A Jewel of Ireland Found

My Aisling ring; Lotus earrings, Butterfly pendant

Sometimes I wonder, what is this insatiable hunger!   No matter what, there cannot be enough in life that I need to experience, share, learn, and grow with.  That constant driving force to be and do all that is within reach.  A curse... a blessing... or!!

Ask Irish land (my term of endearment for Ireland)

I believe the gusty Irish winds have finally blown me into the right “kitchen”, so-to-speak.  With an abundance of time on my hands during my trip, I finally found the best “food” in town- The School of Jewellery in the heart of Dublin.

Station of preference 

During the month of December 2012 I went to a Crafts exhibition.  Yet weeks before, I have been searching on the internet for a place to learn traditional jewellery making skills, a craft I have not ventured into before and thought would be great to compliment the beading I already do.  Lo and behold, right there, is a stand for “The School of Jewellery”. That one moment changed everything and has put me on a path of no return in more ways than one.  But for now, let me share with you my first path.

A few days after the exhibition, I walked into the beautiful, cozy, and welcoming school and was greeted by Goldsmith, Designer and Owner of the school- Deirdre O’Donnell.  And after a few hours of Orientation, I was more than ready to get started. On the spot we agreed that I may take a class or 2 before the Christmas break season and that I would return in January to continue the 10 weeks program. 

I don’t think I will ever forget Day 1.  Never did I think I could be happy cutting anything in a straight line! But I sure was ecstatic.  Seems odd yet it’s true.  Amazing how something as simple as a straight line would be part of someone’s’ joy but you would have to experience it to believe it.

Day 2 and Day 3 required me cutting, sawing, filing and drilling out the shape of a beautiful butterfly out of a brass plate that was then to become a lovely silver-plated pendant. 

Almost there

The 2n^d project consisted of making a Silver ring and with real Silver there was no room to mess up as it doesn't come cheap nowadays.  Some of the materials and tools used included:  2 mm silver plate, saw with size 0 blades, files, pliers, hammers (steel and wooden), steel bench block, Ring Mandrel, 240 and 800 sand paper sheets, drilling and drill bits (brass to polish and steel to drill holes), flux, hard silver solder, wire, torch, 3-1 oil, black marker pen, and last yet not least, my selection of stone to be set in my ring, Blue Quartz.   Now do not ask me about steps and sequences as im still a beginner, yet what I’m certain of is with great tutoring, assistance, instruction from Deirdre and her team, I am the proud maker of my 1^st real silver ring!   A couple of days later I asked my teacher Deirdre to give my ring a name.   Today, the Birth Certificate says “Aisling” (Irish for- Dream) is her name.  And since then I never leave home without Aisling J

Ready to go and get the Blue Quartz setting done 

Now, did all those projects manage my hunger pangs!   Absolutely, and I am craving for more. 

My 3^rd piece was a pair of earrings.  Now they may look simple to make but, I must say, they were the most challenging for me.  Why!!  Well, firstly this project was up to us students to decide on and create.  I chose to make dome-like shaped earrings.  And little did “Beginner Bettina” know she sub-consciously does it again and puts herself into something above her head.  My fingers have yet to forgive me.  

Let the adventure begin

Happy Lotus

The pair of earrings I later called Lotus, required the use of a silver plate and a Dapping block filled with semi-circular holes to help to create and manipulate the size and form of the dome I wanted.  Now for the tricky part, and which may be hard to believe; the most challenging part was HOLDING the piece steady.  Who would have thought that could be an issue.  Well, it was.  Being a Goldsmith and Silversmith requires strong fingers.  I’m sure I have newly formed miniature muscle growth in my fingers now J   Filed, sawed, sand papered, banged this little being into life!  Lastly, drilled a little enclave on the back for the earring post to be soldiered onto it.   So, after a couple of days of hard work, my fingers and I witnessed the blossoming of Lotus.

Now the big question:  Am I satiated forever or do I have room for more

I leave that to you to figure out. 

Until then

Salaam|Peace

Turkish Cotton Yarn Delights for Tarachi Bint Yagout Class Debut

A few days back as Madhawi has been preparing the kits and samples for her debut class at LB o J'zazz, we went on our excursion to select the main component of beautiful cotton yarns from Turkey that she had introduced me to and I had fallen in love with a while back.
Originally she was thinking about creating four distinct colorways, well as soon as we got to this home based shop of Um Nasser that notion quickly evaporated as we delved and were mesmerized by the array of skeins on display. 

Just seeing all the skeins was a treat!

Madhawi was gracious enough after my eyes were feasting on all this eye-candy to help her select the colorways for the project, that will combine our LB o J'zazz selection of Czech Crystals and Miyuki triangle beads and findings.  So, I started with a whole lot of colors, about fifteen thinking how to narrow them to four and that was very difficult.  Madhawi being the trouper and ever the consummate crafter said we could have more colorways.  So, this is what we came up with, the palettes were to be vibrant and bold and to evoke jewel tones along with bright summer days full of intense floral hues.

