Advanced Sgraffito Technique Tutorial Released

Fifteen information packed pages of images and tips on how to make advanced, multi-colored designs in enamel with liquid porcelain, opaque and transparent enamel powders.  Find it in my Etsy shop today.

Advanced Sgraffito Techniques

I am working on an advanced sgraffito techniques tutorial that will cover combining liquid enamel with opaque and transparent enamels to achieve more complex designs and colorways.  Here are a few examples of the things that we will cover:

The tutorial is due to be released in my Etsy store towards the end of the week.  Stay tuned...

Sgraffito Enamel for Beginners

The latest My Brown Wren tutorial is now available on Etsy.  Sgraffito Enamel for Beginners is a PDF tutorial that takes the student step-by-step through this very easy and rewarding technique.  Learn how to use liquid enamel to create amazing designs and color those designs with transparent powdered enamels.

Some examples of what you can create...

New Jewelry Tutorials Available on my Etsy Shop

I've made a commitment to create more tutorials this year.  I recently created a video tutorial on riveting enamel.  In this tutorial I show several examples of heat rivets and cold rivets directly up against enamel and with a metal disc between the enamel and the rivet.  Riveting enamel is simple and easy with just a little practice!

My latest tutorial, Designs on Enamel, takes enamel to new heights with decals and direct image transfers.  Take your original artwork, print it on a special decal paper or print directly on a copy machine or laser printer to see your designs become permanently adhered to the enamel surface.  It's so cool! The image above on my riveting enamel video has been decorated with a decal.  The images below are both decals and direct image transfers.

My next tutorial, that I'm working on right now, is on Sgraffito Enamel Techniques in Enamel.  It should be complete in the next few days.  Check back later if you are interested.

Art Jewelry Adventure Retreat Sales Begin Today!

Join me and 18 other teachers for this super cool event!  Retreat sales begin today.  If you register today, I'll send you one of my jewelry making tutorials for FREE!  This is where the fun begins!  Register Here!

I am teaching a class on how to make a pair of torch fired enamel earrings.  We will go through all of the steps to make the orange earrings in the picture below.  You can use these techniques to create your own version and post them online in the forums.

More About The Retreat

So many people have been asking about the art jewelry retreat.  It's not for sale just yet, it goes on sale October 25th.  But, if you want to know more, you can go to the teacher page to see who is teaching and what their projects look like.  There are 19 teachers and 24 videos.  More info will be available on the 25th.

If you want to register to win a free seat in the class, please fill out your name and email in my typeform.  You will be automatically registered to win, and I'll send you a link to the registration page once it is live.

Looking forward to working with you all on this fun project!

Check it out!

Win A Seat at an All Inclusive Online Art Jewelry Retreat

I'm teaching at an awesome new online event.  It's all inclusive, features loads of classes, teachers, activities and fun, and it goes on sale October 25th!  Want to WIN IT before you BUY IT?  Please SHARE MY POST on your favorite social media and enter to win here.  I'll tell you all about it!

Earring A Day Challenge

As you probably know, I've been participating in Victoria Takahashi's Earring-A-Day 2015 challenge.  This is one of those things that I've always wanted to do, but never quite been able to follow through on.  Well, I'm pretty far behind, but so are a lot of the members.  Some have just jumped into the challenge and we are almost at the third way marker.  I am so happy to be doing this.  It makes me think more creatively.  Knowing that others are having a hard time too is comforting.  We're in this together!

Why keep going you ask?  Well, I have the opportunity to connect with other jewelers in an open forum, which is not something that happens as a general rule.  We share what we've made and sometimes how we've made it.  We share our mistakes and our triumphs.  It's very supporting and spawns new ideas and pushes us personally to take our work up a notch.  The newest idea that has come about is to make earrings with what we have - not buying any new materials for the project.  I've been doing this for the most part.  The verbalization of the idea has made me think that I need to explore new materials in my studio - something I wouldn't normally use to make earrings.  I can't say I have any ideas yet, but the idea is in my mind now.  I'm really excited to see where it leads.

Here are a few of my recent earrings made from pieces and parts in my little parts drawers...

Blueschool Arts Gala

Saturday was the big Gala event at Blueschool Arts.  What's Blueschool Arts, you say?  It's this fabulous and fun place that I became a part of in August where my studio lives and where I teach jewelry making and other cool art classes.  I'm one of nine studio artists who have a studio there.  We are a gathering space for curious and creative exploration.  Cool tagline, huh!!??!!

So, I only have access to a couple photos of the event so far, and here they are...
 

