Well over a year ago I bought this book:

It is amazing and has some of the coolest projects inside.  One of the projects talks about soldering. So, shortly after purchasing the book, Chucklebutt (being the supportive partner that he is) went out and bought me a soldering iron and solder from a local hardware store.  It has sat in my desk every since.  I had no idea how to work it, and truth be told was a little scared.  That is, until yesterday when I was reading my email and the girls at Mystic Paper told me Josie was teaching a soldering class.  Yes, the same Josie that wrote "Collage Lost and Found!"  Too cool eh? 

I had a ball learning to solder and my mind has been reeling ever since.  The possibilities are endless and I think I’m going to take another class with her in November. 

I was so nervous about using the soldering iron, but finally got the hang out it.  

Josie was a wonderful teacher and had a great, even temperament.  She was so calm and had a great disposition.

This is Carol and she is absolutely precious.  She is from Minnesota and visits her children in Tempe occasionally.  Last time she was in town, we took Judy Bidwell’s handkerchief class.  She is a riot and reminds me a bit of Francis MacDormand in "Fargo."

I couldn’t resist getting a picture with Josie.  Mind you, she is so cute and petite, I feel like a giant ogre next to her.

She was a peach and even signed my book.  I’m such a groupie!  😀  So here is my pendant that I made.  The pictures are a bit blurry because the sun was setting but hopefully you can get the idea.

Josie cut the glass for us and that’s a whole other bag of worms that I have yet to dip my creative feet in.  We picked various images and papers to make our houses.  Since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I would do a spooky  pendant.  

Once we soldered the piece together, we used this neat varnish to give the piece a cool patina.  I can’t wait to use my own iron and make jewelry. 

Aside from the class, our weekend was pretty uneventful.  We did spend about two hours at Lowe’s yesterday, picking out paint for our bedroom.  I hate the current color (brown) and have been wanting to paint it since we moved in three years ago.  I was all set on one shade of blue and then began to fret.  Chuck was no help at all.  Finally, I picked a pale blue while he gathered all the necessary tools to paint.  By the time we left Lowe’s, it was too late to actually begin the project.  We’ve decided to work on it next weekend.

Later, we had a great date night and played miniature golf and had yummy sushi.  What’s that I hear?  It’s the smack down I laid on Chucklebutt while playing golf.  He was a big talker, but when it came down to it, he just couldn’t deliver.  Even the two young kids playing behind us gave a couple of snickers at his shots.  Bwaaahahahahahaha!

This week is going to be really intense.  I am teaching ever day this week and I have a lot to do at Oasis.  Chuck has a show that opens on Saturday and we need to work on sound for my two shows.  I hope I make it!

Have a great week everyone!