Room with a View...

And the best room with a view..., is a tent!

Torch Fired Enamels

I've been experimenting with forch fired enamels recently and here are some photos.  The top photo shows some finished pieces.  The larger piece was actually overfired on the back side and I then flipped it and added a layer of the turquoise color over it.  There is a bit of a hill and the very top sugar fired which means it's a bit rough.  Different looks would be the full firing and that is slick like glass (ha, ha), orange peel and then the sugar coat look.  These represent different stages of the enamel actually melting.

The other two pieces have about two to three layers on each side.  This is a bit time consuming because you are back and forth adding more enamel and firing again several times.   I used a brass stencil and sifted a translucent lighter brown color over the turquoise.  The lines are not clearly defined because the enamel looks like powder, so the edges are fuzzy.  I really like how these look like decorative tiles.  I love craftsman architecture and old bungalows, so I can see making future pieces with some mellow ambers, golds, browns and greens.

I had the idea to take a fresh water pearl and thread it on a piece of sterling silver wire.  I then anchored it through the pendant, wrapped the wire to form a bale, wrapped the pearl itself again and also coil wrapped the bale.  This adds more interest to a very simple piece of metal by adding an artistic bale.  Instead of a jump ring, I have a pearl that looks like it's floating over the enamel piece.

The round piece was being fired by my friend and she has been making earrings.  She has a smaller holder over a metal screen in this photo.  This can take a bit longer to fire because the heavy screen absorbs so much heat.  We then switched over to using the three pointed holders and not using the screen.  The powdered enamels fire/fuse at 1500 degrees, so you can imagine the amount of care and consideration when working on these projects.

The bottom photo shows the enamel on my copper piece before firing.  After firing, I use long tongs to move the copper piece off and also move the metal stand as well.  We rest the fired pieces on a large piece of steel and that absorbs the heat more quickly.  I moved a piece after it had been cooling quite a while and decided to rinse it off with some water.  I then noticed some internal fractures in the glass probably due to cooling too fast.  I reheated that piece to take care of the cracks.  This has been interesting!  I'll be making some pendants and earrings soon with the enameled pieces.

Woven Silver Wire

Some more woven metal here in the shape of a six petal floral form and a five point smaller post earring.  The earring center looks a bit more like a tiny rose, but I'll take it!  I will make the other one later, so I'll have two to wear.

This metalwork is woven and has visual texture and is also tactile.  It's so fun and different.  It was a challenge to size this idea down.  The petals were very tiny to hold while weaving and pulling the wire.  These look large for studs, but they are very wearable.  

In a way, they remind me of the many pairs of my grandmothers earrings I've studied over the years.  Large clip earrings were so popular for so long and I own loads of them.  They were large, pretty and so dressy.  I think it's time for a comeback, but you know I'll be wearing these with my denim coat.

All Metal... 925

Wrapped, woven, hammered, coiled...  Just some words to describe these earrings and wires.  Someone presented the "all metal" idea, so I made the metal spheres vs. stone dangles.  I made the ear wires and also wrapped the tiny coils around those.  I've used quite a bit of sterling wire in three different gauges for this pair.  Patina added, patina removed...  You know the drill!  A simple thought and easy design, but all hand built and pure fun.

Space Age Field Trip - Tools of the Trade

Oh, all those leaves and nature photos, but sometimes... you gotta dig right into the grit.  It was time to visit my fave little boutique for a few things.  No, I wasn't at the craft or scrapbooking store, I was at Space Age Auto Paint in Mesa, AZ.

The auto paint super center has a certain vibe all its own.  Of course you walk in and your olfactory sense goes shabang!!!  Ah yes, the smell of all that mixing paint, then there is the little squeak coming from the mixer as well.  Lots of cool things to look at literally hanging all over the place.

It was kind of interesting because the crowd in there, as always was very diverse.  There were men, women, young folks, old folks, folks looking at supplies and a little crowd waiting for their custom blended paint.  Just makes you wonder where everyone is going back to and what kind of cool projects will be coated with the paint.  One of the guys in the shop told me that someone had come in for some fiberglass supplies and then came back in with his finished projects.  He had shaped and made the twisted horns like Ms. Jolie wore in Maleficent for his daughters.  He brought them into the shop wearing them one day.  So, I guess I'm not the only person in there working on something else other than an old pony car.

Me..., well I was there for sandpaper...  Factoid:  The hardware stores and big box shops have rather lean selections of sand paper.  Yah, they have the lower grits like 400, 300, 80 and stuff like that, but I use the high grit stuff.  The wet/dry paper they have at Space Age is great and I can get it all the way up to 2000 grit. 

I use this sand paper on my metal jewelry, polymer clay beads and pieces.  You can do the work, but you have to finish it.  "If you don't take the time to finish it well..., well then you haven't finished it at all!"  Yes, that's a Julie quote... You can quote me on that!

Home on the Range

These are some images from beautiful northern Arizona I had taken earlier. The buffalo at this location were a total surprise.  It was so amazing to walk up and have seen these beautiful animals that are a true symbol of the American West.

The clouds were beautiful, the sky was so amazing and the yellow flowers seemed to go for miles and miles.  Yes, I could see for miles and miles!

I did brighten these photos just a tiny bit to give them a little more pop!

Sun Sets on the Day...

The day comes to a close, the sun sets, the sweet light reflects off the lake and now the gift is, the beauty of the night.