MUS? Who is MUS?

Last Christmas I received a package of bronzclay and the container and charcoal I needed to fire the stuff.

Basically, Bronzclay is clay, until you fire it.  Then, it's bronze.  Real bronze.  I'd had success (and fun) with the fine silver version (PMC 3), and I was really excited about the bronze.

Made with PMC 3

Unfortunately, the bronzclay is a bit different than the PMC 3.  For one thing (one very big thing) instead of being minutes to fire, it was hours, many hours, 9 hours... it requires ramping the temp up slowly over six hours, then holding that temp for three.  My kiln does not have a controller.  It has a dial that has some numbers and "low, medium, high" and it has a pyrometer that shows me the temperature, but there is no way to set a specific temperature and hold it.

So, for 9 hours, I need to keep an eye on it, tweak the dial, try to get it to ramp up without getting too hot too fast, or too slow... then keep it at the right temp for the last 3 hours.

So, day one, I made the cute little bronze bowl, and let it dry, and day two, I fired it.  And I was doing great, until, okay, so maybe, a bit past six hours... I may have wandered off for a few...

It overheated.

My bowl smooshed and strange crystals formed on the back.  Interesting, but not exactly what I had in mind.

My husband Gary, having seen me spend many hours on this odd little object, looked at it and said,

"parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus"

(Yes, I live with a man who randomly speaks medieval Latin.  You get used to it.)

What does that mean? 

"The mountain goes into labor, and there is born a ridiculous mouse."

And well, there it is.  I'm starting to sign my stuff MUS (Latin for mouse) and build a business identity around The Ridiculous Mouse.  
It just... fits.  So much time and effort... power tools, insanely hot fire... and in the end, I have a dainty little thing.  Sometimes, a pretty silly dainty little thing.  

Oh, and as for the bronzclay?

Um, okay... well... still working on that...

Jewelry Class

The Ridiculous Mouse would like to encourage people in the Green Bay area to sign up for the "advanced" jewelry night class at NWTC. It's not really advanced, it's very informal and mostly self-paced, so it's good for beginners too.  Students of all levels are welcome.


It's Monday nights 6:30-9:20, from 11/16-12/14 and it's only $60.10. For about $3 an hour, you can learn to polish stones, work with metals, or both.  It's also great for experienced people who want access to tools and equipment.  I'm one of the regulars myself.


It's a great way to make someone something special for Christmas.


Class# 81922. Registration phone # 920-498-5444.

In the Beginning...

Hello and welcome to my blog about the things I make.

I plan to use this blog to offer informational posts about the types of work that I do... also some progress updates, photos, links.  Mostly I'm hoping to use this as a way to offer additional information about the hows and whys of what I do.

My primary interests are in enameling and jewelry-making, small sculpture, and decorative objects.

My materials are enamel (glass fused to metal), copper, silver, gold, semi-precious and not-so-precious stones, iron, steel, the precious metal clays, and all kinds of other materials.

I am fairly new to this, and in the learning process.  Some of my work that I hope to offer for will be simple, classic, with a focus on good technique and craftsmanship.  The only way to really develop this type of skill, is to do, and do and do it over and over again, until my hands know, and muscle memory takes over.

I also plan to do crazy experimental things that are impractical, time consuming, and expensive to make.  They maybe be a bit pricey, or not offered for sale at all.

Here are some examples of my stuff so far:

Cliche Bracelets

The cliche bracelets are made from copper strips stamped with letter stamps, formed into a circle, and then closed with rivets.  The entire bracelet, inside and out, is covered with enamel and fused at approximately 1500 degrees multiple times.

Copper Patina Bib Necklace

This necklace is made up of copper washers and sterling wire.  The different colors are from various patination techniques.   Patination means that metal changed color from exposure to heat and/or chemicals.  Similar effects can happen naturally.  It is why the Statue of Liberty is green.

Copper and Enamel Outlet Cover.

This is copper, copper tooling foil, and enamel.

This might be a good example of putting too much time into an item to make it practical for sale.  I suspect there is a limit to how much people want to spend on outlet covers...  but this was just too time consuming to be cheap.