Crafting

So, so excited - one of my favorite jewelry designers is selling off her excess gemstones and supplies, so I snapped up a whole lot of them yesterday. I got aqua quartz, lemon chalcedony, peridot, smokey quartz, blue chalcedony, and amethyst nuggets. They are just gorgeous and I can't wait to get them. I wanted to get more - perhaps next time.

I've also been looking into taking more jewelry classes, particularly in color theory and metalsmithing. I really want to develop my skills in metalsmithing - working with metal would be so much fun and would open up a whole new world of designs for me.

Then, lo and behold, I came across a jewelry certificate program at a very prestigious art and design school, which luckily is local for me, so I am looking into enrolling. The classes are a lot of metalsmithing, but I'll also learn casting techniques, stone setting, enameling, and glass bead making. They'll teach me how to use a kiln. I really want to learn how to use a kiln.

As well as how to solder properly. Right now I'm teaching myself soldering, and it's slow going and harder than I thought, mostly because I didn't have the proper tools at first and it took me a while to assemble them through research.

I'm really excited about this certificate program. I will be required to take ten classes total. I hope the scheduling works out!