Teaching handmade jewelry: my new teaching job!

Last week, I began an exciting new job: teaching fused glass at the Atria Senior Residence right near me. The Engage Life Director has titled it "Naomi's Jewels." Snazzy, right?

I've been playing flute there for two years and have done a couple of jewelry sales for the seniors, but the Atria was looking for some "different" programs to be included in the lineup. Glass jewelry fit that description! My class is being held once a month, which is perfect for my freelancing lifestyle. It's being held often enough that I can count on a paycheck, but is still rare enough to be special. Since I now teach at three places, I can rotate and devote time to each venue.

What's nice is that I already know most of the staff and residents so I'm not the "new girl." My close friend Judith is assisting me, so we're getting to do something together outside of music. My first class also happened to be held on the first day of the newest Engage Life staffer, so she helped out, as well. She's young and enthusiastic, and has an art background, so she was perfect.

The class is being held in Cafe Atria, which is a small kitchen area with tables and chairs, a toaster and microwave. It's adjacent to the front hallway, so it's open and bright, and people are constantly walking by. I like this set-up because it's much more comfortable than being crammed into a back room.

10 seniors showed up for my class, including two men! I rarely get male students, so I was delighted to see them there. One planned to make a pendant for his daughter, while the other just wanted to try something new.

I kicked off with my easiest project: making mosaic pendants. This is great first lesson because it lets my students play with the different types of dichroic glass. I cut about a hundred small pieces for them, giving them access to glass in many colors, textures and patterns.

The biggest challenge that comes from working with this group is that several have memory problems. I had to be extra-careful to keep them safe. I filed and blunted the ends of every single glass piece and constantly reminded them to not go near the hot kiln. I also assured them that if they needed help, they shouldn't be shy about asking. Some were able to assemble their pieces without assistance, but many did need help. They told us where to place the glass so they did have a hand in constructing their pendants. The idea behind these programs is to not only do something fun, but to keep their minds active. I'm so proud of the designs they came up with.

All of these students are in their 80s and 90s, but none have ever worked with glass. They were so enthusiastic and enjoyed learning something new -- even at their advanced ages. As one said, "It's never too late to try something different." I love that attitude!

Since I live so close, I fired the pieces at home and returned with them a few days later. The best part was watching the seniors open the envelopes with their jewelry. They were so pleased! Here are a few, showing off their work:

I returned to the Atria on Tuesday to do an impromptu Fourth Of July program with Judith. We played patriotic songs on flute -- and kazoo! -- and wandered all over the building. Many of my students were wearing their pendants and stopped me to say how much they loved my class. As cheesy as it is to say this, that meant so much more to me than the money (though I appreciate that, too!).

I've come up with a long list of projects and am so looking forward to this month's lesson. I never expected my music to take me in such an unusual direction, but I'm glad it did.

Check out my jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Adventures in making fused dichroic glass jewelry: my first glass demo!

It's been about 10 months since I began making glass pieces and this art has become my favorite out of all of the jewelry making techniques I practice. I got to share my knowledge -- limited as it is at this point -- with the seniors at the Homestead, a local residence near me.

In my last post, I wrote about how I'm going to be teaching a glass class early next year at Maple Grove Cemetery's cultural center. I want to get a few demos in before doing this, so I asked the Homestead's rec director if I could teach glass fusing at my monthly jewelry making class. She agreed and the seniors seemed to be excited with the idea.

Still, I was nervous. A few of the seniors have minor dementia and glass fusing involves well, glass, and fire. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. To prepare, I pre-cut all of the glass and filed the ends of each piece to blunt them. I also explained to the rec director that I needed to be the only one who operated the kiln.

I decided to have my students make mosaic pendants, which involved fusing colorful bits onto a black base. It's a fairly simple glass project, but the results are beautiful. They're also fun to make!

Before handing out the glass pieces, I explained what dichroic glass is and showed them the kiln and kiln paper. One of the ladies is 91, sharp as a tack, and has a wonderful sarcastic sense of humor. "That looks like something you'd heat Chinese dumplings in!" she said of the kiln. And when I showed her the kiln paper, "Well, now we know what we can use if we run out of toilet paper."

The rec director and I helped them arrange and glue the pieces and we then took a little field trip to the microwave, where I showed them how the glass is fired. This microwave was bigger than mine, so the piece fired in about two minutes -- and the women were impressed. They all "oohed" and "aahed" as I lifted the kiln's lid and presented the glowing, molten pendant. After, that same lady told me, "You know, at my age, I thought I've seen everything, but this is new to me. You can always learn something."

