Finger Injury

All that protection for nothing! I sliced my thumb today while using a box cutter to get some zip ties off of a bottle of round-up. Boy, that'll teach me to do yard work! It would be cooler if it was a metalworking injury, at least legit. But no, just a dumb old box cutter. I have to say that this does make work a bit more difficult. So a warning to all you enamelists and crafters out there, Beware the Box Cutter! Keep Creating :)

Practicing Safe Grinding

My least favorite part of making a cloisonné piece is the grinding step of the finishing process. This is because I grind each piece by hand with diamond files and sand paper. This is all well and good except I always end up grinding my fingers along with the enameled piece! This makes for raw spots that are quite painful. But yesterday I had a revelation! I used finger tape while grinding and it worked like a charm. The finger tape I used doesn't stick to your skin, just to itself so no sticky fingers afterward. You'd think I would have figured this out a long time ago, but alas we discover things in our own good time. The next upgrade for my grinding process will be a wet belt grinder. They are a bit pricy, so it may be a while. Until next time, Keep Creating :)

Fusing fine silver

Fusing fine silver is part of the job description of any enamelist. I love using Lillian Jones' Blue Fuse (http://store.ornamentea.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=bedizen&Product_Code=BLUEF). This is a great way to add granulation or fuse sheet an wire without needing a scary hot torch. I've been able to use my mapp gas torch this far :) One of these days I'll move to the garage and get a big girl acetylene torch. Keep Creating :)