Trader Lou asked:


Friday is here and we are fast approaching the weekend!  To top it off, it is a holiday weekend!  I wonder if you have plans to go somewhere or you are just going to enjoy the time off at home.  We are going to spend it with friends and I am very much looking forward to that.  Friday also means we are on the last day of our series on Jewelry making.  I hope you have taken away something useful and that it has given you another opportunity to create!

 

Today we are going to wrap up this series and talk about two kinds of jewelry making using metal.  The first is metal work.  This is one of the hardest to do from home as it deals with large equipment as well as other tools, but it can also bring forth the most money as it is more valuable than the other types of jewelry.  In just the tools, you will need to make an initial investment of 150 to 200 dollars.  Your instructor will generally give you a list of basic tools when you take a class on it and most schools have the larger equipment so that does not have to be purchased until you decide if this is an investment you want to make.

 

I am just going to list the basic tools as it would take me two more pages just to describe all of them and what they are used for.  One book that comes highly recommended is The Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight.  This is one that you will continue to use and refer to throughout the years.  I would start off by having a basic tool or tackle box to keep all of your stuff together.  Here is what would need to go in it:  a jewelers saw frame, a bench pin, saw blades, bees wax for rubbing on the blades, set of pliers, flux, solder, brush, a large file and a set of needle files, a vise, a pin point torch tip with a propane tank kit, a raw hide hammer, a ring mandrel, an optivisor which lets you examine your work up close, and a tool that is called a third hand.  That is quite a list!

 

The other type of metal work would be called jewelry casting.  This is where you make charms, pendants or rings by using a wax mold.  The pattern (the wax mold) is weighed so that you know how much metal to use, and then it is attached to a base and then they are put in a flask.  A mixture that is called investment is poured over it after all the air bubbles have been removed from it and it has to dry for at least 2 hours.  There are a few more steps before you piece is finished but that is the basic premise.

 

I hope you have received enough information to spark your interest and get you started.  The internet has a wealth of knowledge and www.traderlou.com  offers some of the basic supplies in beadwork to get you started on your new hobby or possible career!  Have a great Labor Day weekend.

Kayla R asked:


In the book Les Misèrables by Victor Hugo, the main character, Jean Valjean, changes his identity many times to protect him self. He has three main identities: Jean Valjean, Father and Monsieur Madeleine, and Monsieur Fauchelevent. Each time his identity changes, he tries to live a more honest life.
Jean Valjean was a man who stolen a loaf of bread for his sisters family, and as a result would have to live the rest of his life labeled a convict. After being treated poorly and not being able to find a place to stay the night, Valjean has to spend the night on a bench. A woman tells him to try to Bishops house. The Bishop accepts Valjean into his house. He gives him a warm mean and a nice bed, but even the Bishop’s generosity did not stop Valjean from turning to his convict ways and stealing the Bishop’s silver. Stealing the silver was wrong, but it leads him to be a better person later on. This is when the big changes in the convict’s life begin because the Bishop challenges Valjean to make an honest man of him self.
After leaving the Bishop, Valjean enters the town of M-sur M- and saves the chief of gendarme’s children form a burning house. The people of the town gave Valjean the name Father Madeleine. Valjean never tells them that he is a convict; instead he took the opportunity to start living the kind of life he wished to. He was good-natured and treated everyone pleasantly and with respect. He became rich when he came up with the idea to substitute gum-lac for resin and to bend the metal ends of clasps together. Father Madeleine was a generous man. He donated over a million francs to the city and the poor. HE also let anyone work for him as long as they were honest. He remained a mystery to the town. Madeleine was calm and affectionate. Everyone had great respect for him and began to call him Monsieur Madeleine. After refusing to be mayor multiple times, he finally accepted the job. He always offered a helping hand and did many good deeds. He settled differences, prevented law suits, and reconciled enemies. Monsuier Madeleine saved Father Fauchelevent when his cart fell on top of him. His cart was broken, his horse was dead, and he suffered a broken knee-pan so, Madeleine bought his horse and cart and got him a place at a covenant as a gardener. At the scene of the accident, Javert had accused Madeleine of being Jean Valjean, but he apologized when he found out that authorities had captured the “real” convict. When Javert informs Monsieur Madeleine of this, he knows that he must do something because he does not want anyone to be punished for his crimes. He decides he has to go to the trial, but before he leaves one of his workers, named Fantine, gets very sick and he takes her in and cares for her. When he gets to the trial, he confesses to being the convict and leaves the courtroom. When he gets back to Fantine, she is better because she thought that he went to get her daughter, Cosette. When Javert comes in to arrest Valjean, Fantine suddenly dies. Javert take Madeleine to prison, but he escapes. While on his way to find Cosette he is captured again.
He ends up working on a large ship. He rescues someone, falls into the ocean, and is pronounced dead because his body cannot be found. He had really lived and escaped. He gets Cosette and they live in pace until Valjean’s strange hobby of dressing like a beggar and giving people money allows Javert to find him. Valjean grabs Cosette and they escape over a wall into a covenant garden. It was the same covenant Father Fauchelevent was at. Father Fauchelevent tells the head prioress that Valjean is his brother and convinces her to let Valjean and Cosette live with them. Valjean becomes Monsieur Fauchelevent. Cosette and Valjean become very close. He loved her. When Father Fauchelevent dies they leave the covenant. Cosette falls in love with a young man named Marius and Valjean is very jealous. He felt like she was being taken form him. When the French Revolution began, Marius went to fight for his beliefs. Fauchelevent was in the Nation Guard, so Valjean had to go perform his duties, but ended up giving his uniform to someone so they could escape. Valjean is supposed to kill Javert who had been captured, but instead he sets him free and tell him the truth about him self. Valjean saves Marius who is badly injured. When Marius and Cosette get married Valjean feels like he needs to tell Marius who he really is. He says, “To live, once I stole a loaf of bread; today, to live, I will not steal a name.” Marius is furious and tells Valjean that he can only see Cosette in the evenings. Eventually Valjean pulls away from her and his heart breaks. He is so sad that he does not eat or leave his bed. His body ages thirty years instantaneously. Marius finds out that Valjean was the one who had saved him at the barricade and quickly takes Cosette to go see him. When they arrive, he apologizes for everything and tells the couple that he loves them dearly. Sadly he dies in their arms.
Jean Valjean went from being a convict, to the mayor of a town, to a loving father. He spent much time trying to be honest while living a life of lies. With each identity Jean Valjean became more honest until he could not live with him self unless he told the truth.
its an essay on his different identities..and how he acts and who he is as each peroson..im a sophomore in high school..so this doesnt need to be too complex..