Enamel sugar skull hair clip with fused dichroic glass beads

My customers are constantly challenging me to think outside the box -- which I love. I'm pretty creative, but I enjoy it when others come up with a great idea for me to work with.

A friend of a friend recently commissioned me to make a Christmas gift for his daughter: a colorful enamel sugar skull barrette.

I haven't made too many accessories outside of the usual necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets and rings, but I was eager to try. I purchased some barrettes from the drugstore and got to work.

I didn't want to make the skull too big since it's going to be worn by a little girl. I wanted it to be comfortable in her hair and to not get tangled. I made a smaller version of the sugar skulls I've made for pendants and fastened it at the end of the clip.

Her dad asked that I make the piece very colorful, so I tried to think of patterns that a girl would enjoy. I added little hearts for eyes and rainbow stripes. Not all girls are traditionally "girly," so I didn't want to go overboard in using pinks and purples.

Once the skull was attached to the barrette, there was a lot of extra room, so I added a few glass beads to complete the design. I really like how I have two kinds of glass work on the piece: the enamel and dichroic. They mix well and I really should combine them more often.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to return to my enameling class this semester, but went so I could work on this skull. I ended up making two other pendants and a pair of earrings, so it ended up being worth my time. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do for the spring, but I'm not quite ready to say good-bye. I can't enamel at home because I don't have the space for a proper kiln and I would miss it if I weren't able to do it. It's just been harder to find time to squeeze in the class between my other jewelry work and musical gigs.

Anyway, I hope this girl likes her Christmas gift. I always get a little nervous when people buy my work for someone's birthday or as a special present. Hopefully, my skull will make her the best-dressed kid in her grade school. :-)

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

Blue and turquoise enamel earrings with fine silver cloisonne and crystals

I haven't done a post on an enameling project in a while, so enamel-lovers, this one is for you! Tomorrow is our final enameling session for the summer and truthfully, I'm a bit relieved to be taking a break. The dichroic glass has kept me busy, plus I'm in the middle of working on a big project for a customer. And then I'll start my wire wrapping class in a few weeks. So I'm glad to have some time off from enameling, much as I love it.

Still, with only a few classes left this semester, I've been trying to finish some half-done pieces. I recently completed this pair of dangle earrings:

I originally planned to make three of these diamond-shaped links and then turn them into a bracelet, with the enameled pieces alternating with crystals. However, one diamond didn't turn out well, so I repurposed my design and went for earrings instead. Because holes were drilled in the tops and bottoms, I hung crystals from both ends.

The abstract design is made from fine silver cloisonne wire. Actually, it's bezel wire, which is much thicker than cloisonne. I cut it through the center to thin it out somewhat and decided to use it, anyway. I like the thick design! It gives the earrings a three-dimensional look.

Right now, I'm on the fence about signing up for enameling again this fall. I really enjoy the class and have made some great friends, but I haven't made as much money from the enameled pieces as I have from the dichroic glass and wire wrapped. Should I take the class primarily for business reasons or should I take it simply because it's fun? I guess I'll have to see how much I miss it this summer. If I find myself craving an enameling session, I'll sign up. I'm glad to have some time to think about it, though.

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

Adventures in handmade jewelry: making fused glass jewelry

Oops, I see it's been over a month since I've posted. Sorry about that! Hope you all had a great holiday season. Happy New Year!

So far, 2016 is off to a good start for my jewelry making career. I began a new class last week: fused glass at Brooklyn Glass.

I really like glass jewelry and have always been intrigued with glass art. My dad took a stained glass class when I was a kid and I would sometimes go with him. Though I never actually went with him into the studio, I enjoyed looking at the art made by the teachers and other students.

I've also purchased many fused glass pendants from craft fairs. Whenever we go to a fair, I like to buy something from a fellow jewelry artist so I can show my support -- and my eye is usually drawn to beautiful glass. I think this is why I fell in love with enameling. I wished I could make some fused glass jewelry, as well.

Unfortunately, the Y doesn't offer any classes in fused glass so I had to look elsewhere. I turned to Brooklyn Glass, a studio located about an hour from us. My husband and I went there about a year-and-a-half ago to see a strange "performance" of Medea involving puppets and glass blowing. We were invited to this thing by my good friend Amy. I can't say that the performance was great, but we enjoyed watching the artists make glass vases and bowls in the kiln.

