Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Classes I took

There goes the time! Lets see, my computer died and I haven't had access in awhyle. Sigh. I have been a buisy little bever whyle I was gone though.
I will start with my newest love. I took a Metal Smith workshop at my local stamp emporium called Mrs. O'Leary's. I had a great time and got to meet some wonderful people and a few old friends. I usually don't take classes but this one caught my eye and lust for all things metal. I wasn't sure what I could learn in a basics class, but learn I did! Apparently there is alot I don't know and haven't tried before. The scary torch thing wasn't as bad as I had thought and I think I have made a new friend...well, at least in the classroom. I don't think I should play with fire in our tiny appartment. The good news is, I can go there and play once a month in the open workshop and use their tools. I did take my camera with me but sadly. I didn't take any pictures. I am so bad! The one time I remember to take my camera and not one picture. On to my finished pieces. My first eva metal smith 101 is a domed disc ring. I used copper as the ring part because I couldn't afford to buy the silver, so I just used what I had been given for the class. I still think it turned out rather sweet.
I love the way it turned out. As you can see, the metal punches are not my friends. I kept getting double exposures as they would jump off the metal on me. I just need to practice ;) Still, not bad for a first piece. We got to look in the instructors books and choose our own ideas to work with. I love using the disc maker and the dapping tools. The next class I took was The Crown Jewel. This one was alot trickier than it looked.





I also took a class on Copper Etched Jewelry. I think the instructor bit off more than she could chew on this one. LOL It was packed and fun but very long. I was going to finish my piece this weekend, but got to playing around at home and the next thing I knew it was done!
Thats my Crazy Cowgirls Bracelet. I had a few near disasters and some of my pieces ended up crooked. I guess I realy should have used that template to place the holes. LOL. I dug through my stash and found the charms and I had alot of turquoise chips and beads to choose from. Plus I had wire from my other class that I hadn't used. I probably should have waited for this weekend to get some help wiring the charms on because I rather mangled some of the wire in my death grip on the pliers.