Going back to school with Bill Fretz

I've owned Bill Fretz's how-to video on hammering for a year now, and the whole back-to-school vibe in the air has inspired me to sit down and learn about hammering. Or in Fretz's words, "Learning to make metal move as you wish!"

Now Bill can move metal however he wants because he's Bill Fretz, a world-renown metalsmith, teacher, and toolmaker. That's right, he makes his own tools!

A few minutes into the video, I realized I need more hammers. Or at least that hammer Fretz uses that has NINE interchangable heads. And I need stakes, which help you bend the metal.

Adding cool hammer and stakes to the Christmas wish list. Then it's hammer time! (Sorry, I could not resist.)

Everything is coming up Cotton Blossom!

At RAW, I met Melanie, owner of the cute boutique Cotton Blossom. She asked if asked I would be interested in selling my jewelry at her shop.

That would be YES!


I am delivering some pendants to her this Thursday--we'll see how this goes.

Uhm, 35, you are not kind to me

At the start of the year, I decided I would do 35 things--learn new techniques, participate in five boutiques, double my business--to celebrate my 35th year.

Well, it's August, past the year's halfway point, and I have only completed FOUR things.

Yeah. Not good. Not good at all.

But I'm not giving up: I'm looking reality in the eye and I am denying it.

So here are 31 things I am going to do by December 31 (fingers crossed):

1. Participate in 4 more boutiques (Can RAW count as 3?).
2. Complete the riveted round link tutorial.
3. Make a fold form bracelet.
4. Learn how to make rings.
5. Start working in bronze (not copper, sigh, since I can't fire the stuff).
6. Complete my Bill Fretz tutorials that I bought 1.5 years ago.
7. Make a honing owl pendant, which will help me practice my riveting and sawing techniques.
8. Make a cold fusion necklace.
9. Make a hinged bracelet.
10. Make a book necklace for someone special who had her birthday a few months ago.
11. Make riveted flower ring (hopefully #4 goes well).
12. Learn how to etch in metal with a ballpoint pen.
13. Make a forged cuff bangle bracelet that Cleopatra would be proud of.
14. Reorganize my Etsy shop.
15. Solder a ring.
16. Make a silhouette mixed-metal pendant.
17. Work with faux concrete.
18. Contact a business or boutique to discuss the possibility of selling my jewelry there.
19. Learn how to make a hinge.
20. Learn how to successfully use glycerin to preserve my clay's flexibility.
21. Make a treasure bag (depends on #20).
22. Make a hollow bead for bead.
23. Set a stone in a bezel.
24. Make a pill box.
25. Make a hidden bale pendant.
26. Take photos for my Etsy shop.
27. Post a photo showing what I'm working on once a week on my Facebook page.
28. Make rubber band earrings (again this depends on the success of #20).
29. Make an open weave pendant--it looks so cool!
30. Mix silver and bronze clay to make a mixed-metal pendant.
31. Stay home AND work on my jewelry more often so I can get all of this done!

RAW Photos

IT'S OVER!! And I want to sleep for the next 3 days. RAW was a lot of fun. Met some people I would never have met any other way. And it made for some interesting people watching as well. Very entertaining evening all around! Thanks to everyone who came out to support me. Love you all! Here are some photos from the event. 

Setting up the booth

New necklace

Another new necklace. Love the patina,
which this photo doesn't capture.

Another booth shot

View from my chair

Met lots of fun people

another view from my chair

Getting Ready for RAW

When Heidi Luerra, founder and executive director of RAW, asked me if I would like to participate in Utah's RAW experience, I said, Yes!

And since it was the end of June, I thought I had plenty of time to get ready.

Well, it's four days away, and I still have lots to do--I need to make a lot of jewelry (I know!) and finalize my plans for how I am going to display my jewelry.

August 8, how did you sneak up on me?

Still, I am excited--RAW is different from any other place I've set up shop: it's a big party with lots creative people attending.

I just hope I can last until midnight.

I hope to see you there! Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door: www.rawartists.com/sunshinegirl.

RAW: Natural Born Artists

at The Depot

400 W. South Temple

August 8, 2012

7:30 pm to Midnight 

New bracelet: I can do hard things

A few posts ago, I said I would make a bracelet that said committed to help me accomplish my list of goals.

I've changed my mind. I'm going with I can do hard things because I like it more. It covers more of what I am trying to do. I am trying to do hard things--

• Making time for all that I want to do in my life
• Exercising daily
• Keeping my house clean
• Working on my jewelry business
• Fulfilling church callings

And last, but not least--

• Making a bracelet that says I can do hard things

I am 35 and I am happy

I turned 35 today, and I am excited. Not jump up and down excited, just excited to be where I am and I am hopeful about the future.

I feel very grounded. Which is unexpected. Consider my current state:

• I am single and live with two cats. 
• Many of my friends are married and have children. 
• One of my best friends lives out of state, another passed away two years ago.
• My back hurts, my joints hurt--I get out of bed in the morning and I hurt. 

