Well, it's only a couple of days till the TBR retreat, 15th year!! I have been working on the goodie bags and door prizes, I think we will do ok. Of course I have not even started my challenge piece or my swap bracelet, but then again, I hardly ever get them done in time anyway. LOL  I will be posting pics and stuff on here as usual. I recently entered the Mango Beads messiest bead space contest, I thought I was a shoe in, but I see there are other challenged folks just like me, LOL  here is the pic of my desk I sent in.... well darn, it wont let me load it, I guess I will have to convert it to jpg. geez, what else, LOL  well, just want ed to make a note that it is coming up on party time!!  Darn, I can't get anything to upload, Must need to reboot again. Ok I will see you guys tomorrow with some pics I hope!!!
:)

Can't beleive it is already time to get ready for Bead retreat!!!

well, time has once again sneaked up n me, I can't believe it is time to get ready for the bead reteat again. http://texasbeaders.com/2014_Texas_Bead_Retreat.htm  wow, so many ideas and so little time, LOL. Lots going on in real life too, people at my day job think I am supposed to actually work.... can you believe that??LOL Haven't won the lottery yet, so no help there and chances of meeting any well off guys are pretty slim at this point, LOL. Anybody out there is bead biz land interested in donating door prizes or items for the goodie bags for this January, contact me at dorilvn812@cs.com off to work on it!! Things are about to get hectic!!  TTYL

Allie-Jay: The Documentary

my grandaughter's graduation

 

here is the graduate the day before the big day heading to an interview with a producer!!

 

 

next a pic of the future graduate dressed up for the Black and Platinum ball

 

 

another one-on the phone with the BFF!! 

 

 

my two big girls, my daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Alyssia

 

 

one of the many awards received ast the ball!!!

 

giving a farewell speech at the ball(really just making everyone cry!!)

 

 

 

after the awards, finally everyone dancing the wobble,wobble(I would have gotten up there with her but did not want to make the young folks look bad! LOL)

 

 

 

getting ready for the big walk across the stage!!

 

 

 

the cake I made for the after graduation party in progress---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

everyone thought it looked like it would faoll over but it was just because I turned the levels wrong and the columns were not lined up and made it look off kilter. didn't matter much , it was eaten up within minutes!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

here are some pics from the after party

started out cool, nice weather and all, then it began to rain, every one moved inside and left Dad outside in the barbequing all alone.

awwwww.

 

 

Dj and Wi party is on!!!  the rest of my

 pics are in video form so gotta figure out how to load them-accepted to college!!!

 

OMG-I can never keep up, loL

Well, here i am again, not having written on here for a while. i have to list all the folks that donated to the 2013 Texas Bead Retreat goodie bags still and it is aloready june!!!  So many of our vendors this year were down and out with the flu that was ging around, I really hated to ask, but as usual our folks came through in a big way and the bags were a big hit!!! the following were all good enough to donate to the cause and not get upset with me for being such a procrastinator,lol.  

1.      Cousin Corporation-several door prizes and catalogs for all       http://www.cousin.com/Home.aspx

2.      DIY Closet-15% discount at etsy store      http://www.etsy.com/shop/diycloset

3.      Wired up Beads-door prize    http://www.wiredupbeads.com/

4.      Beaducation- several door prizes    http://www.beaducation.com/

5.      Shipwreck Beads-door prize   http://www.shipwreckbeads.com/

6.      Jewelry Television-pens and rulers for all   http://www.jtv.com/

7.      Toho beads-samplers for all  http://tohobeads.net/

8.      Rings & Things-journals, pens & bookmarks for all  http://www.rings-things.com/

9.      Firefly Design studio-several door prizes, gift bag for all, free ship on etsy   http://www.etsy.com/shop/fireflydesignstudio

10.   Bead Box Bargains-gift bag for all, several door prizes  http://www.beadboxbargains.com/

11.   No Snow supplies-gift bags for all  http://www.etsy.com/shop/nosnowsupplies

12.   Beach Castle Beads-gift bags for all, 2 coupons to etsy store  http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeachCastleBeads

13.   Spirit Bear beads-gift bags for all, door prize   http://www.etsy.com/shop/spiritbearbeads, http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/Spiritbearbeads, http://spiritbearbeads.com/index.html

