Handmade wire wrapped jewelry: wire wrapped dichroic glass pendants with glass decals

It may only be February, but I'm already thinking ahead for Spring. Specifically, I'm planning for the two big markets I have coming up: the Ridgewood Night Bazaar on March 4 and the Readers Studio Tarot convention at the end of April.

Lately, I've been experimenting with more decals. I really like working with them because they're cute, but also target specific audiences. I'm hoping that an owl pendant will call to any bird lovers or that my fairy pieces will attract those who are interested in spiritual matters.

I've gone a little crazy in purchasing the decals because there are so many to choose from! Out of all, I think my favorite are the colorful butterflies. I first fired a red one onto a red pendant, but that didn't work so well because the reds were too similar. The butterfly kind of "sank" into the glass and you couldn't really see it.

Next, I tried firing them onto black pedants, thinking that the bright colors would pop against the dark background. They... didn't. You can see the butterflies, but they're dull. I added some other decals and crystals to brighten them, but they didn't turn out like I'd hoped.

I finally tried them against lighter backgrounds, gray and white. I LOVE them against the gray. That silvery color is one of my favorite dichros because it goes on so smoothly and looks good with every type of decal or crystal. It also works so well with the blue and orangey decals.

I like the white butterfly piece, but it was a bit plain, so I added that spiral on top.

The owl is interesting because it began as a pink-colored decal and fired white. I'd made that triple layer pendant without a decal in mind, but the green and black swirls reminded me of a forest. I thought the owl would fit right in and would look as if he were flying through the woods or maybe sitting on a branch.

What's great about these decals is you can mix and match sets to create new pieces. I love working with straight-up glass, but these add a fun and kitschy element to my work. We'll see if customers like them in a few weeks!

Check out my jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped necklace with rainbow enamel butterfly pendant

This enamel and cloisonne butterfly pendant took sooo much work to make! There were a lot of mistakes made, and a lot of trial and error involved, but huzzah, it's finished! This thing gave me so much trouble that I nicknamed it "My Damn Butterfly" (like Madame Butterly, geddit? Haha).

I did not actually saw out the butterfly shape. I used a ready-made 24 gauge copper stamp. I figured that I could save myself a step in the process and make a few at once. I was wrong.

My first challenge involved balancing the butterfly on the trivet that's used for firing the enamel. I chose the smallest sized trivet, but when I tried to fire the pendant with a torch, it kept slipping off the trivet ... and the enamel kept cracking. I had to chip it off and reapply.

After three tries, I gave up and fired the pendant in the kiln. Happily, it stayed on the trivet and the enamel glossed over evenly.

Next, I had to add the cloisonne wire. I *almost* had this, except a piece fell off during the firing in the kiln and I had to do it over.

Finally, I hand painted it with colored enamel. Meanwhile, I also made a circular pendant with a cloisonne flower that took less time and was coming along great. And then I overfired that in the kiln. Dammit! The kiln usually fires low, but only three people showed up to class yesterday (guess most were not interested in spending a 95 degree F day working with a 1500 degree F kiln). Therefore, it was firing at a normal temperature and I didn't take much time. I should've left my flower in for 60 seconds, but I left it for 90 ... and the entire thing melted into an ugly mess. Anyway, I was determined to NOT melt My Damn Butterfly, so I carefully counted seconds and checked in after every 30. And it came out (though it stuck to the trivet and I had to carefully detach it)! Woo hoo! Here are some more views:

That silver wire wrapped chain is made from 18 gauge wire. I made it adjustable since I'm offering this necklace for kids. If it's adjusable, a child can wear it for a while since there's room in the chain for some growth.

You'd think that I've learned my lesson about enameling odd shapes, but I do like the look of this butterfly. It's cute, right? Only next time, I think I'll make my own.

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