One of the lessons I learned at Adorn Me! this year was that it's probably not a good idea to take an evening class on a day when I have a day class. The first day with the sawing class wasn't so bad. I think I was wired with excitement and that it carried me through the very long day.
Wednesday and Thursday I was very tired during my evening classes. I could tell my brain wasn't working as well as it should be. I still had a great time though.
fun funky ring
Wednesday evening was Jane Salley's Fun Funky Rings class. I only got the one ring done. I got to use the dapping blocks and the disc cutters, which I loved. I had never used disc cutters. I did get parts of other rings done. Jane is a lot of fun and the class was kind of like having "playtime." We used several methods of cold connections: rivets, mini nuts and bolts, etc.
knot bead pendant
Thursday evening was Melanie Schow's Knot Bead Pendant class. This was a great class and I enjoyed it very much. Melanie made the complex bead seem easy and she had a great handout with photos. Check out her amazing coiled jewelry here.
I was going to antique this bead when I got home, but now I've decided to leave this one as is and make a second to antique, and a third out of copper...
Eni Oken has started a new jewelry site: Jewelry Lessons by Eni Oken and friends. The site is loaded with good info, mostly on wire wrapping, but undoubtedly with much more to come. In addition to articles, profiles, pictures and more, there are quite a few tutorials for sale, and also some free ones. The tutorials have been authored by Eni Oken and other artists. I can't speak for all the tutorials, but I have purchased Eni's tutorials from her site Eni Oken's Jewelry Journal before and found them to be immensely detailed and well written, with excellent close-up photos of every step.
Eni writes in her journal that "The site will be a community, sales venue and bank of knowledge all wrapped in one. It will have articles, tips, tutorials, Q&A section, member profile pages, student galleries and a lot more. The idea is to SHARE information on jewelry making -- not only wirework, but all artisan techniques -- and store it in more efficient ways than the traditional forums and newsgroups."
