The semester is winding down its last week and like most college students at the end of semester when projects are due, I’ve been busy!  Today I finished not one, but two projects.  One, the Honey Bee Box from the beginning of semester, shined up beautifully!

There are fifteen individual layers in the lid. And the smallest flower is barely over a millimeter across.

The hinge is called an integral or hidden hinge.  It requires a lot of precise filing to get it to fit just right.  (Just the kind of challenge I enjoy!)

The words on the outside talk about honey bees and why they are so important to the environment.  The research for this was absolutely fascinating!  (I also have a slight addiction to honey.  I’ve been known to eat it by the spoonful.  But that’s not weird, right?)

The inside drawing was done with a piece of liver of sulfur, one of the smellier things I’ve ever worked with, but not the most repulsive.  It’s totally worth it for the colors it can get out of metal, though.

And the Honey Bee Box was only the first project of the semester!  The last project I did for the class was the Lotus Box.  (Boxes, boxes, I do love little boxes!)  This one was a lesson in forming, making organic, voluminous forms.  And I had a blast!

That silver flower design was made with the fairly nontraditional technique of etching a design, flowing solder into it, then sanding and filing for a few hours.  I like the worn look it creates.

Getting the bud right was one of the more difficult parts.  But it was important.  I like the image of lotuses growing out of a muddy swamp.  I watched some videos of lotuses blooming for this project and it really is amazing how a giant flower comes out of this little stalk that was previously dwarfed by its leaves.

My challenge to myself with this project was to make a box that when you open it, a lotus blooms out of its center.

And I totally nailed it!

All in all, it has been an excellent semester.  I cannot even count the number of things I learned in this class.  Some of that knowledge is still waiting to be used in future projects!  But now it is time for a little rest, some lower key projects and, of course, holiday break and some Christmas presents to make!