Lu and Me....

It is not often that you get the chance to meet someone that you have gotten to know through the exchanges that you have in the world of beads and jewelry. I was very fortunate this week to get to know Lu Tremont from CiaoLucia. We spent the afternoon discussing.....

............ beads, of course.

We also discussed enameling techniques since I just started enameling using the method that I learned from Barbara Lewis. Lu has been enameling for quite some time. She uses the kiln method.

And....guess what else!!

Look at these beautiful earrings..... I absolutely LOVE them. She brought them for me as a gift along with a bottle of my favorite wine!  How great is that?  I've already worn them a couple of times and not only are they very comfy, but I've already gotten numerous compliments.... and God know I love compliments ;o) LOL!

..... Check out Lu's shop. Her work is fabulous. I wish I would have thought to take pictures of all the the beautiful pieces that she brought for me to see in person.

If you ever get the chance to spend some time with someone who shares the same interest as you, I would highly recommend it. The afternoon was not enough time to spend together to share all that we wanted to share with each other.

I couldn't let her leave without some pictures.  This is us in front of Bill's wood-fire kiln.  Jake and Buddy were interested in staying close by, as you can see.....

There did come a point, however, that I had to say,  "Ciao Lucia!"

Get it?  I know.... corny......

~Thanks for reading~

MaryAnn

Enameling Really is Fun!!!

In case you missed this post on LMAJ, I'm including it here on my personal blog as well....

So, I'm new to this enameling art and I've got to say I am really enjoying it.  What I think I like the most is that I can create pendant style pieces to coordinate with my ceramic beads.  I've decided to keep this a "semi" silent tutorial ;o)  ...one without words.....  one where I hope the pictures say all of the words.... 

If they don't, however, please feel free to leave a comment asking me anything that you have a question on.  I will be happy to answer asap.

The earrings....

They are reversible if you know how to switch around the ear wire.  If you like the side with a more solid color look like this....

or....  the backside like I prefer....

just simply reverse the ear wire and you have an entirely new set!

The style below is made in the same way, but I've kept this set closer to the actual enamel colors before I decided to use my artistic license with the torch ;o)

Let's get started....

I guess I will add a few words here for safety reasons:

Please keep in mind that the set up that I have include fire bricks which are the same bricks used to build my husband's wood-fire kiln.

Repeat until you get the desired colors.

Some smaller steps were left out.  Please feel free to ask if there is anything that you want to know. You can leave a comment and I will respond or contact me at artisanbeadsplus@gmail.com

Please check out the following sites for more about enameling:

http://paintingwithfireartwear.com

http://paintingwithfire.etsy.com

Here is are a couple of great tutorials by Barbara Lewis:

http://www.youtube.com/user/babsadoodle123

http://www.youtube.com/user/babsadoodle123#p/a/u/2/L9Zr-6D9FnY

~thanks for reading~

MaryAnn

I am soooooo learning....

and I love the enameled copper with my porcelain beads.  They seem to work for me.  Today, I had the time to make some gifts and also a pair of earrings that I will be listing in my etsy shop.

and.... I made the earrings below to donate to our domestic violence shelter. 

Check out LMAJ to learn a little more about that.

~thanks for reading~

MaryAnn