Jon really wants to take a glass blowing class. I still need to sign us up, but that honestly doesn't interest me too much. I think it'll be fun to try it out, but that skill takes a lot of strength and patience, plus it requires one to spend a lot of time in front of a hot oven. I was more interested in the studio classes, like glass fusion, so I signed on for that.

I was a bit nervous to start this class because I was afraid I wouldn't like it. After all, I really didn't like the painting class I took last year. I hoped this would turn out to be something I could stick with.

Happily, I had a great time and the three hours flew by. Though I've just started, I'm already designing pieces in my head and can't wait to make them a reality.

For the first class, our teacher showed us how to cut and shape glass. Enamel involves firing powdered glass onto metal, but with fused glass, you well, fuse sheets of glass together. It's kind of like enameling on steroids. There are some similarities: the glasses have to be compatible, meaning they melt at the same rate, whereas in enameling, the glass and metal have to be compatible. However, it takes about a minute to fire an enameled piece, whereas it can take TWO DAYS to fuse glass.

I'd watched some videos on glass cutting, but it wasn't as easy as it looked on YouTube. The glass scoring tool is sharp, but you have to put a lot of pressure on it to make a dent in the material. Once you score the glass, it does cut pretty easily, but I also cut myself a few times. Those shards are so fine that they slip right into the skin like splinters. At one point, I hadn't even realized I'd cut myself, but then I began to bleed. This is why my teacher keeps a box of Band-Aids on the table. I've also burned myself while enameling. I figure it's a right of passage...

Our first assignment was to practice cutting shapes and to then create coasters with identical designs. I ended up making three! What's funny is that my other classmates went for big, bold patterns, while I cut tiny, intricate shapes. I'm so used to thinking "small" for my jewelry. My teacher said I can make earrings this week, so we'll see what happens.

Here are some shots of my coasters, as well as my classmates' in the kiln. I can't wait to see how everyone's pieces turn out!

Meantime, check out my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations -- and follow me on Instagram at Naomidoesjewelry.

Weird tales from the craft fair: Wainwright House in Rye, NY

Happy Hanukkah to my readers who celebrate! This weekend, I got into the holiday spirit by participating in the Dickens Festival in Rye, NY -- a town in Westchester, about an hour out of NYC. The event was held in the historic Wainwright House:

How amazing is THAT? My mouth fell open when the cab pulled up to the front door. I love old homes and couldn't believe I'd be selling my jewelry in such a gorgeous place. The home was once owned by a wealthy family, who was very influential in local politics and real estate. In 1951, the house was turned into a holistic learning center.

The inside was just as beautiful:

My table was right below the fireplace. My husband was intrigued by the lady in that painting. No one could tell us who she is, or was. But I enjoyed having a set up in such a cool location. Here's a closer look at my Naomi's Designs booth:

There were 30 vendors set up around the mansion. There were also carolers, crafts for kids, a hand bell choir and a live "elf on the shelf" who'd pose for photos. Oh, and there was a large table set up with free coffee and cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. I had a few too many!

This was a beautiful, well-organized event, but the vendors were disappointed in the number of people who came by. Maybe 50 people stopped by my table all day. I was certainly hoping for more. It was also billed as a "Dickens Festival," but there weren't many Victorian touches. There was one older man who wore a old-fashioned top hat, but other than that, no one was in costume. I'm not sure why they didn't just call it a holiday fair.

Still, I did sell a few items and consider any sale a victory. I was especially pleased because two enamel pieces were purchased. A pair of little boys bought one of my enamel pendants for their mom. The price was right in their budget, so they split the cost and each handed me a bill. They were so cute! I wrapped their present in a bright, red box with a matching bow. They were very excited about that bow. Ah, to be young again... Anyway, I hope Mom likes her necklace.

Another customer bought one of my sugar skull necklaces:

I could tell this woman has interesting tastes, because she was already wearing funky, unique jewelry. Her necklace contained a giant lipstick pendant. How fun! After she bought my skull, we had a long discussion about the significance of decorative skulls in Mexican culture. I'm very attached to certain pieces and this was one of them, so I'm glad my skull has found a good home.

Another customer who made an impression on me was the girl who wore a T-shirt with an elephant on it. I'm guessing that she was maybe 13. I told her that my niece, who is a few years younger, loves African elephant and wants to work with them when she's grown up. This girl shared that she also loves elephants and "adopted" one through her school's environmental club. She explained that they sent funds to a sanctuary that rescues orphaned elephant babies. "Maybe your niece can work there," she said. The girl then tried on a bunch of my items and I helped her choose blue wire wrapped daisy earrings. "All of your stuff is sooooo cuuuuute!" she exclaimed. I think that's the ultimate compliment coming from a young teen, right?

