My summer went form cottaging, to making art in Phoenix, to a road trip to Nova Scotia, then to preparing for back to school. I am just now finding the time to lift my head up to breathe.
AND I misplaced my camera sometime/somewhere while I was in / or on the way home from Nova Scotia. I don't really think that it is LOST... just in a bag somewhere. I hope. My iphone doesn't interface well with my new computer (darn Microsoft, or Apple, or whoever is involved in that catastrophe), so I rely on my pocket camera. I have a big Nikon, but I don't often travel with it.....
OH, I JUST FOUND IT! HURRAY!
Where was I? When I left off (in July!) I was in Phoenix, taking a class from the lovely Jane Lafazio.... the next day I took a fabulour copper enameling class from
Melissa Manley. Those of you who know me really well, might know that I used to TEACH copper enameling (at a summer camp... a really long time ago -- just before the lovely Miss L was born). So, it has been a while since I've made anything. And, when I used to enamel, I did it in a kiln. Melissa taught us to use a torch. A creme brule torch (other people told me that I had to have a "real" torch -- propane or MAP -- but apparently they were wrong :)
See Melissa's Jewelery Lab book here. I own it. I love it.
I made some really pretty little flower beads (copper)... but of course I still haven't strung them. Soon. Maybe :). Here is what it will look like (the flowers are just lying on top of the chain. I still have to rivet the flowers to their bases. That's why I'm not finished. Too lazy to rivet.
I also was able to repair an enameled heart that I made in a class a few years ago. I banged it into something and the enamel chipped off. The repair was much easier that I thought.
The verdict on Melissa's class? Perfect!
Will I enamel again? Definitely.
(Hello? Santa? Enamel powders please?)