We finished up the lesson with everyone putting their glued pendants into labeled envelopes, so I could finish firing them at home. But the women wanted more! They've asked if I could do another lesson showing how I actually cut and shape the glass. They also loved the idea of working with pre-cut shapes, like hearts and stars.

I'm so happy and relieved that my class was a success! I really love working with these women and am pleased that they enjoyed glass fusion as much as I do. Now that I did this class, I feel more confident taking my lesson to other venues. I look forward to introducing more people to this art form.

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped jewelry, enamel jewellery and glass jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Selling handmade jewelry: More weird tales from the craft fair, some interesting opportunities and working with precut glass shapes!

Last week was one of the busiest weeks I've had in a while. I had the art fair on Sunday, rehearsal on Monday and Wednesday, and then a combo vendor sale/concert at the Atria on Thursday. Whew! Happily, all went well and it's on to the next projects.

I didn't really make anything new for the Atria sale, figuring I'd just sell my leftover pieces from the art fair. I'm constantly making new items, so I always have a full inventory on hand. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that the seniors wanted less expensive jewelry. Most of my stuff is priced between $15-35, but many people asked if I had $5 items. Fortunately, I always bring wire with me so I can work on projects, so I churned out a bunch of cute wire pendants, selling 2 for $10. Those were popular and I made some sales! I also sold a few glass pieces, as well, but I know to have very inexpensive options for the next event.

I've mentioned my friend Judith on this blog before. She's my music partner, one of the biggest supporters of my jewelry venture and has also decided that she's my "agent." I'm very lucky to have met her and am so glad I called the Atria to see if they needed a flutist. Anyway, Judith hooked me up with two interesting jewelry gigs: I'm going to be doing another vendor sale at the senior home where she used to work and in April, I'm going to be selling my pieces at a four-day tarot card readers' convention.

Full disclosure: I know NOTHING about tarot. I've never seen a psychic or had a reading, or anything like that. I'm open-minded to learning, though, and the Readers Studio is a very popular event that has an artists' market and attracts hundreds of tarot practitioners from around the world. I can't guarantee that my jewelry will sell -- I never can be sure -- but I am certain I'll meet some interesting people!

To prepare for these craft fairs and now this tarot show, I've been trying to make some more commercial designs. When working with enamel, I sometimes use "blanks," which are pre-cut copper shapes. I like to draw and cut my own pieces when I can, but this saves time.

You can also get pre-cut glass shapes. Glass is a lot harder to cut into exact shapes like thin sheet metal, so I've ordered pre-cut hearts, butterflies, Stars Of David, Christmas Trees, etc. I'm still learning how to design my own glass cut-outs, but in the meantime, I can play with some ready-made objects. I've been using them as a base for these cool mosaic designs:

I have over six months to prepare for the tarot event, but I do want to make jewelry that fits the theme. I'm planning to get some more stars and other celestial shapes. I'm also playing around with decals, which you can fire right onto the glass. Eventually, I'd like to learn how to etch my own designs using etching cream. I haven't even been making glass for a year, so I have a lot to learn!

Another opportunity coming up is I'm going to be teaching a workshop at a historical cemetery near me called Maple Grove. They have a cultural center, where they have performances and offer workshops such as Victorian hat making. The woman in charge came to the Atria for a lecture and noticed Judith's glass necklace, which was one of my creations. She and I got in touch and I'm going to be giving a glass workshop sometime early next year. I want to make it fit into Victorian times, so I'm going to explain how decorative glass became popular during that era.

My jewelry is taking me on some unusual, but exciting paths. I'm eager to see where I go next! You can check out my collections at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Adventures in teaching jewelry making: making handmade beaded earrings and rings!

Yesterday was my second jewelry-making class for seniors. I think it went very well!

Last month, the four ladies who I worked with requested that I show them how to make rings and earrings. So I bought some French hook and clip-on earring backs and figured I'd teach them how to make a few different kinds. When I showed up to class, though, there were now 10 women waiting for me. Gulp... I mean great!

I wasn't expecting to have such a large turnout and I had to hustle. I passed around my giant bag of beads and let the students choose which ones they wanted for their project, while I quickly cut wire to make earrings. I'd learned the last time that most of the seniors lack the hand strength to cut and manipulate wire, so I have to help them with a few steps. Because there were so many people there, I had to literally run around to get to everyone. I actually worked up a sweat!

It was all good, though, because the ladies came away with some beautiful pieces:

A few of the ladies really "get" jewelry making and didn't need my help that often. Honestly, the beads I brought aren't that pretty; I'd ordered a 1000-piece bargain bag of plastic bits. But a couple of women managed to find the prettiest beads and put together some amazing color combinations.

