metalsmithing class

I am taking a metal fabrication class at Craft Alliance in St. Louis. This is old school, not the metal clay I have been working with. I think that going back to basics will be a good learning experience for me and can only help me more with my metal clay pieces.

I haven't worked metal like this since Mr. Marshall's class at Ladue High School, but it's all coming back to me. I am really good at fine sawing, to me it's just like drawing real slow. I decided to dive right in and work with silver, you put the same amount of effort as you would with copper or brass, you might as well end up with something that doesn't make your skin turn green.

My teacher, Cindy Howenstein is really great. What I like about the class is that there are no specific projects to make. The students can explore the medium and make whatever they want, and she demos different procedures as they come up. We are making bezels, learning to solder, and learning polishing techniques. There are also advanced students in the class who are working independently, and you can learn from them just by observing.

So far I have cut out these tiny silver hydrangeas which I am going to either solder together or join them some other way so there is movement. They are going to be earrings. I'll post my progress.

blurb book

OK, here is the coolest thing ever. All those pictures that I used for the photo collages, I spent lots of time scanning old family photos. But, not just for the posters. I used the pictures for this very special pictures book I made for Abigail. I presented it to her right before her Bat Mitzvah. The book has chapters on youth, family hobbies, friends and more. At the end there are autograph pages which her friends signed at her kid's party! I built the book using Blurb software. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed making the book. I worked on it for about 8 months before I published it, but that is because I wanted to get it just right. The quality of the book is just beautiful. It's a great keepsake for any occasion.

photo montage

You can't show a video montage of your Bar or Bat Mitzvah kid on Shabbat, so instead I decided to make some photo collages and displayed them on easels outside the sanctuary. I made these though Snapfish. The only complaint that I had about the process is that you cannot choose exactly which pictures went where in each collage. They just scramble randomly and you just have to settle on a layout that you think looks best. Still the price was right, about 15 dollars a poster! It cost more to have the posters mounted on foam core after I received them in the mail, but I think they looked great!

Bat Mitzvah booklet

In many temples and synagogues, they have handouts available for congregants and guests. We decided to personalize these handouts and actually made them ourselves on our home computer and printer! It really wasn't that hard, it just took a bit of time. I designed the booklets in Microsoft Publisher. Inside I wrote a welcome letter, information on the Bat Mitzvah girl, the temple, service, and the special honors given to family and guests. On the front and back cover I put pictures of Abigail that were taken by our professional photographer, Lisa Mandel. I printed the cover on heavier stock (recycled). It took a lot of ink, but printing the booklets myself cost about 1/4 of what it would at a print shop.
Instead of staples, I punched two holes on the spine and tied them with blue and green raffia ribbon.

kippot

We are trying to make this Bat Mitzvah as "green" and eco-friendly as possible so no leather yamakahs! There are a lot of options out there, but Abby thought these crochet straw ones were pretty cool. I got them from Kippot World . Their website is pretty easy to navigate, but the color card that they have on line isn't great. Because straw is hand dyed, matching exact colors is pretty much out of the question. I called them directly and asked for samples and they were not the best at customer relations, but we decided to take a leap of faith and just go for it. Abby wanted blue and green and the resulting kippah was just perfect!
We ordered the upgraded personalization on the inside, which looks really great. And everyone must have liked them because I thought I over ordered, but there was not one left after the services!

the tables

Abby's Bat Mitzvah went off without a hitch labor day weekend. So for the next few posts I'm going to show you exactly what I did to decorate and accessorize the event, and how I did it. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

The centerpieces looked great and the impact of 18 tables decorated was great. It took about an hour to set it up. Then we added the personalized biodegradable plastic cups and napkins. The paper plates were also personalized but they were placed at the buffet line. All the personalized paper goods were purchased from Printglobe online. They were pretty easy to work with, the quality was fine. My only complaint is that they charged an extra surcharge after the fact, which I was warned about. But still remember there is a surcharge, so the price you are quoted may not be the final price.

I would like to post more pictures of the room but one cannot take pictures during the Bat Mitzvah as it is on Shabbat. But trust me, it looked good.

out of towner bags

These are the reusable totes that we filled with goodies and are giving to those guests who will be visiting from out of town. We collected information on St. Louis attractions, some sweets, nuts, and energy bars, water, and St. Louis rootbeer. My daughter Abby designed the Bat Mitzvah recycle logo and we had it printed on the bags! The bags are finished and ready to be delivered to the hotels Friday. We used this logo again other places; I'll post those pictures soon.

pashmina tallit

Can you believe this beautiful tallit. It was made by my friend Sara Shapiro who has spent the last three years in India. Sara is a talented and gifted artist. She also a fellow allumnie of Boston University were she was studied weaving. Sara found these beautiful Indian pashminas that are also embrodried and beaded. She added squares and a collar piece in silk and then added the tzitit from threads she got in Israel. I am so honored to own this beautiful tallit, not only because it is so gorgeous, but also because it is made by someone I really admire. And yes. I'm gonna wear it at the Bat Mitzvah- it looks great with my dress!

