Classes, Snappers, and Sending Thoughts to a Friend

Today is my "day off", and as usual, I have a hundred things to accomplish. I'm in the process of trying to determine if DH's Target credit card is defective. He tried to use it yesterday and it wouldn't scan properly at the checkout point. He ended up using a different card and was quite unhappy. I can order a new card for him, but we want to check it out once more before doing that, just to make sure the card doesn't scan. If I have to order a new card for him, it will take 8-10 days for the new card to arrive. It's frustrating. 

I'm a LOT poorer today after taking advantage of
early registration for Andy Cooperman's Master Class -
"Imaginative Captures" at next year's Bead &
Button Show. I'll be paying this off for a year.
It's worth it. 

Yesterday was the early registration for next year's Bead & Button Show Master Classes. I believe I had mentioned earlier that I dearly wanted to attend Andy Cooperman's class, "Imaginative Captures". Andy is innovative and thinks outside the box - just what I need. I have been wanting to take a class from him for more than a decade, we just haven't managed to link up. DH said he'd contribute over half of the cost, and I'd already saved the other half, so I went on-line when registration opened yesterday. I'm now a LOT poorer and I guess I'll be in Milwaukee in June, 2019, playing with torches and other jewelry making equipment. Fun! Now to continue to work down this HUGE amount of debt that I've just placed on my poor Discover card. 

The nest of snapping turtle eggs is really nothing much
to look at. DH framed it in with broken piping and
we haven't done any work directly on top of the
nest (thus no black dirt on top of the normal soil). 

A couple of you have asked for more information on my snapping turtle nest, including a photo of the nest itself. I have to admit that we would have no idea there were turtles buried in my backyard if DH hadn't seen the female dig the nest and deposit the eggs. That was on May 29th, and according to our research, the eggs (if they were viable) should be hatching within the next couple of weeks. We can hardly wait because we've been working around that small spot for months now and it hasn't been easy! 

We wouldn't even know snapping turtle eggs were in the nest except
DH saw the female laying her eggs on May 29th and sent me a
photo. As you can tell, we've done a lot of work on the backyard,
but we haven't disturbed the little turtles. I'm hoping they all
hatch and are healthy little snappers. 

I'm hoping for my weekly conversation with Aearwen today, although that may not come through. Her husband is extremely ill and she may either be with him or just not feel like talking. I'll text her to find out if she wants to chat and, of course, she and her family are in my thoughts. She's a good friend and it's always hard to see a friend go through hard times, especially with a loved one and life partner. *hugs and love from many states away*

Aearwen and I have been friends for years now, although we've never
met in person. We talk every week for an hour, except those rare
times when schedules get messed up. I consider her a close friend,
almost a sister from a different mother. So I'm sending love and
strength across the country to her. 

Have a great Wednesday. I'm hoping for smooth sailing through my errands and chores today, but no guarantees on that. I have a LOT on my plate to do today, so I'd better plug in my pictures and get cracking. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a sense of accomplishment about today's list of chores. 

Catch Up and Stocking Stuffers

It's cold out, it's my "day off" and I have to shop for stocking stuffers today. There are various book work things I also have to do - renew a domain name, purchase, install two editing/grammar software programs and do some upkeep in my Scrivner files - but in general, today is focused on stocking stuffers, laundry and groceries. At least the roads aren't bad. I can handle the cold, but when it's mixed with bad roads or ice, it's a lot less fun.

I've owned and used Scrivener for several years now, and
really love it. It can be as complex or simple as you
want, but when you need power behind your writing, it
has all that and more. I'm combining it with two other
programs to improve my final copy before beta. 

DH wants me to join him at Bruegger's for a bagel and coffee this morning, so I will send him a wake up call at 7:00 am and meet him at 8:30 am. They have an unlimited refills mug that I might buy for his stocking if they are still available. His current travel mug is really old and leaks, plus he seems to be making bagels a regular Wednesday stop

DH wanted a coffee maker for single cups that
would take a minimum of counter space (we don't have
much counter space in our kitchen). I found this
Kitchen Select Singler at Target.com for under
$20. I'll take a chance for that kind of expense. 

He also wanted a very small one-cup coffeemaker. I found one with really good reviews at Target online yesterday and ordered it. With shipping for free and using my Target card for the 5% discount, the total sale including sales tax was less than $20! Score me!

I adore Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates, but only allow
myself to have them once a year for the holidays. So good! 

