Craft Enabled, Domestically Disabled

Enameling in progress.

Second enamel pendant.

I can't explain why I am doing a guitar, really. It's partially done.

Another enameling piece done.

It's prettier in person, I think.

Two more classes to go and I need to think of another design to do...

Back in enameling again.

I think I am going to try to make a pendant based off of this photo. I can't keep the colors exact because we don't have that much selection in class, so it'll probably be more blue and purple.

My enameling class is done, and so are my pieces.

Voila.

More from enameling class.

Argh, it looks like I need to re-upload my finished tower pendant (which I am wearing today, thank you!), because I saved the wrong one here. But I can still show you the seascape pendant I am working on, because I got to the point of putting wire onto it.

The green in the back is supposed to represent seaweed, btw.

I'm amazed I got the fish to come out as well as I did, particularly that shark. Coolness. HOPEFULLY I can finish off the sucker in our last class.

More enameling!

I got a lot done in class last week, with two layers of enamel on by the end of the night. It took longer than last time because of all the colors.

On the left is how the piece looked after the first layer (I was supposed to put a whitish layer of clear on before doing the orange and yellow). It looks really pretty after the second layer, though I am sad the purple butterfly now looks black. It still needs a few more layers though, even though it looks done from this picture.

Everyone in class keeps comparing this to "The Little Prince," somehow.

Tonight's enameling was fun!

Ironically, after spending special time on the weekend cutting metal and flattening wire and taking an hour to drill a hole in the metal (with, as it turned out, the wrong drill bits)...I couldn't use any of my work, because apparently enamel needs pure silver and the CC apparently doesn't sell it! Dammit!

Oh well, at least prepping it the second time was a lot shorter. Not to mention using the right drill bits.

But after that was done, enameling was QUITE fun. I've got the back and front enameled now in a beautiful blue.

On the left here is the approximate Tower drawing I did for the pendant, planning on leaving a few bits out depending on space.

And here's what I've got- I've pretty much done the wire bending for the piece, but I ran out of time to glue it. Doesn't it look cool already?! I'm so excited. If it comes out well this may be my favorite jewelry piece ever.

Oddly enough, this went so fast, I may need to think of ANOTHER project for this class!

Enameling class

Okay, I don't know if enameling exactly counts as "metalsmithing," but at the moment I don't feel like making a separate category for discussing it.

Anyway, I signed up for an enameling class. I had reservations about it because well, I am not great at metalsmithing, hate soldering, etc.,....but this class looks like it won't be nearly as bad as that. Not all that hard at all, really. A whole lot of putting enameling powder on and then in the kiln. And all you have to do for cloisonne is to take regular wire, flatten it, bend it about, and glue it on to the piece! No soldering! Awesome!

So I'm pretty excited.

I made a necklace awhile back with tarot card pendants. I wanted a Tower pendant, but none were on sale anywhere. But recently I found two. I'm thinking for my enameling project, I may make my own Tower card, out of enamel.

Craft bitching, part 2.

So, my wanting to do kumboo is going to be a colossal pain in the ass, I can tell.

Ordering a thin enough gold sheet was heinous. It seems the only place one can do that is AllCraft. Which, as you can tell from the link I posted here, is REALLY BLOODY NOT EASY TO DO. Even besides the fact that they can't figure out how to turns the caps button off, look at that order page: you have NO IDEA what they have to offer, or at what price. You have to call them up already knowing EXACTLY what you want ahead of time, and order flat blind. This really ticks me off. My teacher told me exactly what to get, what size sheet, and what cost ($48 *choke*), and it was still a pain to order blind here.

And then there's the cutting-the-gold issue. I don't want to screw up the gold by cutting with my own scissors (hell, I don't cut paper right all the time), so I want shaped hole punches. But I can't find tiny moon and star hole punches sold separately in this area. I could have bought a pack of 8 punches for $18 and have used ONE (it didn't even have both a moon and star in it) at Michael's, but declined in hopes that I could find what I wanted online. But the ONE online site I found that sold both of them for cheap? Won't sell you any order smaller than $40 *choke*. Since I don't scrapbook (if I'm going to spend that much time decorating, it's going on my wall, dammit, not in a book), this is useless to me.

GRRRRRRRRRRR. I wanted this by next Monday (i.e. probably when I'll have the gold and have the metal ready to stick the gold to), but I don't think it's gonna happen. I could try the Richard's in my parents' neck of the woods next weekend when I'm home because they have scrapbooking crap and might have the stamps, but still, that's wasting a week of class just to "hope" they have them, you know? Or spending even more of a fuckload of money for this. Or just cutting tiny objects with large scissors and hoping I don't bugger up.

ARGH!

Anyone know of somewhere online where I can buy these things without having to buy a ton of other crap too? Please?