I usually use this blog to show off and advertise my successful handmade jewelry projects, but actually getting to that point where I have something boast-worthy takes a lot of work! I've also had many failures along the way and I think it's important to show those, too. This is going to sound cheesy and cliche, but I don't get too frustrated when I mess up a project because it really is a learning experience. I figure out what went wrong, correct the problem -- and then try not to repeat it.
Take these "layered" dichroic pendants, for example. They're real beauties, right? Not.
When making them, I was attempting to use transparent dichros so I could add depth to my layers. It took me a long time to figure out how to even make triple-layered pendants, but now that I'm regularly doing that, I'd like to add something more. The idea was to slip thin transparents between the main layers so I could add some shading and texture. Instead, I went overboard and got ... well, a mess.
I like what I did with the base colors. I usually use black, white or clear glass for my base, but here I used two different dichros UNDER a layer of clear. This gave the base a super-shiny texture and I had a lot to build from.
However, this is where I went wrong. I piled on too many pieces of glass and didn't really think about which colors would work best with the base. Basically, I was experimenting to see how certain combos would turn out. But I should have gone lighter on the glass and definitely shouldn't have added those solid colors on top.
My worst mistake, though, was placing the small piece of rainbow glass in the top center of the pieces. There was too much glass in the way for it to fire properly and it turned into a messy blob.
I haven't given up on layering. There's only so much I can do with my microwave kilns, but I'll keep practicing until I figure out which tricks work! I've made a lot of mistakes, but wouldn't have gotten anything done if I'd given up.
Check out the rest of my handmade fused dichroic glass, wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.
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