Others needed more help. Since I'm working with seniors, their levels of functionality vary, and some need more assistance. I'm happy to work with them, though. The rec director told me afterward how their last jewelry teacher would get angry and impatient with the students. You HAVE to be patient when dealing with seniors, who might have memory or cognitive issues. I keep telling the ladies that the goal isn't perfection; it's to learn something and to have fun making things by hand. As I explained to one of the women, I'd have nothing to teach if they were already experts.

The hour flew by and I loved listening to the ladies chat while they worked. Part of forming a group like this is to foster friendships and I hope that if they don't enjoy making jewelry, they're at least enjoying the companionship. One woman was funny and kept joking around as we made the rings. She'd hold up her ring and announce, "Look, I'm engaged! Let's get married!" I told her that my husband would have something to say about that. She answered, "Well, if a guy really gives you a ring like this, then he's cheap." This lady is a riot! When I said I've taught children, but this was my class for adults, she said, "We're like children." I disagreed, noting that if they were kids, they'd be throwing the beads or sticking the beads up their noses. (Side note: I actually did stick a bead up my nose as a kid and had to be taken to the hospital).

Much as the women love beading, I'd like to make different jewelry projects that are a little out of the box. For next time, I'm planning to have them make scratch-art pendants. I now know to come prepared with ready-made materials, so I'll work on some pendant bases beforehand. Basically, I'll cover a sheet of oak tag with colored crayons and then add a layer of black. I'll then cut the oak tag into small shapes -- hearts, squares, etc. -- and punch a hole in the top of each one. In class, the ladies can use a bit of wire to scratch out a design and we'll then turn their creations into pendants. This is something I did as a kid, but it's so much fun! The rec director loves the idea, but agrees that most of the women won't have the strength to scribble down the thick layer of black crayon.

I think as time goes on, I'll even have them do some art projects other than jewelry. They haven't had an art instructor at the home for a while and many miss making things. It's a fun way to pass the time and it keeps them mentally and physically engaged. I've always loved making crafts, so I'll do some research and see what types of easy projects we can make. Right now, we're meeting every month, but the rec director is thinking of having me come every two weeks.

I really hope my students are getting something out of my classes. I'm certainly learning a lot from them!

You can see my work at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Adventures in making jewelry: my first wire wrapping class!

Yesterday was my first wire wrapping class at the Homestead Senior Residence. For the most part, it went pretty well.

I've taught children music before, but I've never taught jewelry or adults, so I wasn't sure what to expect going in. The recreation director explained that the seniors are at many different levels in terms of what they're able to do and I wanted to hold a class where there was something for everyone. I tried my best to do that.

I purchased five sets of supplies, figuring I've have a max of five students. This way, I could give each senior one-on-one attention and keep the class intimate. Six women showed up, though two left before the class was over. Both have arthritis and found it difficult to maneuver the tools and wire. I told them I give them credit for at least trying something new.

The other four ladies and I had a great time making jewelry. Things got off to a rocky start when I discovered that no one had the hand strength to even cut the wire with the snippers. But I simply cut wire for them and then showed them how to make basic shapes. I had them bend the wire into circles, squiggles, etc, just so they could get a feel of using the tools. I then turned their abstract designs into pendants and hung them from cord. One lady made four pieces and was very proud of her wire creations. I loved seeing how happy she was.

After we played with wire for a while, I broke out my huge bag of beads... and the women went nuts. THIS is what they really liked! I showed them how to string beads on the wire and how wire is stronger than necklace cord, so it's great for making things like bracelets. We then all had fun making wire and beaded pieces. One lady explained that they used to have someone who came in for a beading class, but she since had to leave for personal reasons. I promised to show them how to make more wire and beading projects -- like earrings or rings. I was hoping to introduce people to the beauty of simple wire creations, but if beading is what they like, then beading is what we'll do. As I told them, I want this class to be fun, and not a chore.

I love performing for the seniors, but in this setting, I actually got to know a few of the women. One said to me, "I love the way you play the flute, but you really need more 'Oom-pah-pah' when you play." It took me a moment to figure out what she meant and then I realized she meant that I should play with a backing track. My music partner, Judy, has actually told me the same thing, so I assured this woman I'd have backing tracks next time. She then made me promise I'd hold my next class on a Tuesday morning because she could go directly to her hair appointment, which was right next to the rec room. Ha! This particular woman had a lot of personality and was a riot.

I don't know if I'll get to teach these students more complicated wire pieces, but that's fine. As long as I'm doing something with them that they enjoy, I'm happy.