John Harrill

Tom Hall is a long time and valued member of our club. He does excellent work in many of the crafts that we offer. Last year he had a goal of making a ring a day. Some were copper rings outside and sterling on the inside. He calls these rings with a silver lining. Woven jump-ring designs with base metal originated as body armor for knights and advanced to jewelry methods of today.

Heres something about us: Our club is one of the oldest and friendliest clubs in Sun Lakes. We welcome new members who are complete novices to experienced artists. Our club member-volunteers teach people who have never been handy how to make jewelry and art objects they are proud to wear and show. Qualified members can use all of our workshops. One is located in each of the three phases. Our club provides (novice through expert) craft classes. In addition, for those with basic experience to senior crafts-persons, we offer year-round, open shop hours to pursue personal projects in a safe, friendly environment. Our open shop monitors are available to answer questions and instruct the proper use of shop equipment. You will find our shops as well or better equipped, than any in the area; all are air-conditioned in summer. All of the crafts that we offer are listed on our website at www.SunLakesRockandGemClub.org. We also provide informative pamphlets in each of our shops that are free to interested people. These pamphlets list the crafts that we offer and additional information about our Club. Some of the more popular crafts we offer are lapidary; silversmithing; Lost Wax; wire wrap; beading; faceting; as well as precious metal clay (PMC) where clay-like materials are formed, kiln-fired, and become metal art or jewelry. PMC work is done in silver and base metals such as copper and bronze. We have thought about delving into the vinyl scene of craft making. If we do decide to do that, there are online help guides such as the vinylcuttingmachineguide.com that we can look at. If this gets your creative juices flowing then check them out for yourself and see what crafts you could be making!

For socials, our club has an annual Appreciation Luncheon for our volunteers; a Christmas/Chanukkah party in December; and an annual club picnic each spring. Our members and guests always have good times at these events.

To learn more about our club please come to our meetings. Our club is open to all Sun Lakes residents (owners or renters). We welcome and encourage guests at our meetings. We meet at 10:30 a.m. for our general meetings on the third Monday of every month (October through April). We gather before each meeting at 10:00 a.m. for coffee, cookies and socializing. We have sign-up sheets and examples of what will be made for up-coming classes. We also have a silent auction with good deals on donated supplies and equipment.

Our next meeting will be Monday, February 16 at the Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room. We hope to see you there.