back to blog! fun with glass enamel!

hi all out there! so i have been a little absent & i do apologize. i am working on my juggling & hope to be getting better at it... starting now :-)

in my time away from blog i have been hard at work learning new skills & having interesting experiments with metals, glass enamel & stones.

one of my favorite parts of working with glass enamel is spying on it while it melts from a vitreous powder to a smooth, hard surface. lucky for me there is a peep hole for me to spy!

so it only take a few minutes once its in the big hot kiln but i am skipping way ahead of myself here.

the metal work to prepare ahead & the perfect sprinkling of powders is quite the art in itself. there is so much to this part that i am almost completely overwhelmed by the possibilities!

in the midst of keeping a clean station sometimes i can't help but to be enamored even with just the outline left behind! i really did have a hard time putting this one back in the container but at least i got this cute picture!

i have been sticking mostly to clears since i am so simply amused & feel like i really want to get my firing just right. honestly though the copper is just so gorgeous

with the clear!

the copper i stamped first & although i like the way it turned out i'm looking forward to trying it a new way the next time!

my other little works pictured here went through some oxidation & hammering before they were completed.

:-)

thank you so much for reading my little back to blogging blog!

i love learning new techniques!

i am in the hopes i will never need to buy another jump ring again!!

my first piece of brass that i sawed through with 3 different size saw blades :-)

my first hand forged bracelets ever!

the studio where i work on pieces has many wonderful classes & i was thrilled to get to go to

 this one. maybe less so at the time because the first time at forging was not easy! but of course i couldn't wait to do it again & again! 

the bracelet below was a slice of copper plumbing i found outside & had been holding on to because i knew i could make something cool with it! so this was from my second time in the studio forging (i <3>

my new years resolution

hey out there bloggity readers! i hope the end of the year is treating you well... maybe you have been plotting a new new years resolution. i know i have. i want learn more about making & be more successful at selling my arts & jewelry. i love metal work, i really do. i have loved it for a long time but i get over consumed with making it & forget i need to be able to sell it too! in the long run i want to change my life & quit my day job! it's a long shot at this point but, everybody starts somewhere, right? 

so i am reading up, studying & doing my best to figure out how to do this. i won't be doing it

 haphazardly, thats for sure!

so, any success stories for me? the etsy mailing with the "quit your day job" feature is my favorite!

thank you everyone! i know i won't be doing this all alone!

hammer time

so i spent many hours of today hammering a piece of copper piping into a bangle type bracelet. i had found the slice of hunky copper on the ground in an alley. i really like the hammer marks left as i pushed the metal into having a wider diameter. my hand hurts though... which is kind of making me not want to type but i did want to share...

*~*~*~* please see above for the photo!!*~*~*~*~