There was a time that I was panicked about the future and didn't think I could be happy without a husband, kids, and that stereotypical clean house on a tree-lined street.

Fortunately, age brings wisdom, and I know that life will be good. No matter what. Life has always been good, even in the dark times.

Besides, the tarot card reader at my friend Nicole's birthday party told me that I was going to meet a younger man and that my life would be exciting and never dull. And I would be happy.

Most of that is already true. Just need to find that younger man.

Origami isn't just for paper

Origami Experience #1

In my Blind Date Hall of Fame, there is an origami snail made from a dollar bill.

Still have this origami snail after three years. 

This was made by "Circus Boy," who besides being an origami guru and massage therapist, wanted to be a fire breather in a circus.

I have nothing more to say.

Origami Experience #2

My friend Julie saw a metal origami crane pendant on Pintrest and thought, "Jill could make me one of those."

And I did. Not without a few bumps, of course. The first crane I made was practically life size, which is not ideal for a pendant. I also knew that PMC (precious metal clay) paper shrinks more than the clay I use regularly use, so it was a bit tricky to gage what the size of the pendant would be after it was fired. 

Origami crane pendant made from PMC paper.

I hope this little crane will bring Julie all of the hope, peace, and happiness it represents as she enters a new chapter in her life: retirement.

Project #5 completed. Now I need to get 5 more done by the end of the month. Better get working!

Angel wings for Baby Luci

The thought of angels brings hope, comfort, and peace, and this is what my friend Cammy wanted to give her friend who recently lost her baby Luci.

After discussing various ideas, we settled on an angel wing pendant with Luci's April birthstone set next to it. I inscribed Luci's name on the back.

April's birthstone is a diamond, so we used the next best thing: cubic zirconium.

For this pendant, I created the setting for the stone and attached it to the wing with syringe clay and metal paste---a technique I've been working on. Project 3 completed.

I also made a tie tack for Dad with baby footprints and birthstone on the front and Luci written on the back.

Sending hope, comfort, and peace into the world.

More accomplishing goals, less Bethenny Frankel

I wish keeping, achieving goals were as easy as making them. My commitment to my goals ebbs and flows; some days are better than others.

The year is almost to the halfway point, and I feel like I really need to step it up, kick it into high gear. I have things to accomplish:

• By June I want to have 10 projects completed, which will get me back on track for accomplishing my goal of 35 this year.

• My goal of selling at new venues is in the works, but I'm not quite there yet. Need to make it happen.

• Designing new athletic-inspired jewelry is just at the ideas phase. Time to start to do more than just thinking.

So I have thought of three things that will help me accomplish my goals---

Three things that are going to help me achieve my goals

1. Make (and wear) a bracelet that says committed (belief is too vague) that reminds me every time I see it that I have goals that I want to achieve.

2. Create a playlist with songs that will keep me going during the hard workouts or during the times when motivation is lacking (or when all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch Betheny Ever After).

So far on the playlist is Florence + the Machine's "Shake It Off, Shake It Off, " Katy Perry's "Firework," Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger," and P!nk's, "Raise a Glass."

3. Focus on accomplishing my goals each day. Make good choices, use my time well, cross items off the to-do list. One day at a time.

Check out these manly tie tacks!

For the five male nurses in Salt Lake Community College's graduating class of spring 2012, it wasn't enough just to receive their SLCC pin at the official nursing school's pinning ceremony.  

They wanted something more. Something that expressed their essential maleness and solidarity: a tie tack.

They had come up with their own design, but it wasn't until Jeff and I were working together that he had the epiphany that I could make their tie tack dream a reality.

I took this opportunity to try a new technique: the photopolymer plate. However, after many attempts at getting it right (i.e. used almost entire 8.5 X 11" photopolymer plate for just a tie tack), I realized that I need more practice with exposure times. (Note to self: Don't procrastinate.)

So I went to Plan B and carved them all by hand. Project #2 complete. Just 33 more to go. (Another note to self: Really, don't procrastinate.)

According to Jeff, the Latin around the edge is all about throwing down your female oppressors.

Congratulations Jeffrey and your fellow male nursing comrades! Welcome to the profession!

Not everything goes according to plan

Does this look like failure to you? It does to me. :)

Project #1: Infinity earrings using ScratchFoam texture plates

My friend Heather found some antique buttons with the infinity symbol on them and wanted the same design on a pair of earrings.

An antique infinity button

So I came up with a couple of ideas on how to do this. Here's the first one--

Using a new technique I heard about from Wanaree Tanner, I used ScratchFoam, which is a styrofoam-like paper that allows you to trace a design in pen or pencil and create a texture plate for metal clay. This is a simple and quick process.

Ten steps to creating an infinity button earring

Step 1: Push the button against the ScratchFoam to create an impression.

Step 2: Trace the impression with a pen or pencil to deepen the impression's lines--make sure you make fairly deep lines so they are defined and crisp.

