students work

I have taught quite a few people how to make jewelry over the past 13 years. Actually there has been more than I can even count! But only recently (since 2008) have I been taking photos of their finished pieces ...when I remember to bring the camera to class. Below are some of the pieces my students have finished in my jewelry classes.

La' Lanya's earrings - 2008

Mirabel's cuff - 2008

Kate's cuffs - 2008

cuff - 2009 ( I forgot who made this...sorry!)

Mindy's bracelet - 2009

Vicky's necklace - 2010

Jennifer's necklace and cuff - 2010

Monica's pendant - 2011

Rachel's cuff - 2011

Rachel's pendant - 2011

Roxane's ring - 2011

Roxane's necklace - 2011

Roxane's bracelet - 2011

Lisa's necklace - 2011

Michele's necklace - 2011

Sue's pendant's - 2011

Michele's necklace - 2012

And much more to come since I just started up a new session of classes last week! I will try to remember to take pictures and post them here as my students finish up their pieces.

my very first ring....

I was cleaning up today and came across the very first ring I ever made in the very first jewelry class I ever took so I thought I'd share it with you..... It was a beginners class and the instructor was a horrible teacher. I couldn't even tell you how I made the thing. When I told her I wanted to make a silver ring with a stone on top she wrote out the steps in these exact words:

1. bend

2. solder

3. solder bezel

4. set stone

5. polish

and sent me back to my seat to go make it while she chit chatted away with some other students about how she spent her weekend, what parties she went to and what she drank while she was there. 

sketch book from that class I took 23 yrs ago with my directions written in it

Now that's good and all if you actually have some kind of jewelry making knowledge/skills. Remember, this was my very first class. Obviously I had NO CLUE what I was doing. The girl sitting next to me had taken a few jewelry classes before and seemed to know what she was doing so I asked her what I was supposed to do. I felt bad interrupting her from her pieces by asking her so many questions that after a point I just did my own thing and wouldn't ask her anything unless I was totally stumped. I didn't know how to size my finger so I just cut a strip of silver and shaped it around the ring mandrel until it fit. That's the reason the ring overlaps. It wasn't really supposed to be part of the design as you can see in the sketch book above. In the end I was happy with the way it turned out but this is the only piece I have kept from that class. The other 3 items I made were scrapped years ago!

 I took this picture of the ring today in its "as is" state. A little tarnish and many, many scratches and dings....

Students work

A few of my students finished some new projects this week and they turned out really great! Can you believe they have only been taking classes for a few months?

Roxanne's sterling silver and citrine ring

Rachel's sterling & black onyx pendant and her sterling silver wire pendant

jewelry class

My students come up with some of the greatest ideas for their projects! Here are some photos of a handful of the pieces my jewelry students have created so far this session. The session is not over yet (it ends Dec 21) so I will post more photos as their projects are completed. There should be plenty more photos to come since most of the women in my class are making Christmas gifts for family and friends!

Vicky's copper earrings

Vicky's tree necklace

Jen's black onyx cuff bracelet

Jen's matching black onyx choker

The class hard at work...a few people were absent the day this photo was taken..sorry to those of you that I missed but I will get you next time!

Jewelry classes, The holidays and another newspaper article...

With it being so close to the holidays there is so much going on that I have not had time to post very much this month. To catch up all that has been missed I figured I'd put it all in one post so here goes....

The last session of jewelry classes for this year ended on Dec 16th which means I finally have time to get to all of my holiday shopping and party planning before I go back to teaching again in January. 2 of my students, Susan and Kate, finished their projects just in time for the holidays. Susan made herself a beach glass pendant from beach glass she found at the Jersey shore. It is her very first project and her very first piece of hand crafted jewelry made in my class so she (and I) am very proud. Kate made 4 matching bracelets for 4 of her closest friends. This was only Kate's second project that she designed on her own and it wasn't an easy one. Each bracelet came out great and I hope her friends appreciate the time and effort she put into each one.

We also put up our dreaded monster tree multiple times in one week. We get a live tree every year which smells awesome but always turns into a major event. It looks great and is finally standing only because we had to tie it to 2 walls. We broke 2 tree stands trying to put it up and it has already fallen over once right after we decorated it...if it happens again we are just going to leave it on the floor, call it a Christmas bush and put our presents around it! Merry Christmas!

Also, I found out today that there is another article in the Courier Post newspaper featuring an interview with me, an image of my rings and a mention about my classes and my "ladies night out" events. You can see the full article here .

I probably won't get a chance to post much else this week with all the out of town visitors and parties so Happy Holidays!

Beaded Wire Cuff Workshop

I taught another workshop yesterday and this time it was in my teaching studio space at Creative Genius Art Gallery in Medford, NJ. It was a small group of women, one whom was celebrating her 78th birthday by coming to the workshop with her daughter who signed her up as a gift. What a great idea for a gift!

They each created 2 cuff bracelets out of brass, copper and semi precious beads. Each bracelet came out great and everyone had a fun time as well!

We run this workshop at least once every month or so and if you are interested in making these great bracelets you can check out the next workshop date here!

PS.... the workshop photos were taken by Julie Basello-Holt

"Ladies Night Out" Workshop at Sabina's

Last night I taught another "Ladies Night Out" workshop. This time it was at Sabina's house in Medford Lakes. Her and her family have collected LOTS of beach glass over the years and she wanted to learn how to wire wrap it and turn it into jewelry. After contacting me and working out the details she invited 12 of her friends over for a jewelry making party. She served food and wine and all the women sat around her dining room table and worked on their pieces while enjoying Sabina's hospitality. I showed the women, none of whom had ever made jewelry before, how to make wire wrapped pendants, earrings and rings. They all did a great job! Some made Holiday gifts while others made pieces for themselves. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves (including me) and all went home with new jewelry and new skills that they can use to create more wonderful items in the future. I posted some of the pictures I took below....

Peace, Politics and PMC

Things have been really crazy around here... I taught a workshop on Saturday, had a show on Sunday and headed off to NC to visit my brother and his family on Monday! Nothing like a 9 hour drive after a weekend of traveling and working! I stayed for 5 days and had great time visiting my nephews.

So, as promised, here's a few pictures of the PMC workshop. The top photo is of a student pressing a pattern into the clay. And the photo below is the whole bunch working away at their projects! The students pieces have not been fired as of yet because I just got home yesterday but when they are I'll post images of them as well.

So now that I'm back from my mini vacation, the craziness has started all over again. This weekend coming up is the BMAC show (Buyers Market of American Craft) at the Philadelphia Convention Center. It's a wholesale show that takes place every 6 months and is open only to the trade. Since the last BMAC show I did (6 months ago) I decided it was time to redo my logo and since I was going to have a new logo I might as well have an entire new look for my wholesale and retail booths as well. Not the greatest idea during such a busy time of the year! Set up for the show is 4 days away and I have no flooring (which is mandatory), not enough lighting and I still have jewelry to make! EEEKK!

There is some good news in my stressed world though..... I had my "Broken Heart" necklace chosen to be in the "Peace & Politics" exhibit which runs from Aug 2-4th at the Phila Convention Center. The exhibit is open to the public so if you are in the Phila area stop by the convention center and check it out. It's an exhibit of American fine craft with a mission!