Ornamentea: Part 2 - My Class!

 Bohemian Knotted Earrings

On Saturday, July 28th, I taught my Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop at Ornamentea in Raleigh, NC. It went incredibly well. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. I'm kind of giddy about it, really. Everyone that took the class felt very satisfied and happy with their earrings and that is the most important part.  I did have some help to make it go so smoothly, though. First, Ornamentea is a fabulous establishment to hold a class. They have fantastic classroom space and worktables. They did a great job filling up my workshop in a short period of time, too. I was thrilled to learn 9 folks had signed up! Ornamentea had all the tools I needed for my students. That was ideal for me because I was traveling and it would have been difficult bring all that stuff with me. Plus, it's nice for those taking the class not to have to worry about bringing tools with them.  Also, I had my mother-in-law, Nancy Siegel with me. She was my class assistant during the workshop. She came in quite handy! She helped me set out all the class supplies, hand-outs and tools, took these pictures during class, fetched Cynthia when I needed her for something, alerted me when a student needed assistance with something and helped me clean up after class lickety-split.

I had a great group of 9 gals who came to class! Everyone was so friendly and nice. In the picture above, we are doing some introductions at the beginning of class. I stood at the head of the table and introduced myself. Then, we went around the table and I asked each person to tell me and the rest of the class a little bit about themselves and why they wanted to be here.

I was well prepared for class. Each student received a Bohemian Knotted Earrings Kit. The kits included all the materials to make each of the 3 styles of earrings in the workshop. (See top picture in this post) Sun Earrings, Fringe Earrings and Chandelier Earrings. Each student also received a photo step-by-step instruction book hand-out to take home. For me, a thorough hand-out is a vital part of teaching a successful class. I find it makes teaching a large group of people so much easier. It may be more work up front, but on class day, it makes my job a breeze!

The other strategy that I employed for this class, was each student was only required to finish one earring before moving onto the next earring style. This worked well for a few reasons. It ensured that we would have ample time to spend with the techniques for each of the earring styles without being pressed for time at the end for the last pair of earrings. Also, everyone works at a different pace in class. All in the group could finish their one earring without feeling too rushed, yet the pace of the class was not too slow for the faster workers either. We did end up having extra time, so most were able to go back and make the second earring to finish off their pairs. Even if they didn't, I was completely confident that each person would be able to finish the earrings at home, if need be, with the hand-out I provided.

An extra special treat for me was having fellow jewelry friend and blogger, Marcie Abney Carroll of La Bella Joya in my class! Marcie and I have been online friends for years. I think we discovered each other back in 2009. We have been following one another ever since then. I'm glad I was able to come around her neck of the woods so we could finally meet in person. It was a pleasure to have her in class and I'm honored she signed up for my workshop. Marcie happens to be an extremely talented jewelry artist and beader. She creates stunning beadwork and metalwork as well, so for her to want to come to my class says a lot. A lot indeed and I'm not taking the significance of that lightly.

I loved meeting Marcie and all the ladies that took my class and everyone who came to the book signing. That is one of the things I enjoy most about jewelry-making: Meeting creative like-minded people, hanging out with them and having fun! I'm just thrilled with my class and my whole experience at Ornamentea in general. I would love to come back and do it all over again.

And just a reminder, I'll be teaching this same class again at Bead Fest in Philadelphia in just a few weeks. There's still time to registrar and a few spaces left! So, bring a friend and sign up!