I'm really trying to stay away from food munchies in his stocking this year, though. Neither of us really need a lot of that. I don't mind some food (hoping for Ferrero Rocher and Lindt Truffles in my stocking), but I don't need to get bunches of sweet candy for him. We don't need all that sugar, and I've actually reached my budget for him.

Lindt Lindor Truffles are a wonderful treat. I adore
the dark chocolate ones, but really, any of them are
fabulous. There is actually a Lindt store in the Mall
of America. I haven't gone there because I don't shop
there, but Chickie has gone and said wondrous things
about the store and the wonderful smell of chocolate. 

The Bead & Button Show catalog arrived in my mail on Monday and I took the afternoon to look through it carefully. I'm really disappointed. There's not a single class I'm interested in taking, so this year might be the first year since the mid-1990's that I'll skip the show. Of course, if I skip Milwaukee, that will leave me money and opportunity to fly to Vermont for a Tolkien get-together that some LJ friends are organizing. I'm currently thinking that might be the winner for my vacation this year. I'll have to see what airfares, etc will cost.

I've been to New York state before, but I've never been
to Vermont. I'd be in the northern portion of the state
near Burlington. It's worth a thought since Milwaukee
looks like a bust for 2017. 

I hope you have a great Wednesday with perfect temperatures and weather. Yeah - right! Well ... I hope you don't have any really bad weather that will keep you from doing the things you still need to do before the holiday. Enjoy!

Playing With Metal and Fire - Projects

Last week I was in Milwaukee playing with metal and fire. I've shown my hotel as well as the mobile I made for Chickie and her kittens in earlier posts this week, but the major reason I went away for a week was to hammer metal, scorch it under flame, and hammer it some more. I took five classes and had a great time. I'd do it again in a flash, even though I'll be paying the expenses off for the rest of the year. Here's what I ended up making.

Monday's project was this - the Lunar Pendant. We started out
with two small squares of sheet silver, a strip of silver and
some sections of three different sizes of sterling silver tubing.
We ended up with multiple layers soldered, textured and
sandwiched together to make this. My next one will be better and
I'll incorporate my enamel into it, but I was very happy with
the results for a first time run-through. 

Monday's class was the Lunar Pendant - a sterling silver enclosed setting for two layers of textured and three-dimensional silver. The teacher was great, the class was fun, and I ended up with something that I'm not ashamed of even though I hadn't played with metal for a year. I could have done better, but for a first-time effort in a new technique, it wasn't bad. My next one will be more uniform.

On Tuesday I was back at the torch for two classes - a Gimmel ring (also known as a Russian Wedding Band when made in three different types of metal), and a fold-formed copper encased in a sterling jacket cuff bracelet.

I made the Gimmel Ring in a size to fit my DH. I could have
cut it down another 1/2 size, but it does fit his middle finger. I'd
been wanting to make one of these for a long time and
enjoyed the class a lot. The teaching styles between my class
Monday and my class Tuesday were radically different. 

The Gimmel Ring was scheduled to be an all-day, six hour class, but I was finished four hours after it started. Since it was going to be a long day, I took advantage of some off time to relax for a while before walking back over to the convention center for my evening class. I enjoyed the teacher, but he was very quiet. Where Robyn, my teacher on the prior day, had been exuberant and active, Michael was soft spoken and a bit aloof.

I left class a little early, knowing that I didn't have this done, but
also knowing that if I stayed I wouldn't get it finished anyway. I have
some work to do on this one and would rather do it in the quiet of
my own workbench than in the middle of a cavernous and echoing
room. This class left me with a headache and I was absolutely
exhausted when I returned to my hotel room. 

The copper fold-formed cuff protected by a sterling silver jacket was a great project with a very friendly woman and her husband. She was a first-time teacher and extremely disorganized. Although it wasn't a disaster, I don't think any of us actually completed the project in class. The sound of sixteen people hammering copper sheet into textured fold-formed metal was horrific and there was a LOT of hammering going on. We didn't need most of the long supply list the teacher required, but ear plugs should have been on that list and weren't. I liked the project and after I finish the patina and resize the piece, I'll enjoy the bracelet. But I'd think twice or three times before taking another class from this teacher.

These haven't been off my wrist during the day, yet. I love how
they fit, how comfortable they are, and the gentle sound they
make when they clink together. The one on the left is sterling
silver, the one on the right is copper. They've been textured, shaped,
decorated and patinated. I want more of these and look forward
to trying some more out after a few other projects that are on
my mental back burner. 

