Adventures in fusing glass: making fused dichroic glass earrings with three layers

My second jewelry making class is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to it! In this session, I'll be teaching the ladies how to make wire wrapped, beaded earrings and rings. Most of my students don't have pierced ears, so I purchased clip-on backs. I've never used those before, so we'll play around with them together.

Meanwhile, I've been working on some earrings of my own. Lately, I've been experimenting with different glass firing techniques, including underfiring the glass and using multiple layers. I've finally figured out how to make triple layer pieces.

I've been trying to do three-layered glass for a while, with mixed -- mostly poor -- results. The top layer of glass would move and break during firing, or the bottom layer would melt incorrectly. This was actually how I destroyed my first kiln; by attempting to fire three layers. The glass turned into a goopy, burned mess, stuck to the sides of the kiln and wrecked it.

I've since learned from that mistake and now stop the firing process midway to make sure the glass hasn't moved out of place. This way, I can guarantee the glass hasn't melted and stuck to the sides. Still, I haven't had too much success with doing three layers... until recently.

The trick is to make sure all of the pieces are even and that the top layer isn't hanging over the edges. You also need to make sure the dichros are flat. Dichroic glass comes in all sorts of forms -- thick, thin, textured, smooth... and when you place a strip of textured next to a strip of smooth, the surface isn't even. Therefore, when you try to place another layer over it, the glass will move. That said, I've found that tripling works best with small pieces and when I use only one type of glass at a time.

I've practiced this technique by making earrings, which feature dichroic glass sandwiched between two layers of clear. So far, I've managed to have a few successes:

I absolutely love that yellow-pink glass. It's fuchsia in certain lights and gold in others. And with the glass on top, it looks almost green from some angles. I'm not thrilled with the pink crinkle glass, though. It looks really pretty when it's fired as the top layer, but when it's under the clear, it has a weird distorted appearance. Still, the technique worked and I'll just have to try it with different colors to see how they fare.

In other news, I'm in talks with my local salon about them possibly selling my jewelry. I showed some pieces to the owner and she's very interested. Hopefully, we'll set up a meeting for next weeks and she'll buy some of my merchandise. I haven't had any luck with getting my stuff into stores, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up... but at least she's showed some interest. That's better than an outright "No," right?

I'll keep you up-to-date on my latest jewelry happenings. You can check out my work at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Fused glass and wire wrapped party pendants!

The other day I received my favorite kind of package: a new shipment of glass. Woohoo! I love the "scrap" glass from iDichroic because it's inexpensive and you never know what you're going to get in an order. They usually send beautiful materials, though, and it's always fun to open the pack. I like to take a moment and look at the unused glass and imagine the possibilities.

This time, they sent some very colorful dichroics -- bright pinks and oranges, patterned glass, etc. I ended up making several pieces, which I call my "Party Pendants."

The black pendant with the confetti pattern is "Party Favor." The tri-colored one with the boxy pattern is "Off The Grid." The pink is "Strawberry Shortcake" and the striped is "Over The Rainbow." The last two are among my favorite pieces, though Strawberry Shortcake initially didn't turn out well. The glass ripped a bit while it was firing and a black gash appeared in the center. I solved the problem, though, by strategically wrapping it with 18 gauge silver wire. That wrap looks a bit like a belt, right? If this had to happen, I'm glad it did to a solid piece. It would've been harder to camouflage a pendant with multiple designs.

Last night I wore Strawberry Shortcake to a dinner at the Homestead, which is one of the senior residents where I play flute. I paired it with a neon pink shirt. The home's art teacher was impressed and asked me to give her some jewelry-making lessons. Perhaps we can do an exchange where she teaches me some painting techniques. Given my track record with painting, I can use the help!

My next plan is to finish a mosaic pendant: colorful glass on a black base. I actually made a beautiful heart-shaped mosaic... but it broke apart in the kiln. You could say I'm... brokenhearted (groan). I just need to figure out what I did wrong and try again. That's what jewelry-making mainly involves; a lot of trial and error.

It's exactly a week until my vendor sale and I think I'm in good shape! I have a performance at the Atria on Sunday, so my fellow bandmate, Judy, suggested I bring some jewelry to advertise. I need to give a shoutout to her. She and I have only known each other for a year, but she's been a huge advocate of my music and art. It's through her help that this sale is happening. I'm honored to have a friend like her.

You can see the rest of my jewellery collection at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

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Funky silver wire wrapped dangle earrings

While I often experiment with making new designs or using different techniques, I sometimes like to return to my old standbys. In this case, I felt like creating some silver wire wrapped earrings:

You can't go wrong with a classic item. These earrings go with any outfit and are modern, but will always be stylish. Even better, they're fun to make! While I do think of these as "classics," I like to see how many new ways I can twist the wire. I'd never before made the triple spirals in earring form, though I've done it for pendants. On the other hand, I feel like I can never go wrong in making anything with a pretty heart design.

I feel very accomplished when I tackle and complete and complex item, like a particularly detailed pair of chandelier earrings. Simple can be beautiful too, though, and I still get satisfaction from making these items.

Check out the rest of my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. Follow me on Instagram, too!