One sedative, please.

You know when you know you’re getting close to a big change? A move, school ending, new job, major life change of any sort… and all outward appearances point to calm and collected but inside you’re a raging sideshow circus?

Welcome.

And as much as I would love to write about all of the things swimming around in my head regarding what I’m feeling, I’ve decided to save some of that for my last school blog in a couple weeks! (and again, never fear my dear public reader, I will continue to write about my job hunting adventures, albeit maybe a little more sporadically)

This week officially ended our steady stream of graded projects. Our very last one was called Trudy’s Trillion. We were given 2 days to fabricate this pendant, bezel and set a trillion stone, for which they graduated us to a CZ! The fabrication of the actual pendant was standard issue construction for us at this point, but fabricating a bezel for a trillion was another story. A trillion is a three sided (think triangle, with bowed sides i kept refering to as "big hips") faceted stone. The tricky part of making the damn thing was getting three sides identical. Not one millimeter smaller or bigger. Exact. And once that was done, I cut into it and remove some of the side walls and leave three “V” prongs for the corners of the stone. And then file beveled edges on the side walls. And THEN I got to cut the seat and set the stone. As it turns out, my seat was a t-a-d off center, and it seemed that I may not be able to set it. Luckily, they have also taught us crazy modification skills, so stubborn Betsy plowed forward and a-modifying I did. I brought this bezel within and inch of its life, but I got that wide-hipped stone saran-wrapped into that bezel. Yes I did.

HOWEVER,

if you check this thing out under a loupe you may or may not discover the stone is mildly crooked and the v-prongs could use a bit more stone contact, but other that that, MEH! Its done. it’s the last one. I certainly got to a point where that’s all I kept saying in my head. And since it was the last one, Don told us we could do whatever we wanted to the finish. And since I may or may not have had very mild fire scale *gasp* near the bezel, a-texturing I went. Here’s some pictures of the front and back of the pendant.

The remainder of the week was spent on a two day bench exam. This is the one I mentioned that we got to pick the piece to make. I will start by saying this was the bench exam of all bench exams to date. Inside the bag were three patterns for us to choose from, one flat sheet of metal, one strip of metal, once piece of wire and TWO marquise stones, of which we were to bezel set and incorporate into the design. I initially was going to do this pair of earrings that swoop around and had the stones set near the bottom of them. At the last minute I decided that it was way too organic and curvy for me to want to polish it, so I detoured to a very geometric pendant. My reasoning was that straight lines are easier to clean up then curvy ones. No matter which one you chose, they all had their challenges. Had I stuck with the curvy earrings, I would have been blessed with trying to figure out how to fold and polish them without tearing them up. And there was minimal soldering for them. Instead I chose the queen of all things solder-able and began construction. For this particular pattern I had to cut out two pieces, one of which would be soldered onto the top of the other for a layered look. I also had to modify the design to accommodate two bezel set marquise, fabricate a bail, make the bezels for the stones, set the stones and then solder the whole thing together which turned out to be extremely labor intensive. By the end of Friday I had managed to get the piece within basic polish and was in the process of burnishing the insides when my burnisher slipped and make a nice fine scratch on the surface of my piece. So I got it 95% done.

I was a little irritated that I didn’t get it done, but I was relieved that over half the class wasn’t done either. Monday I will be finishing it up and turning it in. here’s a picture of the piece mid construction ( post-pickle, so it’s a bit on the dull side)

Monday next week they’re giving us metal and REAL stones for us to make a “creative” project, which we get to keep. I have no idea what to make or even the kind of stones I will choose, but its not graded and he’s not collecting it, so he said if we want to skip it and keep the goods, we can. Which I am. Free gift with minimal purchase of one class? I’ll take it. And if I have time, I will make something. Tuesday and Wednesday we get to practice free-forms AGAIN, and Thursday we will have the final bench exam attempt number one. No class on the 4th! Whoot! And they have decided that because it’s a holiday weekend, we wont find out if we passed the first round until the following Monday morning. So I will have to go in, and if I passed, I can leave and come back that Wednesday for the written, and if not, I get to stay and attempt again. Good times!

So we’re winding down. As of today (Sunday), I have 12 days until graduation! I have decided to keep my crappy job schedule in favor of spending my days writing my resume and researching jewelers I can mail said resume to. I have no idea how to write a resume and will be in contact with the schools resume assistant via email to get this thing put together. Ideally I’d like to take a couple weeks to relax and write and research, and then maybe once I’m sufficiently bored with free time again (which wont take long) I will start mailing this thing out. If anyone has tips on how to write a jeweler resume, or ANY resume for that matter, email me.

Please.

This weekend I’m going to the Del Mar Fair. I haven’t been to a fair in yeeeaarrrs, but I’m looking forward to crappy fried fair food and 4-H club pigs. And maybe a nerve wracking ride on a ferris wheel, which I am notoriously and ridiculously pansy about riding. I’ll spend the entire ride peeking over the edge while death gripping the seat and inspecting the bolts on the ride to ensure that they’re attached and focusing on how far away the ground is from my feet WHILE freaking out about how often it stops to let people on and off. So I may have to investigate a beer garden before my ride. Maybe I’ll bring my camera and shoot a picture of me having a nervous breakdown on the ride. Hilarity to come!Until next week, my friends, be well!