Accomplishments...

This is a pretty big day for me as I've just finished creating my very first made from scratch ring!  Learning to prong-set gemstones has been a long-time goal finally realized : )  I still have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to every wonderful frustrating moment!  I am currently on week 3 of a 5 week jewelry design course at Art Center Manatee with Wendy Thurlow.  The class itself is very laid back and Wendy allows us to suggest what we'd like to learn and I asked for prong setting, of course!  I thought the class would teach me to cut seats in the prongs of pre-made mounting, but I was definitely mistaken!  Last week we learned how to build a ring from the band up, so to speak.  So everything you see in the photos above was created by me (with the exception of the sterling and the apatite gemstone), from the band to the prong mounting, to the texture and I am pretty darn proud of myself I must say!!!  And though it may not be perfect, I think it's very good for my very first attempt : D