If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I make many analogies between jewelry design and music. This is yet another. Variations on a theme bring to mind classical music in which many of the great composers embellished their own basic motives to create numerous variations. Some contemporary musicians have also taken short snippets from classical music, varied these and employed them in new music.

Variations are also a big part of training in creative thinking wherein we ask participants to think flexibly and change an original idea. Sometimes the ideas that follow are better than the first and sometimes this exercise simply serves to reassure the thinker that they had the best idea in the first place.

The same is often true in jewelry design. I try many different versions of a “theme” or design to see whether it might be improved. Sometimes I initiate this process out of sheer boredom when I’m tired of the same design, yet it is still popular with customers. The following is an example of this.

You will likely recognize the bracelet on the left above that is a design I’ve been making for at least five years. I also sell the tutorial for it in my etsy shop and it has also been popular there. (Thank you customers!) https://www.etsy.com/listing/91729421/dimensional-cuff-bracelet-tutorial

When a boutique customer called to she needed more of the same, I realized it was probably time for another variation on this design. I’ve made it with square and rectangular faces in the past, but wanted something new. After experimentation with shapes, I created the bracelet shown on the above right – a variation on the theme. I plan to make this one again using more colorful gemstones that will show up better against the weaving.

Another popular bracelet, the wave, that initiated so long ago that I can’t locate a photo, also needed revamping. I changed the initial bracelet shape to triangles as shown below.

Finally, still considering the wave bracelet theme, I made a new “cursive” bracelet that proved to be a bit tricky. This one required plenty of wraps to help the 14 gauge wire hold its shape. I think this one holds further possibilities.

This was an interesting and somewhat challenging exercise and I continue to think “what if” regarding variation possibilities. But for now, I think I’ll just go play some classical music on the piano with a score that someone else wrote.

Last week, however, I got a new perspective on ants from my three-year-old grandson. He actually seems to like them! At the least, he finds them very interesting. During our visit, we checked out online information and videos and talked about the little critters. I couldn’t help but tell him the story of Two Bad Ants, written by Chris Van Allsburg. It’s one of my favorite books that tells about ants coming into a home. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the book with me, so I just told the story of how a couple of ants lingered behind in the sugar bowl while the other, more disciplined ants, carried their treasure out of the house. The entire story is told from the perspective of the ants and it was difficult to get the real effect without the pictures. Yet, my grandson was intrigued.

Tonight, I decided to dig out that book and take with me on my next grandmotherly expedition. At first I couldn’t find it. That meant I had to dig through the many picture books housed in my closet and that’s when I realized. Those books were my old friends. I touched worn copies of Winnie, the Witch, Roxaboxen, Rabbit and the Moon, The Last Dance and other familiar works. My reaquaintance with them didn’t even require page turning as the memories flooded back from the mere sight of them.

I could tell you that I read these to my own children, but that wouldn’t be right. I read these to teachers and university students in my classes. No workshop with me was complete without story time after lunch. While some thought this was silly, others looked forward to this part of our day. I usually told, rather that read, the story as I showed the pictures. At times I used a prop or two such as the shawl I wore in various ways for The Last Dance. I not only remember the stories, but I remember the people and the situations wherein I used them. Those books are like little capsules of my past that hold more than I ever realized until this evening.

Lest you think I neglected my own children, I should tell you that the pages of other books like Drummer Hoff and Where the Wild Things Are have well worn pages as well from our family sharing. I’ll bet my adult son can still recite most of the verses in Drummer Hoff.

I believe in this new period of publishing where many books are ready electronically, but wonder what will remain from these to help hold the memories of sharing books with others. My hope is that we will always share real copies of picture books and that these will be passed from one generation to the next as treasured gifts, not just relics. For now, I’m just anxious to share with another little person . . . hand-on.

Now, the word makes me think about charitable events. Often these are occasions where people get dressed up and socialize while being enticed to donate sums of money to charity.

My other thought revolves around those individuals who benefit from charity. The dictionary indicates that charity involves “generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless.”  Those who make donations to charity often feel good about their efforts to help humanity.

