This technique is called plique a jour.  Plique a jour means light of day.  They are like stained glass windows.  Light is meant to go through them.  This technique is one that I did not pick up in a class.  I love stained glass windows and I do use light in several of my bead woven paintings.  I did however feel a little insecure not having someone to ask questions of.  I have found out a few things using this technique.    I'm in touch with a woman who does plique a jour and I have talked with her on line.   She uses lost wax cast to create the framework for her plique a jour.  It's recommended that fine silver be used for plique a j... » Read More

Recently I've joined some groups on Link in.  These are very interesting groups and for the most part they are giving out incredible good advise in an extremely articulate fashion.  One of the best pieces of advise was from a woman talking about blogging.  She said to pick a certain day to publish your blog.  This way followers can count on it being there on a certain day and you can build up a following.  Extremely good advise and I meant to follow it!  Then life got in the way.  It's the end of the year,so finals are coming up,my son is working on his bar mitvah.  We aren't at all ready and have no idea how to pay for this.  His grades ... » Read More

Last week I was sick and my family was sick.  In fact,I had to keep my sixth grader home because of vomiting and fever.  We were not a fun household.  The wiz did his best to not catch anything by staying at work as much as he could.  This had limited effectiveness because I started getting dizzy and couldn't drive to pick up a suffering daughter from college.  The wiz ended up getting sick also.  By the end of the week my son was able to go back to school.  Just in time for a field trip to the art museum.  By that time I was too sick to go.  I usually go on his field trips because he's diabetic and he needs his blood sugar monitored and ... » Read More

These are the first of many cloisonne pieces I will be doing!  It very exciting for me.  This is a new artform for me and I'm so happy just to be able to feel I understand it!  I've started using copper cloisonne wires I've cut myself.  First I make a copper cup.  I use very copper strips bent into the shape I want and soldered closed.  It's important to get a good tight fit.  I have to use a special solder that will hold together in extremely high heat.  Then I have to pickle it and clean it up a great deal and file it smooth.  Then I counter it twice.  I have this dipping enamel that is supposed to enamel both sides,so I don't have to ... » Read More

This obsessive set was done while my leg was broken and in the boot.  My leg still hurts,but I'm out of the boot.  It's been about 2 12 months since I fell wrong and broke it.  The Dr. said it would hurt when it rained and was cold,but it's healing correctly.  I can drive now and I've gone back to metal working.  I've started doing some copper cloisonne.  I found out I was making them too thick,I need to treat them like gemstones and set them.  I will be doing some silver cloisonne soon.  I can hardly wait to show you!  Meanwhile,I want to show you some gold plated work I did while I had to stay upstairs and take it easy.  I made a lot o... » Read More

Since I broke my leg,I've been able to make several of these amulet bags!  I mostly have to stay up stairs and I'm not supposed to do a lot of walking around.  In fact,I've been getting stir crazy!  I got this idea for these amulet bags with letters on them.  I've also started putting hearts on them and maybe flowers.  I have to keep the symbol I want to use very simple the grid is 11 squares at the most.  I'm also writing up the pattern.  I go down stairs to select the seed beads,crystals and leaves or daggers.  I usually forget something and have to go back down for something!  The process of choosing takes longer then I like,so I usual... » Read More

I made these before I broke my leg.  I learned how to do enamels in metal smithing class.  We had to get a kiln and clear space in the garage before I could start doing them at home.  This took a lot of time and I need to clear more space of course.  I've been experimenting with fire scale.  Fire scale is created on the uncovered enamels when fired.  It's oxidation of the metal.  Fire scale creates a  black outline.  Enamel tends to pull inward away from edges.  To get rid of it you need to clean the metal between firings.  You can keep fire scale by firing with clear flux over it.    I've found I like  fire scale and you can create ... » Read More

I just wanted to tell you how these earrings were made.  Forging just refers to shaping with a hammer.  First I use a bead reamer to widen the pearls.  I found out from a wire wrapping book that if you file or nick the medal in one small area you can make a sharp corner there.  Then I threaded the pearls onto the silver and then I hammered the ends.  file down the ends and I have the earrings.  These are my favorites.  I love the color.  I'm thinking of necklaces and earrings next.     I love these cascade earrings.  They are made by threading the bugle bead onto the headpins and bending the headpin,rounding it and threading it onto th... » Read More