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.

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.

Tales From Enameling Class: Another One Bites The Dust!

Well, first the bad news: I'm having the worst luck with craft fairs this years! Yesterday, I brought in my application for the holiday fair at the Y... and learned that it's already been sold out. Bummer! Apparently, it sold out on the very first day. Many of the jewelry teachers and students grabbed several tables at once so they could guarantee that their students/classmates would have a slot.

I'm not too upset by this. Live and learn, I guess, and I now know to sign up IMMEDIATELY the next time. But my teacher is furious. She made a list of all of her students who want to be in the fair and promised to speak with the director about getting us a table. She also apologized for not getting us a table herself. I'm not sure they'll have the space to put an extra table, but I really appreciate her going to bat for us. I suggested that since the fair is a three-day event, they simply have different people sell on each day; then they can have way more participants. If that many people are interested, they either need to find a larger space for the event or have it juried. If I were rejected from this fair in a jury situation, I wouldn't object. I'm constantly impressed and humbled by the work of the other Y students.

But now some better news: I'm really making progress on my enamel Christmas ornaments:

I stayed for two hours of studio time last evening so I got a lot done -- and I'm still not completely finished with these four pieces. I have to add a layer of counter (the enamel put on the opposite side) and clean each piece. They're turning out to be a really time-consuming project, much more so than I anticipated. But I'm pleased with how they look. I think they're bright, colorful and fun -- perfect for Christmas! One of my friends said they remind him of Christmas cookies, which is exactly what I'm going for. It does feel a bit like I'm "frosting" the pieces when I add on the designs.

One of my classmates was amused at the idea of, as she put it, "A nice Jewish girl making Christmas ornaments," but I do enjoy the holiday season. I help decorate our friends' tree each year, so I'm having a great time making my own line of ornaments.

I'll continue to share photos as I make more of these guys. Meantime, you can purchase the rest of my handmade enamel and wire wrapped jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From Enameling Class: Back To School!

The new semester of enameling began today! This time around, we have 11 people. That may not sound like a lot, but it's a large crowd for enameling. The group includes four newbies. On one hand, I'm pleased that so many people are interested in this art. But the spoiled only child in me is like, "Damn it, I don't want to have to wait in line for the kiln!"

It always takes a while to get going when a new semester kicks off, but I made a lot of progress on my cat-themed Christmas ornaments. I brought in four ornaments, one of each design, and managed to apply a white base coat to all. I then got about 75 percent done on my "cat wearing a Santa hat" piece:

The Santa cat will be getting an extra coat of enamel, plus black tabby stripes. As for the others, the angel cat will have a wreath painted onto the white robe, the gingerbread cat will have a colorful button design and I'll probably put some kind of holiday decor on the cat in the stocking. I was originally going to write, "Meowy Christmas" on the angel's robe, but I'm not sure if there's enough room. I don't want to have a lot of empty white space, though, so I think the wreath will look nice -- and will be appropriately festive.

It's difficult to tell in these photos, but I added some additional white enamel to the Santa hat brim and pompom. This way, they'll have that "fluffy" look that the furry white area has on real Santa hats. I'm probably going to leave the cat faces blank; I like the idea of the ornaments being a little abstract. Besides, there are already a lot of colors and textures and I don't want the ornaments to look too cluttered.

It felt so good to be back in the classroom! These ornaments are taking longer to do than I anticipated so I'll be staying late to get in some studio time. What's also exciting is that the Y is holding a craft fair at the end of November. It's going to be a three-day-long event and I'm planning to sign up. I definitely intend to sell these pieces there.

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

Abstract enamel pendant in blue, pink, purple and green

For the past couple of months I've been working on the same enamel necklace. It was getting tiresome, so I took a much-needed break and made a couple of smaller abstract pendants. These aren't nearly as complicated as my work-in-progress, but they're pretty and well, FUN to make. The latter is what is most important to me.

I still need to polish and clean the other pendants, but here is the first: a blue, green, pink and purple piece. It looks a bit like a rainbow in the sky, though I wasn't really trying to make a particular design: I was just playing around with the silver cloisonne wire ... and it turned out that way.

I've been trying to mix things up and use different colors, but I always seem to go back to blue enamel. What can I say? I like blue!

On another note, I learned today that my jewelry teacher has had some interesting students over the years, including Jenna Bush and Scarlett Johansson. Johansson took the enameling class during her senior year of high school, so this would've been right around the time she did Lost In Translation. My teacher says she joined the class with a friend and that both girls were really nice.