14.   Unicorne beads-gift bag for all, several door prizes(now with Bead Crazee also) http://www.unicornebeads.com/

15.   Rio Grande-aluminum findings for all  http://www.riogrande.com/

16.   Fusion Beads-gift bags for all, door prize  http://www.fusionbeads.com/

17.   Fire Mountain Gems- Pens and rulers for all   http://www.firemountaingems.com/

18.   Xuron Corp-door prize  http://www.xuron.com/

19.   Lark books- several door prizes  http://www.larkbooks.com/

20.   JJM jewelry- 25% coupon to etsy store   http://www.etsy.com/shop/jjmjewelry

21.   Unkamen Supplies- 20% off coupons and  several door prizes  http://www.etsy.com/shop/UnkamenSupplies

22.   Nina designs-several door prizes-  http://www.ninadesigns.com/

23.   Joyce of Joyous Creations Inc on EBAY-several door prizes  http://www.ebay.com/sch/joyouscreationsinc/

24.   Eloxite-several door prizes   http://www.eloxite.com/store/

25.   Kandu Beads-15% off etsy store  http://www.etsy.com/shop/KanduBeads

26.   Turquoise magpie-door prize  http://www.magpiegemstones.com/

27.   Brazos Collection, Salado-several door prizes  http://brazoscollection.com/

28.   Kalmback books-several door prizes  http://kalmbach.com/

29.   The Bead Coop-door prize   http://www.thebeadcoop.com/

30.   Fragiacomo Glass Art-door prize  http://www.etsy.com/shop/fragiacomoglassart

31.   Tree frog beads- several door prizes and 15% coupon to etsy store  http://www.etsy.com/shop/treefrogbeads

32.   Wally’s Party Factory -tote bags and coupons  http://www.facebook.com/WallysPartyFactory

33.   Patina Worx- gift bags for all   http://www.etsy.com/shop/PatinaWorx

 

coupons

 

1.  DIY BEAD SHOP -   http://www.etsy.com/shop/DIYBeadshop    15% OFF WITH CODE-TEXAS BEADERS

 

2. FIREFLY DESIGN STUDIO-  http://www.etsy.com/shop/FireflyDesignStudio     FREESHIPPING WITH cODE FREESHIP 

 

3.BEACH CASTLE BEADS- http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeachCastleBeads         FREE SHIPPING WITH CODE FREESHIP

 

4.JJM JEWELRY-http://www.etsy.com/shop/jjmjewelry    25% OFF THRU JUNE 30TH WITH CODE TEXASBEADERS

5.UNKAMEN SUPPLIES-http://www.etsy.com/shop/UnkamenSupplies  20% OFF WITH CODE TEXASBEADERS

6. TREE FROG BEADS-http://www.etsy.com/shop/treefrogbeads    15% OFF THROUGH MARCH 31ST WITH CODE TXBEADS 

7. KANDU BEADS-http://www.etsy.com/shop/KanduBeads      15% OFF  WITH CODE Texas15

 

 

 

 

woohoo-TBR 2013 in 2 days!!!

