Friday, October 24, 2014

Tales From Enameling Class: More enameled Christmas ornaments -- and a Christmas cat tree!


Class was crazy this week! A couple of my classmates blamed the eclipse or the fact that Mercury is in retrograde. I don't know if I believe in that, but everyone was behaving strangely.

People kept losing things, from small pieces of wire to large projects. The handle on the kiln stuck. One student accidentally broke another's piece.

Meanwhile, the newcomers are learning how to navigate the crowded classroom. When shuffling back and forth to the kiln with your items, you have to do a bit of a "dance" in order to weave between the work tables and other students... but these women kept bumping into everyone. I'm trying to be patient because I was new not that long ago, and I know how difficult it can be to adjust. Look at me and soldering!!! Still, the class was chaotic.

The good news is, I finished four more enamel Christmas cat ornaments!

I made a black Santa cat, brown and orange cats in stockings, a ginger tabby angel cat and another gingerbread cat. What's funny is that after I sifted the brown powder onto the gingerbread cut-out, the glass left a brown cat-shaped outline behind. "It looks like a murder scene!" a classmate joked. The orange angel cat had black burn marks on the face. I'm not sure how they got there; perhaps the kiln was a bit too hot? But I covered them with the black tabby stripes.

I purchased a tiny tree for the ornaments and had a good time hanging them. I've never owned a Christmas tree, but think it looks very festive. Maya, our cat, likes it, too; when I was trying to work yesterday, she kept nuzzling the tree and pushing it over. Finally, Jon had to pull her away so I could finish my orders. I've heard stories of cats climbing into trees and got a little taste of that!

My craft fair is in two weeks and I'd like to have at least a dozen ornaments completed by then. My tree is still a little empty and I'd love to fill it up. Meantime, you can check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

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