“I hand built fifty of those things… the knowledge of actually doing it, of having the machines under your control is a huge multiplier…If I hadn’t done it myself, that knowledge would have been intermediated. We’d have had a clunky, committee-designed product. Later, more expensive, and it wouldn’t have been so cool.” (Makers, p200)

1.    Chose something that you have never tried to make before.

I had never worked with clay before, and I though I needed a useful jewelry box of some sort.

So I decided to make a seashell inspired jewelry case out of clay. I had saved really cool seashells over the summer, and

I though I’d use them to decorate the case. but I never figured out how to attach them, and I didn’t really have time to buy glue.

Which is a little sad, but its the truth.

2.    Read through the instructions on how to make this thing.

I didn’t have instructions. I’m a rebel

3.    Reflect on what it will be like to go through the process of making this thing. Write about:

before I made the jewelry case, I was really exited and enthusiastic, I thought I’d finish it

that day, and that it would look like a masterpiece.

a.       What will you look forward to when making?

I looked forward to the end product.

b.      What will be “easy” about making?

Nothing!

c.       What will be challenging?

Everything!

So, I never finished the chest because it just needed more time than I had. I shaped the cover into a star fish, and made a secret compartment on top,

which isn’t very secret because I did not make the covering for it. the structure of the chest was supported by metal mesh i found at the art supply store. It was very

useful at the beginning when the clay was wet, and when it dried, it made the structure of the chest to be very sturdy. The brand of clay that i used was very uncomfortable

and difficult to work with, because it was air drying. Next time i might concider softer clay, It will help me avoid hand cramping! I wanted the exterior walls of the chest to e textured,

but i couldn’t do that with the clay because  it dried so quickly. so decided i would use egg shells to create texture, and then paint over it, with cool ocean colors. however the egg shell

idea, was so tedious that I decided to give up on the project. lucky, it is still very useful for storing some random things like expired metro cards and pennies.