On Wednesday I was back in class with Robyn, the teacher I had on Monday. This time I was making sterling silver and copper shaped bangle bracelets. I love these! I loved the class, I loved the project, and they fit beautifully, so I've been wearing them every day since. They're attractive and colorful, sturdy and whimsical. I'm over the moon with this project that started with two strips of metal and flame.

In this class we mixed a two-part epoxy putty together, pressed it
between heavy-gauge aluminum shapes that we had already
prepared, and impressed seed beads of our choice around it. We had
a bit less than one hour of total working time for the epoxy before
it would no longer hold the beads. I don't mind what I did, and I
had fun in the class, but it's a material I'm not that fond of. I have
a lot of it now, though. The manufacturer gave each of us one
packet for class use and another to take home with us. 

Finally, after a day off to head north and buy rocks, I finished out with this class - the inlay seed bead pendant. This was a silly play-time class that really didn't require any skill to do. It's something that I doubt I will ever bother doing again, but it did give me a good idea of what the epoxy product can do, what its properties are, and how to work with it. I'm not over the moon with my end project, but it was a fun four-hour class to wrap up the classroom segments of my trip. I'll add some jumprings to the back of this and make it into a double-hung pendant.

So, this is my "What Did You Do On Your Summer Vacation" series of posts. I had a great time and I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip and seeing the various photos. I met with an LJ friend of mine and her husband for a dinner and catch-up on Saturday night (so much fun!!!) and headed back home on Sunday. I'm back in the grind now, planning my next project for some of the materials I purchased at the show. Have a great Friday - enjoy the day and stay safe and cool.

I Love Workshops and Classes

In a way I'm a perennial student. I love taking classes - classes of all types and in all sorts of subjects. Today, however, is registration for my favorite types of classes - jewelry classes. Bead and Button Show registration opens at noon, Central Standard Time today. Like thousands of other people, I've been perusing the catalog and on-line information trying to narrow down which classes, of the more than 700 offered during the 10-day period of the show, I want to take. It's a combination of interest in the class, time/day it is offered, and dollars available to spend.

I'd like to start my week out by taking this class offered
by Robyn Cornelius called "Lunar Pendant" I actually have
several of her classes on my list for this year. This one
looks like lots of fun. 

Fortunately, we sold the small house. Because I had put thousands of dollars into the maintenance and upkeep of that house, I get a monthly payout from the proceeds which I can use to help pay for my classes. It won't be instant, but by the time I arrive in Milwaukee in June my classes will be paid off.

Michael Thee calls this an "Intertwined Gimmal Ring". He's
wrong - a Gimmal ring is a different style than this. This is
what's called a Russian Wedding Band. It requires exact
precision for each band before they are cut apart, intertwined,
and resoldered. I enjoy the challenge of precision, so I think
I'll try to get this one, even if the name is wrong. 

I like to take metalworking classes because I am an accomplished beader and I want the practice (and playtime) with metal jewelry techniques. I look at the show as a big playground where I go to have fun, but I also want to learn something and/or hone my techniques.

This may end up being a bit of a waste of time, but it
should be fun nonetheless. It's a fold forming class
with the center copper, then enfolding it into a lightweight
silver sheath. She supplies the copper, you have to supply
your own silver. Not a problem, but interesting. It's pretty,
though, and I enjoy playing with fold forming. 

Usually I register at home instead of using my laptop at the shop. I have a more secure connection at home, and I can't be interrupted by phone calls or customer questions. I remember (in the old days) sitting at my computer and messaging back and forth with my friend/roommate Poo while we both waited for registration to open. We became quite expert at getting things done quickly so that we got the classes we wanted. She hasn't attended for several years now (I miss having her as my roomie) so I'll be on my own once again. Considering that I'll be in classes all day for four of the six days I plan to be at the show, being on my own is not a bad thing.

By the end of the week I want something brainless. This
little class on Friday is beads in a backless bezel creating
an ombre effect. I admit to curiosity about how her open bezel
works, and I like the look, so I'll indulge and spend some
time with this project. 

My manager will go in and work the morning shift for me today, so I'll be home until early afternoon which allows me to register for this year's classes. I'll also get my hotel reservations made and pay off my credit card (so that I can load it up once more - LOL). It'll be a busy morning/early afternoon. But first - the gym. Have a great Tuesday.

