When I began working with fused glass a few months ago, I made a whole bunch of test pieces. This included two blue/green squares that I fused onto white glass. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them; if I'd make them into earrings or make more and design a chain. I ended up putting them aside and frankly, forgot I'd ever created them.
I came across them the other day while organizing my work area and decided to turn them into earrings after all. I added green crystals, which bring out the blue and yellow specks in this gorgeous green. They reminded me of peacock feathers and I named them my "Peacock Earrings."
Happy with how those came out, I made a few other pairs of earrings. The trick to firing earrings properly is to slightly underfire the glass. I usually keep a piece in the kiln for three minutes, but earrings are usually smaller than pendants. Three minutes has turned out to be too long, as I found out when I overfired blue earrings and they came out a dull gray. But 2 minutes, 40 seconds seem to be just right for 12mm earrings. I love the way the yellow pair turned out. The yellow had a bit of orange in it so I chose the red to round out those warm colors. I call these my "Heatwave Earrings."
I've been playing around a lot more with firing times in my kiln. It's something we do in enameling and is one way to alter the glass powder's color and texture when it hardens. I'm learning to employ similar techniques with glass fusion. For instance, I have this beautiful magenta glass that has light blue undertones. When I fire it for two-and-a-half minutes, it turns a deep maroon. But if I fire it for three, the glass is more of a purple color. I'm still learning as I go.
Check out the rest of my handmade jewelry collection at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.
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