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Some might accuse me of being a Pollyanna, but after sitting in the rain while my team lost a game that never should have been close, what I was left with was this:
  

I had a great time with friends and family. We can replace the collapsed canopies, but we can’t replace our time together.

   
    
 
  

  
PS Go Ducks!

Here are the things I learned to make this Spring and Summer. Bear in mind that some of these are just learning exercises. And yes, that is a Sea Monkey. It was an exercise in using a jeweler’s saw. I think he is very fetching. 

Techniques? Simple soldering/braze welding, bezel setting, making jump rings and chains, sawing metal, basic finishing/filing/sanding/polishing, very simple metal forming. 

Last week, I started a new class that is very technique driven. We had a demo about etching, selected a design and cut out a hunk of metal to put it on. This week, we did the actual etching and learned how to form a simple metal bead. That involved cutting circles out of copper, beating it with a hammer into a hollow form, sanding until the two sides of the bead are totally level and then soldering them together. 

The two pieces came out like this:
   
 

I am not the most confident woman with a torch for obvious reasons. Having a history of having been on fire makes me a little nervous about it, but it is kind of magical to use fire to stick pieces of metal together!  Plus, if I want to make more beads then I have to get over it. 

Current status: unreasonably giddy about making a silly little copper bead. And an etching. And a chain. And bracelets. And a ring. And a Sea Monkey. 
Have YOU ever made a copper Sea Monkey? Have you? No. I thought not.