Keeping Projects Separate

by Judy Larson

When you start making multiples of things, it's easy to end up with a mess of stones and wire and metal. Here's how I've chosen to keep order on my bench!

Instructions

When I start working on multiples of the same stones, as for the earrings in this tray, I separate them into sealed baggies to retard tarnish and also so that if the tray is dropped, I don't have to go through all the trouble of finding everything on the floor, and then matching the pairs as well as the bezels for each stone. Been there, done that!

Judy Larson's Keeping Projects Separate - , General Education, , keeping projects separate

Recently, when working on MANY pearl earring gifts for the Holidays, I found that I had used all my black velvet storage trays so had to come up with another solution for separating all the parts for each pair of earrings. I decided against using the egg crates since I could not remove the lid because I save the crates for friends who raise chickens. The lid would only get in the way and be a bother. I had just finished making tarts for a celebration and spotted the tart pans in the dish drainer...light bulb moment! I had used muffin tins at one time, but these fit the bill as they were smaller and three of them easily fit on my work surface. After separating the different pearl shapes into pairs and threading them on head pins, the pairs were divided in the pans. Then all the ear wires and other embellishments were added to each well.

Since I did not intend to store the pans away to work on at a later time like I would with projects in the velvet lined trays, the tart pans were a time saver, as well as a sanity saver. No worries about the pearls rolling all over and getting mixed up. The earrings could be worked on as if doing production work (completing the same step on all of them before going to the next step) as it is easy to see which ones have been worked on and which still need to be completed.

Using the tart pans have given me the push I needed to complete projects I thought I might have finished several months ago. I really missed using my velvet trays. The non-reflective velvet is easier on the eyes than the tart pans, even though after so many years of use, the pans have a dull finish.

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10 Compartment Clear Plastic Organizer Case

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Category: General Education
Technique(s): General Education

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Judy Larson

My philosophy has always been "I will never live long enough to learn everything I want to learn, go everywhere I want to go and see everything I want to see!" So, what I make and how I create it is always changing and evolving. I was born shortly after WWII to parents who grew up during the Depression. They always had a "we can do it, we can make it" attitude which rubbed off on my two younger brothers and me. My brothers are amazing and can make and do ANYTHING! When I was a little girl, my mother gave me an old carved cigar box, which I cherish, filled with pop beads, wooden beads and yarn for stringing. That was the beginning of my jewelry making journey.

On a visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a young woman, I was fortunate enough to help a Native American silversmith sand cast my first silver bracelet and bezel set a large turquoise nugget on top. I was in love, hook, line and sinker! While working full time and having a family here in northern Minnesota, my artistic endeavors slowed down but never stopped. I am an artist, scrapbooker, seamstress, woodworker and jewelry artisan. Now that I am retired, I am able to indulge in all my hobbies. However, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all, but I try!

I have been teaching community education beginner and intermediate jewelry making classes since my retirement. Many of my students have been bitten so hard by the jewelry making bug that they say I have turned them into monsters-they just can't get enough. Making jewelry, seeing something take shape from small bits and pieces, is so rewarding that I hope it brings out the "monster" in you, too!

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