I did it!

So I've been busy with classes lately.

A few weeks ago I took a small Gemology class over at The Crucible in Oakland. I highly recommend taking some sort of a class on Gemology even if you're not into jewelry making. It will help you to know what little basic things to look for when you are buying stones, and help you with attempting to determine if something is real or fake. Plus, it's fun to look at those gorgeous gems up close!

The other class I took was Fabrication 1 at Revere Academy in San Francisco. I'm slowly trying to take classes to incorporate traditional jewelry making into my PMC and also go for a Jeweler's diploma. My arms and fingers are still recovering from all that work! It was a 24 hour total workshop and I learned a lot of great things that I can already use. My mind is racing with ideas already!

Here are some pictures of the projects from Fab 1. Some of these are not completely finished. The point of the class was to leave with knowledge on how to make the items and the techniques that go into them; so finishes were not a priority.


The projects were a domed and pierced earring set (only one is shown here), a square banded sterling silver ring, a round nickel ring, a half round 14k gold ring (not shown, it needs major finishing...once done it will look like a traditional wedding band), and an Onyx bezel pendant.
Now...to recover and create! Muhahahaha!