Kinderspel

Who would have guessed that daughter-love would be yet another reason for not being able to work properly? My little pride keeps on asking me what I am doing, how to do it and wants to get her hands dirty... I guess that is a good thing? "Jong geleerd is oud gedaan, toch?"

Mila at the bench Dec 2013 from sara on Vimeo.

Gold... nothing less

Today, after a little bit of frustration behind the bench, and because I would like to honour some of my New Year's resolutions (actually they have been on the list for the last 6 years now), I went to buy paint to paint my entrance. 2013 actually wasn't too bad, I painted Mila's room "appel-blauw-zeegroen" and white (very very cool, with some orange accents, her room is the prettiest) and the toilet gold. We were looking for something that wouldn't look bad with the burgundy kitchen doors, bright green SMEG fridge an bronze kitchen wall. My neighbour suggested to go with Gold... again. I wasn't actually planning on going there, but once in the shop, the gold just called me. When I asked the shop employee for 40m2 of the paint, and he said I would need 9!! pots, I know it wasn't going to be cheap. The guy also seemed puzzled by the fact I wasn't going to use the paint for an accent, but to paint a whole room ;-)... haha, little does he know about my bad taste (and the fact I live in a loft and all is open). Can't wait to get started (after my exams)... will keep you posted!

Our golden toilet, with complementary HUG-pole

I miss the studio

The most important and stressful parties are behind, as last night my dad and Co got onto the train, back to London. The dinner on Saturday was great and I am happy I concentrated on that for a few days, but now I need to make the most of this second week to finish all my pieces. And as I was trying to polish with my flex shaft motor, with rather poor lighting, I kept on wishing I was at the studio, or better equipped to do this work. Later I will have to solder, which I also dread with the little creme-brulee torch. Plus I don't have an ultrasound to clean between polishing stages, so I am trying to do it with an old toothbrush and some Dreft. I did get a ring measuring tool, a steel mandrel to tap my rings round and micro files for Christmas!! Anyone wants to rent his studio to me for the coming days? Too bad fairies don't exist and I can't make a wish :-(

Never too much bling?

As I am distracted from the bench and also a little lazy, in order to sooth my guild-feelings, I am doing some research ;-) Well I surf around the web for beautiful jewellery... And I also began to write a post about yesterday and how one of my uncles seems to approve about my new career... but the post was boring, so I deleted it. How come one can be so obsessed with jewellery as I am? How come one would consider spending a month's pay (or more, much more) on a ring, or earrings? How come there is always room for one more ;-) on my fingers, in my closet. Rappers have it all right (for once!).. there is never enough bling in one's life!! And it seems that they don't only think that one the West Coast of the USA, but also on the West Coast of Africa!!!!!!!!! Hey, What did you expect? ;-)

Merry Christmas!

Not such an original title for a post these days of course. Merry Christmas to all of you, from my very own family-Xmas-party (yes, I know, we are early, because we like to have our presents early). I received the new CD from Stromae (not that you care, but the artist is worth getting to know). We started eating at 12h30 and now it is 18h15 and we still have desert (my main dish) to go. That says much about how we stuff our faces at each occasion, but only with delicious -home made- food. The amount of jewellery presents is low this year, with my mum receiving her ring (remember from Geneva?) and my sister received a ring and bracelet with diamonds from her husband (yes, she trained him well)!! We will have to make sure that by next year this time I have some beautiful pieces to put under the Christmas tree... Enjoy the evening, laugh, live, eat and pray (or something like that) for little Jesus is in the birth-canal as we speak (well 2013 years ago). Love you all! and eh... well I want world-peace.

Porcelaine krib form my great-grand-mother

Red Velvet

Cupcakes! First time ever, especially for the Xmas party tomorrow at the studio. It's the last day before the holidays and we were supposed to hand in all our pieces, but because I think none of us actually managed to finish them, we now can fiddle with them during the holidays. Anyways, the party... well an excuse to stuff our faces and drink. Mei-Ling came over and we baked these. Tried to make them as red as possible but would have had to buy a liter of food coloring; Plus not owning a real food processor, we had to use of horse-power and invent a new machine ;-) Tomorrow morning, bright and early (well, bright, that might be a challenge for me), I'll still have to take care of the icing. And Mei-Ling might do the decorations if I manage to kick our off her mattress, 'cause she is a good sleeper!

