Join us for a deep dive into the fascinating world of agates this week with Lapidary and jeweler Sky Paxton as our guide. Sky will show stunning examples and share valuable pricing insights while giving us tips on the hardness and cleavage planes of popular stones (which affect their use in certain types of settings). Sky also helps viewers identify their own stones live on the show. Next, Anne walks us through the steps of recycling filings and scrap and we check out an ingenious home jewelry bench setup and a cool, old tool. As always we finish by talking about current projects and sharing ideas. Read more for resource links.

October 3 and 4, 2020 - Saturday & Sunday 10am-4pm PDT
Instructor: Anne Wolf. Tuition $240 + $62-$122 kit fee (+tax & shipping or kit available for pick up)
Take your mokume gane patterning to a whole new level - beyond stamping, twisting and chiseling. At a fundamental level, mokume gane patterning is analogous to the geologic processes of uplift, metamorphosis, and erosion. In this newly expanded class, Anne reveals unexpected ways to pattern which she has discovered over the years. With hammers, stamps and other tools we will metamorphosize the blank mokume gane sheet; the patterns will begin to appear as our files erode away the disturbed layers. The focus will be on creating uniquely patterned mokume sheet that can be used later to make jewelry, box lids, and more. Best for students who have taken at least one mokume gane class, or well-equipped and motivated beginners. This online class is designed to work just like an in-person workshop. Get details and Register.

Tuesday, Sept. 8th from 6-8pm PDT
You're invited to join from your own studio and work alongside us via Zoom. How will it work? We have no idea! But it sounds fun to try. Collaborate with your Hand Medal Teammates or work on anything you like from class projects to professional commissions. Anne will be at her bench working and chit chatting in between muting her audio to hammer. Ame will be hosting, offering Zoom help and making Hand Medal Project envelopes. Whether you're on our Hand Medal Team, a team in another location or just wanting the fun of working at your bench with a friend, you're invited. To join on September 8th just hop online between 6-8pm (link opens Zoom).

Our August blood drive registered 25 appointments and collected 18 pints so it was a big success considering we had just two of the four beds operating due to COVID precautions. Due to the nationwide shut down, blood supplies are at critical levels. If you can't donate, please consider making a financial contribution or volunteering with your local blood bank. If you missed your chance with us, save the date for our next blood drive on October 24th. You can bet it will be a very special Halloween edition! RSVP link coming soon.

After a long, hot day of hiking the Nakasendo Trail between Tokyo and Kyoto, you arrive in a small, rustic village. A mysterious, ancient temple looms in the mist. You follow the signs and find that...it's your Air B&B! In this episode we'll visit a 500 year old temple in Magome, Japan to get up close and personal with the Imori (ancestors), enjoy an amazing meal, and tour the garden - all of which is depicted in a collaborative bracelet designed by Ame and created by Anne Wolf with some help from legendary silversmith Albion Smith. Next we'll take a deep dive into the art of hinge making with Earl Bushey sharing tips from the famous hand engraver Jerry Blanchard and his Monterey buddies! You won't want to miss this totally unique approach to an age-old, fiddly challenge. As always we'll finish by talking about current projects, sharing ideas & resources and having an open Q&A.

Brought to us by SDSU instructor and materialsmith Kerianne Quick, the Hand Medal Project is an international metal arts collaboration in which metalsmiths around the world are making small, wearable hands as a sign of gratitude for health care workers. The hands are reminiscent of milagros or ex votos - religious objects used to invoke miracles. At great risk to themselves and their families, our health care workers are saving lives every day - a miracle indeed. As a part of Keri’s team, our goal is to produce 180 medals - one for each health care professional at Scripps. The Anneville Jewelry Club is a free group that comes together for excursions, online gatherings, group projects. This will be our second event for 2020. Joining our Hand Medal Team is totally free and, if you know us, we'll have some fun with it for sure. Read on for details and sign up.

