Wednesday, February 20, 2013

More on my Fire And Ice enameled necklace

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a really complicated and time-consuming enamel and wire wrapped project. I've been creating a 15-piece enamel bib necklace ... that's also reversable.

One one side, the large bib-style pendant is made up of circles of dark blue and aqua enamel, aka the "ice":

But if you turn it over, the circles are painted with coppery orange and yellow enamel, aka the "fire":

As you can see, I'm only about halfway through the project, but painting those discs took FOREVER. Altogether, there are 15 and they'll be in a pyramid shape of 5-4-3-2-1. I sifted two colors onto each side of the circle, and then put two coats of enamel on each, so I spent hours sifting and firing in the kiln, sifting and firing. I then had to clean each disc to get rid of the residue that collects onto the copper.

Now that I've finally finished with the circles, I'm constructing the actual bib pendant. I have to line up those holes exactly in order to put the pattern together correctly. As one of my classmates said, it's a little like a math problem -- or maye a jigsaw puzzle. I'm using 20 gauge copper wire to make the jumprings and the chain, when I get to it, because the copper goes well with both sides of the design.

When I eventually get to creating the chain, I'm going to make flat spiral links from the copper wire. This way, I can continue with the whole "circle" theme. I think it's going to be really unique looking when I'm finished -- which will, hopefully, be next week! It's taken me long enough to get to this point, but I'm taking my time to make it great.

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

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