I must admit that as I worked on my auction item, I was more interested in making a good showing than in the charitable part of my efforts. Would my piece look OK amongst the other offerings? Would it contribute well to the auction?

The first piece didn’t fly with the two men who looked at it. Neither indicated that they would bid on it. If the men wouldn’t bid on it, I decided it wasn’t right.

Late the evening before the piece was due, I started anew. Working late and picking it up again the next day, I did finish at the appointed time. As I designed this piece, I thought about the title of the charity event, The Cattle Baron’s Ball and the idea of a rope or lariat seemed appropriate. I don’t know if this piece is better or not, but it IS finished and has been delivered. The gemstone is a beautiful piece of amethyst from Magpie Gemstones.

Another of my pieces was donated by a boutique I serve for a charity event in a west Texas town. I was especially pleased that the boutique owner chose some of my work. I’d been calling this “ethnic”, but she termed it “tribal”.

I have to say that I’m a bit unhappy with myself over my concern for how my work would show up at these auctions. I think that’s pretty selfish. My focus should have been on how I might solicit the most money for the charities. The products would probably have remained the same, but I would have felt better about them. I think it all stems as to whether my charitable donation was for the needy or for myself.

Either way, I’ve learned something. I would appreciate my own efforts more if I focused on charity as love which is the term used in some of the newer versions of the Bible (faith, hope and love). Next time, I want to make that auction piece for the right reason.

I’ve truly enjoyed the two jewelry classes that I taught last week, one in Wimberley, TX and the other in San Marcos. I worked with seven women as they learned to make a wrap bracelet in Wimberley and then four more who worked on wrapping cabachons. I enjoyed hearing from the first group about who some of them planned to pass their bracelet to as a gift. I regret not getting a photo of that group, but note the happy intensity on the faces of the second.

It’s common for someone to ask a designer ideas come from. I have no doubt that many of mine come during preparation for teaching. I think that is why it takes me so long to get ready to teach a class. There’s something about this pre-planning that gets my creative juices flowing. I used to fight this urge, trying to stay on task, but now I just go with it. I do, however, have to resist my propensity to want to teach the new idea instead of that which was designated for the class. I just keep wanting to pass it on.

As an example, a couple of gals came over for a little assistance in starting their journey into soldering with a torch. They hardly got off the ranch before I was cutting and planning the piece below. Yes, I know it’s a bit bird-like, but it wasn’t planned that way – oh well, it’s definitely different!

I’ve also done a new soldered design that someone on Facebook suggested is Bohemian. The legs on this piece are soldered to the bottom half of the arc and then wire wrapped. I was tickled that the very first sale of this went to my good friend who often calls and says “is the Dreamcatcher Designs shop open?”  (Of course you know I don’t have a shop!) Sometimes she just runs out to the ranch and gets what she needs. This piece was gifted from her to a co-friend of ours and I’m pleased for her to have it. Do you think you can wear “Bohemian” at the Lutheran Church?

As you read, many things, both concrete and ideational, were passed on last week. From teacher to student, student to teach and friend to friend. I think life was very productive.

Then, I noticed just a few people sitting in lawn chairs by the side of the road. Several were sitting under umbrellas and holding American flags. It seemed they were mostly retirement age citizens. As I went farther, I noticed there were more and more young people including a man who was standing with six children in the back of a pickup. Each child held an American flag.

As I got closer to Austin, the number of people beside the road changed from a few to more and finally to many. There were not only people beside the road, but also a myriad of trucks. There were big tow trucks, EMS trucks, sheriff’s vehicles and many others. Those trucks were all lined up as if to salute the front of the road and that’s when I understood. Today was the day that the body of the slain Austin Police officer, killed on the job, was processing through Austin toward San Angelo – going home. I was impressed by the number of officials that lined the route.

Approaching the road where the funeral procession would merge with the highway, it became apparent that it wasn’t just officials who had come to pay respect. Citizens of all ages lined the route. There were young mothers with their toddlers, heavily tattooed bikers, merchants and individuals in pickups, broken down vehicles and expensive cars. There appeared to be no cultural, racial, economic or age boundaries separating those who wanted to pay respect.

