silver-solder and metal workshop Sunday, May 25, 2014

Open house, 3 to 6:00 pm, come see demos in silver-soldering and metal working. Gem carving also happening today!  grace@gracefulcustoms.com

Lapidary class on Dec. 14, 2013, at Graceful Customs Studio

If you ever admired a polished natural stone and appreciated the beauty of its colors brought out by its shine, come learn the very simple techniques of lapidary!  We will provide you with a pre-shape stone and show you how to bring out its beauty!  $85.00, all materials supplied, grace@gracefulcustoms.com, Gilroy, Ca

Happy Birthday Jelveh!

Well Jelveh had another birthday last weekend at our Open House.  We met new friends, Jewelry makers Jennifer and Marisa, thanks Pat for bringing them to our Studio.  Jelveh demo'ed Frank's new SUPER Round-About, it took her about 30 min. to make that bead!  Ron Martinez was here showing off all his latest carved gems while he worked all day.  Carmen was set up so show us her soldering techniques and was heard hammering away, texturing something!  We had 3 Leche Cake with Jelveh and she opened up her gifts from Grace, a new apron and bags embroidered with her  name!

Saturday, June 2, 2012, Lapidary class & Workshop

Jim & Jennifer will be here on June 2, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to teach a basic lapidary class.  They will give a brief summary of lapidary techniques and equipment will be set up for you to shape and polish a finished cabachon or two!  Cost is only $75, all materials and supplies will be free.  And anyone who has already had the basics and is experienced using lapidary equipment is invited to work on their own stones,  for $15.00/ hr. e-mail me for more info:  Grace@GracefulCustoms.com

Lapidary Weekend Class -Slicing, shaping, sanding & polishing!

Well, another first for us! Our first Lapidary class was held here at Graceful Customs Studio with Instructors Jim & Jennifer! They were excited to share their experience and knowledge of lapidary this past weekend. Frank & Jim & Jennifer had been busy for months building and remodeling enough lapidary equipment to accommodate a class. We had 5 students and everyone had one finished cabachon, except for Bill, he finished 3! Thank you very much Jim & Jennifer for all your talents and knowledge that comes only from actual experience and the love of shaping and polishing the Earth's most natural material. It is gratifying to work with our hands and see beauty come from a natural resource, nothing artificial about this hobby! Of course, we jewelry makers all want to make everything wearable, but sometimes you open up a rock, like the geode above, and don't want to disturb the beauty inside! We are planning "Lapidary Workshops" on a regular basis next year, as well as making this introductory class available again! We will also have Silver-smithing, gem carving, wire-wrapping, and chain maille classes, in addition to our lampworking classes. E-mail me of your interests so we can add you to our wait lists!

JULY 23, 2011 OPEN HOUSE!

Come join us for our July 23, Saturday open house! We will have our usual lampworking demos and open torch time. Jelveh from Jelveh Designs will be showing off her latest designs. Jim Ziegler and his lovely wife Jennifer will be showing the latest techniques of Lapidary work! See what you can make from a rough stone! We will be hosting a Lapidary class with Jim, on Saturday, August 27, 2011, all materials and equipment provided. Cost of class is only $75.00
And on Sat. & Sun., August 13 & 14, Carmen Martinez will have a basic silver-smithing class, take one or two classes. We will be learning how to work with the different metals, torches, solder materials, and will set a cabachon, stone or glass, in a silver setting that can be finished as a pendant or ring. More info available, e-mail me! Cost of class is $125 for one day, material kit extra.
Open house is 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. on Saturday July 23!

Rock On! Rock Carving Class this Weekend

Where did the torches go? Don't worry, Lampworkers, the glass torches were just temporarily stored so the flex shafts could be mounted on the tables for the rock carvers to learn the time-honored technique of "Intaglio carving" or carving from the back of a stone. Ron Martinez, www.visionsbyron.com and his lovely wife, Carmen, were here all weekend, taught 7 students, designing, selection of burs, flex shaft use and carving techniques. One of the students brought his own saw to trim his own "material," to carve! Thank you all for a great and fun weekend here. I, as usual, ran out of time to final polish my carving, but hope to finish it to show off, (even my son was surprised my rock looked pretty good for a beginner!) Ron's next class, a "beginner's class" will be on June 4-6, 3 days, in San Jose. E-mail them for more info: CARam67@aol.com and everyone has to have a flex shaft, it is a powerful, multi-use tool that can carve for long hours, polish, and drill rock, metal, and glass! Ron & Carmen are distributors of Foredom equipment and can help you select carving, drilling and polish tools!