Papeweight Class

Well I haven't done much (who am I kidding, any) basket weaving lately, but I have still been keeping my crafting skill in practice with other projects. One of the classes I recently took with a couple of friends was a class in making glass paperweights at a local shop, Third Degree Glass Factory. This was just an afternoon class, from 2 to 5pm on a Saturday so it was pretty fast and furious. We did learn a lot, but with only having time to make two paperweights you were just getting the hang of it when it was time to quit. I would love to take another class and if they only had 12 students like they initially said then we would have had time to make three paperweights each.

I was surprised at how much of a team effort the project would be. It really took three people to make each paperweight. The person actually "making" the paperweight pretty much stayed seated while an assistant heated up the glass and helped rotate it while the maker worked it with the various tools. A third person's job was to hold a long wooden paddle under your arm and hand so you wouldn't get burnt from the heat coming off the glass. The first one was kind frightening as you didn't really know what to expect and how the glass was going to behave. Of course the three instructors made everything look so easy. But by the second demonstration and the second paperweight we were feeling so much more confident.

The orange paperweight above on the left is my second one and the one I am much happier with. Both are more lopsided than I expected. Some how I completely didn't notice that when they were being finished up, but the one friend I have spoken too that took the class also commented at how lopsided his were too. I guess it is sort of like pot throwing, once you get past a certain point the shape is set and the only way to change it is to basically start over again. If I take another class I would definitely know more of what to watch for and hopefully how to control it. Unfortunately the class was $95.00 so I will have to see if I get any Christmas money.

While this wasn't fiber related in the least it did get me motivated and excited about weaving again. Sometimes you need a little recharge to get the creative juices going again. It is also fun to do things that are completely outside of your comfort zone sometimes.