There are few shortcuts to beautiful handmade jewelry. The design process is painstakingly meticulous. Planning, measuring, creating test pieces, and mock-ups before ultimately holding the final piece in your hand. I love this, and I fight this. I believe in the process, but I want to skip to the good stuff!

As a graphic artist, I created these half-sketched design blanks and templates to facilitate and jump start my own design process. I wanted to make them available to other jewelry artists, too. Use these true-to-size templates to quickly sketch your ideas, and have organic design shapes that don’t look machine made.

These templates are just one of lots of great perks my Patreon Benefactors receive. Please consider becoming a sponsor! Click on the Patreon link to read about all the levels and what benefits come with each one. Thanks for checking it out!

I’m on day 144 of my Duolingo French training. That’s what I did during Covid. That, and I learned to cook. Anyway, I learned basic things like: dry your meat before you brown it, and never over cook it. The cheery owl in the track suit expands my mind, and Dinnerly expands my waist. C’est la vie, or C’est ma vie.

Spring is around the corner, and I have set a table for one…and deux. All of my classes are naturally spaced at extreme ends of my 8 foot work table for small groups of like-tribe—as we refer to those we maintain hugging status with. A few more than 2 may also work. Serendipitously, we often wear protective eyewear, masks, and gloves anyway, so it’s all good!

Bienvenue! Welcome to the Garage. On the menu this season is Soldering with a side of Dandelion Seed charms, a refreshing New Leaf Enameling exploration, and the House Specialty: SPINNER RINGS. All through Sioux Falls Community Ed.

Meditative Mantra Mandala—that sums up the goal, vehicle, and choreography of this focus on Jesus’ Temptation from Matthew 4.
A lovely group of ZOOM attendees followed a path to complete a painted dish towel that will hang as a memory of that event. My hope is that focused meditation, aided by simple repetitive brush strokes, will forge our prayers in other parts of our brain (and heart) through the motions, and our other sensory experiences. Beyond reading and hearing, by seeing the symbols formed by the painted strokes, praying while smelling the acrylic medium, searching for understanding and enlightenment while being aware of others completing these same steps, I have faith a deeper connection is made.
I am moved by each artist’s devotion. It was challenging, and scary, to present a class with such an important message.

WWJD? He would, he did, sacrifice all.