The gal back center with the white paper in her hand is Karin Bolstad.  She is the Headmistress.  I'm her assistant, The Assistant Headmistress.  I like the title!  Together, and with the help of the other studio artists, we pulled off the not-to-be-missed event of the spring equinox.  It was pretty amazing to see so many people come out in support of this idea that we've birthed.

Artsy Swag Bags for the first 50 attendees

We have 23 classes up on the Blueschool website so far and plans are in the works for oh so many more!  I am super excited to be teaching quite a few of them, like Etching Metal Without Acid, Jewelry Making Basics with PMC, Charmulets: Personal Symbolic Talismans, Artisan Crafted Jewelry Findings, Texture Making in Clay,  Jewelry Making for Tweens and Teens and the ever popular Jewelry Salons.  So, if you live anywhere near Clinton, Washington, come on down for some fun and funky classes (not all of them jewelry making in nature).  I look forward to seeing you at Blueschool Arts one of these days!

Commissions

Some people don't like commissions.  They take a lot of extra time.  It's a lot of work...  I like them.  I get to explore ideas that I wouldn't necessarily think about without the input of another.  It's a wonderful opportunity to collaborate.  So much comes from a commission piece.  Relationships are built, new ideas are explored, old ideas are given voice.  It's so much fun!

For a very long time, I've been wanting to create a cedar frond pedant.  I've looked at the cedars on our property for mold making possibilities, but nothing ever worked out.  With the start of a new commission, I ventured off my property.  Yea!  I found an amazing cedar shrub at my new studio that was perfect for this project, and perfect for future projects.

I've learned new techniques with this commission project and past commissions.  It's so exciting to be given the opportunity to play and get paid for it.  Some might say that we aren't paid enough for commissions, but the skills learned from a commission are forever.  What price can you put on that?

Here are some views of the items I created with my experiments for this commission...

I am so happy with the work that has come out of this commission.  I feel like I have gained so much as a result!

Enamel Decal Examples

Today, in addition to getting packed for a show tomorrow, I finished those enamel decal pendants.  Here are a couple shots.  They came out great.

Enameling With Decals Update

I worked on a few more decals today for an upcoming show at Schack Arts Center.  It's this Friday from 12 to 6pm and Saturday from 10am - 5pm. There is a lot going on there!  Anyway, here a few process pictures...

Decal Sheet

As you can see, I made up a sheet with lots of duplicates.  I think this design will be popular!

Decal Soaking

You don't have to soak the decal for too long.  It is attached to the paper backing with some kind of adhesive.

Placing the Decal

Here I am sliding the decal off the paper backing onto the enamel disc.  It's pretty easy as long as you place a small bit of the decal on the enamel before removing the paper.  The decal plastic is very thin and likes to curl up on you.  Sliding it of of the paper with the disc immediately below it also minimizes bubbles and wrinkles.

Ready for Trimming

Now, you are ready for trimming.  Don't worry about a perfect trim.  You just want to get rid of most of the excess.  Once trimmed, recheck that you have no bubbles or wrinkles.

Drying

Now, this is the hard part...  Wait...  If you don't wait for the decals to dry overnight, you can have problems, like I mentioned in the previous post.

I'll share the finished product tomorrow...

How to Make Decaled Enamel Necklaces

I've been wanting to play with enamel decals ever since I took a class at The Ranch Center for Arts and Crafts with Gail Nelson.  She had cool sheets of zentangle drawings that she printed on waterslide decal paper.  That was almost 2 years ago.  Well, I've done it. The hardest part was finding the right laser printer.  I could have bought one, but my husband is always coming home with someone's cast offs.  We acquired an old HP printer that can't seem to print more than one sheet of something at a time.  It's bad for a business, but I can put up with that problem...  You can't use just any laser printer or photo copier.  The one you choose has to have iron oxide toner.  You can look at the MSDS sheet of the toner cartridge online.  Just Google it!

So, anyway, on to the details...  What's needed for this project is a sheet of copper that has been cut to your desired shape and drilled for a jump ring.  You will also need enamel, of course.  I like to enamel both sides in the same color.  After your shapes are enameled on both sides, clean your edges of all firescale.