11am-5pm Saturday, August 22nd, 2020
Blood Mobile at Liberty Station near the Public Market
Want do something fun and easy to help your community? Join me at the San Diego Blood Bank's Bloodmobile as I work my way towards my 4 Gallon badge! Last time they were showing Godzilla on board and we had so much fun hangin' out in the AC watching the show and eating donuts that they had to kick us out! Due to COVID, blood supplies around the country are critically low. Giving blood is a super easy way to make a huge positive. It's safe, fast and fun. This drive is special as Anneville Jewelry Lab is handing the host torch over to Pixel Lava. As always, we have an ambitious goal - this time it's 30 donations. Help us hit it by download a flyer to share with friends and family. I hope to see you there! Reserve your spot.

Experience an explosion of color as jewelry designer and metalsmith Chinanshu "Cheena" Sharma takes us on a virtual excursion through the Johari Bazaar in her home town, Jaipur, India. As we gaze on examples of the stunning jewelry and other crafts of this region, we'll also learn about Cheena's jewelry business background and hear her observations on design, color and craft. After that, we'll checkout some clever tools and share one of Anne's new tool purchases - direct from it's previous celebrity owner. And then we are excited to announce - and meet! - the winner of our Health Care Hero free class pass. As always we'll finish by talking about current projects, sharing ideas & resources and having an open Q&A. MAAA is a FREE weekly online metal arts presentation followed by an open discussion Q&A. In this fun, interactive gathering we offer demos, share tips & tricks, feature work by artists and students from around the world, go on virtual studio tours, discuss historical metal arts traditions, test out tips and tricks and share resources. For photos, links and more read more.

We are thrilled to introduce Meredith, an emerging jewelry artist/metalsmith and E.R. Nurse. We first met her at an early episode of Metal Arts Adventures when she tuned in to ask for feedback on her home studio set up. Since then she's been an active member of our online community so we were thrilled when she responded to our Health Care Hero free class offer. When Meredith is not making cool things at her bench she works on the front line of COVID care at a busy San Diego emergency department. We are so thankful for the work that our many, many economic and medical first responders are doing on behalf of the rest of us to keep our communities safe and moving forward. Thank you Meredith, from the bottom of our hearts, for all you do. Read on to see some of her beautiful jewelry designs.

Grab a Laugenbrezel and settle in to hear the harrowing tale of how materialsmith Kerianne Quick made her way home from the international jewelry show Schmuck amidst the worldwide COVID travel shutdown. After that, Anne will test an Instagram tip for DIY satin buffs and Earl will share the book “Metalwork & Enamelling” by Herbert Maryon, OBE, FSA, FIIC - sometimes referred to as the "bible of metalworking". We'll also share some keum boo work that wowed us! As always we'll finish by talking about current projects, sharing ideas & resources and having an open Q&A.

We have an exciting announcement from Bette Barnet! Tevel at Allcraft has decided to offer a discounted Keum Boo package of tools and supplies. Everything in this package has been hand-selected by Bette for its effectiveness in working with Keum Boo on steel. The package includes:

Ultralite Beehive kiln — this is a small bench top kiln that makes keum boo a breeze, particularly on steel. It’s also great for enameling. (Bette will be demonstrating how to use this kiln as an optional approach for Keum Boo in her Anneville class).
Controller for the kiln—a big plus when you need to regulate the heat for various metals (and avoid cooking your hand!).
Agate burnisher with metal handle — Bette's favorite burnisher for tapping down the foil and burnishing out bubbles.
Tungsten carbide burnisher — essential tool for burnishing and keeping the foil from bonding to the burnisher (which can happen with steel burnishers).
Agate Sword Burnisher — a wood handled agate burnisher with just the right shape for allover smoothing and bonding. 
Round brass brush with wooden handle — great for pressing the foil into all the nooks and crannies.
Silver foil — 4” x 4” sheet. Works brilliantly on steel.
Gold foil — $10 off a full sheet and $5 off a half sheet. 