Hi Everyone,
  sorry to have been MIA for a while, but you know life gives no quarter. LOL I am currently getting ready for the Texas beaders retreat #14!! I have all the goodie bags made up and most of the door prizes together, have to print a couple of things still but otherwise all set. only 2 more days!! Of course my "tablemates" are all coming in today a littel early so we can run the streets and create havoc, ooohhh, I mean shop and create beading projects(sorta the same thing, LOL) Plus we are adding a newbie to our ranks (HI. Dee)and Joann, Of course the queen of socializing, Nancy Trickett-Ransom, will be trying to get them to put a couple tables together cuz she is just that kinda gal that you want to sit with! Beth and Katy(who is in texas now-woot) are coming in this evening and Sharon is coming in around noon.We will probably see Eileen tomorrow. I sam the world's worst at remembering names(I couldnt remember my own if i did not have a nametag) so we will catch up with the"tablestealers" tomorrow too(you know who you are, LOL)There are also alot of famous ladies(authors, teachers,tv crafters, etc) that come to the retreat and I always have to get Nancy to remind me of people's names, but any of us could be the next author,etc. One of our own, Jill Wiseman was just published this past year!  Sandy and Elizabeth are coming on tonight too i think just to make sure everything is going smoothly. I look forward to this retreat evey year even though last year i had a migraine the whole time. I am on my very first paid full vacation of my entire life this time though and have had a littel bit of time to get things going. I have not started my challenge piece or swap bracelet yet(I work better under pressure) but this time last year i did not have the bags and stuff done yet so, I am really ahead of schedule. I think i did a better job this year with the goodies and the door prizes, I hope everyone will be pleased! Now how to top it next year?? I have found that asking vendors early does not really make that much difference, with the holidays they forget and I ended up doing most of the asking again anyway. so my procratinating did not hurt anythng all those other years, LOL.
OK on the home front, My daughter in maryland has the Flu-full blown and is feeling pretty bad, I hate that i cant be there for her. My 5 grandkids seemm to be holding up pretty well. My oldest Son and his wife are still living with me but are thinking of getting their own place this year, they finished the first year of college and passed everything and now are starting on the 2nd. My son has something that is making his glands swell and a cough but not the Flu, I think he may need a steriod but he does not want to go to the dr. for fear of getting the flu. Of Course my youngest son is still on his extended vacation with the state authorities. My patients have all had the flu or something like it and there is a stomach bug going around too. I bathed in alcohol gel between, before and after each one-all last week to keep from getting sick. even put it on my car keys(Look, out Howie Mandel-lol) Ok, that is about it for now, Going to get a last few things from the store and I guess work on my projects!I will be putting up a list of the donors of goodies and door prizes here in a little while and I want to thank each and everyone of you for your participation in this! I will keep everyone posted and probably add pics before it is all over!! Look forward to seeing everyone!!!

start at the 3rd one down titled texas beaders retreat

ok here is the next section of the story-lots of fun was had by all, we sorely missed our buddy Sharon but she was able to make it on the last day!!! Better late than never!! here she is getting hug from nancy and all by sweet self!

I probably forgot to mention that nancy is the Queen of all, LOL she has to wear a crown a meals and we all bow to her, LOL this is the rest of my group(hmm I am not here, LOL) seated left to right is Beth Dobbins and Katy Welch, standing is JoAn, and her highness Nancy, LOL you can look to the right and see our orange haired mermaid table decoration. and then a little bigger pic of it. Nancy brought her from her DIL's store.

Ok now there are lots of pics to put up of just everyone and i will try to label as many as i can but i am no good at even getting these pics to go where i want so don't be shocked by anything that happens, LOL

This is beth-fixin: to get down to the real reason for coming-Beading-she probably can concentrate better than anyone i know, and can finish stuff she starts, unlike yours truly, LOL

this is Katy(I get on her nerves sometimes but I love her anyway, LOL) she is very talented and if it can be beaded she can do it, teach it, or make it better. I keep waiting for her to be published in some magazine or other cuz she is so good at it!

This is our redheaded step child Eileen, she kinda came along the second or third year we were here as a group and has kind of tagged along since, guess we will have to officially adopt her. LOL She made some beading kits just to see what would happen and made a killing. I think she may still be up on cloud 9.

Ok well, I will put more up here tomorrow, I have been typing and uploading for about 2 hours and there is much more to add. watch the blog in the next day or 2 for more, gotta work the old day job tomorrow so, don't know how tired i might be. TTYL

Texas Beaders Retreat(cont)

So, there were lots of classes, I took 3 classes myself, the first one was friday night and it was a bracelet made with wire and pearls, mine was peacock pearls and blue wire but this is the photo to advertise the class

The second class i had was saturday morning with Royelle Giddens, now you must know these facts Royelle can teach a retarded chimpanzee to bead and I just am NOT a morning person. So, needless to say i did not do well in that class. too tired , couldn't get it, not a stitcher, who knows but i did not get it. LOL the other students made some awesome stuff though!


















The last class i took was on saturday night cuz i did not want to waste another class on the morning thing, LOL It was Metal mania with gwen youngblood and we got to hammer and cut and bang on metal, totally FUN!!! here is the promo pic for that class













There were other classes and great teachers but i could not attend them all!!! One of the things i did this year for the 3rd year is make up goodie bags for each of the attendees. I had some awesome donors this year and want to thank each and everyone of them individually! I am going to list them here and then do a blurb on each one separately!! they are all awesome businesses and I am so thankful for their support!!







