Enamel Jewelry
© Laurien Ash
How I made my tear-drop necklace
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Laurien Ash, 13 year |
First I drew my design onto rough paper and looked at the colours I would like. I then drew my design on the computer in neat and printed it out. I found some silver sheet, cut out my paper design and stuck it on the sheet with glue. After sawing out the tear-drop shapes I filed the edges to make them neat, and drilled a little hole at the top. I put some flux (clear enamel) in a pot with a lid and then added water till it was 3/4 full, and shook it. I then poured all the water out, being careful not to let the flux tip out, and repeated the process. I did this to make sure that the flux was clean.
I found a thin paint brush, and put on the flux, which prevents an unwanted chemical reaction between the metal and the coloured enamel which might affect the colour. I made sure not to paint the flux on to the silver, but to do little blobs, and I pushed the flux from the middle to the edge. I left it to dry on top of the oven for at least half an hour, and when I was sure that it was dry, it was fired in the oven. I then put some glue in a pot and painted the tear-drop shapes on the side with flux on it. I then got the enamel powder and sprinkled it on lightly, using a fine meshed sieve, using a darker blue for the bottom and a lighter blue for the top. I let it dry on top of the kiln for at least half an hour, and then put it in the oven for 40 seconds.
I used tiny rings of silver and soldered it together when I had put the rings through the holes. I used different lengths of silver tube to separate the different tear-drops, and then I put it on a black rubber string.