Overall, it was a nice day, even if business was slow. We did get to look out at this view:

Jon watched my booth for a while so I could take a walk around the neighborhood. I'd never been to Rye before, and it's gorgeous! The mansion is right by the water and all of the other old homes in the area are stately. People in Rye ain't poor, that's for sure.

That evening's weather was pleasant, so Jon and I walked the 3 1/2 miles into neighboring Harrison so we could have dinner at a little Peruvian restaurant called Quenas. Jon had beef heart kabobs and I ordered the aji de gallina, which is a chicken stew made with a creamy sauce. The food was delicious and capped off a long, but good day. Jon says that it would've been worth going to Rye even without the sale, but I appreciate him tagging along to help me.

I don't think I'll do this event again, unless it's better advertised and they can get more people. However, I'm glad I got to discover a different neighborhood and will certainly visit Rye again. It'll be even more enjoyable if we can walk around without my bags!

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

Double sided multicolor enamel heart pendants

One of the fun things about working with enamel is that most pieces are double-sided. You need to apply glass to both sides of the metal -- we call this a "counter" -- so the enamel is even. If one side is thicker than the other, the metal can bend and the enamel can break off. So if you have three coats on side, you need three on the other. The only exception is if you're doing a technique like champleve, and are working with a very thick piece of metal.

I usually just apply a plain color as my counter, especially if I'm making something where only one side is ever seen. Lately, though, I've been working on the other side -- the "B side," if you will -- and turning my jewelry into two-in-one pieces. Here are the reversible heart necklaces that I designed:

I tried to go with extremely different color combinations so the pendants can be worn with a diverse range of outfits. I had a lot of fun making these and coming up with unique combos. Out of the four hearts, though, I think I like the pink, red, white and black the best. One of my classmates said that the red line looks like an aorta. I don't know if I want this kind of heart to look like the human organ...

So far, I've made double-sided cats, hearts, stars and abstract figures. I think it would be interesting to paint a cartoon-type character where one side is the person's front and the other, the back. I'll have to play around and see what I come up with. The other good thing about enamel is that if I screw up, I can always paint right over my mistake!

Check out my jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations -- and find me on Instagram.

Silver wire wrapped enamel butterfly necklace

Last month was my niece's 8th birthday. She's starting to become more interested in clothes and fashion, so I made her a double-sided enamel butterfly necklace:

Her favorite colors are purple and blue, so I used them in the pendant. She's modeling the side that has more purple... and her elephant (a gift from her best friend) is showing off the other side. She loves to dress her stuffed animals and dolls, and is constantly changing and switching their outfits -- so I take the elephant wearing my work as a huge compliment!

Like me, my niece is into drawing and crafts, and I hope she'll continue to have this interest as she gets older. Making her a necklace was not only my way of giving her a gift from the heart, but was also my way to show her what you can do if you work hard and have patience. These days, it's pretty easy to get what you need; I can go into most stores and find an inexpensive and pretty piece of jewelry that was mass produced. But it's so much more satisfying for me to make it myself. I hope I can teach her that she doesn't always have to take the easy way out and buy things, but can find the enjoyment in learning how to cook or sew, or make jewelry.

When she's older, I'll see if she's interested in learning some jewelry-making skills from me. Meantime, I'm happy to have her stuffed animals model my work!

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

Handmade double sided enamel cat pendants!

For 14 years, I wrote for a national television magazine. During that time, I got to meet and interview many actors (I'd rather not say who since I'm no longer at said job). It was a lot of fun, but I did my best to stay professional and not turn starstruck. I never asked for autographs or gushed about a role an actor did, etc.

However, I did get a little "starstruck" this summer when I got to meet my favorite Internet cat in person... well, in feline. Yes, I went crazy over a cat. Yes, I probably am crazy. Those of you who keep up with this blog know of my documented love for kitties, real or in jewelry form.

The cat in question is Marmalady Lemieux. Marmy is a tri-pawed ginger cat who lost a leg when she was just a kitten. She lives with her seven feline (and one canine) siblings and documents their daily adventures with blog posts and photos. Her human "mom" also makes jewelry and donates all of the proceeds to the cat rescue organization, Cat House On The Kings.

This summer, my husband and I happened to be near Marmalady's neighborhood in Canada so I asked her mom if we could visit. She readily accepted and gave us a wonderful tour of her area. We also got to meet the various kitties (and dog), though Marmy was pretty shy. I was so excited and admitted that I'd never been this amped up about meeting an actor.