Tevel is offering this Keum Boo package for $249.95, a 10% savings off the regular price. If you’re interested, just give Tevel at Allcraft a call at (800) 645-7124 and tell Tevel you’re one of Bette's students or heard about it through her. If you have any questions please contact Bette Barnett by email via her website at studiomigoto.com/contact or call Tevel directly.

A Free Class for a Health Care Hero
COVID has taken a lot from us in the past 6 months. We went from a thriving school to moving online and closing our storefront. We lost Anne's aunt Bernice (most likely of undiagnosed COVID) and Ame's aunt Jewel died when COVID swept through her assisted living facility. Sometimes it feels like a monster is invisibly stalking us, we never know who it will brush past and who it will grab. It takes courage just to get groceries. But while we are wearing our masks and staying home, many courageous people are walking directly into harm's way every day to help the rest of us. From essential workers making deliveries and staffing stores to emergency first responders keeping us safe to all of the people behind the scenes we say, with deep gratitude and humility, Thank You. We see you, we are sincerely grateful for your efforts. Of all of these, there is one group for which we feel an especially deep sense of gratitude and respect. These people suit up and face the monster directly every day. They are our Health Care Heroes. No matter what your job is, if your work involves COVID patient care we would like to humbly offer a free pass (including materials kit) to our upcoming Riveted Photo Pendant online class.

Update: We have our first Healthcare Hero!
Meredith L. of Chula Vista, CA is a jewelry maker and ER Nurse. She wrote,
"My sincerest sympathies go to both of you for your losses. I’m so sorry that Covid has affected your families in the horrible way that it has. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate this! You and Anne are so unbelievably kind. It truly warms my heart to hear that you are offering a seat in your class for a healthcare professional. The moment I read this, I immediately went and registered for the class! I am so excited that my schedule came out this morning, and I have each Wednesday morning off! Yay!!! Thank you so much for this opportunity."

It's not too late: if you're a healthcare hero and interested in a free class, go ahead and drop us a line and we'll get in touch about future opportunities. In the meantime, THANK YOU for all you do.

Hop a shinkansen with Anne & Ame to Tsubame-Sanjo, Japan for a visit to the 200 year old Gyokusendo metal arts factory! We'll take a tour, meet the artists and see their amazing work. After that we’ll learn to make ingenious DIY rolling mill patterns with Karla in Santa Fe and Anne will Show & Tool her latest score direct from its celebrity previous owner! As always we'll finish by talking about current projects, sharing ideas & resources and having an open Q&A. For resource links and downloads, click Read more.

Settle in with a hot espresso, uncork a super Tuscan or dip one of those wee spoons into a cool cup of gelato because we're off to Florence, Italy! In this week's Metal Arts Adventure the intrepid Monica Cardone will take us on an immersive tour of this fascinating metal arts destination. After that, Anne will test an Instagram tip to fight fly-offs (help us decide if it's a Hero or Zero) and we'll enjoy some great student work submitted during the past week. As always we'll finish by talking about current projects, sharing ideas & resources and an open Q&A. Read on for resource links.

Thursday, July 9th 6-7pm PDT. Optional Meet & Greet starts at 5:45pm
Come with us on a tour of Delam Ltd, the Monterey home studio of accomplished metalsmith and woodworker Earl Bushey. We're also continuing our Home Studio Setup Series with an in-depth discussion of hammers (including Anne's top 3) along with an inspiring gallery of hammered metal work. We even have exciting new announcements about upcoming classes. MAAA is a FREE weekly online metal arts presentation followed by an open discussion Q&A. In this fun, interactive gathering we offer demos, share tips & tricks, feature work by artists and students from around the world, go on virtual studio tours, discuss historical metal arts traditions, test out tips and tricks and share resources.

Read on for links and resources.

Copper Work of Lake Patzcuaro - Connections Call for Art - Home Studio Set Up: Getting Hammered
Order in some authentic Mexican food and make yourself a margarita...we're traveling to exotic Lake Patzcuaro to explore the famous copper work of the Santa Clara del Cobre region of central Mexico. We're also continuing our Home Studio Series with hammer set ups - including best things to hammer on and clever noise cancelling tips. Along the way we took a look at the incredible winner of Danica Design's Battle of the Rings and shared an intriguing new call for art. Read on for the resource links.