Step 3: Add background texture by drawing crosshatches.

Step 4: Roll out some metal clay on a small piece of a Ziploc bag--make the clay four playing-cards thick.

Step 5: Flip the metal clay onto the ScratchFoam plate--this means that the bag is now on top of the clay and plate.

Step 6: Push the clay into the plate by rolling over it with an acrylic roller.

Step 7: Trim the edges around the design.

Step 8: Set it out to dry for a few minutes on a mug warmer, or let it dry overnight.

Step 9: Sand and refine details until you are satisfied.

Step 10: Fire it in a kiln for a half-hour

VOTE: Lamb or Lion?

Right now, March is looking like this.

Good weather + weekend spent with a friend at a cabin + clean house = Lamb

But when it arrived, it looked like this.

Big snowstorm + babysitting children for FOUR days + baby at work almost dying = Lion

How did March arrive in your world?

Meet my little Munchkin

Technically, its name is SpeedFire ElectricMini kiln, but I call it Munchkin.

With Munchkin, I can do all sorts of things. Things like work with base metal clays (think bronze and copper) and PMC sterling clay--all because with Munchkin I can control the length and firing temperatures. And if I want, I can even fuse glass.

Watch this space

35

It feels like a tipping point. A tipping point to 40? A tipping point to the best shape of my life? A tipping point to wisdom?

To mark my 35 years on this earth (hold the applause, it doesn't officially happen until June 7), I am going to complete 35 projects by the end of the year.

I'll document each project on this blog, and hopefully, when it strikes midnight on December 31, I'll have completed 35 projects and in the process have gained skills, insight, and all of those other good things that come with accomplishing goals.

Here's a preview of some of the projects, skills I'm thinking of taking on--

• Using photopolymer plates
• Connecting metal with rivets and other cold join techniques
• Doing bezel settings
• Mastering my jeweler saw
• Trying out bronze and copper metal clay
• Making rings
• Experiment with soldering

So watch this space. Thirty-five, here I come.

It's only the best day of the year!

 

Sometimes you can learn very important things from watching television. Things like Galentine's Day, "Oh, it's only the best day of the year!" I agree. Happy Galentine's Day! Sending love to all my gals!

Click here to watch Parks and Rec's Galentine's Day clip

Note to NBC: Wouldn't this blog entry be so much better if I could embed a YouTube video with the Galentine's Day clip?

What songs keep you alive?

My very tidy workshop. Only looks this way on photo day

Music. It's a must-have in my basement workshop. Music plays while I hammer, form, mold, sand, wire-wrap, finish, and sometimes just think.

There are five songs I can always rely on to keep me going. In other words, five songs that keep me alive.

1. "You Can't Win" by Kelly Clarkson
2. "Bad Body Double" by Imogen Heap
3. "Seven Devils" by Florence + the Machine
4. "Foundations" by Kate Nash
5. "Someone like You" by Adele

So, readers, what are some songs that keep you alive?

Welcome to the world, Baby Dragon!

It's official: it's going to be a good year.

How do I know this?

It's the year of the Dragon, the year of good fortune.

And I'm turning an odd number, which, trust me, based on my recent history is a good thing.

Happy Chinese New Year!

My favorite material to work with

Silver. Precious metal clay. Findings. Gemstones. Czech glass beads.

What is my favorite material to work with?

Well, it changes. But right now it's sterling silver.

Why?


Well, everyone can wear sterling silver. It flatters all skin tones.


Unlike gold, which tends to be choosy, sterling silver goes with anything. My favorite color right now to pair with my favorite material is December's birthstone, tanzanite, a purpley-blue.


And when it comes to making jewelry, sterling silver is versatile. It can frame gemstones in a pair of earrings, or be hammered into a shape and be the centerpiece of a necklace. 

Simply put, sterling silver can be a member of the choir or the guest soloist. 

WANTED: Willpower

Willpower. I want it. I really really want it. Especially after eating a bag, an entire bag, of gingersnap cookies yesterday.

So I bought a book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, and I'm beginning to learn how to get it, how to harness it, how to exercise it.

What do I plan to do with my greatest human strength? Two things.

1. Wake up by 7:00 am every day. Every single day. Even on Sundays.

2. Exercise six days a week.

I'll keep you posted.

One dandelion wish for the new year

My favorite necklace is, uhm, not one I made. It's one I bought from LuluBug Jewelry--Dandelion Wishes. I love its unique shape and simple design.

But that's not why it's my favorite. It's my favorite because it reminds me that wishes can come true. And that you can have lots of wishes. 

But I have just one wish for the new year. One wish, but it would be like a thousand wishes coming true at once:

A man.

A man who has a job.

A man who is enjoys life and pursuing goals and dreams.

A man who has some baggage but not too much baggage.

A man who knows I am just the woman for him.

That's all. Just one man with a job, interests, and an open heart. My one dandelion wish for 2012.