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I wanted to bring our host (the human host, that is) an appropriate gift, but wanted it to be more personal than a bottle of wine or flowers. A handmade piece of jewelry was the obvious answer, but I wanted to make something that was different from the stuff that our host makes. She does beaded work, so I decided to make her a special double-sided enamel cat pendant. One side was painted in ginger cat colors to represent Marmalady; the other side was enameled in a calico pattern in the likeness of her kitten, Willow.

I drew and cut a cat shape from copper sheet metal, then enameled each side. The great thing about enameling is you can make each side completely different from the other which allows for a lot of creativity. Our host loved the necklace and even posted photos of it being admired by Marmy. I got a real kick out of that!

I liked this necklace so much, I made a second one just like the Marmalady/Willow piece. I then made a more whimsical one with bright rainbow and watercolor sides. I'm currently working on one that's painted with flowers on one side and multicolored stripes on the other.

I'm always happiest when I'm making jewellery for someone else. I couldn't think of someone more deserving of a special gift than this wonderful woman who's done so much for the animal community.

Check out my jewelry at Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations. Also, find me on Instagram at naomidoesjewelry.

Tales from enameling class: Pink and black heart and polka dot enamel dangle earrings

The winter/spring session for my enameling class started last week. I'm thrilled to be back, though I was disappointed to learn that a few of the "regulars" have moved on to other things. The good news is, we have a couple of newcomers who are really nice. One is a travel agent and the other is a travel writer. Given my love of traveling, we have a lot to talk about.

It always takes me a while to get back into the rhythm of the class and this semester is no exception. I'm already a klutz, but this past week, I took my clumsiness to new levels. First, I tried to drill a tiny copper square... only my finger kept getting in the way so I let go and the piece flew off the table. Luckily, no one was hurt! However, I accidentally burned myself when my thumb grazed a flaming hot trivet, fresh out of the kiln. Ouch! Again, I was fortunate in that no major damage was done.

By far, my biggest mistake came when I attempted to make a pair of earrings. I had some leftover small rectangular pieces and painted them with stripes of green, yellow, pink and light blue. They looked really cute; the other women in the class called them "candy earrings" because of the bright pastel colors. I was almost finished with my project, but put one earring down on the wrong side of the trivet... and it ended up fusing to the metal. Stupid, stupid, me! I had to pry off the earring with pliers and in the process, snapped it in half. Honestly, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I guess we all have bad days, right?

On the positive side, I now know a color combination which looks really good and I plan to make another piece using those pastel stripes. Plus, I DID manage to successfully complete a pair of pink and black heart and polka dot enamel earrings:

I'd forgotten I had a pair of copper squares and in my bag and was happy to find them. As I said to my teacher, it's like discovering buried treasure! Since Valentine's Day is on the horizon, I decided to go with a simple heart theme. I applied a layer of rose pink enamel over raspberry to get that bright pink hue and then painted a black heart on top. I then used a thin piece of wire to create that sgaffito design of swirls and scrolls. The heart's edges are a little jagged and I left it slightly underfired so it has a "stamped" appearance.

I initially planned to have a plain pink counter side, but decided it would be fun to add the polka dot design. I think it gives the earrings even more of a whimsical touch.

Now that I've made these enamel earrings, I feel like I'm back in the groove! Check out the rest of my handmade enamel and wire wrapped jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From Enameling Class: Handmade Enamel Christmas Ornaments!

For the past few weeks, I've been logging extra hours at the Y so I can use the kiln and finish my handmade enamel Christmas ornaments. So far, they're coming along nicely! At this point, I've officially finished and listed three -- and am almost done with five others.

When I posted the items on Etsy, I wanted to create a holiday feel, so I photographed the ornaments on top of a green cloth and then took some pictures of them hanging from an ivy bush:

At first, my classmates chuckled at me making cat-shaped Christmas ornaments, but after seeing all eight lined up, they were pretty impressed! They then came up with ideas for displaying them. One suggested I make an enamel tree. Another suggested I make an avant garde copper tree. Honestly, both ideas would require a lot of work -- and I wouldn't really be able to sell the trees -- so I'm just going with a store-bought mini tree. But I like that my classmates were getting so into my project and were being so supportive.

As of now, I have a craft fair scheduled for November 7. I'd love to have all 20 ornaments completed by then, but I realize it's a tall order, especially since they're taking longer to make than I'd thought. I want them to look good and don't want to rush the process. I'll be happy if I can have a dozen done, though, and I think that should be doable. A dozen will still look nice on my little tree.