I'm not a big "Fan Gurl" when it comes to celebrities. I wrote for a TV magazine for 14 years so I dealt with actors on a day-to-day basis and the novelty got old quickly. Still, it's cool to hear you're sitting in the same room where someone so well-known once sat. Maybe my teacher's future students will be saying that about ME in a few years!!!

Meantime, check out my wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From Enameling Class 3/4/14

My latest enameling project is my largest and most detailed so far. I'm making a bib necklace that's going to be constructed of over 40 separate enameled pieces. Each piece has a sgraffito design so it's turning out to be a lot of work!

Here are a few pieces that I've done so far:

The squares are going to make up the base of the necklace and the long strips are going to hang from them, making up the bib. There will be a layer of blue square crystals in between. And I still have to make the wire wrapped chain. In other words, this thing is going to have about a million parts and is going to take me all semester to complete.

I saved myself a tiny bit of labor by purchasing ready-made 24 gauge copper blanks. Still, I have so much to do! When enameling, you actually have to put layers of glass on each side so that the piece is stable and doesn't bend from the weight of the glass. So I've had to put three layers of counter on each blank to match the three layers of glass on the front (for the front, I use a foundation of white enamel, then add aqua and Prussian blue). To get the swirls, I'm using a wire and etching out the design while the top layer (the darker blue) is still in powder form. When I heat the pieces, the swirly pattern comes out.

As of now, I've completed the squares. I like how they turned out because they look like Moroccan tiles. There's a tiny bit of burning in the center, but the darker sections make them look even more like tiles, I think.

I'm having a more difficult time with the strips. For one thing, they're really hard to flatten. I've applied extra counter, I've put them under an iron while they're still hot... but they have a slight curve to them. I might just have to keep them that way.

There are also so many of them to do! I have only seven squares, but over 30 strips... so it feels like a never-ending task. However, I just saw the movie Tim's Vermeer, in which an inventor makes his own version of a Vermeer painting in order to prove that the artist used optics and lenses. At one point, the inventor spent days and days simply painting tiny dots to bring out the fibers in a blanket. At least I'm making swirls, which is fun. I could be creating literally millions of dots, which would get old pretty quickly!

I'm excited about this necklace, though. It's unlike anything else I've done so far and is going to be really cool when it's complete. So stay tuned! My silver wire wrapped enamel tile necklace will be finished... someday.

Meanwhile, check out the rest of my wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

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.

Red and black enamel sgraffito pendants

Each semester, I'm trying to learn a new technique in my enameling class. This week, I made two red and black sgrafitto pendants: one with red and black spirals and one with a red and black geometric pattern:

Sgraffito basically involves laying down one color of enamel, then adding a coat with a different color; before heating the fine glass powder and making the top coat harden, you use something sharp (like a piece of wire or as I used a sharp wooden stick) to carve out a design. You can then see the color of the undercoat beneath. It's a really cool way to show a contrast between colors and make up a funky pattern.

What's funny is that I didn't even realize that what I was doing had a name. I explained my idea to my teacher and she was like, "Oh, that's sgraffito." And here I thought I was being so clever, LOL!

To highlight the contrast between the red and black, I slightly underfired the black layer. I usually keep pieces this size (these squares are about an inch in height and width) in the kiln for a minute, but I took these out at only 40 seconds. The enamel is still hard, but it has a rougher texture; it's not quite as shiny as the red beneath. I like that it looks slightly raw and unfinished; I think that it adds some more depth to the design and makes it easier to see the different layers.

I need to make some more large show pieces (happily I've sold most of mine!) and have an idea for a sgraffito bib necklace. Sometimes I wish I had my enameling class every day because I'm anxious to get to work on it.

To purchase these pieces or my other jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Rainbow splattered enamel pendant necklace

After missing three classes due to snow, I FINALLY made it back to enameling yesterday! Hooray! The usual crowd was there, plus a few newcomers. It's always nice to see people get into enameling for the first time. Not everyone falls in love with the craft like I did, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves yesterday.

I was so eager to get to make something that I ended up working almost non-stop for three hours -- and I completed a record four pendants! For two, I made this funky rainbow splatter design.

I think it looks a bit like a Jackson Pollock painting. My husband says that it looks like a mosaic. I guess you can just use your imagination...

When I made these pendants, I initially planned to cover them with a layer of black enamel and then carve out a design so that you could see the rainbow colors beneath the black. After I made these, though, everyone in class loved how they look as is so I just let them be. I considered turning them into earrings, but ultimately decided to make them into necklaces. Most of my enamel pieces are one of a kind, so it's rare that I can sell multiples of a design.

It felt so good to get back to enameling. I really missed it. Hopefully it won't snow on class day for the rest of this semester!