1.JP Tool & ImpressART-sister companies-donated a metal design stamp for eachperson



2.Rio Grande-donated a sunshine polish cloth for each person & a door prize of Bronze Metal clay book



3.Kambach publishers-donated 101 bead tips books for all and door prize of Gift Cert to beadstyle mag



4.The Spacer Shop- donated 2 hand made spacer beads for each person & 10% off coupon to etsy store



5.Patina Worx-donated individual patina'd metal charms or pendants for each person



6.Spirit Bear Beads-donated individual bags of seed beads for each person and secret surprise $20 gift cert



7.Whim beads-donated seed beads for every person and 10% off coupon for store



8.JJM jewelry-this is the secnd year for these guys-donated a whole beading kit for each person
9.BeachCastle Beads-donated white fresh water pearls for each person



10.Your Need is Our bead-donated big bags of bead related stuff for each person & 25% off coupon for store



11.Favored Memories-donated baggies with bead and finding samples for each person



12.Steffworks(pieces&parts)-donated seed beads for each person



13.Hanson Stone vintage-donated individual packets of seed and other small beads



14.Softflex co.-donated cards with wire samples on each and 2 packages of TRIOS for Door prizes



15.rings & things-donated pens for each person and 2-$25 gift certificates to site



16.Fusion Beads-crystal bling bracelet kit for door prize



17.Znetshows-donated metal bead scoops & a strand of crystals for each person



18.Unicorne Beads-donated teardrop beads for each person and door prize



19.Odd designsNC-donated door prize



20. White Clover Kiln-donated raku heart door prize



21. naos glass-donated a door prize



22. Fragiocomo glass-donated a door prize



23.Brandywine jewelry-donated individual beads and supplies for each person



24.Beaducation-donated 3 free online class door prizes



25.Kabela designs-donated a door prize



26.The Elegant needle-donated 10% off any purchase coupons



27.Brazos Collection-donated 2 beading kit doorprizes



28. Texas Home Health-temple office-donated the bags to put the goodies in, nail files, pens to each person

29. Tree frog Beads-donted $50 gift certificate to their store(wish i would have gotten that one, LOL)





I think i am forgetting someone but never fear i will get you up here, got to go through the paperwork again!

Texas Beader's Retreat

hi all, well it is hard to believe it has been 4 dys since the retreat concluded! I guess it took me longer to recover than I thought, LOL! My GF Nancy Trickett-Ransom & her friend JoAn came early on wednesday. We went out to eat Cracker barrell and it was awesome. Then we went to a special late evening jewelers party at Brazos Collection in Salado, tx-When we got there we realized it was a trick!! Not much party but alot of beads begging to come home with us, LOL. Then thursday the rest of the gang came in Katy Welch, Beth Dobbins both came in from Arkansas in the train and we waited for the last of our group Sharon Campbell from Wemberly, Tx but then found out her mother was ill and she might not be able to come at all. we were not happy since this was our 6th year at the retreat as group. so now we all went to the Hilton Garden Inn in Temple,tx where the retreat was being in held. The ballrooms were opened early for us to set up and start beading, woohoo, we set up our places but the "table" we always used had been usurped!! OMG how could we sit in a different table after 6 years?? The newbies had taken over our spot and of course we had to be nice about it... we took the table next to it instead, with a little grumbling. We still ended up being the same number though #10 so it was ok. The newbies turned out to be pretty nice so we were glad they took our table in the end, LOL Here they are with our Nancy (far left)

We were surprised (but should not have been) at the amount of people that were there for "early beading" the actual retreat did not start till friday afternoon! so almost everyone was there already, sharing ideas, showing beautiful things that they had made and SHOPPING! Oh yeah one of the most fun things about the retreat!! We have a regular vendor Jane's beads and fibers, but some of the ladies make lampwork beads and sell them at the retreat and a couple of the gals have there own stores and brought beads (as long as they were different than what jane carries) so we were shoppng, oh, yeah!!!FUN!!! This is Crystal Gilbert of Crystals Lampwork and next to her was Donna montez of D&M beads.

There are alot more things to say and add on here so, hang on, i am going to post this one and then start a new one. I am no good at the saving and editing stuff, LOL See you in a minute......