I'm off to saw out some more copper ornament bases so I can continue with my project. Right now, you can purchase my angel cat, Santa cat and gingerbread cat -- all limited edition Christmas decorations. You can also see the rest of my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Black diamond enamel pendant with abstract triangle design

Going through my bags of jewelry supplies can sometimes be like digging for buried treasure. I try to keep my stuff organized, but I have so many beads, spools of wire, etc. that things often get lost in the shuffle -- such as this enamel pendant that I found at the bottom of the bag where I keep my supplies for class.

I made this black diamond pendant last spring. I'd been working on a major project all semester (which has yet to be completed) and needed a break. And so I came up with this little abstract piece. The large necklace I'd been designing is turquoise and blue, and I was sick of looking at those colored enamels. This is why this pendant is black, red and yellow. I wanted to work with a completely different color scheme!

I didn't have any fine silver cloisonne wire on hand, so I improvised and used fine silver bezel wire instead. Bezel wire is similar, but is thicker so it can support a stone. I simply cut the wire in half down the center and it worked just as well.

Only two and a half more weeks until class! I'm eager to return and start some new projects, so keep checking back in. Meantime, you can see the rest of my wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

New Project: Handmade Enamel Christmas Ornaments!

I know, I know, it's been a really long time since I've posted. Well, we were on vacation for a few weeks and it's been a pretty quiet summer in terms of my jewelry businesses.

Happily, things are picking up! So far, I have two craft fairs scheduled for the fall and class stars again in a few weeks.

In retail, September typically means the start of the Christmas season. Yes, it's realllly early, but I've seen many stores put out the beginnings of their holiday items along with the back-to-school stuff and Halloween costumes. I guess some people like to get their holiday shopping done well in advance so they don't have to contend with crowds -- and can enjoy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, etc. without having to worry about everything else.

For this year's holiday, I'm trying something new: I'm making cute enamel Christmas ornaments. It seems like a natural thing to do with enamel, but I haven't made pieces this big. Anyway, my ornaments are all cat-themed:

Obviously, they are still unfinished. I won't have access to the kiln until class resumes next month so for now, I'm cutting out the metal shapes from 24 gauge copper. I drew those shapes free-hand, by the way, and then used each of my initial cut-outs as my pattern. I made angel cats, cats in stockings, cats with Santa hats and gingerbread cats. I think these Christmas ornaments will be colorful and fun, and when they're finished, I plan to hang them from a tiny Christmas tree.

From a distance, it looks like I'm making cookies or paper dolls, but working with metal -- even metal that's pretty thin -- can be dangerous. I'm using extremely sharp sheers and any rough edges of the copper can slice through your skin. I've actually spent much more time filing the ornaments because I want the metal to be smooth for the enameling process. I have a bunch of cuts on my fingers from my work, but that's okay.

This past weekend, my childhood friend Lani came to visit and wanted to try her hand at cutting out a metal shape. She thought it would be like cutting through paper and was surprised at how tough it is. With some work, though, she managed to make a little fish, which she called her "Sharknado" (after the movie, of course):

At first, she didn't want to file down the points, but gave in and let me do it after she poked herself. Her plan is to paint her shark and put it on her living room shelf.

As of now, I'm almost finished with Phase One of my ornaments. My plan is to make 20 to start -- and then make more if they sell well. I'm very eager to get to enameling, but I'll have to wait. Meantime, enjoy your Labor Day weekend.

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

Selling Handmade Jewelry: March Madness

March is always pretty quiet in the retail industry and this year is no exception. I haven't made as many jewelry sales, mainly because Christmas and Valentine's Day are over and we still have some time before Mother's Day. It's still been busy, though! This is the proverbial calm before the storm.

I'm still working on my Morrocan-inspired enamel and wire wrapped bib necklace. We didn't have class this week, but I just got a new shipment of light blue square crystals, which I'm going to hang between the square tiles and the long, skinny pieces. They'l break up the pattern on the enamel pieces and add some extra "zing" to the necklace. This piece is taking me forever to finish, but I'm done with the squares and am about a third of the way through with the skinny blanks. So I'm getting there!

I haven't worked on any other new jewelry designs because I've been putting so much energy into this necklace, but I am gearing up for spring, which is the start of the craft fair season. I didn't do so well with fairs last year and would like to have a more active season. So far, I'm planning to do a charity fair with my friend Christopher, who works for a United Cerebral Palsy school. I'd also like to sell at some fairs in Manhattan. The registration fees are a little higher, but it'll be worth it if I sell more pieces.