Reti-cul-ation

It's sound disgusting. "Reet" in Dutch means Ass, and "Cul(s)" in French means... well Ass. The word comes from Latin and we all know that Romans back then were absolute pigs, so maybe that is why? It means to form or to be formed into a net. Well... My reticulation involved silver, gas, compressed air and a lot of patience. I was kind of afraid to melt the whole piece so I went for a very controlled, light moonscape. Or at least that is what I did after I had tried it twice already and melted my third version yesterday afternoon. So last minute indeed, I have now one more ring, a Re(e)t-I-Cul(s)-Ate(d) one.... Yeah!

Tube

One word, a zillion of hours, soldering, and soldering. To obtain One tube. I decided to make it rather thin (bad decision) and to use it for a ring (another bad decision). But the worst decision was to use Delft Clay to fill it with before bending the tube for the ring, rather then white sand. Because I didn't have the sand. So what happened? Well... the clay caught on fire while I was trying to heat the piece to make the metal soft again. And the fire made the seem crack. So I spend time I didn't have to empty the tube from the clay again and to try to solder the seem once more (for the 20th time in fact). And because dirt kept on poring out each time I tried to solder and infected the seem.. It wouldn't. Anyways "de aanhouder wint" and I came up with an acceptable (and far from perfect) result. I also decided to change the initial concept of gluing the deer inside the cabouchon setting with a little raster which I might also still enhance... stay tuned!

Next Up is ... Xmas!

Have you ever tried to google "Christmas Jewellery" or enter it in Pinterest? I know that the end of the year everyone lowers their standards and allows some kind of tackiness to invade their lives, but what I found is over the top. Or rather, what I didn't find was one picture to match this little post; not one "Xmas jewellery" that was bearable (or wearable for that matter). A hole in the market? I mean, you have all been to Christmas markets before. Did you see the CRAP they sell, and the prices they dare to ask for them. Ugly, tacky items made in dodgy places, probably not even safe for your kids (the items, not the countries where they are produced!). And they must sell, for them to rent these expensive huts to sell them at for a few weeks. I feel really upset when I see this and feel sorry for the excellent craftsmen (and women) out there who produce elegant pieces at a reasonable price and eat pasta all year. :-( Maybe we should do something about it?! Anyways, I have not been able to post something yesterday because we were busy decorating our tacky Christmas tree (well first we went to the field and got the tree, right out of the soil) . Each year it is the same dilemma. Daughter M didn't want to have one this year and felt sorry for digging it out. But this year, we have high visitors (dad and Linda coming over from Cyprus) and if we don't have a tree, I will be spanked! So here it is, at the limits of bad taste, I try not to look at it too often:

I should have made my bed!

Cold Turkey

Today is the very first time I am not going to class!! And it is all I can think about. I miss being in the studio, and I miss my fellow students. I feel guilty even of not working. Stupid unemployment office :-( Plus the next meeting they gave me there is... another Friday! But not much I can do, they are my employer now and in charge of my agenda. So, in order to wash away my frustration, I went to my dear friend/ jeweller here in Geneva and looked at all her million-dollar pieces. I bought a less expensive piece for my mum, can't say much about it as she might actually read this blog (and yes, this is the test mum!). It might not be a million dollar it's still very nice, I hope that she will like it. I couldn't buy anything for myself, because 1. I am unemployed 2. I only like things for myself that are 3.000 euro or more. Besides it is hard to even find jewellery here that is reasonably priced. I would love to be a little bug some time (maybe not a fly though) and assist a major sale, because I always wonder who can buy pieces worth a million? I see the posh Russian and Qatari strolling around but still can't imagine them walking around with a little package worth that kind of money. Then again, Tina Turner probably doesn't buy silver with zirconia and she lives around here too. Anyways, waiting for a flight back tonight to the more normal world where not everyone owns a Chanel bag, Louboutin shoes and a Van Cleef necklace... Looking forward to a "Belgium has got talent" (really the show only proofs that people with talent don't watch TV and don't participate to these shows) with daughter M. tonight. See ya!

