Photo gallery: handmade fused dichroic pendants with decals

It's about six weeks 'til the Readers studio tarot convention and I'm getting excited and nervous! I always hope that people at fairs like my work, but in this case, I'm going to be vending for four very long days. It's going to be intense, especially since I've never really been to a convention before. I did spend one afternoon at a writers' convention, but didn't stay for the entire weekend. This will be a much more thorough experience.

My friend Judith keeps telling me how awesome this event is and how much fun we'll have. Since she's one of most fun people I know, I have to believe her, right? I'm looking forward to meeting some fascinating folks and making new friends. I'll also, of course, learn everything there is to know -- well, not quite -- about tarot.

Today was a snowy day in NY, so I spent it making fused dichroic glass pendants with decals. Here is a photo gallery featuring some of the pieces I've created for the upcoming Readers Studio weekend. You can see the rest of my work at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Fused dichroic glass necklaces: "Sunrise, Sunset" and "Summer Storm"

I recently wrote about how I've been invited to sell my jewelry at one of the senior homes where I play flute. Well, we finally have a date scheduled and I'll be there on June 3!

I'm especially excited about selling at the Atria because a) I know almost everyone there and b) this will be the first vendor event where I'm selling my dichroic glass jewellery. I've sold a few pieces online, but this will be their "live" debut. I can't wait to see how my table looks with all of the colorful glass pendants spread across. My booth will certainly appear festive!

Now that I have a date settled upon, I've been working on some new dichroic pendants. As always, not all have turned out so well, but I'm pleased with the good ones. Two of my favorites I've named "Summer Storm" and "Sunrise, Sunset."

For Summer Storm, my original plan was to combine shades of blue, but I really like that pink swirly glass, so I added one stripe. I like the way the hint of pink sets off the different blues. Sunrise, Sunset was my attempt to recreate my "Fire And Ice" pendant for a friend. However, dichroic glass sometimes takes on a life of its own -- especially when it's fused in a microwave kiln -- and I ended up with gold and orange stripes instead of two yellow pieces. I love this combo, though. I'm still getting the hang of working with glass, so I never quite know what to expect!

I've been making the necklace bails for most of my pieces, but I "cheated" and used some ready-made bails for a handful of pendants. Honestly, they're just easier to attach and it saved me some time. I prefer to make as many elements as possible, but I'm not against taking a shortcut every so often. Ultimately, I just want my pieces to look attractive.

I hope to have 30-40 glass pieces for the fair. That's a lot, but I already have many on hand, and if I make a couple per day, I can get it done. Then I'll have an excuse to buy some new glass -- and to get even more creative.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, enamel and glass jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Fused glass jewelry: striped dichroic glass pendants

One of my favorite things about making my own fused glass jewelry is that I'm actually wearing my stuff! I'll admit it -- I'm TERRIBLE at advertising my work in person because I rarely wear jewelry I've made. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my pieces and love many of them, but I tend to make things that are more to my customers' tastes. I've always loved dichroic glass, though, and made a point to purchase glass pendants at craft fairs that were made by other artists.

Now that I'm creating my own glass art, I'm able to make as many designs as I'd like. I really loved a simple, but colorful striped pendant that I'd made. It came out better than I'd expected and I liked how it looked with my pink T-shirt. Here I am wearing it last weekend:

Keep in mind that it was about 70 degrees that day and the next day was in the 30s. Yeah, that's how our crazy weather has been in New York. I wore the same pendant to a fundraiser that was held the next day, but I paired it with a long-sleeved blue top. It got a lot of compliments and I decided to keep it for myself and not sell it. Since it was cold, though, I slipped a sweater over my top before heading home.

Well, when I got home and took off my sweater, I could not find the pendant. The cord was still around my neck, but the pendant was gone. I shook out my sweater, my coat, my top... everything I wore that day, but no pendant. I was pretty bummed and am still hoping it turns up somewhere.

I didn't stay upset for too long; I simply got out my glass and made another striped pendant. This one also turned out pretty well. However, when I went to attach the bail to the back of it, I squeezed the Krazy Glue too hard and spilled glue all over my piece. I tried to remove it, but I couldn't get all of it off, even with acetone, and the pendant's face was damaged. Another striped piece down the drain!

I was now on a mission to make -- and keep -- a glass piece. I made several striped pieces, being very careful not to overfire them or break them, or do anything stupid in the process. Here they are!

I think the one on the left is my favorite of this bunch. I haven't yet decided if I'll keep it; I'll wear it and see if I like how it looks with a few outfits. I'm happy with these guys, though.

Sometimes it's embarrassing to share these stories of my jewelry-making mishaps ... but like any other job, there are ups and downs, especially when you're working with glass and fire. I can get very frustrated when I make mistakes, but I do try to learn from them. I am getting better and making glass jewelry, which is my ultimate goal. But expect to hear about more disasters along the way.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Fused glass jewelry: Dichroic glass pendant "Fire And Ice"

I've been making fused glass jewelry for about a month -- and while I've had quite a few failures, I've happily had many more successes. There are quite a few pieces that I genuinely like and would wear myself. One of my favorites is my "Fire And Ice" pendant:

Dichroic glass is so much fun to work with because there are hundreds of different patterns available. I usually order a bag of scrap pieces, so I never know what I'll end up with. I enjoy the surprise! I'm also never sure what the jewelry will look like when it's fired in my microwave kiln. Dichroic glass changes color in the light, anyway, but it often turns out to be a completely different hue when fused. I've used blue dichroic glass which came out pink or pink glass that came out yellow. Using this kind of glass is always an adventure.

Because of this, I'm always pleased when a piece turns out better than I'd expected -- like my "Fire And Ice" pendant. I made a simple design by sandwiching blue tie-dyed glass between shiny yellow dichros. The blue ended up being a deeper color than I'd anticipated and the yellows are shinier with hints of oranges and reds. They reminded me of flames, which is my reason for giving the pendant this rather obvious name.

I recently sold this glass pendant to my good friend, Nancy. She's purchased a lot of my handmade jewellery over the years because she enjoys supporting small businesses. She wore several of my pieces on the recent cruise with took together and I got a kick out of seeing her in my jewelry designs. She was ready for something new and chose "Fire And Ice."

I was sorry to let the pendant go, but I know Nancy will wear it well. And I can still borrow it! That's one advantage of selling to a friend.

I've made dozens of fused glass pendants at this point. Hopefully, all will find good homes. You can check them out, as well as the rest of my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.