shanmonster | As Busy As a Rental Beaver

I've been crazy busy! Crazy, I tell ya! All of my homework is done. All of it. Yup.

I finished my entire line of jewellery, and all I have to do is give it one final cleaning tomorrow morning before assessments. Well, I might burr out a hole that seems a teensy bit rough, while I'm at it. And to top it off, I also whipped off an additional piece of jewellery. It's a headpiece that quadruples as a necklace, bracelet, and anklet. I made it from Nugold wire, lapis lazuli beads, pearls, and silver and Nugold dangles. It was really easy to make, and I'm thinking I should whip a bunch of them off to sell at dance workshops, and online. I'm supposed to get pictures of all my stuff right after March break, and I'll be putting it all on my website for you to see.

Tomorrow night, I start teaching dance class again. If you're in Fredericton, come to the LBG dance studio at 6:30 for a free class. And yes, I teach guys, too. If you like the first class, you can register for more. I plan on running Wednesday night classes after March break, too, and these will also be open to men and boys (and women and girls, of course!).

Over March break, I'll get to see the visiting

fiachra. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, so it will be nice to touch base with him again. I also plan on taking advantage of my time off to work on soldering hinges. The hinges on my necklace are abysmal. They weeble and wobble, and look scary, too. Next unit, our class will be working on hinges and box clasps. I'd like to be somewhat competent.

The metal studio competition has been announced. This year, we'll all be working on rings with some sort of stone (or what-have-you) setting. If allowed, I'd like to enter one of my design line pieces. However, I also started working on another ring this afternoon. I'm planning on making a U-shaped ring from cuttle cast silver, and a spinning bezel-set abalone shell. I think the lines of the cuttle casting will work really well with the striations in the abalone. I already have a strip of cuttle-cast silver left over from a project at the beginning of the year, and I soldered together the bezel and some tubing. If all goes well, I can finish it all tomorrow after assessments. And then I can start working on yet another ring. We can enter as many as we like, after all, and I wouldn't mind winning the $200 prize.

While working on the headpiece in class today, I placed a lapis bead between my lips for safe temporary storage. Marty, the guy who sits next to me, looked over and said, "Girl, what if you swallow that?"

To his great amusement I answered, "I'll have pretty poop."

I spoke with Brigitte, the studio head, today. If all goes well, I will be taking third year metals next year, and making things like gorgeous hammered goblets, bowls, and the like. There is an independant study unit, too, and I'd like to spend it working on various colouring techniques for metal: anodizing, patination, pencil crayons, etcetera. I'd love to try enamelling, but the studio doesn't have the facilities. In a couple of weeks, we'll be learning how to use resin, and that might be sufficient. I'm intrigued by the idea of setting egg shells in a silver ring.