using the specialized device, I placed the edge of a piece of glass in the center of the wire, and moved the glass around until the entire edge was coated with the copper.
I took a roller to flatten the copper, and used an X-acto knife to cut the pieces of copper that stuck out. Once I was done, I placed each piece in its proper place in the design.
Finally, I was ready to solder the pieces of glass. Solder is a mixture of tin and lead which binds to the copper, but not the glass itself.
I started by soldering the 'joints' on one side of the piece. I covered the areas with flux (a mild acid which allows the copper to bind to the solder). Then, I took a spool of solder, pressed a hot iron against the metal, and allowed the molten metal to fuse to the piece.
Then, I soldered all of the 'lines' on one side of the piece (except for the edges, where the frame would go). After waiting for the side to cool off, I did the same on the other side. I cleaned up the piece, added a frame, and added a copper finish on top of the solder.
To add some final polish, I wiped the piece off with a waxy cleanser.