13th annual Texas beader's retreat Jan 19-22

Well, I am getting all excited about the upcoming retreat right here in my hometown of Temple,Tx- I have been contacting vendors for donations to my yearly goodie bags and the response has been fantastic! I have met some awesom folks doing this every year, and enjoy it tremendously. I will be doing a little blurb on each donor this year , just so everyone out there can see for themselves what awesome folks we have out there to work with! The economy has been beating up a lot of the small businesses this year and I am sorry to say that all the consignment shops and places that I was showing my jewelry at, have gone out of business. I hated losing my favorite nail salon too. I haven't had nails put on since she closed! :( I guess this is the year where all of the little businesses need to stick together and help each other even if it is just a "hey, check this store out on the "net" to friends or actually buying from the stores when you can. I hope it is not as bad everywhere else as it is here but everytime I look around another biz has closed. Even the big biz places are changing hands alot.
God, how did I get on that sad road? Back to the retreat! I will be posting pics all week and afterward of everyone having fun at the retreat and all the beautiful jewelry that will be made, and maybe a few candid quotes from some of the beaders! My gals that have been my table mates since we all started going to the retreat as newbies 5 years ago are all coming again and will be adding to the hilarity to come!! Nancy T from kansas, Beth and Katy from Arkansas, Sharon from Wimberly,Tx, can't wait to see you guys!! OK, well, that is all for right now, got to go watch a movie with my Baby boy(25yo-6'5"- 325 lbs,LOL) I will be back here soon to chew your ears off!! Dori

Christmas Eve

Hello Everyone,

I have been neglecting this blog for many reasons but need to get it together and start posting at least weekly with updates on the biz and growth and just general stuff, LOL Well, it has been a harried and busy holiday season for me(even though i have been off from my day job thanksgiving, today and tomorrow-1st time in like 40 years) I was trying to get work done, fill requests, make eye catching stuff to sell, attempt to shop for my grands to mail a package to them and also keep up with facebook. Whew, it is pretty hard to do. I pretty good sales this year , with more higher end sales and large sales than usual. On the other hand all of the littel businesses that i was showing at have goen out of business so, I do not currently have any place to show stuff except on Ebay(which i am hearing more & more is not friendly to tiny biz like mine)and on facebook. Allthough i have not actually sold anything from MY postings on facebook, I had been helping my DIL learn to make jewelry and she had posted just to family and done pretty well. I did end up selling several pieces to her family also, which was nice. I also got a couple of orders for particular items from those postings also. I have to figure out how to use facebook better, i have gobs of friends on there and mopst are other artists. I locve to follow them and see how they are doing but I have so many posts on there that i can never find mine or see if i have any answers to them. There has to be a way to thin the posts without having to completely leave someone off. I just have to find time to figure it out. Well, I am really looking forward to the Texas beaders retreat in january here in temple, I have not even started on the goodie bags i have been doing the past 2 yeafs so ,don't know how well that will go but going to work on it while i am off next couple days. I need to get more memory for my computer too. it takes forever to upload pics or list stuff now vecause it is so slow and low on memory and I have a tendency to avoid time consuming things, so not much is listed right now, Got to fix that too. Also have to get to work on some silversmith stuff now that the holiday rush is over, so busy making lots of quick stuff to sell that i haven't concentrated on making higher end pieces that would sell for higher prices which is where i will have to go to make this biz profitable enough to actaully do it full time. I also would like to vet into making kits, patterns, tutorials and possibly teaching. One of my dear Freinds Nancy ransom started teaching at retreats last year and is enjoying it and says it is not hard to do. I always worry about Murphy's law though cuz i think i am kin to ol' murphy or at least his decendant, LOL. well, this is getting pretty long and i am guessing if you made it this far, you truly are bored to tears, LOL. I will write again soon. Wonder if it would do any good to post pics here of stuff? hmmmmm you never know!

TTYL-Dori

well, here i am again

hi anyone, lol I have been terribly negligent in my blogging but since i just signed up for a blog bead party at "pretty things" I suppose i ought to write some things here. I have not only been bad in the blog but in my jewelry creating as well, don't get me wrong, the brain is always scouting, arranging and trying to produce things, it's just the ol' body that does not follow through!LOL I have been working quite a bit on my "real" job of home health nurse here lately and it is so doggoned hot here in Texas(109 today)
that I truly have come home and crashed in front of the A/C every evening.I have filled several orders lately also for regular customers as well as new ones. I have my son going out talking me up here lately and he has gotten me several new customers!! I have a show on friday at a local assisted living home and am pretty excited about that. One of my customers(and Dear Friend) Ardenna is the wellness nurse there and has asked me to come show my jewelry. I was thrilled to be asked! When i am done with that i will be putting everything else that is already made up out in my little booth at Snickelbritches in Temple(in case you want to check it out). I then plan to get to work on Christmas gift type stuff. I want to play with the silver a little more and I have been contemplating incorporating some leather stuff and steampunk into my jewelry. I have lots of ideas , now to just get them to fruition! well, I need to finish up a couple of nurse notes and then complete a wire wrap necklace i made for a friend that I will be seeing tomorrow. i will let everyone(or anyone, LOL) know how the show turns out! thanks for coming by!

