Heart-A-Week for week of 6/19

Here is the piece I made for my first week of my Heart-a-week challenge. I will be keeping a photo documentary of all my completed pieces on my Flikr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64463502@N07/sets/72157627044417396/

I started by making a CopprClay sheet, using a texture plate and cutting out the heart shape with an X-acto knife. After coming out of the kiln, this is what I had.

I chose to use an opaque green enamel to fill in all the leaves.

Here is is before going into the kiln again to set the enamel.

I made a few polymer clay flowers ( a was aiming for something forget-me-not-ish).

Add some Pearl-Ex for a little color in the center.....

Voila, a finished Pendant!

Here is the completed necklace.

New Year's in June

Well, it's a new beginning for my jewelry. I've opened a new Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/treasuredtoad ) and started a new blog. I used to have a glassworking studio where I made Lampwork beads, but after our move from PA to New York two years ago and going back to work full time, I was forced to put my glasswork on hold. Last year, I got back into jewelry making, now using Metal Clay and metalworking techniques. Thus Treasured Toad Designs was born!

While surfing other jewelers' blogs (which I do religiously...I LOVE seeing what other people are creating!) I came across several people who were participating in a daily/weekly art project (http://tada365.blogspot.com/). Basically, they committed to making one piece in their chosen medium weekly (or for the truly dedicated daily!!).  With the time I have to commit to jewelry, I knew I couldn't do a daily piece. I am, however, going to work on a weekly piece. I chose Hearts as my theme, so I will do a Heart-a-Week. Having a single theme will allow me to (I hope) focus on technique rather than trying to come up with an inspiration for each piece. I know I'm jumping in at the 1/2 way mark, but better late than never.