I Don't Tolerate Fools Lightly, Or Why I Shouldn't Be Working Retail

So, today in my store email account, I got a small, unsigned missive from a dissatisfied customer. Now, that's really not that rare, I get at least one a year. This one followed the normal standard - complaining about how rude I was, giving no real details of the transaction, adding no signature to the short note, and as always, telling me that she was a long-term customer who had spent lots of money at my shop. Le sigh ... le sigh.

Le sigh. Do I care? Well...not really and here's why...

Let me establish right off the top that I actually know what I'm talking about when it comes to my products, how they are used, and what is possible to accomplish with them. I've been doing this for 27 years of retail and an additional 15+ years of working with these items, so yes - I'll put my 40+ years of working with beads and leather up against your 'experience' any day. My problem is only one - I don't suffer fools gladly.

This just about says it all...

This is why I don't teach any more. I don't have the capacity to explain something again and again and yet again to the same person and watch them making the same mistake time and time again. I have to figure that there's something in me that attracts bright, talented and fabulously fascinating people in my areas of craft, because they've gathered around me and pulled me into a variety of events throughout my life, even though I am not much of a team player. But I am impatient as an instructor, recognize that in myself, and no longer teach even though I have people who have told me they would take any class I decided to hold.

I do love George Carlin.

I'm afraid I was a bit snarky to this woman, and I'm saying woman because 90%+ of my customers are female. I read through her complaint, told her that without more information about when she was in or her transaction/what she had asked, we certainly couldn't address her complaint, and then I was a bit mean. Or not. You can decide...

Sometimes you just have to think "Really? REALLY?"

Her final words on her email were "Lady, you are a wack job who needs counselling." I'm afraid I signed off with a small instructional: "Oh, and  'wack' is missing an 'H' and 'counselling' is spelled with a single 'L'." Do I feel at all guilty about losing this particular customer? No - not really. In fact, where some complaint letters really burn me, this one just made me laugh. I'm sure I'm better off without her. Dollars aren't everything.

I doubt I'm going to change now. I'm embracing my inner bitch instead. 

My fabulous Denver Broncos won last night and will face San Diego on Thursday, so I'm smiling this morning despite fools. Have a great Monday all. I promise I'll be more uplifting tomorrow...or maybe not... LOL.

Reality Intrudes Again - I'm Home

Well, I'm home again after a week of creativity, hugs, color, shine and the sound of hammers and torches. I had a blast. I was more than ready to return home - I actually missed my Hubby and my routine, but it will take me the better part of a week to catch up with my emails and LJ and I want to play with some of the new techniques and tools I learned/bought and I can't do anything until I get caught up with work stuff. BUT, I'm going to make this happen.

Richard Salley is a jeweler from Santa Fe, NM. I took a
"Double-Hinged Bracelet" project from him and loved it.
I set a LOT of rivets in the project. I think I'm finally
comfortable with rivets. Yeah!

I'm determined that this next year be a creative one. I purchased some of the missing components for a project I've wanted to get started on for more than a year, and I also accepted a challenge project from one of the bead manufacturing companies to bead a project for them using the supplies they provided. I enjoy challenges of this nature, so I'm in the planning stages on this. I also have two repairs on my desk waiting for me to get going, a mail order to fill, and ... well, it seems like life just went on while I was on vacation.

Steven James taught a class in plique de jour enameling using the torch. The
actual items we worked on were quite small, but I can see how this will work
in my own, larger pieces, and the class was great fun. My table-mate was
Ruby, an 84-year-old who was dynamite. Rock on, Ruby!

While I was gone, the store computer crashed at least twice and our burglar alarm was tripped once. As I told my roommate, "This is why I don't get allowed out very often." But I'm already planning for next year. I'll be paying this year off for a couple of months but it was absolutely worth it and Shruti said that she wants to come over once more for the B&B Show next year, hopefully taking one of the Master Classes again. I'm seriously thinking about one of the Master Classes myself, despite their high expense, just because Andy Cooperman will be one of the teachers and I think what he's teaching could be excellent for my own work.

Andy Cooperman specializes in the unusual and that's what I want to
learn from him. When I took my seven-days with Linda Darty at the
Revere Academy of Jewelry, he was teaching the class next door. I really
regretted that I couldn't take both teachers classes. But I don't regret the choice
I made - Linda Darty was phenomenal and helped my enameling skills so much!

I'll try and take some pictures of what I did over the past seven days so that I can share with all of you, but I'm really happy with what I did, the classes I took, and the people I met. Now if the hotel could just get the bill corrected and email a copy to me, I'll be happy. Are you listening, Hilton Milwaukee?