Just cruisin'

I was up before the sun and in Geneva before the fog even cleared out. That's also when the cold hit me! My stupid phone application mislead me and indicated a whopping 9°C instead of the -9°C that awaited me at the airport. So I had to suffer all day. Two good things: I was wearing my UGGs and I have enough layers of fat to resist this kind of weather. A hat and gloves however wouldn't have been a luxury. And because my meeting is only tomorrow morning, I had a day to kill. After eating half a chicken (each!) with my ex-colleagues, I strolled. In and out shops to stay as warm as possible. That's when you get lucky: I stumbled upon a small but cute exhibition of antique jewellery, from a few centuries before Christ; Greek and Roman pieces mainly... gorgeous! The exhibition runs until end of April 2014 (for those who are going to drop some money in Geneva ;-) ). And the same gallery owners are coming to.... Tour & Taxis Belgium with another collection of items by the end of January 2014... The world is such a small place. Coincidences like this make me happy!

www.phoenixancientart.com

Party Crashing

Tomorrow I am in Geneva, and Friday too. And because I won't be able to go to studio on Friday, and because daughter M stayed at her father's yesterday and at her friend's today, I went to the evening classes yesterday and today. Working at making a tube. From scratch. From pure then alloyed silver, from plate. Soldering and soldering, because the tube would crack when I would pull it tighter. Anyways, so tonight I was there again until 9h30pm, with my partner in crime Mei-Ling. The studio is located in one of the most beautiful buildings in town, and tonight in the main hall there was a party with super-fancy people (all from the radio, I might have recognised their voice if I would have been able to hear it, but don't know their faces ;-) ), very posh walking dinner. So we decided to party-crash, in working clothes and tease the tuxedos a little.. great fun! Had a little fish soup, smoked salmon, a platter with charcuteries, a platter with cheese and salads and a nice glass of water. Btw, the tube is still not entirely finished!! grrrr

OMG I am spoiled!

Remember I received a fantastic cake on Saturday? Well, that same day Mr. V and I walked past a fancy jewellery store. Of course I have a look and love about everything in the window display. If my car wasn't parked like in the middle of the road, I would have gone in for 30 min or so to sniff out all the new stuff. I told Mr. V that this store was a nice one, and we walked away. Today he asked me if we could exchange our Xmas presents early. I also already bought his and noticed he really wanted to give me mine. So I agreed, curious of what was about to come, guilty of not waiting until Xmas, like little children. I gave him his first, and received a little box shortly after. Little boxes are my favourite, but I guess you already knew that! One can never have enough jewellery, it hardly takes up any space and can be passed on for generations ;-) I recognised the store (and you now also guessed, right?). I had to think about Mr. V from the hood, with his money saved up in his pocked, pushing the door of this posh shop on Sablon in Brussels to look for something within budget. My man might not know much about jewellery, but he does have taste. And whatever the price might have been, the value of the earrings I received is to be multiplied by a zillion. After all the shit we have been through, we are finally back into a sane and beautiful life, and these earrings are now carrying exactly that signification. Oh yes, because every piece I own has it's own story ;-)

Good company

Monday, monday... no one wanted to get up this morning, the sandman came by with a generous hand. Maybe for a good reason, because it seems that some people didn't get the extra dose of sand and fell sick tonight... what was supposed to be a hectic day from dawn till night, was a rather lazy but good day at home. Teachers were ill, so I switched back into my PJ's. And had great company, first Liesel, then Mei-Ling from school to pep-talk me into working hard for the next exams. Add to that, the fact Mr. V finished work at noon and spend most of the afternoon around the house too. We etched, we designed, we bleached (our clothes) and ate soup, smoothies, cake, pizza,... I want more Mondays like this! And tomorrow...? Hopefully teachers back into the studio and able to complete as much as possible from the attached todo list :

oh yeah, and I re-painted Bambi too!

Slight addiction

I ain't proud of it but I love several pieces from Djula. The reason that I am not that proud of it is that it is kind of mainstream, too expensive for it's quality, produced they seem to say in France, but I suspect that it is not entirely true.... but I have to admit that the designer is on top of trends, and creates sweet, wearable designs with a modern touch. I am also guilty for having bought a ring and earrings from her already, via the great shop Ponti in Geneva... If I were a rich girl and money wouldn't matter, I would order this one for Xmas ;-)

Borderline

That's what some things are: borderline jewellery. I am not supposed to write about these, but today -mainly because I am not allowed to eat it yet- I will make an exception. I received a beautiful Pierre Marcolini cake today from my boyfriend -King V-, for my Sinterklaas. I think that it is a work of art, a true piece of jewellery; in fact it even is topped with gold leave. If only jewellery could smell the same way this cake does... mhhh. I have re-started my diet for the 300th time this year, THIS morning (what a coincidence!). I actually went swimming 50 laps on my own at 8am and felt soooo proud of it afterwards. And because of that feeling which I didn't want to spoil right away, and also because of  the fact that such a beautiful cake needs it's time of glory before being shred apart, I have decided to sacrifice it only after the photo-shoot and after when in company of my mum and sister. Can't wait!

