The finished spiculums

Here are the finished pieces that I did at the spiculum workshop.
The 2 pendants swing on the wire they're attached to. The last one isn't made into anything yet... maybe it'll be a pin eventually.

More Dishes

More dishes from this past Tuesday. I got the formula down for that flowing of color that I've been trying to figure out.... : )


And one more that I still have to set:

Spiculums! (spiculae ... spicula..?)

Heeere they are! The results of day 1 of the workshop:

Beanpod necklace- This was my 1st spiculum. I left the seam open and attempted to set a tiny diamond at the bottom of the opening (see the hole a few mm below?), but went through the metal too far w/ the setting bur. I'll be repairing that one tomorrow...

And here is a bracelet design that I will be making more of in the future. It's easy to do after you get the hang of it, and they're nice & light too. You can add stones to these or whatever.

the flip side.

Here is another spiculum which I'm not sure what to do with yet. I might saw it into 2 and make earrings.

The lower object in this photo is a "blank" which is what we start out with.

My new ***favorite tool***

HI!
Here are photos of my pancake die and what I've made with it! : )

The die itself:

The die and the copper practice piece it came with...

My pink dish pendant, in a silver setting I made using the die:

...and the back...

My blue pendant:

Ta-daaah... liquid enamel

Some liquid white & clear enamel flowers:


This is the coolest one (lots of lustre):



Liquid white on earrings...



Added light brown dots to last week's earrings
(!!!DIMPLED HAND ALERT!!!)...


Liquid white w/ some additional colors painted in:

Enamel on copper - flowers!

New stuff from Tues. night!

Can you spot the boo-boo?

More new enamels....

More of my dish series, and a flower! I love flowers and wish I could find the right style, pre-cut for me.

New enamels

Here are some new enamel pieces I've been working on, inspired by the dish pendant from a while back. Still trying to get that magic formula...







Also, a special piece that I did for my daughter, after we lost her fuzzy friend last weekend..

After class..

Had jewelry class tonight and it went soooo fast since I was in the kiln the whole time.
2 minutes in
remove and marvel at the results
prepare some more stuff
2 minutes in
remove and marvel at the results
...and repeat...

I am officially in the market for a kiln.
*sigh* I love enameling!

Foiled 2nd Attempt

I tried tonight to replicate the "dish" enamel piece that I posted yesterday, in different colors, but I seem to have the recipe wrong. Don't have time for pictures tonight, but I wasn't able to get this same tie-dye effect.

grr...... (frustration)

Enameled Dish Pendant

Here is the result of some playing around I did in the studio 2 weeks ago. I started with a 1-1/2" copper disc. At first it turned out yucky. I didn't like it at all. So then I went to my enamel collection and added some dots, and fired it again. I loved it! Just goes to show you how things can go wrong *happily*! : )

Then last week I made the fabulous sterling backing, and voila!

Latest Work

Here are a few photos of some recently finished pieces:

The blue & white enamel was torch-fired. I loved the enamel design, but really like the way the setting worked out too. It was a good way to use up silver scraps!

This cloisonne swirly piece was set in a more traditional way. I personalized the setting with some of my favorite techniques:




This irregularly shaped druzy was a good opportunity for trying a prong setting idea. The top is a hollow piece that I'll put a chain or neckwire through:



I bought some new stones from The Gem Shop yesterday (my favorite rock shop!). This is a Crazy Lace agate - I loved the colors, but the photo doesn't show the intensity:



One more class left in this semester, and then we're on break...

Tomorrow is studio day

Trying to figure out what to make tomorrow in class... I might see if Terri has any copper to buy, and cut shapes to use in enameling. I hope to be able to make some coooool shapes to enamel and string together in a necklace. I may already have some somewhere... in the garage I think I have some rectangles & squares. Hopefully I can get my torch going this weekend (if there's time) and do some enameling. Of all the things I've learned in class I think enameling has the most potential for me. I love the color, and the combination of working w/ metal and adding color to part/all of a piece. It is the best as far as flexibility goes. Sort of time-consuming, but it can be an efficient process if you try.

Cloisonne

Here are some recent enamel pieces from the cloisonne class I took w/ Linda Darty. She was so generous w/ technique and color blending hints, and it was a real joy to work with her.

Also, welcome to my 1st blog entry!