Chain Maille Class March 3, 2012

The March 3rd chain maille is now full, please let me know if you would like to be notified of the next class when scheduled: grace@gracefulcustoms.com

Holiday Boutique & Happy Holidays!

It was another great holiday boutique this year, we had new artists and new friends stop by to see our wares and snack on goodies! Jelveh was busy making jewelry on the spot, Ron was carving away, and I was busy raffling off (free) hourly gifts. Thank you all for participating, we will see you soon! Grace

Look at what we did! Chain Maille Class!

It was a perfect day, except that the acorns are still falling and hitting us on the head in the patio! We had a full class, Ed & Eileen were great as usual, such patience and so many projects to choose from! But all the ladies looked like they had fun and learned new techniques and all completed more than one project, now to practice before you forget! Next chain class March 3, 2012, e-mail me to be put on the wait list, limited to 8 students!

2011 Christmas Boutique

Visit us during our Christmas Boutique on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, 1:00 pm to 6:00 p.m., lampworking glass bead making demonstrations, open torch time (make a bead yourself), finished jewelry, soaps, quilts, lapidary stones, and other handmade crafts by various artists available for sale! Hourly raffle of gifts. Snacks and drinks served! 10730 Center Ave., Gilroy, CA 95020, 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!

Silversmithing Class this weekend!

Here are some of the projects completed! Thanks to Carmen, she managed to teach a basic silver-soldering class in one day with finished projets, silver rings and pendants with natural stones. The participants practiced on copper circles, then moved on to silver, making the bezel and soldering it to the flat silver sheet. It helped that Frank precut the metals circles, but Carmen also demonstrated how to use the saw and other cutting tools, and most everyone had a chance to use the propane/oxygen torches!

Great Day, Great Friends at Open House

It was a beautiful day to be outside, many thanks to Jim & Jennifer for demo-ing lapidary techniques and all their beautiful cabachons, oops didn't get a pic of them, sorry; Ron & Jim looked like their were enjoying the day, we had new drop-ins, new students, friends, all with many artistic interests! The food was sweet, and we gave several prizes, jewelry, tools, and new aluminum sheet cut outs which Jelveh kindly showed us how to apply to create bubbly effects, Sioux demo-ed her technique of implossion, and Barb took a turn at the torch, along with a couple of newbies! Barb also tried out our new V-Fantasy wheel to practice what she had learned in a class! Thank you all for participating! Stay tune for more!