BEAD AND BUTTON PART 3

My bronze Ammonite, cold-joined pendant from Susan Kazmer's class.

My friend Karen Elmquist, won first place for lampwork in the Bead Dreams competition.

Paul looking happy with Gigi and Karen.

Gail's wardrobe malfunction involved her Optivisor.

The troupe of finger puppets that Karen bought for all of us (mine was actually a present for my sister's sweet new kitten, Sassy). These puppets provided us with hours of fun (let's just say that it's a good thing that it'll be a year before we go back to the swanky Capital Grille!).

My third class at Bead and Button was another Susan Lenart Kazmer class. It turned out to be kind of a continuation of the metal techniques that we learned in the glass casting class. That was cool though, because I really enjoyed practicing the new prong setting that we learned. I used a bronze Ammonite that I had made at home before the show. I sawed out a backing plate from sheet bronze, complete with prongs. I set the bronze piece onto the plate and then riveted the whole piece to another piece of bronze sheet. I like it, it was sort of an exercise in cold joining. It was a fun class and a good chance to further refine what I'd already learned.

My last class was supposed to be a reticulation class. I woke that morning with a horrendous headache, so I didn't make it to class. Paul went to see the teacher for me, Robyn Cornelius, who made she got the class kit complete with handout. I think I'll be able to learn the technique with the help of her excellent handout. I've never missed a class before and I felt pretty rotten about it. I felt better later in the day and was able to shop the show a bit early with the help of a friend! So the day wasn't a complete loss. More pictures tonight!