Using borax and heat to color copper. I think the best part is watching the borax dance around the metal.

Trying to up my technological skills!! I did it all on my phone and edited as well using iMovie! It was very exciting!

A good part of the process was not melting my phone!!

The main ingredients:
The proper printer and the proper decals.
I use an HP LaserJetP1102w. The toner cartridge is 85A. Pretty much any printer that uses an 85A cartridge should work for the decals. If you look at the MSDS sheet of a particular type of toner you can find out the percentage of iron ferrite in it. Below is what you are looking for. Ferrite is an ingredient of toner, powdered iron, at high temperatures in the presence of air, it will become iron oxide. For example, the Lexmark 260 MSDS listed the percentage of ferrite in the toner as 7-13%, where the HP is 45%, giving it more durability. I have only used the 45% one. (Thanks to Ed Lay for that info!)

For this sample I used Thompson's 1020 unleaded titanium white. (Counter enamel just like you would do for anything else you enamel. I don't always counter enamel) The decals show up better on a lighter enamel, but of course it depends on what you want and I always feel it's a good thing to experiment. Opaques and transparents will both work, it will just be a different look. You can also enamel on top of the decal, but too many firings will eventually burn out the decal, at least it will with the torch, not sure about kiln-firing.

After printing your sheet of decals, cut out the one that will fit on your metal, and drop it into some water. I did use a decal with white backing instead of clear, only because I just wanted to get something quick so I could take some pictures... after all it is Friday night and I said I would do this at the end of the week... some people consider Sunday the end of the week... It doesn't really matter how long you leave it in the water, but you want it in there long enough to get the decal to slide off of the backing paper, maybe a minute. It won't hurt it to be in there longer. Put the decal ink-side down on the metal (the backing paper will be on top) and slide the backing off of the decal. If you ever made models as a kid or with your kids and put the decals on the models, it's the same process. The decal can still be moved around on top of the enamel so you can place it where you want. Some people suggest letting it dry over night, or for a couple of hours on top of a kiln, but I don't have the patience for that... I'll dry it a bit with a heat gun, (be careful not to get it too hot, you just want to evaporate the water) then push out any air bubbles with a piece of cardboard or a paper towel. Air bubbles will cause pinholes in the decal, which can be cool, or not. I used to obsess about popping all the bubbles with a needle, but it never really seemed to work... I find that heating it slowly with the torch, even if it bubbles up gives me pretty good results. It takes a lot of practice.

On the decal below, you can see parts of the image are light brown. That part wasn't fired into the enamel long enough. However, I like the way it looks, so I left it. And that's pretty much how you do it.

I do a lot of torch fired enameling. I like the colors you can get with enamels, but a lot of the time I think of enamels as a patina. Not trying to get a solid even color, but a color mixed in with metal, leaving a more weathered, aged look. The benefit of using enamels in this way is that the look is relatively permanent. I don't need to seal it in any way.

BUT one of my favorite things to do is experiment. AND patinas on metal just cry out to be experimented with. You also have to give way to complete control when experimenting with patinas. For me, part of the fun is seeing what happens when you mix it all up. (Also when experimenting with patinas, it is a good idea to be sure to wear the proper protective equipment – goggles, gloves, dust or fume masks, etc.)

I like to collect patinas. That means when I'm doing other processes like etching or pickling, I can't help but notice the reactions on the metal when I leave a piece out (for a long time - I'm a little sloppy!) after etching and noticing the natural patina it has. So I gather the materials that created that look and match them up in different ways. I have an old plastic muffin tin (is it still called a tin if it's made out of plastic?) and I'll put the bits I have left over or mix up some new combos. Later I'll add water and paint them on metal.

On June 2, 2014, I journeyed up to the Richmond Art Center with Mary Luke for a 5-day  'Radical Enameling' workshop with Andrew Kuebeck. This workshop was the first in a series of radical enameling workshops put on by the new Center for Enamel Arts, founded by Judy Stone. It was well worth the time and money to take a class beyond the basics of enameling - doesn't seem like there are a lot of those available.

I don't want to bore you with the details of the trip... however the details of the trip aren't boring, so I'm going to tell you anyway!

For our first stop along the way, Mary took us to the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond. It was awesome! So thoughtfully done and very interesting. Definitely worth checking out.

We enjoyed our tapas and sangria, then went about 2 blocks to the lecture. We climbed lots of stairs to get there... we knew we were a little late so we weren't surprised to see people already listening to Andrew's lecture. After a few minutes, Mary realized that the present slide said 'Thank You' and proceeded to guess that we had just missed his entire lecture. She was right. At least the tapas and sangria were good!

Ok, that's it for Part 1. I know a lot of you are waiting for the decal information... don't worry it will be in Part 2. Just enjoy the ride!

I've gotten deeply into making these loop-in-loop chains. I use 16 gauge copper, anneal it and wrap it around a brass tube. I use my flex shaft with a cutting disc to cut the coil. I fuse each piece to make a jump ring. Using a pair of round nose pliers I elongate the ring into an oval and then pinch the middle. I anneal the pieces again, then fold them over; then link them together. I push a tapered center punch through each link to make them even and usually anneal them again so that the chain will move freely. I sand any rough edges, then polish parts of the chain.

It's quite time consuming but also very addictive and meditative. 

What are your photography secrets?! Any tips, tricks, what works best for you, what doesn't? How often do you photograph your work? Do you have an expensive set-up or a homemade one. Your best piece of advice for photographing jewelry. Show us some of your best photos.

I'm a metal smith. I make jewelry and small sculptural pieces. I'm not a photographer. But I need to take pictures of my work and it's expensive to have to keep paying someone else to do it and I'm not usually happy with the results. So out of necessity, I've had to learn to photograph my work. It's been a long process (and I'm not done yet!) I did take a couple of photography classes in college, but that was a long time ago in the days of actually putting film in your camera.

It's hard with jewelry, because what works well with one piece doesn't necessarily work well with others. I use PhotoShop to add backgrounds, adjust the exposure, contrast and clean up any dirt and dust. The one thing I'd really like to learn is to do gradients using lighting and the camera... my brain can't seem to get a grip on that yet!

To see more photography tips, check out other 
Etsy Metal members here:
Lou Hunter
Laura Jane Bouton 
Mary Anne Karren
2Roses 
Chrysoula 
Nodeform
Deborah Lee Taylor
Abella Blue

The suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.

I think about this topic a lot. I think about it when I watched 'The People vs. Larry Flynt.' I think about it when I listen to Eminem. I think about it when I'm watching Amy Shumer or Sarah Silverman. They all address social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion. Personally, I like that. It makes you think. It makes you more open-minded. It helps you accept people that might be different than you.

I think about it when I'm trying to decide if I should really call my fold-form rings 'Dangerous Vaginas. I probably censor myself more than I would really like to. I don't want to say whatever I want, whenever I want, in front of whoever I want. But I do want to say what I want , somewhere, and in front of someone.

 I think people should be able to express themselves. I prefer it when it is meaningful. But I don't think that should be a criteria for it. Just my personal preference. Although, I can also appreciate it , when it's not meaningful.

It's also that 'objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient' is pretty subjective. Who is deciding that? As an adult, I feel that I can decide that for myself.

Leave a comment if you think about this topic.