Ethan the baby owl

Thought I would introduce Ethan to you all - he is Molly's baby nephew (you can find pictures of saucy Molly a few posts back). I did this enamel pendant for our lapidary club showcase, which will be entered into an upcoming lapidary competition. The pendant was made with a piece of copper which I cut out, then applied enamels using various techniques including cloisonne and overglaze painting enamel. It's hard to photograph because of the glassy surface. I have actually turned it into a wire-wrapped pendant and submitted it for the showcase, but I'm not totally happy with how I wrapped it (I ran out of time and was rushing to get it done). Will fiddle with it a bit more and take a photo to show you when I get in back. The pendant is about 5-6cm in length, and just in case you're wondering, the name Ethan came from my little nephew who was born just over a month ago. I love owls and will no doubt make more owl jewellery, hopefully using different techniques and media.

A few scrolled enamel pendants

Haven't posted anything for a little while as I and hubby have just returned from a trip to Krakow, Poland. Had a fantastic time there and bought some gorgeous amber beads and cabochons. Will show you some photos later.

Anyhow, thought I'd post a few scrolled enamel pendants which I made sometime ago. At one stage, I was a bit obsessed with making scrolled enamel pieces. They're not really that tricky to make - you just have to add piles of enamel powders onto a copper plate, melt them in the kiln, open the kiln door and scroll them quickly with a long pointy metal stick to create the patterns. As there is very little time to scroll before the molten enamels harden, and some colours burn out easier than others, however, the results are quite unpredictable, and it's impossible to create two pieces that are exactly the same. I guess it's this unpredictability and my quest for the perfect patterns that got me hooked on to this technique. As a result, I've accumulated a nice little collection of scrolled enamel plates, some of which I turned into pendants using beading and wire wrapping techniques. I have now got over this obsession and moved on to something else. Again, please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.