Learn Something New

I love learning new techniques and as soon as I learn them, I want to teach them.

I want everyone to get as excited as I do about what you can bring into being with your own two hands and 1500 degrees of heat.

Painted Enamel Pennies

I made these enameled discs out of pennies during a class at the Philly Bead Fest.  I went down just for this class, but I really want to go back again in August to soak in as much as I can.

These are made by first enameling the copper penny (made prior to 1981 when they were still made of copper) with a base coat-here we used white enamel. After you have the white base,  you then paint with acrylic enamels and water to get the beautiful patterns.  No two ever look exactly alike, which I love about them.

You use a torch when enameling these and although it can be a little intimidating at first, it's really very fun once you get used to it.  You just need to have constant vigilance so as not to scald yourself...

If you're interested in learning more about enameling, my most excellent teacher was Stephen James and he has a great video tutorial on enameling here.

I know this is something I will have to teach others-I need people to play with!