Updates of Pixieprincess.com

Well, if you know me well, have heard the story, read the article, or just know my entertaining use of language, you can fill in the blank.  Otherwise, make up your own entertaining title and swear you know it’s true.
I’ve been off the blog map for a bit, mostly due to moving. The studio is mostly back up and running.  I hope to have plenty of new pieces/stories/pics to share soon! 
My most recent pieces are opal.  The first is a simple set of rectangular cobalt enamel on copper earrings bezel set in sterling silver.  I fused a bezel for the opal into the enamel and set the opal over the enamel.  The slight translucency of the opal allows the cobalt to show through as well as act as a mirrorback for the opals’ fire. Oooooooo!

The second opal I cut back in Ohio in the summer of 2005.  It’s a brown boulder opal which is seriously messy to cut, but, Boy-o!, is it fun!  Through the wet brown muck on your hands suddenly flashes of color from the exposed precious opal come into view. Each second it changes shape and more or less peeks its way through.  The fabulous “crack”* of precious opal that heads straight towards the point only showed itself in the final sanding and polishing steps. Score.
I decided to set it with a piece of silver scribble and do a sparkly (but sort of matte) Mizzy wheel texture.
 
~margarita

*You know how punny I am. It had to be done:)

I finished my sea critter earrings today!  They turned out prety schwank, IMHO. I’m having a helluva time photographing the glass though… Guess I’d better see if I can sweet talk someone into borrowing their cloud dome.
 


Initially, the shark was my least favourite, but after many layers I feel the simple colors really pop and he’s just, well, neat!  The other two darkened quite a bit in the orangey tones due to the many more times they went into the kiln.  (I should have known better, as oranges and reds never hold up, but I thought this color was yellow enough to withstand the heat. d’oh!)The starfish got so dark that I had to add yellow and orange mica powder to brighten them up! oy!  I think it saved them though.  Here’s a few pics with less reflection.
The backs have small pierced out images of a shark fin in waves, starfish, and bubbles respectively. 
    

And just ’cause:

Oh no! Domo-kun eats shark!
~margarita

Today is the first warm day in my studio since we’ve moved here.  So what do I do, well, turn on the kiln of course!
I finally remembered to dome my fine silver blanks for the earrings I’ve had planned. I kept bringing them to work to dome with tools borrowed from zee boss, and then forgetting to do them! d’oh!
Now there are three earrings sets started. Yay!
I’m working on some creatures of the sea in the hopes of getting them in to some coast galleries and just ’cause I likes sea critters.  It also doesn’t hurt that I have some wicked awesome blues in my enamel palette.

Adam’s peanut butter is essential to the enameling process, BTW.

This is how far I got today before my back started getting cranky:P

The Garibaldi fish makes me giggle.
~m