A Good Day

Today was one of those run a million errands days! First, 2 hours in the car to take Will to school and then swing by Francesca's house, pick her up and head back to the studio.

While I did KilnFrog.com work, Francesca set up for her Etching and Metal Printing workshop this weekend. She did a cool new set up and we tested lots of samples. This flapper girl is from a photo that I manipulated in Photoshop and then toner printer and heat burnished onto the copper. The details are really great for an etching.

Flapper Girl Etched on to 24 Gauge Copper Sheet

So, then after we etched, we hopped back into the car and headed to the NEISD offices to get fingerprinted, so we can teach on any of their campuses. We're now "in the system." Ha! They took photos and fingerprints and I didn't even do anything wrong.....YET! I'm glad that's over! Then, back in the car again for another hour. Too much car time today!

I'm getting ready for my Kiln Forming I class. It's 10 weeks of wonderful glass fusing, plates, bowls, jewelry, and more. I have 4 students, so we'll be able to get so much done! We start on Thursday and I can't wait!  It's been a while since I've really had the chance to sink my teeth into my glass work. The move has been tough and taken way too long, but I'm finally settled in and comfortable.

I'll post pictures as we go! Tomorrow, no errands! YAY!

Bronze Clay and Etched Metals

Just a little peek at some of the finished pieces from the Metal Etching, Fold Forming, and Bronze Clay workshops. I always wish I had more time! These were my demo pieces, the top two all be made into pendants and beaded into necklace sets.  Today, we had an Into to PMC class and we made some cool stuff. I'll post pix tomorrow....that is after I teach Intro to Glass Fusing.... Wow!  Busy Week!!!

Bronze Clay Bust

This almost looks like a chocolate covered cherry!

This is fold formed, corrugated, enameled, and the flower is PMC.

This one is etched copper and brass with bronze drops.

I love art jewelry!

Weekend Update!

It's Wednesday and I'm just now getting to blog about the long Memorial Day weekend!  I accomplished a lot at the studio and at home! YEA!

On Saturday I had a great Introduction to Precious Metal Clay workshop with some wonderful gals!  We had a great time! Here are a couple of the things I made. We did an awesome lentil bead too!

This was from a silicone stamp.
I didn't expect it to look this good.
I really like it. The white topaz
is bezel set using PMC syringe.

Here's the PMC lentil bead.
Beginners are always surprised they can
actually do this! It's pretty easy...and beautiful.

This was a tiny bit of left over clay,
so I made this star from an old rubber
mold I made about 10 years ago!
Those things are good forever.

Here's the piece I am still mucking around with from last weekend's metal etching class.

This weekend, it's back to glass!
We have a great LIQUID GLASS CLASS!
We'll be doing pot melts, screen melts, high fires, and combing!
JOIN US! Saturday and Sunday!

On a totally different note, I'm all set for my 2013 Glass Craft Expo classes in Las Vegas! Patty approved my workshops, so I'm good to go! Next year I'll also be teaching in Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix. I'd love to do more, but don't know how much more I'll be able to do with school. (Got an A in my first class, pfew!)

On Monday I made chocolate soufflé for the family. My Facebook friends helped me out with input on how to avoid screwing it up!  Thanks to Bert and his sister, and to Sharon, it turned out great. It just now occurred to me that I could make that in the kiln.....hmmmmm!

This was actually a kind of easy recipe - BHG!

Vessel Sinks and Metal Etching 'r Us!

Here are the 2 sinks I'm working on! Today, I drilled the hole and countersink on the silver grey one. It's packed up and ready to go to Jorge in California. It was time consuming to polish that edge, but totally worth it in the end. They'll love it!

This sink is light silver grey and silver grey fracture irid special production glass.

The golds, the blues, the silvers, and the plums...make this an awesome design.

The customer is putting this on a black countertop, but on white you can see how transparent it is!

This is the second sink. It is for my dear friend Luanne's guest bath remodel. The sink is finished, but because we adore her, we're going to do the special flattened, polished edge. It will likely take me a few hours, but I want it to be very special for her.

So tomorrow, you'll catch me hanging out at the flat lap for a while. I'm still kind of sore from the grey sink polishing, but I'll think of this as my abdominal and bicep workout! Sometimes I dance and polish at the same time just to make the time go faster. Since I'm wearing my earphones, I sing at the top of my lungs. I bet I look hysterical to anyone who stumbles in!

This sink is cast. It's a combination of Grass Green, Turquoise, Light Aqua, Clear w/Silver irid, and light sky blue. I hand pulled black sheet glass into stringer for contrasting lines. I know my clients will love it.

Also, on Sunday we had a metal etching class. Here's the project we did...

This is Nicole's bracelet. We etched copper and brass sheet and then cut, punched and connected jump rings and hand made a clasp. I bet she's wearing it right now!

Yesterday's fold forming workshop!

Francesca and I had a ball!

A little soldering; Soldering Class 1 & 2

My beginning and next step soldering students are so awesome!  Here are a few  of the fantastic things they made!  They've been setting stones, soldering multiple layers, working in brass, copper, nickel, silver, semi-precious stones, dichroic glass, setting prongs, making custom bezels, using bezel cups, making bails, designing, and having a lot of laughs!  I'm so lucky I get to work with them! Somedays, I love my job!!! 

Pretty great for a beginner!

Love the fun prongs!