Final selection of ALIZE Cotton Yarn for the class

  This morning Madhawi had already created the base in exquisite crochet for all of the six hues!
Now, the next step will be her selection of beads to embellish this amazing set of earrings. Which will be taking place this week. 
Many of the nomenclatures we have in our Kuwaiti dialect derived from other cultures and languages that Kuwaitis dealt and traveled to such as India, Persia and Turkey. 
The word "Tarrachi" indeed came from India and as many Kuwaitis of old were heavily involved in gold smuggling, many of the terms related to adornment and jewelry became a part of our local dialect. 

That morning the crocheting bug bit me again and there was just no way I was going to leave without my own selection for projects with the intention of making beautiful, comforting afghans for friends and loved ones.I can only imagine how yummy and welcoming these yarns will be when created into throws and afghans. 

Final selection for the Afghans

"Tarrachi Bint Yagout" class will debut this June 30 at the LB o J'zazz Beading Zone and is a first in terms of technique and our Guest Teacher.  So, take a look at the palettes and we will be posting the samples soon. 

Upcoming Beading Classes September 28 - October 9

We would like to welcome you all back from Eid celebrations and hope that you are rested, well fed and ready to master some new projects that will surely challenge you, engage you and fulfill the need to bead!  Bettina and I got a chance to revamp some projects, bead some new ones and create new colorways.  Still, we need to guarantee seat availability, ample numbers of kits and times so you are kindly requested to pre-register at our Shaab El Bahry location in advance of the class. This is another reason why we are posting the classes ahead of time, so you can peruse and choose those of interest in addition to planning your own personal schedule with ease.

The first two classes were created and made by Bettina and the subsequent two classes are created and made by Lubna.

Arabesque Earrings
September 28 Tuesday

Technique:  Netting



Inspired by Arabesque designs and geometry, Bettina has come up with a circular design combining seed beads and crystals.  Bettina created this as she was exploring Islamic design and art from the Isfahani tiles during the Holy Month of Ramadan.  Once you master this new netting technique you can create and assemble more elaborate units as the variations and colorways unfold. 
 

Waterflowers Ndebele Bracelet
October 2 Saturday
9:30 AM-2:00 PM
Technique: Tubular Ndebele and Fringing 

This is our first introduction to Ndebele; the famous and resilient Zulu Stitch from South Africa. Bettina has created this delicate piece emulating the shimmery sense of Monet's water flower series. She will be employing color refracting Japanese Triangle beads along with our special Czech Spacers and Japanese drop beads.


Level: All levels

Mashrabiya Earrings
October 5 Tuesday
Time:  5:00PM- 7:00 PM
Technique:  Single Needle Right Angle Weave (RAW)


Inspired by the architecture of the Moors and the geometry of Mashrabiyas that are prevalent and celebrated across the Middle Eastern Region and Spain.  This earring set echoes a poignant reflection of the beauty of the objects of the craftsmen of the period.  This piece combines the rich softness of Czech Firepolished Crystals and Machine Cut Crystals in 3mm along with hand crafted Pressed Glass Daggers.

Mucha's Nouveau Bracelet In RAW*
October 9 Saturday
Time:  9:30 AM- 2:00 PM
Technique:  Single Needle Right Angle Weave (RAW)


Mucha was a pioneer and innovator who triggered the Art Nouveau Movement whilst designing a poster for the great Sarah Bernhardt in the 1800's.  Born in the Czech Republic his style created a romanticism of the feminine form in a garden like setting.   Mucha's stylization, form and use of colors inspired this bracelet. 
A simple yet innovative recipe to create a whimsical and floral style bracelet.  Five luscious garden colorways have been carefully concocted with 5mm and 4mm Czech Crystals.  Inspired by the Art Nouveau's approach to floral motifs you will learn the technique of RAW* (Right Angle Weave) and experiment with patterning and different effects of embellishing.

Decopatch Orientation for Hope School For Special Needs Team

Last Tuesday April 13th, we got a chance to visit Hope School For Special Needs in Dasman and meet with teachers and support team during our orientation session with Decopatch.  This school has wonderfully large and spacious classrooms in addition to a dedicated team of teachers and support. I was quite impressed to see the facilities and interact with the Hope School For Special Needs family based on our invitation by Mrs. Linda Fouke the school Principal. 

The Hope School Team was able to sample the product in addition to getting a complete safety and feature overview of the materials that focused on the fact that our beautiful papers are water based inks and our award winning glues and varnishes that can be safely used with children as young as three to ninety three!  Some of the participants pulled out eye glass cases, mirrors and wallets from their bags and started Decopatching these items in perfect upcycling fashion.