Graceful Customs Lampwork Glass & Jewelry Studio

Sunday, July 24, 2011

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!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

NEW! LAPIDARY CLASS, Sat., Aug. 27, 2011

Check out the natural gems shown below! Jim Ziegler will be here to show us the basics of lapidary techniques that you can use to make a rough rock into a polished gem! You can set the stone in silver or wire-wrapped it as a pendant. More info to follow, e-mail me if you are interested!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

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!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Look what we learned from John Rizzi!

This picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Floral Murrini Class Pics-June 18, 2011

Here are John's beads he has been working on in preparation for June 18th's class, only a few openings left. Let me know if you are interested!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

CHAIN MAILLE CLASS Sat., July 16, 2011!

Ed & Eileen Ferner will spend the day with us making chain maille jewelry. This workshop is open to all skill levels as there will be over thirty different projects to select from to match your skill level. Bracelets are a good one day project, but more advanced chain maillers may want to create a beautiful necklace. Various metal wire will be available to purchase for your project (gold filled, sterling silver, silver filled, colored copper and some aluminum) but if you have your own wire you may use that.

If you have an optivisor or something like it please bring it along as it will make jump ring assembly much easier to accomplish. All other required tools will be provided.
Cost of class is $10.00, bring your own lunch! e-mail grace@gracefulcustoms.com for sign-up!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Pics of our April's Get-Together!

A free slideshow by Smilebox

OPEN TORCH DAYS IN STUDIO

Fridays, are open torch days, free use of our torches, fuel and kiln. If you have taken a beginners lampworking class, or have experience to work on your own, you are invited to join us to practice, network, and share techniques, hours are 9:00am to 1 pm, other hours with arrangement with Grace. Bring your own supplies and tools, our torches are Nortel Minors and Mega, with oxygen and propane. You must be able to work independently, only general safety instruction is provided, if you are planning to join us e-mail me at Grace@GracefulCustoms.com. There may be some Fridays we will be closed due to vacations or other commitments, and days available may be subject to change. E-mail us for address and directions

Jennifer Le to teach wire-wrapping here!

Who is Jennifer, you ask? Jennifer lives in Santa Clara, CA, the heart of the Silicon Valley. Her long, successful career in high tech was creative, but not very artistic. Although Jennifer is proficient in many skills, such as cooking & gardening, she never applied herself to art until about four years ago. At that time Jennifer & her husband Jim immersed themselves in rockhounding.

Gems, minerals, specimens and the lapidary arts soon became their passion. After some introduction to the lapidary arts with the help of friends and the local club, they were soon creating cabachons, free-forms, flats and even an attempt at faceting! Those pieces looked just great in a display box, but they needed to be seen more often. Jennifer quickly saw the potential for jewelry! Here was the opportunity to create and enjoy something wonderful. Wire wrap was the best way to bring those bright shiny stones out of the box.

Her favorite subjects are pendants, earrings, bracelets and rings of many varieties, sizes, & colors. One needs only to examine Jennifer's work, her showcase and the jewelry she is wearing to see that this is distinctive art. Jennifer learned the fine art & skill of wire-wrap from her mother only four years ago. Since then she has refined her skill into a signature style that is very clean, elegant & striking. She teaches her skill to others in a straightforward and clear manner. Her teaching style & her patience makes her class a valuable experience!