At the onset of my journey back to ranch, I was certain I had taken the wrong way home. Yet, by the end of my journey, having seen what pulls us together, I knew I had indeed taken the right way home.

Today, I’m thinking about how freely the littles help one another with finding toys, building block structures and putting answers on tests. When I tested kindergarten children, we worked in small groups of no more than four or five children at a time. I was so careful to spread their tiny desks about the room where they could not see each other’s answers. Yet, they felt free to hop up and scurry to someone else’s spot for help with questions. They did this even though they clearly knew the answers. Some just moved to go and help a friend. Eventually, when I got that stopped and they realized their feet were glued to the spot they were in, the sharing still continued. I would read a question and the children would look around at one another. Then, many times one child would say “it’s the dog!” and all the others would mark the picture of the dog whether it was a good answer or not. It was really difficult to convince them that this type of sharing was not appropriate. “But,” they would counter, “Mrs. So and So tells us that we are supposed to share in class.” Hmm . . . One little guy was so vehement about announcing his answers that I had to place him in the hall where the others couldn’t hear him. I administered the test from the doorway of the classroom. Yes, little children are very slippery when it comes to testing, but they are often much better at sharing.

Lately, there has been considerable talk in the jewelry design business about just that – sharing. When can we share an idea, copy an idea, sell an idea, etc.? You can find a link to my article on the topic of copyrights and ethics at the side of the blog on the website (www.dreamcatcherranch.net/designs) or go directly to it at http://www.magpiegemstones.com/ethics.html . This short treatise basically encourages us to share techniques, but to develop our own ideas rather than copying those of others. “But everyone does it!” Part of the problem is that we’ve spent a life time, beginning in preschool, of being told that we should share. Yet, when we share an idea with someone, it is NOT OK for the person to profit from it. We have to consider intellectual property and honor the initiator.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a clear purple vs. ecru issue. I want to share and that’s why I write this blog. I hope you gain ideas from it that you will develop your own, but if you make any money from my intellectual property, how about sending me some?

As I ramble on, I would be amiss if I didn’t state that the Easter season is a good time to share. Christians share in the joy of a risen Christ and littles share the joy of hunting for Easter eggs. I hope that someone shares a good thought with you and you have a happy Easter. Below is a photo of the bunny salad my grandson and I shared with his family. You can see that I inadvertently shared some marshmallows with my little friend.

I like Easter! It reminds me of standing in my little short white choir robe with the big bow at the neck waiting in the wings of the sanctuary for our turn to advance down the isle and sing. I can still smell the starch in that bow and feel the pinch on my toes in my new Easter shoes. My Mom usually led the children’s group and then waited for us to arrange our wiggly selves while she adjusted her music at the piano. We were advised to smile and sing or vice versa and I could never quite do both at once. I just remember be glad to get that itchy robe off!

We usually ate deviled eggs and ham for our Easter dinner. When I got a bit older, I made cake with icing, green colored coconut and jelly bean decorations. Much later, I became the one at the piano for my own little choir.

Now, I enjoy singing with my grandson and making crosses for the Easter season. I know these aren’t just for Easter, but it is a fitting time to create them and remember their meaning. I’ve been preparing crosses for a class I’m teaching in San Antonio. You’ve seen these photos before.

I wanted to try some other styles and have a couple of new designs.

The first is simply multiple pieces of wire wrapped to hold together. I found this to be tricky, but liked the result. The cross on the right is made from the same soldered base cross design as the filigree crosses, but features weaving and the use of bead embellishment without the filigree piece. It has a small copper disc on the back, like the filigree crosses, which covers the wrapping that secures the beads.

I’m hoping to spend more time “near the cross” in the weeks before Easter and will show you if anything else “hatches” on the design table.

I’ve been making cold connections for the past couple of weeks. No, I haven’t been meeting cold people and the weather here has been quite warm. Instead, I’ve been making cold connections with metal. When we join things to metal in a way that doesn’t require heat, usually through soldering, we say we’ve used a cold connection. This week my cold connections have been through riveting.

