Tension, headache, ow - bad thing.
Tension, sapphire, sterling - not a bad thing.
Yep, my first tension setting. What a sweet little baby.
Maybe something only this mother will cherish, looking past any newborn oddness, bumps, or weirdness -- bless your haaaaaaaaaart little one, you're all mine.
This was made yesterday when I got together with 3 other metalsmiths in PA. We converged AGAIN upon Rina - in her awesome studio. Lisa, Gary, and I all arrived before noon and stayed until at least 8pm. I was the first to arrive and the first to leave. And I had a blast. We hardly made anything, in fact, I was the only one that actually made anything although Lisa and Gary started a project very late into the day, and partway into a bottle of bourbon. They never finished. The ring that is. (actually they didn't finish the bourbon either - it was a HUGE bottle!) But they had fun anyway. ;-) Gary helped walk me through my first tension setting and I think I'm hooked. Can't wait to try another. And can't wait to get together with my pals again! Rina's studio is central for all of us - it took me less than 2 hours to get there, Lisa comes from the furthest but was there in just about 2 hours. Besides the yearly retreat in NC, this is the only time I really get benchtime with others. Can't say how much I enjoy it. :)
On Saturday I had some rare free time so I made a couple of rings, with my trademark shank.
This one is opal in sterling.
The other ring was damaged during polishing, I need to remake the setting. :(
I decided I needed to make something other than rings for a change, so I made this sweet little pair of sterling and garnet earrings.
I am leaving for vacation on Saturday but hope to get some bench time this week in addition to my Tuesday night tomorrow night. I am having a renewed 'fun' creating lately. )
It was a busy weekend and will be a busy week, but I hope to have a few more intersting things to post this week. STAY TUNED!
Janice
