jewelry projects

I promised myself that once school was over and my dissertation had been defended, I could treat myself to some crafty classes. I narrowed it down to either pottery or jewelry making. I did some research online and came across this great studio on Queen Street (The Devil's Workshop) that sells artisan jewelry but also has a multitude of workshops and classes. I couldn't resist and signed up immediately - for 3 classes! Two of the workshops were just one evening but the other is a 6-week course.

The first class was "wire-working basics." During the 2 hour class we made a pair of stiletto earrings and a pair of tied chain drop earrings.

The last project we did was a wire ring. This was quite time-consuming (especially since I decided to make a cluster ring instead of using just one large bead for the top of the ring).

It was a BYOB (bring your own beads) class but of course I forgot to grab my beads that morning when leaving for work so I had to buy some there. Leaving the house at 6:45 is just too early! I had stocked up on some great beads a few months back when Michael's had a big sale so I was disappointed that I didn't have those to work with. The selection of beads at the workshop wasn't the best but I'm pretty pleased with the pieces I made.

The next evening was a class on making fused glass pendants. I have pictures of my pieces before they went into the kiln for firing but I don't have the finished pieces yet so I'll wait to post all those pictures together. This was an awesome class!

Yesterday I attended my first silversmithing class. In 6 sessions we will learn how to make a sterling silver band ring then set a cabochon on it with a bezel setting. We'll also be able to do one or two other projects, depending on the labour involved.

Since I was busy working away I didn't take many pictures. The first thing we did (after learning how to put a blade into our saw and tighten it properly - harder than you'd think and more frustrating too!) was practice cutting through metal. Here's my L-line and curvy line.

I had fun using the torches but I don't have any pictures of that part. I decided to make a thick ring so bending the metal was difficult but hammering the ring around the mandrel with a rawhide mallet until the ends met was fun. Here is my ring at the end of day 1.

Once I'm back in class next Thursday I will join the ends of the ring together with solder (more torch work!) and then can get on with shaping, sanding and buffing the ring. I'm not sure what kind of finish I want to do yet. Also, I need to figure out what my other projects will be. We get started on those next week and I need to come with some drawings of my ideas.

In other crafting news, I received my first PIF gift on Wednesday! And it was 2 gifts in one - an awesomely stylish purse/clutch and a metal keychain. Thank you so much knitticrafty. I had my PIF gifts almost ready to go out but then decided to make an extra something for one of my recipients.

I am counting down the days until my defense. I don't have my presentation together yet but I've been thinking a lot about it, that counts right? I received the report from my external and she seemed pretty positive about my research. There are a few things I'll need to address in my presentation but I don't think it'll be as bad as I initially feared.

Also, we are considering moving to Waterloo! I've been surfing mls quite a bit but have only been out to see 3 houses so far. I have 4 viewings booked for Monday so things are picking up. I LOVE house-hunting!

A crafty weekend

Finally, a craft update!! My newest hobby is making cold process soap. Here are some bars from my first attempt. A friend gave me the recipe. These bars are largely olive oil based with some coconut oil, palm oil and cocoa butter which makes a mild soap with a good lather. The ones pictured below are scented citrus fresh and may or may not be destined for a PIF recipient.

I am hoping to get some batches made in September so they will be ready for Christmas. I will take some pictures of the process when I do.

I also got back into jewelry making this weekend. Here are a pair of earrings. The earrings ended up being a bit bigger than originally designed but I like how they turned out. I need to replace the earwires with bigger hooks but once that is done they may or may not be on their way to a PIF recipient.

And lastly, I made a batch of muffins to be enjoyed over the long weekend. Some of these are blueberry (for me) and some are chocolate-nut (for Alex).

Backyard life & wildlife

The backyard continues to come along - slowly but surely. Alex just redid the gate. It used to roll open on a wheel at the base of the gate but that didn't work so well in the winter with the snow and ice, or if the wheel went flat. So off he went with his welder and other power tools and made a support beam to go over top the gate. Now it hangs from and rolls along the beam. It's a pretty neat design. He's considering adding a motor to it so we don't need to open it manually. I tell ya, it's very handy having a handy husband around the house! He also added lighting around the perimeter of the yard (LED of course). I tried to take some pictures of the yard lit up at night but they didn't turn out : (

Just in front of Eva (light gray line) is a concrete step

Sadly we have hardly any green space in the backyard. Alex built in a concrete-edged planter (just in front of the shed) which houses a few trees but that's it. Since parking is at a premium in Toronto and we can't seem to get a permit to park on the street overnight, we needed to come up with a way to continue to use the backyard for parking but also have some space to hang out. Now we have a two-tiered yard that can accommodate our 2 cars, 2 motorbikes and trailer, or the cars can be parked on the street and bikes and trailer hidden in the shed which opens up the whole yard for relaxing or entertaining. I love it! And the fence really helps to block out street noise and allows a more private space.

Raspberry Margaritas

I had to add a few more pictures from around campus. There are TONS of geese that hang out on campus and the pond by my office is one of their favourite watering holes/playgrounds. For some reason they are gathered en mass in the morning when I drive in.

Alex surprised me by visiting me at work the other day (it was a nice sunny day and he was looking for an excuse to go for a ride on his motorbike). While giving him a tour we came upon this little bunny. Too cute!