Fused Metal Class taken at Heart & Communion

Hello everyone! Thank you for coming by to visit today. I love a happy, fun, interesting blog but, if you read my last post it was a bummer & I needed to get back up on my horse & ride to a more "happy place". So what happier place than the Art Event called Heart & Communion that I went to on February 6 & 7th. Go HERE to see the first post for this event. This sweetie is none other than one of our hostesses (& owner of the amazing CHURCH that the event was held at)Shea Fragoso. She is holding the fabulous bag that was provided by the wonderful Jo Packham & the team at Where Women Create Magazine.

These are the goodies in the bag. Some of the items were... an apron from Slice, craft knife from Excel, 3 different types of adhesives(Zip Dry, Gem Tack & Beacon's new glue), A new type of thread from DMC (I loved the little keepers for the thread), a CROWN key ring loaded with BLING, Valentine images & lots more. Everyone was so generous. THANK YOU to all who supplied these items.

The sweet pink heart necklace above was made for everyone by Debbie & Shea. I enjoyed wearing it during the Valentine week after the class.

I showed this to you in the previous post but, if you missed it... I had to show you the soldering table. Mine sure doesn't look like this one but, I did love creating under the glow of those amazing windows that Debbie refinished herself. Be sure & go back to the previous post to see more of these amazing windows.

This is one of the displays of the work of our two amazing teachers(click on their names & it will take you to their sites) Natalie Hansen & Lonnie Jenick

The work of these two ran the whole gauntlet of wonder!

Here is Lonnie showing us how to use the torch

And below are some of the girls working on their jewelry. Natalie & Lonnie were wonderful teachers. They seemed to be everywhere for answering questions & helping. I know they were exhausted after that all day class.

Some of the girls just did one necklace in class & a few of them finished their piece. I did not do that. I chose to work on technique instead of completion. So, I did 4 different pieces that each used different techniques taught in class. The pieces will be turned into jewelry to wear at a later date.

As soon as I got home from class that week the search was on for TOOLS!!! I have told you before that I am intimidated by "Big Girl Tools" but, each class I take & Diana Frey's encouragement that "YOU CAN DO THIS" makes me more at ease. I bought my torch & my butane (are you proud Diana?) And I bought a pipe cutter & resin. I also need to buy metal snips but, I did buy the metal (photo above) used for the jewelry we made.

It's rough but, this is my birdhouse charm. It is made out of the metal that you saw above. The shape was cut out, formed, & the image put inside. Then I had to use a pipe cutter to cut that tiny piece for the opening in the house. At this point I mixed & filled it with resin. I need practice but, I think once I finish putting the necklace together with beads & chain it will be a fun reminder of the time spent in this class.

This sweet bird with his crown is another piece that I made in class. The resin must have been mixed wrong because he has NEVER dried. He is still sticky & now has MANY of my fingerprints on him (since I keep checking to see if the resin is hard). After more than 2 weeks it ISN'T going to get hard. I have emailed Natalie & Lonnie but, haven't heard back as to a cause(I think Sandy said she also had one piece that didn't dry) but, I'm thinking MIXER ERROR!!!!! Or as hubby says "it's the operator"

Another charm... This was also made with just the flat metal & the strip that was bent into that clever little heart. I had never used metal stamps to do words in metal but, it was fun. I love the way it came out. A little patina & the letters & creases in the metal just pop making it look old. I again, can't wait to do the chain & add other charms to finish this off.

Last but, not least is my crown bracelet. I used the chain they had for us in class. But, I like the thicker chain you see at the bottom of the photo. I am going to take the finer chain off & use the thicker one. Come back soon because I want to introduce you to some of the wonderful people I met at this class. I will give you links so you can go & visit them. It's so much fun to find NEW blogs to visit isn't it? Hope you enjoyed the photos from my Fused Metal Class. Have a great week.

AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO WERE SO KIND & SENT ME SUCH SWEET COMMENTS, LOVE & SUPPORT FOR THE LOSS OF MY PRECIOUS REBA. IT MEANT SO MUCH TO ME THAT YOU CARED SO MUCH! FRIENDS DO INDEED MAKE A TERRIBLE TIME MORE BEARABLE!