Evening of the Arts

Evening of the Arts at Plew Elementary in Niceville, FL is next week Thursday, April 26.  Mrs. Seebaldt's class has been busy preparing.  Take a look at what the kids have done!  Keep scrolling down.

These dragonfly ornaments / suncatchers are my own unique design which I sell for $12 each. The kids all helped to make 38 of these that will be available for only $5 each in the Gallery Store in a temporary building at EOA. These are perfect Mother's Day gifts (Mother's Day is May 13).

The kids hammered the wings and tails of the dragonflies on an anvil (with safety glasses) and learned a little about the properties of copper at the same time. About 1/2 of the dragonflies made are ornaments/suncatchers and the remaining have been made into pendant necklaces or hairpins. Check out the Gallery Store early for the best selection.

Handmade dragonfly ornament/suncatcher in orange and blue.  There are some in garnet and gold too.

Some of the colors available. The wings can be bent into a "V" shape if desired

Some of the dragonflies the kids made have been turned into hairpins or necklaces

The kids made watercolor pencil art to use as display cards for the dragonflies.  Cut off the white part on top and you have a beautiful little artwork--two art pieces in one purchase! Look for a tri-fold display board in the Gallery Store.

Mr and Mrs Hendricks designed this incredible magnet board that will be available to bid on in the Live Auction in the cafeteria at EOA. The kids helped paint the frame and made all the alphabet magnets. The frame is affixed to a piece of metal which is covered with polka dot print fabric.

Large magnet board to be auctioned at the Live Auction

close-up

And don't forget that many smaller items donated by the community will be available at the Silent Auction in the Plew Media Center.  I'll have these too jewelry sets available to bid on there:

Freshwater pearl, Swarovski crystals and gold filled bracelet and earring set

Freshwater pearl, Swarovski crystal and gold filled earring and pendant set

Metalsmithing part 2

This week I finished the last of 8, two hour metalsmithing classes. It was all new to me. I've never held a soldering torch or worked with some of the machinery and tools used in class before. It was great to learn a little about it and I'm thinking of ways to incorporate what I have learned into my designs.

I missed one class, but these two projects are the only ones that I managed to (almost) complete in 7 weeks. There is a lot to learn. I have new respect for metalwork. I'm definitely going to get set up to drill holes in metal. I think that one skill will open up a whole new world of possibilities for my designs. As for the soldering torch . . . maybe not quite yet.

Sue

What I made in my marathon class

Yesterday I took a class on learning to set stones in wire wrapped settings. The class was 11 1/2 hours long. Exhausting. I came away having made this pendant. I love the crazy lace agate stone and chose a simple setting for it so that the stone is the star of the piece.

 

I'm looking forward to using my newly learned skills in my upcoming designs.

Sue

Metalsmithing

I've started taking a metalsmithing class to further my education on techniques for my designs. I'm not sure how much of it will make it's way into my jewelry line as the equipment is mostly very expensive and some of it is a bit scary and requires having a workshop space that's not easy to burn down. However, it is very interesting.

Copper ring after my first class. The strip of gold paper was what I used to measure my finger and I was given a flat strip of copper to begin with and had to solder it with a torch.

My ring after my second class all filed, sanded and buffed.

Next week I begin a project using a coping saw to cut out sheets of metal into a design and then will be using an overlay solder technique to sandwich pieces together. I'm thinking of doing a gingko leaf design.