INTRO to BORO (click for a closeup)

I found this class to be VERY helpful, even tho it was a scant 3 hours...The focus was mostly on how to strike the glass in the flame - how to pull out the colors, which colors in the GA line contain silver, how to get various colors within those rods (the project on the left has both greenish hues and purple/blues, just from the different amts of time I kept them in the flame)...

The rod on the right is full of silver as well, and starts out a light honey color, but I pulled out all the blues/purple/orange/reds in it with just the amt of time in the flame...its broken into pieces during the flight home, but that's ok, I can order more glass and play with it eventually...I have no intention of 'going boro', but I do want to make some rings with it, so I wanted to get an intro to it...I learned a LOT about my torch, the propane settings, how stiff the glass is, and overall it was a very worthwhile class for me...I loved it...

There were only 6 of us in class and I think only 2 of us had any torch experience..just a note - this is not a beginner class, although it says its for 'all levels'...don't believe it...I felt sorry for the others who struggled...

 

INTRO TO PMC

Um, yeah...where are my pieces you ask?

Well, this was one of those 'intro' classes where we learned how to poke holes in the clay using straws, and I guess I wasn't that into it..I did make 4 small pieces, and I am sure they were fired, but I never made it back to wherever the instructors were (they move classrooms so its hard to track them from day to day)...but its ok...I'm signed up for Kate McKinnon's PMC class and I'm sure I'll learn a bit more then...I think PMC and I just don't have a good understanding of one another...some folks make it sing, and I make it scream...not good...

COLORED PIGMENTS ON METALS

COLORED PIGMENTS ON METAL

Now this class was interesting, and I enjoyed it, but was completely and totally overwhelmed by it...The instructor had over 40 examples of various ways we can get color onto metal, including coating the metal with gesso, then adding other gels, goos, pumice products, decoupage, epoxies, acrylic ground for watercolor, and other stuff I can't even rememeber...But I do LOVE the way the epoxies can be tinted (we used pixie dust of all things - mica) and made to look like enamels...I, of course, globbed huge amts on, and added some sparkly crystals, so mine are kinda thick, but I still like them...

...and check out the extra pieces that came in our kit...awesome! One thing I appreciated in the class was the list of suppliers the instructor used...her handout had each of the 40+ pieces listed with detailed instructions on how she achieved each technique...my roommate Brenda and I took the class together and she was smart enough to take a photo of the master sample board, so she'll be emailing me with those pics...right B?

MERMAID BRACELET

Yes, here it is...my bracelet in action...not finished...what you don't see here are the millions of loose wires waiting to be braided properly...and well, yeah, my braiding is a bit bumpy here and there, but i'm sure after I make 20 of these, they'll start looking good, right? I always tell my students to make 50 beads for the practice, and the 50th will look better than the first - they hate me for it, but its true...so see - here's an example where I have to make more to get better...but the project is fun and when Lisa gets the kits up on her site, you'll want one...

QUEEN'S RING

Oh...what's this you ask? Hmmm...actually its not a project that I did, but rather a project SAMPLE of a new kit Lisa is going to be offering on her site...I've been asking for one for over a year now, and I do believe she's going to be teaching this, but I know she'll have kits as well...so if you're interested, be sure to email her and pester her about them...tell her I sent you, that you saw the sample on my site and want one..! This is a gold sample, but she also has them in silver and with other jewels, or no jewels...Lemme say, I wore it nearly the entire week and its majorly comfortable...can't wait to make one of my own, fer sher...

UPDATE- Lisa has these kits available on her Beaducation website, if you're interested...

FUSED SILVER CHAIN

Yessssss...now this class I completely fell in love with..First off, I thought Anne Mitchell was a GOD - she was so 'together' and not as frenetic as other classes I've taken in the past...very thorough in her explanation of the tools, the process and shared supplier info with us...I shoulda bought more fine silver while there, but I only took so many pennies to spend, so I'll have to put in an order for it...I plan to finish the chain into a bracelet once I get more rings soldered on...I started a clasp, but didn't finish it, and I have another ring somewhere in my loot, but haven't seen it since I got home...hmmm...someone asked if I'll have this kind of stuff for sale on my site - YES...I will be making earrings, chains, rings, etc, so stay turned for that, dahlings...

FUSED SILVER RINGS

I had this class right after my silver chain class, and they complimented one another nicely...i wasn't able to make all the rings Kriss had in the handout, but her handouts are so good, that I know I'll have no problem making them here at home..(my torch and kiln block are being driven here from the show, so I have to wait until they arrive in Austin - you can't fly with a filled butane torch, of course)...The bottom rings have been flattened and drilled so I'll be adding some small dangles on them...the top rings are twisted and hammered (shown below)...Oh and just like the chains, I'll be making these for sale as well...what's nice is, making them various sizes isn't that hard to do, so it should be pretty painless...

A very nice class, and Kriss is such a doll...she taught me to rivet last year, and next year I hope to find something else to take with her...she has lots of awesome stuff that she makes...

 

 

SILVER CAPPED RESIN BEADS

This is a little out of order, I took this class last, but the Gypsy Wire pic is so large, it needed its one spot, so these are up here -

The beads were supplied by Mark and are resin, so we wouldn't break them, but he says (in theory) that if you rivet the tubing correctly, all the pressure of the hammer will take place on the tube and not on the bead...so in theory, I should be able to rivet my large lampwork beads (Bronwen Heilman does it, as do others I'm sure)...I enjoyed this class quite a bit, many of us were complete in just 2 hours (it went from 9-12), so we hit the show floor early for a few hours before flying home...I even picked up a ton more resin beads, and he gave us a long piece of tubing, and I have plenty of 20g silver sheet to cut from - but we've decided it'd be MUCH easier to just buy the small round blanks from Rio and texture/rivet those instead of sawing our own shapes...can you see how my circle is not really round, and don't get me started on my 'lack of square' square on the brown bead...but I got the technique down, and my class projects are typically pretty bad, so I'm not bothered...it was a good class, Mark is a very nice guy and I had fun...

SILVER FUSED RINGS - closeup

a bit better view of the twisted rings, but not such a great shot of the hammered dangle rings...

 

GYPSY WIRE EARRINGS

And finally, this was an all day Saturday class that Mick, Gwen and I had together..there were only 7 people in class, and we had a complete ball in there...I must say Janice Berkebile is another delightful instructor, and we kept running into her after class and on Sunday and she was just as nice as could be...we all got smoothies together and hung out at the Hands of the Hills booth, where she knows the folks cause its only about 30 min from her house...Anyway, blah blah...this class was a blast because we learned some very groovy techniques and although these pieces aren't finished (go here and here to see some that are 'dressed'), I have a good understanding of what it takes to make these...I can't wait to get the beads added to them, I was even thinking I could pull out my teeny tiny mandrels and make some teeny weenie beads to dangle from these as well...Oh, the possibilities...