Bimah Floral Pieces

This is how the large floral pieces which will flank the bimah turned out. They are made of rolled up magazine pages which are held together by hot glue. I also added some origami lillies to make them look more like floral arrangements. The bases are large decoupaged glass vases. The finished products measure about 3 feet tall by 2 1/2 feet high. I made two arrangements, which are slightly different from each other and they will be placed on either side of the bimah at the synagogue.

personalized programs

I finished printing the synagogue programs, which include information on Abigail, the Bat Mitzvah service and the who is getting special honors during the service. We printed all the copies ourselves on our home computer printer. They featured two full color photos of Abby which were professional taken by our photographer Lisa Mandel. To finish it off we tied each program with blue and green raffia ribbon. And, of course, everything was printed on recycled paper!

can you believe this is going to turn into something?

It is......check out the blog again to see how it turns out.

making vases

These are the vases that we are using for the 2 large centerpieces with will be placed in the synagogue for Abby's Bat Mitzvah. Here Abby is decoupaging the glass vases with the same paper we used for in envelope liner in the invitations. Actually we used the scrapes! no waste here!

future designer

Check out these fabulous fashions designed and executed by daughter Tamara. She took a Fashion Design Camp at St. Louis' COCA. Here she is on the runway and then posing in her green tee and cropped jacket. Both were remake redesigned. The green top from an ordinary tee shirt and the jacket from a man's button down shirt.

back to building

Last week I felt caught up enough on the Bat Mitzvah preparations to work on metal clay again. I buildt 3 mezzuzahs and 4 stars, adding to the mezzuzah and 2 stars I have already fired. Now comes the part I actually like the least. When the silver clay comes out of the kiln it has this sort of sparkly while film on it. You have the brush it with the brass brush to remove the film. It takes time and elbow grease and one of the main reasons I do not bother with manicures. It destroys my fingers and turns my nails black. Then comes the hammering and hardening followed by the oxidation in liver of sulfur, which smells like it sounds and also does a job on the hands. I 'll be working on these pieces for the next couple of days...hopefully the finish product will be worth the struggle.

another invitation

Today I worked on the invitations for Abby's girlfriend party. We designed a logo for the party, it's a Magical Mystery Tour. I can't tell you exactly what that means, cause it's top secret, but it will be a lot of fun. As for the invitations, I designed them in Microsoft Publisher and just printed them out on colored card stock on my home printer. Then I trimmed the cards down to 5 X 7 inches and added a 3 dimensional daisy to found at Michaels. It looked pretty funky and cool, especially in a pink envelope lined in paper from Mojo.

it's time to make more flowers.....

I did the math and I'm gonna be over 30 lilies short. So I'm back to folding, adding wire stems and wrapping with tape. I have about 9 more "bouquets" to assemble once these are done. Then I can add the leaves.
Oh, I decided I'm going to design and print up all the Synagogue programs myself. I think I may be crazy.

origami centerpieces

This week Abby and I have begun to assemble the centerpieces for the Bat Mitzvah luncheon. Abby is opening up the petals of the 300 origami lilies we finished previously. I am attaching the flowers to the long wire stems with wire and floral tape. Stay tune for the next steps.

shower invites

I'm making these shower invitations for my friend Erin who is getting married in August. Liz is throwing a Beauty shower for her and I volunteered to make the invitations. Erin has a very modern point of view so I didn't want to make anything very typical wedding shower. I went to Art Mart and picked up paper stocks and envelopes in pink and brown and this really cool Lace Card stock from Ki Memories.

making invitations

Today Abby and I have been busy assembling the Bat Mitzvah invitations. After we put the invites in the petal envelope with the response card and envelope, we had to attach a length of ribbon and secure it with tape and finally a "wax" seal. We used glue gun friendly sealing wax, instead of the traditional sort, because it was easier and will travel through the mail better. I order the wax from www.letterseals.com
Abby did the great job sealing most of the invites, till we ran out of ribbon with just a dozen more to go!

Calligraphy

It's time for me to address all of Abigail's Bat Mitzvah invitations. I am cheating and using a felt tip calligraphy pen instead of a fountain pen and ink. I have to admit the real ink would look better, but the process would take me twice as long, and we still have to assemble all the invites. Stay tuned.