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

Tales From Enameling Class: Damn Snow!

Believe it or not, we don't often have a white Christmas in New York City. December is usually pretty cold, but it tends to be a drier month. The big snows typically fall from January-March. We're having a very snowy season, though, and the weather keeps getting in the way of my enameling class. I skipped class last week because of the snow and it looks as if we're having another storm tomorrow, which means I'll probably miss it again.

A few inches of snow isn't that big of a deal for us, but I still don't enjoy traveling in it. The streets can get icy and there are often train delays. I'm fortunate in that I work from home so I don't *have* to travel if there's bad weather. When I'm nice and cozy in my warm apartment with my cat by my side, it's much easier to just stay put!

I'm disappointed because tomorrow is our last class of the semester and we won't be meeting again until the end of January. Still, I'm pleased with my progress. I made several interesting pieces this fall and learned a new skill: champleve. I also sold many of my enameled jewelry, so the class isn't just fun for me: it's profitable.

Next semester I'd like to try some new skills. My teacher has suggested that I experiment with sifting techniques; I'd also like to enamel objects that aren't flat, such as a curved piece of jewelry or even a bowl. As long as I continue to learn and have fun, I'll stick with this class. Just hopefully the snow won't keep me away all winter!

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

Tales From Enameling Class

This semester of enameling is almost over, but it's been a good one! I've gotten better at making champleve pieces and am much more comfortable when it comes to improvising enameling techniques. For instance, I'm currently working on a cloisonne pendant and had run out of cloisonne wire; I ended up using silver bezel wire instead. The wire was twice as thick and I had to cut it down the middle to thin it out, but it worked!

Last Tuesday, the Y held a jewelry fair where members of the various jewelry classes could sell their work. I considered signing up, but decided not to because vendors had to submit an entrance fee AND give back half of their profits to the Y. Still, I purchased an etched metal bracelet from a friend and enjoyed seeing what others had to sell. It was nice to be able to just leisurely wander around a craft fair, for once.

We have some really talented artists at the Y. Most of the pieces being sold were amazing -- and kind of put me to shame. I think that I'm a decent jewelry designer, but most of these people are incredible. I only hope to be that good one day. That said, many of the pieces were extremely expensive. I think that everyone raised their prices so they could actually make a profit, but I thought that many of the pieces were priced too high for what they were. Little beaded bracelets should not be $70. Just sayin'. But the money did go to a good cause as the Y offers many wonderful classes, in jewelry, music and other fields.

Though I'm feeling a little inferior compared to some of these artists, I'm still wondering if I should set up a booth at the next fair. The friend from whom I purchased the bracelet only had about a dozen items on his table... and he managed to sell out. I could bring in only about 10-15 of my high-end pieces and then charge higher prices like everyone else was doing. It seemed like this fair was a success and I didn't see any other wire artists.

Speaking of my enameling class, I'm happy to report that I recently sold two of the items I made at the Y: my enamel cat and my enamel hamsa pendant:

I spent weeks on each piece and am thrilled that they were finally purchased! I hope that the wearers enjoy them. Though the class is fun, I put a lot of work into each item and am glad that it's literally paying off. It's cool to know that there are people out there who are wearing my one-of-a-kind necklaces.

With this session winding down, I'm just working on a couple of simple pieces, but I have some wild ideas for next semester. I'm already eager to get to work! To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From Enameling Class

First, the bad news: The specialty bracelet class which I was planning to take, was cancelled since not enough people signed on for it. But the good news is that my enameling class is back in session. Yay!

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed making enamel jewelry until I had my "enamel emergency" a few weeks ago. That was such a rush job, though, that I didn't really get to enjoy the process (sidenote: the customer for whom I made that pendant liked her piece! Hurrah!). I was happy to return to my class where I could relax, take my time and really work on my enameling skills.

Right now, I'm still working on making champleve pieces. Last semester, I managed to successfully complete champleve earrings, but I want to work on some more complicated designs.

Over the summer, I etched out several pieces of metal and just have to place the enamel. In yesterday's class I put together a champleve pendant that has a cool nautical design; it kind of looks like abstract fish swimming upstream. I placed silver foil on the metal, then covered the foil with a white base... only I burned the first coat and had to apply two additional coats in order to mask it. By the time I set the cloisonne wire and added color, you could hardly see the shimmery foil, but the pendant is still turning out pretty well. I used aqua, deep blue, green and purple to reflect the ocean's colors -- and those hues look good against the copper frame. I still need to plug up a couple of tiny cracks and clean up the metal; once I've done that, I'm going to make a chain with turquoise beads. I should have it finished by next week so I'll post photos. After that, I think I want to continue with a nautical theme and make another pendant that features graphics of shells.

