Online mokume classes in the works

I have to share a little secret - teachers love making kits. Well, at least this one does, and I don't think I'm alone! I don't know why, but it is so satisfying to portion everything out, figure out the cost and how to package things. I'm in the middle of doing that now for my first ever online class - my popular mokume gane stamped bracelet class is going online! It is an interesting challenge to adapt the project and adjust the kit for folks who will be working from home, not using my studio. For instance, usually students use my stamp tools that I've designed specifically for patterning mokume - they aren't chasing tools, and they aren't design stamps; they are sort of in between. So, guess what goes in the kit? Two mokume stamp tools handmade by me! I love making stamp tools, and I think students will find them useful to have for many types of projects. Plus there will be a mokume bracelet blank of course - I've chosen silver/brass/copper mokume because the patina for that material is actually easier to use than the one for copper/brass mokume. It does make the kit more expensive, but I've found that usually students want the silver mokume anyway. I was delighted to find tiny vials and jars on Amazon today, so each kit will also contain Baldwin's patina and Renaissance wax. That way you can patinate and finish your bracelet exactly as I do in my studio.

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I'll be getting all the details up on the classes page soon; I'm thinking it will be a 3 session class, taught all in one week on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning my time (US Pacific). Not too early. Registration will close a week before the class is taught, so there will be time to mail you your kits. Anyone outside the US will have to move quickly to register as overseas kits will take longer to arrive.

I also want to stress that this will be a live, interactive class - designed to be as close to an in-person workshop as possible. I'll be doing demos, answering questions and trouble-shooting. You'll have work to do in between the sessions, then I'll start the next session with a chance for feedback and questions on how it went. You'll get to hear and see how the other students are doing, and interact with them just like a real class. We'll be using Zoom, with some parts pre-recorded so I can show demos in greater detail. You can attend using any phone, ipad or laptop; just need good wifi.

I've got so many more online mokume class ideas too - the next one after the bracelet will be a pendant, still stamp patterning but using copper/brass and doing a fair amount of soldering and fabrication on it afterward. Using mokume in your jewelry designs brings its own set of challenges; this class will address that.  I even have plans for a class where you pattern silver mokume, then make a box using the patterned mokume for the lid!

The class max will be 10, just like our in-person classes, so things won't be too crazy. I'll even be available in between sessions to answer your questions. I'll update this post with a link to the class description once it is live, but in the meantime I would love to know if this sounds intriguing to you, or if you have any questions or feedback about how it would all work. Hope to see you in an online class soon!