This week's episode kicked off with a home studio tour by Meredith. As an ER nurse, Meredith turns to jewelry making as a way to escape and rejuvenate. She showed us her set up and Anne offered feedback (hint, her supportive husband has gifted her with some amazing tools!). We are still getting a lot of questions about home studio set ups in general so we went back to the basics for a lively discussion on just the top 10 (or 11) items needed. Surprisingly, as we were putting the list together the number one thing we realized that's needed is .... space. Having a space to create, concentrate, and de-stress is more important than ever right now as we're sheltering in place at home. We also took a quick look at 7 new makers in our Black Artists Matter segment. Read on for the full lists for both!

We have some great items left including a pickle pot and two steel tables (perfect for soldering). Come by any time between 10am-7pm. For those of you picking up purchases, feel free to come up to browse our remaining goodies or just text us and we'll bring your bleach-wiped purchases downstairs for curbside pick up (they are all packed up and ready to go). Text Anne at (619) 488-7540 upon arrival. Masks are required and we can accept up to 3 shoppers at a time in the Lab OR ... shop safely from home - Tune in live on Facebook at Noon to see what's left and ask questions. We're doing a Facebook Live shopping session at 12pm on - you'll find a link to it on our FU Covid page. See what's left.

In May of 2018, Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) released This is America, his searing music video exposé of racism and gun violence in America. If you haven't seen it, watch it now and, to understand it's subtle meanings, watch this breakdown. It is a gut-wrenching look at our country's disease of racism. And it is mind boggling to think about where we are two years later.

One of the questions Anne gets frequently is how to go about finishing rings. With hundreds of sales in her Etsy store alone, it's safe to say that Anne had some great professional ring finishing tips to share - including recommendations for supplies. Next up, metalsmith Early Bushey walked us through his home studio, stove-top method for creating a durable STUNNING blue steel patina and shared a great book all about tool making. Continuing with our Setting Up Your Home Studio series, we got pickled! Anne described her pickle approach and a crock pot recommendation. After a bit of Q&A we finished by checking out two Works that Wowed us this week - mokume pendants & earrings by Elizabeth McKenna and some striking mokume rings by Debbie Rodriquez. Read on for photos and resource links.

We live in a racist system and changing that will take time. I've heard it said that it's a marathon not a sprint, but I believe it's neither - it's a relay race. When I march I think about how my mom marched in the 60's and 70's for civil rights, against the Vietnam War and for women's reproductive rights. My activism now is a direct line from hers - and I am often amazed at how hopeful she was. She's gone now, so I can't ask her, but I am pretty sure the key was that she didn't see it as a constant fight. Instead she saw it as working toward a better future. We can't afford to get overwhelmed by set backs and negative news. We need hope to keep moving forward. Here are a few recent stories of progress - some big and some small - to help us all keep our eyes on the prize*.

One racial bias we can easily see in our own lives is the lack of black voices in our online communities. For many of us, this is because we have meekly accepted the "recommendations" spoon fed to us by systemically biased algorithms. But the algorithm is us - for better or for worse - so we have been seeking out great BIPOC makers and we'd like to share a few we've found. Check out their work, interact with their content (like, share, follow) and you'll see more of it. Please add your own favorites in the comments below too!

We have moved our classes and community online and are closing our cramped 260 sq. ft. rental. We don't plan to reopen in the near future so rather than store things, we're having a big tool & equipment sale. We're charging fair prices for gently-used tools (all less than 2 years old) in the hopes that we can partially offset the expenses incurred during the mandatory shut down. We also want to see our well-loved equipment go to good homes. It's a great opportunity to dial in your home studio without paying shipping charges! Please do not stop by. Due to social distancing, we cannot offer casual, drop-in browsing and Barracks 15 is still locked. For a detailed list of what's available - including pricing - and how to shop, see our FU COVID Sale page.