I have been overwhelmed-need to post!

hi anybody out there in blog following land. I have been working my mundane job as a home health nurse and neglecting my glamorus other identity as "super jewelry maker" LOL, so , what is going on ?? I have been filling orders alot lately, I have 2 necklace sets to make by july 4, I have a full complement of bridesmaids necklace sets to make for a wedding by middle of june. Just barely finished a crystal & pearl set for a wedding that was held today! I have some wirewrapping earrings ordered also. busy, busy, busy!! My son's grandmother in law passed away this past weekend and put the house in a sort of uproar. My youngest son will possibly be coming home next month, so I am excited and a little stressed by that. My daughter turns 31 in july, I have no idea how she got there, I swear I have been trying to keep her 20 for at least 11 years, LOL-I went to the local wholesale bead store to pick up just 3 things, 3!!! ended up with $70 worth of beads and stuff i could not live without and they were out of ALL 3 things I went for!!! I just wanted to check in here for a minute and put a little update in. Also a friend of mine from the cyber world has been chosen as one of the 16 beautiful minds of 2011.vote here- http://www.beautiful-minds.com/ -she is the 6th one down on the voting page. She(melody macduffie) needs our votes to earn money for her charity "Soul of Somanya" the link to her page is on my favorite links list and it tells exactly what the money goes for. I fully support this endeavor. It is literally a life saver!! Thank you in advance!! well, I will close for now, lots of jewelry to make, look for some posts tomorrow?? If nothing earth shattering happens, LOL

results of silversmithing a ring without help

hi all, well, I finally got all the tools and equipment for silversmithing except for the polishing stuff and set up my little work area and decided to make a new ring with no teacher this time. I set out doing pretty well but when I got to the part where you solder the band to the top of the ring my torch started acting weird, first when I lit it only a portion of the flame came on at first. and after I got it going good, no matter what I did it would make a whoosh of flame then go out. I tried changing position, different levels of flame and holding it at varying degrees from the piece but it kept doing it. I sent an Email to Don asking if it was just a bad cannister or if I needed to do something different. I did get a little ring completed and pickled and all but I am not going to post pics till I get the polishihng stuff to make it pretty. I should be able to post it by next weekend if not sooner. On other things, I have several orders to fill for jewelry and have GOT to put more items in the stores(Snicklebritches and Fingers & toes, not to mention Ebay) I have a check at the salon and $20 at a customer's house just waiting to be picked up and just haven't been able to make it out in the boondocks where she lives. I have been working alot the past few weeks and when not working I hate to admit I have been napping. I really need to get back into a productive mood, this sleeping all the time is just feeding the dang depression and I have always sworn not to let it get me. I will have to set a goal for myself to make "X" amount of pieces and post "X" amount of pieces per week or I will never get anywhere. So anyone out there want to tell me how many pieces per week I should start with?? Keep in mind I work a full time job too. LOL I am having a lady to come in one day a week for a couple hours to help me get some kind of organization in my bead room, I had originally planned to hire Gail Goddard(she is a professional organizer and a beader) to do this with income tax refund but did not get near as much as I thought I would back so had to try a different route. Well, I guess that is all the biz stuff for this week, kinda slow because of the stupid sleeping. I will post the little ring later in the week and maybe I will make something else too. I do have to get some beading done though, for real!! LOL TTYL

last weekend silversmithing class with Don Norris

well, I got to take the class and had a blast! One of my good friends Dionne went with me and we both learned alot! Don has a vast knowledge of metals science and techniquesand he tries to teach as much of it as he can in the 2 days allowed for the class. Of course there is not enough ime to put it all in there. I really enjoyed the class and made a cool ring that has already had 2 offers to buy it(though as my first, I will not sell it)

Don showing us a Tip"no fiddling"

Don admiring a classmates wirework

Don showing us how to use torch

Back side of my ring

• My creation-Lapis stone and a good luck gecko