It was my turn to lead and share a technique at our monthly Faux meet up. Yesterday, we had about 20 in attendance and I think most of us got a little better at riveting in the time we spent together. I was determined to have some new projects that my fellow designers could try and thus the reason for the past weeks of making those cold connections. I thought you might enjoy seeing a couple of the pieces I designed.

The first is the easier of the two and is just a simple variation of the wave necklaces that I’ve made. This one features a riveted charm in the center. This charm utilizes both a copper disc and a nickel silver disc with the center cut out. I riveted these two together and also riveted a pewter finding in the middle. I used a headpin that I balled with the torch for the center rivet. The other rivets were purchased from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. I wired the charm onto the wave necklace armature.

The second necklace is a bit modern looking, but it’s definitely different. I used alcohol ink to color some copper discs and then riveted them together with nickel silver discs. Again, I used balled headpins for the rivets. I also riveted some big hole rose quartz beads that I got from Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com) onto a couple of the discs. Although you only see two rose quartz beads on this necklace, it took four to make it if you count the two I broke while trying to rivet them. You really have to be careful when riveting a gemstone.

I demonstrated how to make a few other riveted charms, but haven’t yet used all of these in a particular design.

I really enjoyed working with my friends yesterday and helping them initiate or hone their riveting skills.  Although they were making cold connections, thankfully none of them were cold!

Here’s hoping all your personal connections are warm and that if you end up with cold connections, you’re riveting!

The first signs were large and small footprints that appeared on the floor.

Not knowing what to do, the adults called in the great dinosaur hunter. It didn’t take him long to discover the footprints.

He quickly realized that this was not a job for an amateur and he was glad that he had brought his tools.

He selected the appropriate one and began to carefully examine the evidence.

Yes! There were dinosaur footprints at Dreamcatcher Ranch. Since the dinosaur hunter knew that where there is one footprint there are probably others, he started an organized search of the premises.

This thorough search provided even more evidence. Yes, something was definitely going on at Dreamcatcher. There were dinosaur footprints in several other locations.

The great dinosaur hunter eventually made a startling discovery. There were not only footprints at the ranch, there were also dinosaur footprints buried on the premises. These bones looked amazingly familiar to the hunter.

The hunter found several bones and then quickly ran to the laundry room to check his theory. There he located the dog treats and “aha!” he was right. Those dinosaur bones did look like dog treats! What a sleuth!

Finally, the great dinosaur hunter felt that he had completed his mission and made sense of the strange findings at Dreamcatcher Ranch. His job was done; so he did what all great dinosaur hunters know it important. He took rest and nourishment in preparation for the next big adventure. What a guy!

Yesterday, while preparing to teach a leather wrap bracelet class, I went back to pedagogy in designing a teaching aid. The bracelets, which I’ve shown before, are below.

  I had close to the maximum number of people enrolled in the class and wondered how in the world I was going to show everyone how to do the weaving required on this bracelet. For this bracelet, we were using smoke colored Fireline fishing line which it difficult to see and weaving it with beads over and under leather cord. It’s a piece of cake to demonstrate when you can sit right beside someone, but not so easy when the person is across the room from you. Therefore, I went with an enlargement of the technique. I dug in my ribbon stash and found some gold cord and some red ribbon. By attaching the cord to my giant clip board, I had my enlarged replica. It looks a bit silly, but it seemed to work and people could see it from across the room. I appreciate the participants who didn’t laugh at my replica.

This happening reminds me of teaching preschool piano classes when I had my father cut large music notes out of wood which we painted black. Then I made a big music staff on heavy white plastic. The children and I sat on the floor to learn concepts. (Those were the days when I could still get up off the floor as quickly as they did!)

One of the best things about teaching is that students inadvertently teach me what works. When I demonstrate something and they don’t get it, I have to figure out what to do next instead of just thinking they were slow to learn. As these difficulties arise, I need to figure out a different way to teach the same thing and make it clearer. Also, when numerous students make the same error, I know it’s because I did something wrong. That’s something I need to fix.

Students also teach me through their questions. A query is often indicative of something I might demonstrate in a better fashion next time. The students teach me through these questions.

I think one of the best parts of teaching is that the process is reciprocal. Both the students and the teacher learn when the environment is risk free.