My teacher is anxious to show me some other techniques and this will be a good time to learn them. The fall semester is 13 weeks long and pretty much goes right into the winter semester so I basically have all year to perfect my work. Meantime, I like doing champleve and want to make a few more pieces for my next craft fair, which is in October.

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

Feelin' Blue: Last Day Of Enameling Class

Today was the last day of my enameling class -- at least until it resumes in early October. Still, that's months from now and I'm feeling a little down. I've really enjoyed the class this year and wish the Y offered a full summer semester. The teachers do need a break, though, and I'll be ready and waiting when the fall comes!

I didn't get to do much during this last class. I mainly worked on my champleve heart earrings. The pair of red earrings turned out well, but the turquoise ones are a mess. I stoned the enamel to flatten it out so that it would be flush with the metal, but the enamel cracked, so I re-fired it. The enamel then cracked. I added another coat of enamel to each heart to even them out... and the glass cracked even more. My poor hearts are broken! My teacher said that I can stone off the enamel and start over, but I don't know if I'll bother. I might just start the entire project over with deeper inlaid hearts. At least I succeeded in making one successful pair.

Meantime, I began my next project, which is going to be a very deep frame lined with silver foil. I'll then add cloisonne wire and fill it in with transparent enamels. I used 16 gauge metal for this and let the acid burn a nice, deep groove. It's so deep, in fact, that one of the ladies in the class thought that I'd soldered two pieces of metal together. Nope. I just let it sit in the acid for several hours.

I'm thinking of purchasing my own kiln. I'd like to continue my work this summer and this would give me plenty of time to practice. I just have to figure out where to put the kiln so that it's safe to use. But I'm beginning to make higher-end pieces and I don't want to lose my momentum.

Make sure to check out my other jewelry works at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From Enameling Class: Having A Great Week!

There are still days when I question my decision to make jewelry full time. After all, I've only been doing this for about three years and the work isn't as steady as when I worked for the magazine. I love working for myself, but wonder if I have what it takes to a) make it in this business and b) even be called an artist. Well, this was one of those weeks where my faith in myself was restored.

It began with me finishing my enamel and cloisonné hamsa pendant. I wrote a longer post about it, but here it is again. You can buy it at Naomi's Designs:

Meanwhile, I'm having a really good sales week over at my kids' store MayaGirl Creations. Next month will be that shop's year anniversary and I'm pleased with how it's shaping up. People seem to like my pieces online and at fairs so I'm glad that I took a risk in expanding.

The best part of this week, though, happened in my enameling class when my teacher paid me a huge compliment. She's praised my work before; in general, she encourages all of her students, but she took me aside and told me how good she thinks I'm getting and how proud she is of me. It felt great to hear this and for a moment, I went back in time to when I'd get a good report from my elementary school teacher, LOL. Still, it's great that she has faith in me, especially since she's been a successful jewelry designer for decades.

This month marks a year since I began enameling and I'm thrilled that I found a new skill which I love. I was very wary after taking that metalsmithing class, but I think you have to keep searching until you find something that you enjoy. I'm proud of myself for keeping at this and look forward to my next year as an enamellist.

Fire and ice enamel necklace project

I've started a new project in my enameling class and it's going to be a complicated one! I'm making a bib necklace featuring 15 enameled circles, which I'm arranging into an upside-down pyramid shape (the bib). Not only that, the necklace is going to be reversable with a different design on the other side of the discs. It's going to be a lot of work!

So far, I've drilled the discs so that I can attach jump rings and connect them into the triangle pattern, and have applied enamel to one side. My teacher suggested that i sift on different colors right against the copper so I can get a cool, swirling design with a hint of the copper beneath. So I used transparent aqua and deep blue enamels, applying half of each color to the discs ... and sure enough, I got what looks like a funky tie-dyed design:

Actually, now that I look at the discs, they look more like little planets, no? My plan is to apply another coat of aqua/dark blue to this side and then apply orange and yellow to the counter side. This way, I'll have cool colors and warm colors -- or fire and ice. I think it'll be a neat contrast and the wearer can display whichever side she wants.

A statement necklace like this will need an amazing chain; I'm thinking of making a copper chain using spiral links. This way, I'll continue the whole circle theme -- and it'll be a nice way to connect my enamel and wire wrapping skills.

There's no enameling class next week, but I'm anxious to get going on my latest work in progress! I'll post more pics as I go along.

To purchase my wire wrapped and enamel jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.