After pics

Sadness! I was so excited to see how these pendants would turn out that I could hardly wait to open the kiln. But once I did open it I was very disappointed. The mica was burned out and the dichroic shriveled. Lesson learned. I’ll run the kiln cooler next time.

Before pics

The next batch of pendants is in the kiln! I adjusted my fusing schedule, so hopefully these will turn out much better than the last batch. And this time I only have 5 in there. Below you’ll see the before pics. I’ll be waiting anxiously for the after view tomorrow!

Fused pendants

Here are the pics of today’s pendants.

Surprises

Well, here you will see the slightly disappointing results of last night’s kiln run. After doing potmelts for a couple of weeks, I naturally felt that i was an expert in all things fusing. 🙂 So i decided to try a bunch of fused glass pendants using different materials. Unfortunately most of them are not pretty, and I am reminded that I am still a newbie after all. All the more reason to keep experimenting!

Pot melts

I love pot melts! I have teeny tiny pots from JoAnns, and I load them up with small pieces of tested compatible art glass. I heat the glass in my kiln to 1650 degrees and the glass melts through the hole in the bottom. As it melts, the glass swirls around and makes beautiful, unpredictable patterns. The pieces get ground to a circle or oval, and then are melted again. Then I put on a bail and they are ready to go!

Isn’t it amazing…

…how one little piece of jewelry can make you feel so pretty? I, sadly, have generally been terrible about wearing my own jewelry, but last week I decided I needed to start. Luckily, I already had some pieces made that match clothes for work, so Monday I was off to my first day of school sporting a lovely little black laboradorite and pewter bracelet.

Black labradorite and pewter bracelet

Suddenly I felt like a college teacher again, and not the stay-at-home mommy I’ve been all summer. I felt more confident and ready to face the world. I felt even better about it because I made it myself. For those of you who don’t wear jewelry often, try it sometime- for a date, an event, or just to make yourself feel better.
Check out my galleries for other jewelry you might enjoy!

Wearing my own jewelry

I was getting ready to start back to work the other day, and I realized that I didn’t have any of my own jewelry to wear. I have been trying to make the jewelry to fit other people and to sell, without making any to fit me. So I decided my current goal is to have jewelry to wear with my various outfits for work. Who else will want to wear my jewelry if I don’t wear it myself?

My Studio

I’m very excited that at long last I have a jewelry studio! Our 3.5 car garage is huge and we were able to build a room there and still have room to park the cars. I’m very excited to have a place to work, with a door, so I won’t have to worry about the dog or children getting hurt on bits of glass. I can also leave it however messy I want, close the door, and not have to look at it.
Here are some pics:

This is the left side of the studio looking in from the door. It is currently my metalsmithing and storage area. Eventually the cabinets will come out and I will do beadmaking on this side with a torch.

Left side of studio

This is the right side, which holds my kiln and other glass tools.

Right side of Studio

This is my kiln, which I can finally use after leaving it sitting for a year. Inside are my first fusing projects- some pendants made out of a Martinelli’s sparkling cider bottle.

Here are the first pieces I fused in the kiln

I’ll post again after I finish turning those glass pieces into jewelry!

test

Black labradorite and pewter bracelet

Bracelets

Black labradorite and pewter bracelet