Meantime, I'm working on my writing. Yeah, I feel like two different people sometimes, but I love to write and I love making jewelry! I'm finishing up a memoir writing class and signed on for a class on writing children's books. I'm also editing my second novel and plan to send it to some agents. I haven't forgotten about my jewelry book -- I still need to do that, too.

This has been a long, cold, hard winter in NY and I'm glad it's over. Just one more day until spring! Please check out my wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. And check out my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just $1.99 on Amazon.

Tales from Enameling Class: Hot Topic

We had a little excitement in my enameling class this week: one of the new students almost set the studio on fire! As she removed her piece from the kiln, she somehow dropped the red-hot trivet onto a wood burnishing tool... and the tool burst into flames. Luckily, my teacher managed to extinguish the fire quickly and no one was hurt.

The woman was pretty embarrassed and kept apologizing, but we told her that in enameling, there are mostly "happy accidents." We've all had stories of overheating pieces or dropping things, or in my case, stupidly grabbing a still-hot-trivet and burning myself. I've never actually set anything on fire -- yet -- but it's easy to do something kind of careless when you're working with kilns, torches and other dangerous equipment. I've been making jewelry long enough that I feel comfortable with the tools, but this incident reminded me that as skilled as someone is, we still have to be careful. As I pointed out to the woman, my teacher keeps an aloe plant in the class, just in case someone gets injured. I told her to consider this incident a "right of passage." She'll get the hang of it -- and she'll be making beautiful pieces in no time.

Other than that, the class was business as usual. I brought in some munchkins to celebrate my birthday and began work on a new sgraffito pendant. I didn't have any new copper pieces with me, so I took an old "failed" project and layered enamel on top of it. I'd tried to make a champleve heart, but the depression wasn't deep enough so half of the enamel was peeling off. I scraped out as much as I could then covered that side of the metal with about five layers of deep blue glass. On the other side, I put down a light blue base and a dark blue topcoat; I then carved out a swirly design in the dark blue enamel so that you can see the light blue enamel beneath. I'll eventually post a photo when the necklace is complete, but my teacher said that it looks Moorish. Then she realized how many coats of enamel I used and was like, "But why is it so thick?"

I have this idea for a sgraffito bib necklace that I plan to work on. I want to use copper squares as the main part of the necklace and then attach long, thin strips of copper for the "bib." All of them will have a similar sgraffito design. It's going to take me weeks to make this, but I think it'll look really nice. I'm just trying to figure out what colors to use. I'm leaning toward the light/dark blue combo, but red and black might work, too.

Meantime, this has been a productive semester of enameling so far, despite the snow! To see more of my work, including my wire wrapped jewelry and enamel pieces, head to Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Photo Gallery: My Top 40 Wire Wrapped And Enamel Jewelry Pieces, Part IV

... And here are my very favorite 10 pieces from my Top 40 Birthday Collection! Be sure to check out Part 1, Part II and Part III, as well as my shops Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

That silver ring with the cut-outs is the first thing I ever made in my metalsmithing class. Honestly, I didn't care for the class all that much, but I do like the ring. The metal necklaces -- the copper and silver squares, the copper heart and the copper squiggle with turquoise beads -- are important to me because I made them in my husband's office on the day that I was let go from my job at the magazine. I wasn't sure what the future held for me, but making these pieces calmed my nerves and made me feel a bit better about my life. Once I sold them, I felt as if my choice to go into jewelry making full time were validated.

The silver wire wrapped chandelier earrings with blue crystals are a favorite of mine because they remind me of the jewelry I saw when I was in Egypt many years ago. Meanwhile, I'm proud of the complex enamel pieces that I made: the cat (who's based on my cat, Maya), the hamsa pendant and the champleve fish necklace with turquoise beads. That hamsa pendant took forever to make, but was finally sold. The champleve necklace represents me learning a new enameling technique.

By far, my favorite piece of all is the copper wire wrapped necklace and earring set, Nefertitit's Kiss. This took me weeks to make, but it was worth it. It was a finalist in the 2012 Firemountain Gems And Beads Jewelry Making Competition and was featured on the poster for a local art fair last fall. I've also sold a few -- always a bonus!

Thank you for celebrating my 40th birthday with me! It's easy to feel younger when you have a passion -- and making jewelry is one of mine.