Enamelled feather

Thought you might like to see what I've been working on. I found a feather in one of my craft boxes, drew it then cut it out of copper foil and enamelled it. I was really pleased with the result, it's the first time i've done anything like this before. I nearly ruined it though as I was showing someone and then dropped it. Thankfully it didn't crack apart from a very small piece of enamel on the reverse side where it had hit the floor. I popped it back in the kiln and it seems as good as new.

Buttons and pendant designs

While I was blogging I thought I'd share a few pics with you. These are some enamelled buttons I made, not the best picture I must say but the buttons looked really nice when I'd finished them.

These pendants are designs I did based on the work of Gustav Klimt. The one on the right wasn't quite finished. I painted this one with enamel overglaze paints after it had a base coat fired onto it a couple of times and then I re fired it several more times to get the colours right.

Element fixed

Well here we are into February already. I got my element fixed in the kiln - it was quite amazing. A chap had been on a course a few months ago and he popped in with his wife and grandson to pick up a few enamels. He's worked with kilns and when I told him about mine was only to happy to lend a hand and put the element in for me. He was a God send as I was wondering how I'd manage to do it, I didn't want to do anymore damage which is probably what I would have done. It's been one of those weeks. Read about it on my daily blog and you'll understand what I mean. I had 5 lovely ladies in this morning making pendants. They were such fun and enjoyed every minute of it. Pics will be coming soon. I've gained some shelves off someone that was throwing theirs out, really good condition so I've had a move round and hopefully later in the year will be able to get a good run of work surface. I've only been in the unit 11 months but it's taking shape. It's fairly quiet up at the craft centre and with the snow we've had I think it's been quieter during the week. Hopefully it will pick up when the warmer weather gets here.

Kiln trouble

I had a lovely workshop on Saturday with 3 lovely people, Lynne, Andrew and Val. They were such fun and they made some lovely pieces of jewellery. I took photos on my mobile and must try and work out how to get them straight onto my computer without having to put them onto a disk first.
We got halfway through the course and then almost a catastrophe - the temperature of the kiln suddenly dropped and it just wouldn't heat up again. Thankfully I had another kiln which didn't take long to heat up and we managed to finish the course, albeit a little late. Lynne had to drive all the way back to Huddersfield which must have been tiring for her.
Well it turned out that the element has gone on the kiln. I've ordered another one from my supplier who assures me it is easy to fit (I am not an engineer but how hard can it be - we shall see) and hopefully it will be here in the next couple of day.

2009 - my creative year

It was busy with the run up to Christmas and I just didn't seem to have time to blog and here we are now firmly settled into 2009. I've decided this is my year to be creative and to break free of my safety zone of just doing jewellery. I'm going to try different things this year and will hopefully find the time to post some pics too. I've just finished what is meant to be an enamelled feather. I had a lovely turquoise feather in one of my boxes so I made a sketch and then cut the shape out of copper foil. I shaped the edges a little and then enamelled with several layers of transparent and opaque colours. It turned out better than I thought and hopefully I'll be able to put a pic up soon.
I've got several workshops running over the next month and am looking forward to going away to conference with the Guild of Enamellers in April. It's up in a York so should prove a lovely weekend.

Not just double booked but triple!!

Well, Saturday went better than I expected after I realised I'd triple booked. I had someone coming in to make a brooch at 10 o clock, someone booked on a whole day course at 11 o clock and I had 3 children booked in at half two to make pendants for mum. Girl on the whole day course turned up at half 9 - she'd come all the way from Pembrokeshire so I offered her a cup of tea and told her of my mix up. She was really sweet and said she didn't mind at all. Maria arrived 15 mins earlier as I'd told her and Ros they could have a cup of tea before the craft units opened - Ros has a unit opposite - called Orchard Crafts. All went well and we got the brooch started, then Sophie joined in for her day course then Michelle arrived with the 3 children at half 12 I'd obviously put wrong time down but it worked OK. Sophie went for lunch, Michelle and the children made pendants which turned out great and then Sophie and I carried on with her course. Turned out she was a Christian so we had a lovely chat about the Lord and I'm guessing that's why she wasn't put out by any of the triple booking. She made some lovely pieces but unfortunately I forgot to take photos of them or I could have shown you. I was extremely tired when I'd finished for the day but had really enjoyed it all.

I'm busy doing workshops!!

I had expected it to be fairly quiet workshop wise in the run up to Christmas but its been busier than I thought; so much so I'm worried that I've got my wires crossed this weekend and may have booked more people in on one day than I should have. I forgot my diary and think I've double booked. If I have I'm hoping it will all work out if I take a later lunch.

I taught my first art clay silver course a couple of weeks ago. I only had 2 people on it as I wasn't sure how it would work out but Gaynor and Ann said they'd have a really enjoyable day. They were so pleased with the pieces they made and we even managed to enamel one of Gaynor's pieces. Once I get my pics transferred to the computer I'll let you see them. I'll be advertising some new courses in the new year.

I'm busy trying to update my web site but as I am no expert on computers it's proving more difficult than I thought. I just can't seem to get my new pages uploaded in place of the old one so I'm off to have another try.