Becoming an artist :-)

I mean, waking up in the middle of the night because you all of a sudden have an idea for the presentation of the pieces for module two... and then not being able to sleep because you want to test out that idea sooo badly... is that part of becoming a real artist? I am in shit, dear friends, because I feel the transformation. The scary part? I need to go back to serious banking work in just a few months from now, and starting to think of ways not to. But we all know that I would not be able to live from the "art" and have an expensive life to cater for... help! (and good morning)

Yes, I can!

After weeks of experimenting with the aggressive nitric acid and different kinds of varnish, I found my way of etching brass: nail polish! (thanks to my sisters in law in Brasil who have been sending me loads of nail polish over the years) and a 50% water and 50% nitric acid60% (that's how the bottle reads ;-), guess I am confusing the other bond ones here), for no more then a few minutes while gently brushing the piece with a goose feather (well I didn't have one, and there is no dead pigeon in my garden today, so I used a paint brush of my daughter's - luckily she can't read this blog or she would sue me). My face is itchy and I burned my fingers with the acid, but the result is worth it! I was nervous though, because I did spend a long time scratching the nail polish away (I guess the Brasilian stuff is meant to hold!) to create the drawing, didn't see myself start all over again today... didn't need to: IT WORKED!

Before

During

After

Bananas!!

and a little bit of Maxime. Mei-Ling decided to do things the complicated way, because she likes complicated. Unlike Maxime. But anyways, Mei-Ling even did some studying of the banana before starting with the design (or maybe she likes eating bananas?... tell me more about that Mei-Ling...). Back to the brass banana. After days of sawing, soldering, doing and un-doing, hey hey, she made a banana, half peeled on top of that AND soldered to a chain. Maxime, our very own muscle-man volunteered to model with the finished product... what do you think? Of the banana of course ;-)

Before

After

Before and after

One of the exercises to submit for the second module (just before Xmas) is a ring made out of 5 half spheres. I had a few ups and downs with this. The design was pretty straight forward, I actually had a few designs in mind. I made a last minute alteration though which might make this ring disqualified, but no time to start anew, I need to move on, so much work to do still and I won't be able to go to class next Friday. I chose to continue in the theme of my hanger and the winter-wonderland. It started out pretty ok, but I had the hardest time soldering ball 3 to balls 1+2, but Saskia got me focused yesterday afternoon and helped me out, after which I came into the studio today and was able to finish it off (needs only the polishing but I will do all the pieces together just before due date). What do you think?

Before

After

The white page

No inspiration! A weekend that flew away and gave me no time to think about anything... and now I have been thinking about a post for such a long time. Usually it just flows, it is spontanious. Today it seems to be work! So I wanted to find a great new piece of jewellery I could research on but after looking at maybe a 1.000 images I could only summarise that I had seen a lot of nice pieces, but not one of them special enough to write to you about tonight. Back to square 1 :-( 

Then I remembered something from my childhood: on a trip to the North of Cameroon when I was 17 or so, I visited a local smith, who had a clay oven in the ground and could melt metal like brass. He was therefore the richest of the village, but had hardly any food and lots of kids with flies in their eyes and huge bellies. Proudly he showed me the oven and what he made. I remember his kids running around naked with a string around their waist and attached to the string a brass tear-drop-shaped-ball kind of pendant, right above their bumb. I was told that it was to protect their ass-hole from being attacked by evil spirits. Maybe the metal used indeed scared away certain insects or what have you's that would crawl in there and make them sick? I have a picture of one of these kids, and promise to look for it and scan it soon ;-) Next I decided to google some keywords to see if I could find a sensible explanation, but nothing :-( disappointed. But because I insist to post tonight, I will leave you with a cute talisman made out of wood, used by a tribe in Angola... isn't it pretty?

How to compensate another off day in the studio?

