Bracelet

So far I have worked on my bracelet twice and both times have gone pretty well. I started out with a long piece of silver wire. The wire was then put into a vice and wrapped around a metal bar to create twenty eight jump rings (pictured). I then had to take the jump rings and saw them so they were individual instead of one larger spring. This was fairly easy in the beginning, but once I got closer to the bottom, the spring was harder to hold and I kept sawing my fingers. The next step was to link the jump rings together and make it so they were touching perfectly on both sides. That got to be pretty difficult. I had to take two pairs of pliers and twist them back and forth until they meet perfectly which was difficult because the metal is so stiff. The last thing I did was solder each individual jump ring together. I plan on finishing my bracelet by this weekend. 

Luke Mendola's Presentation

Last week, all WISE students were required to attend Luke Mendola's sample presentation. Ms. Lord made it a point that it is not an EXAMPLE presentation but rather a SAMPLE presentation. I thought Luke's presentation went pretty well. He used to play the harmonica on the hockey bus and he was not very good at all so it was very interesting to see how far he has come in the sixteen weeks he had been working on his project. I definitely liked the way he structured his powerpoint and it definitely helped me outline how I want to create my presentation. He did a good job explaining how he got originally got involved with playing the harmonica but I wish that he had explained what he learned a little more. He also said that he learned a lot of new songs but he never went through and played any of them. Overall, only based on his presentation, I would give Luke a B+/A-.

Mentor Meeting May 23rd

This meeting with Mr. Johnson was by far the most eventful one we have had. We went through my entire project and created an outline of my presentation. The plan is to outline why I decided to work on jewelry as my project followed by a background of my Uncle Fareed and why and how he became a jeweler. Then, I will go through and describe my original proposal and what has changed since I originally made it. the biggest part of the project will be when I go over the process of making the pieces. I plan on going through and describing how I made each of the three pieces (I am not done with the bracelet yet) and the different obstacles I faced. Next, I plan on going over the successes of the project and the things I have learned as well as how I plan to use what I have learned in the future.

Red Flag 5

This week has had many ups and downs. Since last red flag class I made a Mother's Day pendant for my mother which had a heart shaped blue topaz stone set in it. This was much different from the ring because I actually had to free hand shape the mold of the pendant instead of being able to shape it with any round object. I learned how to make a heart using pliers to shape the metal. I also had to do a lot of filing which hurts my hands a lot because a stab myself every two seconds. 

My presentation is on June 5th at 3:45. I need to have my papers in by May 29th. I think the most important thing to get done with my papers is the research because right now I pretty much only have the people at the jewelry shop as resources. 

My goal for the coming week is to start my bracelet and hopefully finish it by the end of next week. 

Mentor Meeting May 15th

My mentor meeting with Mr. Johnson went pretty well today. I brought in my pendant and showed him what I had accomplished and shared with him how I made it. We went through the steps and I told him how it was a Mothers Day present. Other than that, today's meeting was pretty much just to set up what we were going to discuss the coming week. We decided that it would be best to go through my presentation plan and decide what I am going to say.

Mother's Day Success

After finishing my mother's pendant at about one in the morning on Saturday, I finally got the chance to give it to my mother on today. I waited until the whole family came home before I gave it to her and she loved it! She was incredibly surprised at how well it came out and how I got it done in only two days of working on it. I am incredibly happy that she was so satisfied with the piece despite it not being the design she asked for!

The Final Pendant

Here is the final pendant. It is much easier to explain the side pattern using a picture. If you look on the sides you can see where I filed the triangles and the round parts so that there was a nice design and it isn't just one solid piece of metal. I realized that I am very happy that my uncle made me use a heart shaped stone rather than a round stone because pushing me out of my comfort zone was actually a good thing. It made me challenge myself and realize that I can actually do it if I try hard enough.