Guess who's on TV?!

Iptv came and did a wonderful segment on the studio fuzzishu make & take workshops at the Iowa State Fair. They featured several of my students and their finished projects. Check it out!



We are nearing the end of fair so if you haven't already come out to make something AWESOME, what are you waiting for?! ;)

At Laaaast...

After *cough, cough* months in the making MaryAnn's ring is finally complete. She approached me with her mother's vintage diamond ring, wanting to give them a new life in a fresh contemporary design (SO wish I had remembered to take a photo of it before I took the diamonds out, d'oh!).

I carved the wax and then sent it out to be cast in palladium. MaryAnn wanted a 'white metal' ring and we decided against white gold (too pricey, didn't want rhodium plating). Platinum was waaaay too expensive and silver is a little to casual and tarnishes. Palladium is a tough metal and as part of the platinum family shares a bit of it's prestige. It was a first for me and I look forward to playing around with it more in depth in the future.

I'm very pleased (and so was MaryAnn) with the modern architectural look of the ring. It has a good heft and tapers nicely at the bottom. It ended up highlighting her mother's diamonds and giving them a new life. Mission accomplished!

workingwoman ♥s fuzzishü

workingwoman has put together a fantastic treasury that includes fuzzishu's 'squarings' and fellow Iowan handmadepretties' recycled sweater balls. This group of colorful offerings is just what we need to greet spring with. I don't know about you, but the swirly circle quilt and wildflower wall decor are calling me!!! Check out workingwoman's 'Are we having fun yet?' treasury here.

A Passel of Profession Rings

Saturday's J101 class just finished a fantastic set of profession rings. Everything from a teacher to a heart surgeon. Yay soldering! We've just begun the final project - wire link bracelets. Check back for more student projects soon.

J101 Fall 2010 edition

And so ends another session of J101. Our happy little group was 4 members strong and what a group. We had every experience level from total novice on up and everyone was very enthusiastic. It was a great time and they did some fantastic work. See their finished projects below....

You can see more students' previous pieces here.

JewelrybyTamar ♥s fuzzishü

Check out this fantastic treasury on etsy by JewelrybyTamar. Tamar thanks all of us for being beautiful and I thank Tamar for seeing the beauty in the simple geometric design of the squaring.