It started out well too. I immediately got to grips with my "5-semi-spheres-ring" and the first 20min went well... but downhill from there, and I ended up working 8hours... for nothing. What to do? Have a nice crab sandwich, of course, and a waffle (Belgian one), of course. Talk about relationships and tease the only young man in class (he is kind of a muscle man on top of that and because men peak in their twenties, he is peaking sexually, trying to multiply experiences) ;-) He likes the attention and make us laugh, so actually the day did fly away. Oh and Mei-Ling made little balls in charcoal, and also another great design for her ring: clever! It's Friday, but no resting for me! I tried again to solder a ring, and failed because of lack of equipment here at home :-( Tomorrow, I will be taking care of my little nephew (1,5 years old), so no messing with the jewellery then... Seen how much I hurt myself with my material, I will definitely not allow him anywhere close to the bench, or you will be invited at my funeral! (I have a passionate sister!!). Sweet dreams or lots of fun drinking and dancing tonight. XXX

Charity time!

Year end, of course, is party time! (and presents, especially jewellery under the Xmas tree). Which reminds me I should get a tree this year because my dad will visit us (he lives abroad), and he really gets mad at me when I don't buy a tree. But, the year end, the cold, are times for Charity too. Fiscally interesting, but also soothing for the mind and of course, necessary. Because we should never forget how lucky we are to have a house, food, heating, clothes, education etc. So why not combine both? This weekend you can buy jewellery AND donate at the same time at this year's event of the Charitic Angels! And to make it even more exciting: one of my teachers Saskia Shutt has designed a collection for this event specifically and it is gorgeous. If you are in Brussels, don't hesitate to stop by, and if not, you might be able to place orders as of next week (the collection's prime is on Thursday so I can't show you the pics just yet)... Check it out!

http://www.chariticangels.com/

When I grow older...

... losing my hair, many years from now, will you still  be sending me a Valentine, birthday greetings a bottle of wine?... Or wait, a funky ring! Don't you just love love love the below picture? Seriously, if I can't meet up to the expectations, please help me to the other world. Because in a world full of (and more and more) funky old people, we need to make sure we are in the game. I hope that my future work will be appreciated by the grey haired too and more importantly, I want to grow old like a dance-hall grandma. Inspired of course by my own groovy mum and a great grandma. Btw did you know my bet-grandmother was a 100-years old when she passed away? :-)

Rollmodel

OMG, here I am about to go to bed and then I stumble upon a ring made by Ashley Pittman... and I fall in love instantly. Little did I know that on top of that the jewellery is handmade in Africa (Kenya of all places!) and that the designer Ashley (I guess) is involved in helping the local community, donating part of her profit etc etc.... Is this woman living my dream or what? I am jealous jealous (she looks stunning by the way, some just have it all), to the point I am sure I am now not able to fall asleep, I first need to calm down again... Too much excitement. Somebody give this woman a decent website! I know she doesn't need it because scrolling around on the net it seems she is doing well without... ;-) Now I am counting on you to keep this a secret, because God knows what too much attention and fame can do to a brand or great designer: kill it. I know what I will be dreaming of.

http://www.ashleypittman.com

Sunshine

After rain there is always a ray of light... today was a good day. I finally got all the silver wire to stick to the brass and started cleaning the hanger. Still lots to do, but it is looking rather good. I also started working on the rings. The exercise consists of creating 5 plain band rings (5mm wide and 1mm thick) and then applying different textures and techniques to these. Exciting! I can't wait to show you the pics. 

Now watching Belgium's Got Talent (but really won't don't have much talent) with daughter Mila. It's our Friday night date, and we go all the way: Lays included, blankets and the cat...

Winter Wonderland

I found the theme for my second module: winter wonderland. I must have been inspired by the first snow here, the dark, cold nights. Trees, wood, bambi, snow... I hope that I will be able to put into reality the designs I made tonight (and which I am no longer allowed to share with you directly according to my sister... something about industrial spying ;-) ) I was supposed to find a designer I like to share with you but I have been too lazy, and now tired enough to go to bed. I will try to make up to you tomorrow, hoping to do better in the studio then Tuesday! Night night

Superhero

Schoenmaker blijf bij uw leest... After writing my previous -pretty desperate- post, I realised I needed to get my depressing emotions out. I had the choice between a huge pile of dishes to wash, a room filled with clothes to iron, or looking through my old DIY material. I came up with my shrinkies paper, and my new gold leaves... tadaa: super-hero collection ;-) Will have to finish it tomorrow (varnish and chains). Sweet dreams! Lala mzuri...

When the going gets tough...

The tough goes to party! Pfff. Failed to solder wire to my piece -check. Melted a silver ring while soldering it -check. Sawn into my finger -check. Waisted about a whole day in the studio, without results -check. No more comments. Will go to bed, party in my dreams, and wake up for a smashing day tomorrow. Because something will have to make up for today :-(

Stoned!

