Teaching handmade jewelry making: my fused glass heart class at the cemetery!

First, some good news! My work has been accepted at Ridgewood Market's Nighttime Bazaar. Ridgewood Market is a monthly indoor market in Queens, NY and I've been trying to get in for a while. It's juried and is supposed to be a great place to sell handmade crafts.

Then on Friday, my birthday, I heard back from a store that wants to carry my pieces! I haven't yet hammered out the details of the deal, so I don't want to name the place just yet. But it's a really cute shop in upstate NY. This was the best present I could've asked for.

Yesterday I taught another glass fusing class at Maple Grove Cemetery. Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, I had my students make mosaic glass heart pendants. Joining the class was my oldest friend, Lani, whom I've known literally since I was a baby and is like a sister to me. Here she is, showing off her work:

Lani loves Victorian history and old cemeteries, so we took a walk around Maple Grove before the class. She was intrigued with the historic graves and noticed that many people died in 1909. We'll have to do some research and find out what was going on during that year. The Spanish Flu came later and it was before WWI.

I knew that Lani would enjoy touring the administration building so I made sure we had plenty of time to look around. She had a blast going through the costumes and jewelry, and even wants to return to play a character in the annual "Spirits Alive" event. She also got a kick out of meeting Sky, the cemetery's canine mascot.

Soon, my students arrived and we got started. This group was a bit livelier than the last and I wished I had three hands to keep up. Firing the hearts was a bit tricky because I needed to make sure that they didn't overfire and turn into shapeless blobs. Also, a few students ended up making two pieces. So the firing process took longer than last time. Happily, everyone finished at least one piece.

Well, except for Lani. I'd warned her beforehand that if I didn't get to her piece, I'd just finish it at home since she was staying over. Sure enough, this was the case. I put her heart in the smaller kiln with another woman's but ended up taking out Lani's because I didn't want the hearts to fuse together. Unfortunately, the pieces came unglued and I suggested she re-do them so she could fire it again later on.

Lani was NOT happy. She's sitting right here as I write this, so I can say this to her face as I type it in this blog: she was being a big, ol' pain in the ass. She kept on whining about her messed-up piece as I kept on apologizing, and I tried my best to stay professional. She then complained that she couldn't glue her pieces back on, so the ladies started loudly chanting, "Glue it! Glue it! Glue it!"

Lani later explained that she couldn't glue the pieces because the women were shaking the table. Instead, she took a break and had lunch... and that seemed to calm her down. Lani likes free food!

A couple of the other hearts didn't turn out perfectly. One woman's was a little overfused and needed to file the top of the heart to get a deeper V in the center. Another lady's was underfired and asked me to give it some more time in the kiln. However, the rest turned out well and everyone said they had a great time -- even Lani.

Right after the class, I had to rush home, grab my flute and then hurry back up the hill to do a performance at a nearby coffeehouse. I've played there a few times, but since this is my birthday weekend, I'd prepared a special program: I performed all '80s songs, including hits from Bon Jovi, Queen, Debbie Gibson, A-Ha and Tears For Fears, among others. I probably shouldn't have scheduled the gig so close to my class, but I wanted Lani to see me play. I got a nice surprise when some college friends showed up for the gig. They don't live nearby and had spent all day at a teachers' workshop -- and they still came out for me. It was very sweet. A few other friends came, too, including the rec director at one of the homes where I play and my music partner, Judith.

I had a great crowd, a great playlist and was all set to go... and my speakers wouldn't work. I tried playing with my laptop at regular volume, but couldn't hear the backing track and butchered my version of "Baker Street." It was humiliating and I apologized to my friends for the technical difficulties.

They were understanding and the manager had a speaker on hand. Hooray! I was able to successfully finish the show and even managed to hit the highest note -- a fourth octave E -- in Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You." Whew! At least my friends hadn't come out for nothing.

It was a busy birthday weekend, but I had a great time. I got to do my favorite things and spend time with my favorite people. Oh, and Lani did finish her necklace after we came home from dinner. She even wore it out to lunch today.

For the record, Lani is a wonderful person and a great friend. There's a reason why we've stayed close for 43 years. She's a pain in my butt, but wouldn't be herself if she weren't. She's already planning to terrorize -- ahem, I mean "attend" -- my next class.

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

Photo Gallery: Wire wrapped and enamel heart jewelry for Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, readers! Once upon a time, I hated this holiday, but I've come to appreciate it in recent years -- especially since I make so many heart-shaped pieces. In honor of Valentine's Day, love and romance, here's a photo gallery of my favorite wire wrapped and enamel heart jewelry. You can see more of my work at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

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.

More colorful wire wrapped heart earrings with crystals

January has been a busy month for me for jewelry making! This past weekend I went a little crazy and made a whole slew of wire wrapped heart earrings, using red, pink, fuchsia and silver wire. I'm selling these on both of my sites-- Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations:

Each wire wrapped earring is the same basic design: I wrapped a round crystal and then shaped the wire into a little heart. However, I tried to mix up the colors a bit. Pink and purple or hot pink and red usually clash, but you often see them together for Valentine's Day -- and I think they work here. I wanted to experiment a bit and use atypical color combos, and I had a good time playing around.

These heart earrings aren't too difficult to make, but they're so cute! Plus, I like seeing them all together in a series. It's like a big, blinding flash of color. I have other color wire, so I'll play around with more combos of wire and crystal and see what I can come up with!

Silver cloisonne and enamel heart earrings

It's less than a month 'til Valentine's Day and I'm continuing to build up my stock of holiday-related products. I'm not a huge fan of V-Day; truthfully, I think that you should celebrate your love for someone every day of the year. On the other hand, I really like hearts so I'm happy to have an excuse to make heart-themed jewelry!

My enamel teacher suggested that I start making things other than individual pendants so I can get used to designing series, so I made a pair of cloisonne heart earrings. They're a pretty simple design -- a deep red heart with a pink and purple background -- but they're sweet and pretty, and appropriate for Valentine's Day.

Of course, being well, me, the process of making this didn't go smoothly. First, I dropped one of the little cloisonne hearts on the floor of the studio. Before I knew it, everyone in class was on their hands and knees as they scrambled around looking for it. I felt pretty embarrassed, but it was kind of them to help out. We never did find the heart, but it wasn't a big deal; I just made another.

Then, for some reason, the purple counter that I used (the enamel put onto the underside of the earrings) glazed over into a lumpy mess. I guess I put it on too thick in some spots? I ended up applying a third layer (usually I use two layers of counter) and that seemed to do the trick. It's still lumpy, but there are no cracks. I added an additional layer of glass powder to the front side to even things out, so hopefully, the enamel will hold steady all around.

One good thing is that I've become much more skilled at adding the cloisonne wire. The first few pieces I made fell apart somewhat because the wire was overheated and melted. But I now know to take the piece out a bit before a minute is up. This seems to do the trick!

I wish the earrings' colors were better in this photo, but it's dark and rainy here and I was eager to show these off. If it's brighter tomorrow, I'll try to get an improved pic. Still, you get the basic idea. I'm pleased with how my earrings turned out and am all set to begin my next project: a bracelet with enamel and cloisonne links!

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my novel, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Wire wrapped heart earrings gallery

Now that Christmas, Chanukah and New Year's have passed, the next big holiday to look forward to is Valentine's Day! It's still over a month away, but I already see stores putting up Valentine's Day decoration ... and I'm following suit. So to get in gear for the day of love, here are some of my handmade wire wrapped heart earrings:

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my novel, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.