Hi everyone.

I'm new to the forums but have been reading the threads on here for quite some time. I have searched the internet for an answer to my question and everyone seems to have different ideas but I was hoping there might be someone who could give me some advice.

I have recently started enamelling, something I have been meaning to try for years but procrastination seems to have got in the way. I have read Linda Darty's 'The art of enameling' from cover to cover and it is excellent.I have had great success so far. I started practicing on copper then naturally progressed onto fine silver and sterling silver (after depletion gilding) and I have used just a basic Clarke butane torch which works surprisingly well (this has been my trusty torch for small work for years, it's excellent). I have just been creating pieces that do not require any further hot connections, either pieces to be attached with a jump ring or riveted and everything has worked very well. However, I would really like to make some simple silver flower stud earrings and introduce some colour using enamel. I am planning on doming the flower shapes and then emamelling the surface but I am curious whether I should solder the flower to the earrings post before enamelling using a hard/enamel solder, or wait until the piece is successfully enamelled and then solder the post on with an easy solder. I am generally reluctant to use easy solder for earrings posts but I'm also hesitant to solder before enamelling as I don't want the solder to re-flow. I did have a go at soldering a post onto an enamelled flower the other day and the solder just wouldn't flow, maybe I hadn't cleaned the piece properly, and the enamel lost its lustre. In Linda Darty's book she states that she prefers to solder afterwards and completely refire the enamel at the same time but I feel this would be very awkward when trying to solder an earring post onto the back of a tiny component while it's upside down and you can't see the enamelled surface.

Any thoughts/tips would be greatly appreciated, I know there are a couple of absolutely wonderful enamellists on here. Just to clarify, I use WG Ball jewellery enamels and fire them with my butane torch using a trivet or a steel mesh (depending on the piece) for support.

Thanks so much in advance