So today started out wrong... the ONLY day that I could have slept in a little (because Mila was at her dad's and I didn't have to go anywhere until noon), I had to drop some books at school which daughter-dear had forgotten to take to her dad's... grrr... And another catastrophe was avoided when I called my teacher for a question and she reminded me that today we didn't have classes at the studio, but at a stone-dealer instead. Oh, And I didn't have tv or internet for nearly all day (don't know why, but it was down). I also hesitated a long time before going to evening class, maybe because I ate 5 Mars-bars and felt like going home crashing onto the coach. But I was too afraid to feel too guilty and went... survived. So, you think, I had a rather bad day?... WRONG! The Stones got me Stoned enough to make the scale tip to POSITIVE... Yeah, I lOve lOve lOve semi-precious stones, and whipped out my plastic card... twice! Stay tuned for the results ;-) 

Fancy goggles!

Work is being continued... hanger, rings, making 925 silver, like a day at the office! Friday is my favourite day, because we have Alain all day and can work through lunch break, and because it's like already weekend. Came home and went straight to the bench to work some more. Yeah! Should actually study Swahili... Why do today what I can do tomorrow? In the meanwhile, just sitting in my sofa like a big potato, watching Astrid in Wonderland with Mila, each holding a bag of chips (which would make me a cannibal). Need to find some inspiration for the 3-D chain I will need to make soon...  suggestion are welcome! HAPPY WEEKEND

Le Lion

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but it just happened that last night manflu kicked in. Now you are thinking, "aren't you a women, Sara?"... well... yeah, but one from Mars! I am sick like a man, and wish there was someone to pamper me right now. But the superwoman inside of me is taking the upper-hand again and ordering me to write at least a post! 'Cause before I started to die, I did go on an exciting shopping trip to the famous Le Lion in Brussels. You have got to love this place... Already wanting to go back! I spend about an hour inside the store, picking up every tin or bottle and asking loads of stupid questions (I am allowed to do that, because I am blond). Ended up buying sanding paper and varnish to varnish my copper pieces and also..... (circus sound)..... acid to etch! Wanted to experiment today but instead just did nothing but feel sorry for myself :-( Now early night and hoping I can sleep the pain away!

http://www.le-lion.be

I told you so!

The second module is full steam ahead.. The results of module 1 are going to be sent to us by mail (like real mail, not even email), so I will be watching that mailbox like a hawk in the coming days. We did try to get a peek at the results this morning while Nico was giving his score, but each time we would approach his bench, he would put a sheet over the little book... we also tried to bribe him with wine, but... we didn't actually have the wine. Maybe we will need the wine once we get the results ;-)

Back to work, and I did lots of different things: made silver with the roller, drilled holes and saw a pattern in the hanger I am creating, made little silver "nails", created a ring with texture, went to BelGold to buy pure silver, changed the acid... anyways, multi-tasking! and it was very satisfying ;-) A pity that the next two days I won't have class :-( missing it already!

Lara Frankl

I am so undisciplined: I write a second post in one evening and I write about a designer on another day but Thursday... but I can't resist. One of our fellow students was missing today and I think I have found out why. Lara has her own jewellery collection already and has won a contest recently to be able to exhibit at the BOZAR museum in Brussels. My guess is that she has been working on her display there. I love what she does and really want to spread the word. She has covers in many magasines already but some extra web-exposure can never hurt... Check out her website, where you can order her pieces! 

http://www.larafrankl.be/

Intoxicated

Winter is kicking in (well autumn, but for some reason that is just like foreplay for the inevitable). And because those who know me I am not at my highest energy levels in the dark season (I should have been a bear, hey I even look like one sometimes), I will A) try to go to the sun-bed at some time to get extra energy B) eat even more chocolates and C) hang around doing nothing. But I did do 1 thing: I created my own way to de-rock my silver after I ally it.. tadaa. It took me 5 min to put together and then our eyes teared for hours and I had to take the system down again because I didn't get the proportions acid-water right and Mila and I got really intoxicated with the damp (I guess)... so... does it really count like I did something today? I guess not :-( Ah! but the silver did get clean!

Wake Up Call!

