Torch fired enamel...

My first foray into torch-fired enamels. Yeah!  How much fun I had, and how much more fun I will have when I find more types of copper blanks and beads, and more enamel colors!  I especially love the cobalt blue.  It had a tendency to overpower the gentler colors.  I was a bit nervous about using a torch, but I had a clamp that securely attached the cannister to the table, and all I had to do was to turn on the gas and "whoosh" off we went on the enameling adventure. I can think of many ways to use the beads.  The long beads are refrigerator copper tubing that I cut with a pipe cutter and smoothed with a rasp.  I spent an hour and a half at the hardware store and now I know how men feel when they meander around a women's clothing store looking for something in particular, or any other store for that matter--EXCEPT for the hardware store.  They might not have any qualms about lawnmower or gun stores either... 
Anyway, there were lots of cute guys in there... ;) 
Thanks to Barbara Lewis at Jewelry of Distinction I got more than enough instruction to get myself going.  Thanks Barbara!  Check it out, you might get addicted! :-D