Silver wire wrapped fused dichroic glass bracelets

The Ridgewood Market Night Bazaar is this Saturday! I'm looking forward to this event, especially since my good friends Scott and Christopher will be there. They'll be representing the Lewis Oliver Farm Animal Sanctuary and will be selling food, paintings, books and other educational materials. They've been huge supporters of Naomi's Designs as my business has grown, so it'll be great having them there with me.

Of course, I also hope to sell many items. I've been working literally round the clock as I finish my final rounds of jewelry. I've made dozens of fused glass pendants, of all shapes and sizes. I also made this collection of dichroic link bracelets:

I'm particularly fond of the crystal Rainbow Swirl bracelets that match my Rainbow Swirl rings. I think the prism glass resembles moonstone, but my friend Diana says it looks more like opal. What do you think? Either way, I love the colors! I've managed to clock the exact firing time for these so they form perfect circles.

I also like the color block bracelet, which is simple, but so pretty. Honestly, I don't wear much of my own jewelry -- terrible for business, I know, I know -- but I actually plan to make one of these for myself.

Along with the bracelets and pendants, I also made enough rings to fill all 36 slots in my ring box:

When I sell rings on Etsy, they're usually made to order so I can size them correctly for the customer. In this case, I couldn't do that, so I made the rings in a variety of sizes. The ones toward the front are small, ranging from a 5-6.5 US. The largest ones are toward the back of the box, going up to about a 7.5-8 US. I figure that these rings will fit the fingers of MOST people -- and if they don't, that person can always order a custom piece from me.

Ridgewood Market advises their vendors to have an interesting table set-up, so I purchased a few new display items. I have that ring box, as well as black velvet leveled columns. My plan is to lay a few glass pendants on each column so they can be seen at a distance. I usually just spread everything out flat on the table, but I'm trying to spice up my booth. These tables are going to be 9-feet, which is much bigger than the spaces I've been given at other events. I've almost always had to leave items off the table for lack of room, but that won't be an issue here. In fact, I'm hoping I'll have enough inventory to fill the entire table.

The rest of this week will be spent getting ready for the fair. Here's hoping that all of my hard work is appreciated!

You can check out my jewelry 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.

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.

Yet More Handmade Enamel Jewelry

My last enamel class at Fitzgerald Jewelery was on Monday. I really enjoyed this class and was sorry for it to end, though I won't miss traveling to Brooklyn! There were things that I didn't care for in the studio, such as the lack of equipment, but once I got into it (and bought my own supplies), I had a great time. I really liked that this teacher stayed out of our way and let us learn and make things without her hovering. In the six weeks that I was in this class, I managed to make many more items than I had in the six weeks that I was in enameling at the 92nd Street Y.

I don't know if this has to do with me simply being more experienced at this point or if it was because the other class was more instructional. Don't get me wrong, I loved that class, too, and am taking the longer version of it this fall. Hopefully, that teacher will realize that I've reached an intermediate level and will just let me do my thing.

In this last class, I managed to make three items -- a record for me! Even better, I did so without making any glaring mistakes. Here they are:

Blue butterfly pendant:

Abstract colorful pendant:

Red rose pendant:

My initial plan on Monday was to finish the rose pendant. I'd applied the fine silver cloisonne wire, but one piece had moved, so I needed to snip it off and then redo the enamel to cover the dent. Happily, it came out clean; I like the way this simple design looks. So far, it's my husband's favorite out of my enamel pendants. I like modern art, but he likes the minimalist design.

I then had some time left over, so I decided to just play around -- and that's how I came up with that multicolored pendant. There wasn't much thought put into it, honestly, but it's a fun and colorful piece.

When making the butterfly, I knew not to hand fire with the torch as that move turned out to be disastrous the last time. Instead, I fired it in the kiln. I then had about 10 minutes of class left so I simply sifted the blue and light blue enamel powder onto the pendant instead of painting it. And voila! I had a butterfly.

I can't believe that I have to wait almost two months until my next enameling class. Oh, well, it will give me time to come up with some great ideas for pieces!

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

Wire Wrapped Stone: Pink Marble With Swarovski Pearls

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was play with my dad's rock collection. He was a science teacher for a while and had a wonderful geology set with pieces of quartz, agate and other beautiful stones and rocks. I loved going through them and admiring the colors and textures.

These days, my 4-year-old niece is the one who is into rocks! She already has a geology set and loves the gems and minerals exhibit and the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

I don't have a geology set anymore, but I still appreciate the beauty of a stone. When I saw this pink marble, I fell for the color and slightly rough texture. I liked how when you look closely at it, you can see darker pinks, peaches and whites.

I decided to turn it into a pendant, but didn't want to hide the natural beauty so I did a very simple wire wrap on it. The two Swarovski crystal pearls dress it up enough so that it can be worn with a fancy or casual outfit.

To buy my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs.

Wire wrapped lava stone

I first saw dried lava when I was in Hawaii about six years ago. I never knew that lava -- which is porous and black -- could be beautiful, but it really is, especially when there are large sheets of it.

When visiting Hawaii, however, you're not supposed to take pieces of lava home because it's bad luck. There are all sorts of stories about people getting cursed after bringing home lava. We didn't want to take a chance, so we left it alone!

Still, when I saw these round lava stones being sold, I was inspired to make something with them. Each one is like a blank canvas and I wanted to build pieces of jewelry that obviously looked like jewelry, but also brought out the beauty of the rock.

For this pendant, I went with a simple wire wrap design. I didn't want to completely cover the rock with wire, so I used it as a frame. I then added just two small crystals to finish it off. I feel like the black, silver and blue play well off of each other and work together in a finished product. I've been told that it looks like a Native American piece, which is a huge compliment.

I've been experimenting with other types of rocks, as well, but I still like lava the best. When "dressed up," it's especially eye-catching.

For more of my work, head to Naomi's Designs.

Welcome To Naomi's Designs!

Welcome to my online jewelry blog, Naomi's Designs. In each entry, I'll give the details on one of my handmade jewelry pieces. I mainly work with wire, though I also love beads and crystals.

I've always loved making arts and crafts, but have spent most of my adult years writing and making music. However, I broke my leg a while ago and needed something to do with my time. That's when I discovered jewelry making. I instantly fell in love and have been doing it ever since.

Though I enjoy stringing beads, I like working with wire because you can create the entire piece from scratch. Part of the fun of wire work is constructing the piece and figuring out how to align everything in order to make the strongest and most aesthestically pleasing design. I like that challenge and am always trying to learn new techniques. I've been on a bangle bracelet-making kick lately, but am eager to work with poly and metal clay. That'll open a whole new world of design for me.

Please check back with this blog often to see my latest creations! And check out my Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/Naomirabinowitz