Today I completed my first "year" of goldsmith classes, meaning that I have now started the second module. I am awaiting the results of my work submitted with love (hoping that it will raise my average performance), but confident that I will make it through to next year. It's a wake up call though. Next module is to end just before Xmas (seems like tomorrow) and the work to be submitted is enormous! No more hanging around or watching TV in the coming months. No time for boyfriend or kids (better get rid of them too, as soon as possible), or even for writing on the blog... no wait, we'll keep the blog, because after I get rid of the boyfriend I'll need something to relax, and after I get rid of the daughter I'll need something to get my frustration out ;-)... So counting on you to keep me sane!

In loving memory

Today my grandmother would have been 93-years-old, it's been 3 years since she passed away and I still think of her with lots of love and emotions. I would love to create a piece inspired by her for my first collection, as I am sure that she would have been my first fan.

I recently stumbled upon synthetic diamonds or "memorial diamonds", made with carbon extracted from the remains of a body. Sounds kind of creepy, but in fact the extracted carbon is converted into graphite after purification and placed in a diamond synthesis process (the rest of the ashes is send back to the family). One human body can give up to 50 gems weighing one carat each and the process takes between 6 and 9 months, depending on the colour of the diamond. Available in different cuts. I think it is a cool idea. American... of course! I wonder if it catches on here too? I would be happy to work with these diamonds, as it must be really gratifying to create these unique pieces.

And of course I would have gotten a Almasi Kijani, a green one. Price for 0.20ct is 3.500 USD, what? Quite expensive, but nowhere close to the price of a natural green diamond of course. Maybe I should ask for some crowdfunding ;-)

A box full of surprises

Here it is: the end of module 1, or in other words our first exams! Remember all the pieces to hand in?

First their is the 5cm by 5cm perfect square with sawing exercise. Then there was the "puzzle". Third the amulet, with polished finish. Then the perfect sphere, the bracelet and the "voelvorm". We need to hand it all in on Friday first thing in the morning and until then I have no class. I feel so damn average at the moment.  Every piece is average. I want to be better then average :-( The least proud I am about the puzzle (seen the number of times I re-did it, it should be perfect and it is not), and the bracelet (because of lack of oxygen, I couldn't make the one I intended to do, and the "trial" version became my definite one, with all its flaws :-( ). So let's all hope that average is good enough this time. 

To make average interesting, I decided to do something I am less then average at: sewing. I do have an Ikea sewing machine, merely because I am jealous at my sister who has a good machine and is quite handy with it, and spend about 45min trying to put it together together with my 9-year-old. I have created a little bag in African wax for each piece, tailor-made ;-) It is to conclude the Bamoun theme of Module 1, with the Ashanti doll and double headed snake. What do you think, will this 2-hour job pay off? Results next week!!

Yes I Can!

I was in for a second day of just working with Mr Rock, but as my tools got blunt my courage starting sinking into my shoes... so I had to do something. I decided to think like a man, and got out the Drill ;-) Guess what, the male approach worked! Now all I have to do is sand it a few times and soak it with oil... tadaa! Hooray for male inspiration, saved me hours. 

Technically speaking

... I missed the Monday-post, as in this part of the world we have just become Tuesday. In my defense, I had a long day, starting with class -of course- followed by, an evening class -of course- and topped off by a little taxi-driving experience to help friends to make their way back from their trip to the sun :-( jealous jealous. Anyways, I did manage to get to the jewellery class, although soaking wet as the Gods were playing with water guns just as I was dragging my tools from the car to the entrance door. Hope they had fun! I certainly... didn't. Don't know why I dragged all those tools to the studio neither, as today the ONLY piece of equipment needed was my file: I filed the day away into my soap-stone (nothing like soap though). I will never discuss prices anymore for a soap-stone elephant in Zimbabwe, I respect the people who make them tremendously (well now I do). Let's say it is another lesson learned the hard way. Not that I am at the end of of the road: see for yourself, but it least I am well on my way. Deadline: Thursday! So I am going to have a good night of sleep, relax the muscles in my upper-body, so I can wake up a champion tomorrow morning... night night!

TGIS

Thanks God It's Sunday... because that means that tomorrow is Monday!! What you drag going into work? you hate having to sit through class? I CAN'T WAIT... Have been extremely inefficient this week, jewellery-wise, and I am soo looking forward to going back into the studio. And sharing my ideas with you ;-) I need to work on my designs too, as I have a few ideas I need to put on paper. But those, it has been said, I should not share, for them to grow and then become my own (and not yours). Rdv tomorrow!