Metalsmithing Class Part VIII: Comedy Of Errors

Yesterday was one of those days where just everything went wrong. I didn't get much sleep and then had to get a lot of blood drawn for an upcoming medical exam. And so I stumbled into my jewelry making class bleary-eyed and woozy. I didn't want to miss class because I'm almost done with that darn pendant that I've been working on.

What I didn't realize, though, was HOW out of it I was -- that is, until I began dropping stuff. First, I went to file the end of my bezel (the wire tht's wrapped around a stone in a piece of jewelry) and knocked it onto the floor. I then cut up tiny pieces of solder wire -- and knocked their container over three times! Three! I then went to solder the seam on my bezel and when I went to screw the cap back onto my flux paste, accidentally picked up the little cap in which I'd stored my solder pieces. So that's right, they were dropped again, only this time I dumped them into the paste.

And it doesn't end there. I cut more solder pieces, but they kept falling off of my bezel when I was trying to lay them out over the seam (they're supposed to stick to the paste and then you fire the piece before the flux dries out, but they weren't staying put). I finally got them to stay in place and torched my bezel ... and my teacher pointed out that the seam wasn't lined up. She had to pull the bezel apart to undo the soldering and somehow managed to salvage it. After some cursing and filing and shaping, I redid it and this time, managed to not drop anything before successfully soldering it together. But as soon as I returned to my work station, I went to sand down the edge of the ring -- and yep, dropped it right on the floor!

Bt now, everyone was pretty much laughing at me and my teacher just shrugged and said, "Look, we all have off days." I explained about having had my blood drawn. I mean, I know I'm a klutz, but this was rediculous, even for me.

Still, I managed to make my bezel and didn't accidentally burn down the studio in the process. The good news is, I'm much more comfortable working with fire. The first time I used the torch I was freaked out, but now it seems like much less of a big deal. And the fire turns all sorts of pretty colors....

In other news, I'm officially signed up for my three classes: Metalsmithing II, Enameling I and Precious Metal Clay. I'm really excited for them! My teacher says that the morning classes have a much different feel, that it's kind of like summer camp. I can live with that. I want my classes to be informative, but fun.

Meantime, I'm really glad I'm taking this class, even if I don't like every element of it. I've definitely picked up some interesting new skills and that will only serve me in the long run.

Hopefully, my bezel will be attached to my pendant by next week so I can show a pic of my final product.

Okay, bad joke time: When I attach the bezel, will I be committing emBEZELment? Haha.

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs on Etsy.

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