For the decals...  I purchased mine at Delphi Glass.  The item you want is "fusing photo paper."  It comes in a 10 pack of 8.5" x 11" sheets.  Next, you'll need a black line drawing.  I created these zentangle designs on a heavy weight white sketchbook paper with a micron fine tip pen.  You want a crisp, clean line that doesn't bleed.  I made several sketches and scanned them into my computer.  With a photo editing software like Photoshop you can size your designs to the scale you are working at and duplicate them across your sheet.  I like to leave plenty of room around the design so that the decal can be cut just a bit bigger than the enameled piece.  If you cut close to your design and have a lot of room around it on your piece, depending on the color of enamel, you will see the outline of the plastic.  I found this out the hard way with bitter green.  The other colors I've worked with so far didn't seem to be a problem.

As for enamel colors that work with decals, you want to choose fairly light colors.  In the photo above, I chose two light colors and one medium one.  The lighter colors have the best contract with the sepia tones of the decals.

The application process is super easy.  Get a bowl of warm, clean water.  Place your decal, cut to size, in the water and make sure it is completely submerged.  Let it soak for a minute or two.  You'll know when it's ready if the decal can be slid off of the paper backing.  When your decal is ready, slide it off gently onto your enameled piece.  I like to get the enameled piece a little wet first before applying.  Smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles and dry with a paper towel.

Now, the hard part...  You have to let these puppies dry overnight.  Why you ask?  Because if you don't, the little bit of water that lies between the decal and the enamel will cause the surface of the enamel to pit and crease.  It's really a pain if that happens.  The pits and creases can be fired out, but you run the risk of losing the decal image.

Firing...  I fired my decals at 1450 degrees.  I don't use a timer.  I take them out when the kiln gets back up to 1450 - 1460.  At that point, the decal plastic has burned off and the iron oxide has fused to the enamel surface.  If you listen for it, at about 1340 degrees the decal plastic ignites.  You'll hear a little pop.  I have peaked in to see it and it's appalling.  You think your piece is ruined.  It's all black and yucky looking.  Just shut the door and wait for the kiln temp to get back up to 1450-1460.  The finished product is just minutes away.

When your item is completely cool, clean the firescale off of the edges.  Gently wipe a damp paper towel across the surface of the decal to see if it stays clean.  The decal is permanent if your paper towel remains clean with a good wiping.  Sometimes a faint tinge will appear, but with a little more aggressive scrubbing, there should be no more residue.  If you still get residue, refire.  Wait for the kiln to come up to 1470 this time.

Well, that's it!  I hope you have fun with waterslide decals!!!

Inspiration from New Friends

Recently, I received a phone call from a woman in the midwest.  She had been to our lovely island this past March and met 5 other women who shared a similar interest.  They are all writers.  They stayed at a very special place called Hedgebrook.  It's a wonderful little retreat center for writers.  I don't know much more about their story, except for a common desire of theirs.

The woman that called said they wanted to commemorate their time at Hedgebrook with an organic charm necklace.  My wheels immediately started spinning as she told me more about what they were looking for.  They wanted a charm with cedar or pine, an oyster or scallop shell and a charm with the word "WISH" on it.  After several back and forth emails with examples, I decided to make a few samples.

I've been wanting to make a charm with cedar on it for a long time, but the cedar boughs on the trees that surround my home are too big for a charm.  With a pair of scissors in hand, I set out from my studio to see what I could find there.  Fortunately, there are a pair of cedar shrubs that flank the studio entrance.  They are a bit different than the trees that grow wild here, in that the size and spacing of the "needles" is smaller and tighter.  It was an exciting find!

I set out to make a couple of silicon molds and cast a few pieces in silver.  It was so much fun to create these samples.  I also put together a bead cap for a little pearl.  It was an additional idea that they had after we started conversing.  I have a picture of the three samples that were sent to the group.

 

I don't usually make samples for a custom order, but I am so glad I did this time.  I love each of the charms and decided that the WISH charm/necklace was going to be mine - at least for a time.  I wore it to our First Saturday Artwalk at Whidbey Art Gallery last night and three of the gals from the Hedgebrook retreat were there.  They loved it!  It's so rewarding to see and idea become a reality and have it please the intended receiver!  Thank you Sheroes of Hedgebrook!

Being A Guest At The Freeland Art Studios

Last weekend was the first weekend of our local studio tour.  I was a guest at the Freeland Art Studios.  It was great to participate at such a creative venue.  It is home to several sculptors, a painter, and a jeweler.  I shared space in Sue Taves' studio with another guest artist, Dan Freeman.  Despite a lower than normal turnout, we had a really good time.

Here's a pic of my booth and tiny work space.  If you are in the area, we are open Friday through Sunday for the second and last weekend of the Whidbey Working Artists Summer Art Tour.  I will be doing demos throughout the weekend - both torch fired and kiln fired enameling.  Hope to see you!