Sydney U's Blog

This week I was very successful. I started off class pulling out my trifold and starting to map out what I wanted my trifold to look like, I knew I wanted to display my jewelry but I didn’t know how I should. So I started to work on the title, after I found a font I liked I drew out the letters. I knew I wanted to have my title; jewelry making on the middle section and on the left wing I wanted to show supplies but I was struggling figuring out what the right wing would be, I finally decided it would be pictures of my inspiration versus what I ended up making. Over the weekend I finished coloring my lettering and it was only after I had added marker my mom pointed out I forgot an ‘E’ in jewelry so I had to squeeze it in and it ended up looking really good. I worked on a couple more pieces of jewelry and put push pins in the trifold to display the jewelry. In the end I was very happy with how it came out.

Seventh grade has given me many fun memories, but here are three. One of my favorite memories from my core class is when we worked on our trifold’s for our Night at the Museum projects, this is a great memory because I remember having so much fun creating and sharing with my friends. Another memory from seventh grade was my leadership class, I love being able to get creative and take initiative for fun events, it’s always so fun and I can’t wait to continue working next year. The last memory I have is of lunch, I have the best time sitting with friends and having the silliest conversations. It’s great because I always end up hysterically laughing.

While working on my twenty percent project this week I had a lot of success. I had gotten charms and jewelry chain from Pacific Sunwear. I started to assemble jewelry and it turned out great! I made two bracelets and a necklace. I made the necklace with many charms and it ended up being exactly what I had envisioned, the bracelets also had charms that were from the kit and from my previous pack. I am getting good at manipulating the chain and clasps. In addition to this I figured out what the main struggle had been for making jewelry I wanted; the chain. Luckily I ordered new chain and shells on Amazon and will finish making the jewelry. For the purpose of my presentation I will put on display all the jewelry I made, this week and next I will continue with my jewelry and start on my trifold.

Week 4 of my 20% has been a great reset to get my goal back on track. In the past weeks I have been struggling to make more complicated pieces of jewelry. To solve this problem I looked up designs I wanted to create and looked up the supplies I needed to do so. After, I found everything I purchased it on Amazon. In addition to this I got charms to make a necklace which I have been trying to do for a while. Throughout this week I will work on making more complex jewelry and by Friday I will start assembling my trifold as well as work on a bit more jewelry. I am excited to make more beachy designs. While I found materials on Amazon I also made a necklace and attached a starfish charm.

This month I read a book called “One of us is Lying” by Karen M. McManus. This book follows four characters through their journey navigating getting framed for murder in an after school detention. Simon was killed by peanut oil in his cup. He made a gossip app where he would expose people and it turned out to always be true. Bronwyn is an overachiever who may have not been very honest during her chemistry classes. Addy is the perfect princess but not as good as a girlfriend when she cheats with her boyfriend’s close friend. Cooper is an all star baseball player who colleges are fighting over, who is using steroids except this rumor isn’t true the police soon discover the real one. Cooper has been seeing a guy. The criminal Nate has been supplying Bayview with drugs but this rumor doesn’t concern him because he’s already on probation.These are the rumors Simon was going to post but someone in detention got to him before he could.

I really enjoyed this book because it was a mystery you got to try to figure out for yourself. I got very wrapped into this book and couldn’t wait to keep reading, there were so many clues that kept unraveling and it was very satisfying when all of the pieces came together.

My favorite character in the book is Bronwyn because she is loving. When her sister might pass away from cancer she prays, “I bowed my head and prayed: Please don’t take her. I’ll do everything right if you let her stay. I’ll be perfect. I promise.” This quote proves this because she wants to do everything she can for her sister.

My favorite quote in the book is “Ah, but Bronwyn.’ Simon winks and chugs his water in one long gulp. “There is such a thing in life.’” This is my favorite quote because it was so interesting and suspenseful. After finishing the book everything little clue in the beginning made so much more sense. 

Somebody that has been influential in my life is my mom. I am so thankful for her and I love when we spend time together. She is very creative and we always have so much fun. I love how determined she is to get the littlest things done, she has great ideas and plans the most fun things for me and my friends to do. Just the other day we were at a mall in Ontario and we were having so much fun just laughing and talking about whatever. We got to pick out clothes and eat, it was super fun. One of my favorite things to do with my mom is plan day trips and vacations, it’s fun just to brainstorm and spend time together. She has very good advice and I can tell her anything which is really special.

This week working on my twenty percent project was full of surprises. I started off continuing making silver jewelry and once I managed to finally finish a bracelet I moved on to another gold one, as well as this I experimented with a bendy metal piece and I realized it wasn’t going to work out fitting charms on. I decided I would move on to a gold bracelet and as I was cutting the chain I sliced my finger. This definitely made me more cautious and I came to the conclusion that I will move on to necklaces with shells so I can make jewelry more easily (I have also been wanting to use shells for awhile) .As well as this have been aspiring to make a charm bracelet, I’ll have to watch a couple videos but I think I’ll be able to do it. Some changes I will make is watching more tutorials so I can make more unique jewelry.

While working on my 20% project this week I was able to experiment with adding charms. Some struggles I had this week was managing to fit a charm onto the bracelet chain. In addition to this I realized the charm wouldn’t be able to fit onto the chain but I could fit it around it, this would just make the charm slide which isn’t exactly what I wanted so I looked at the materials I have and found a bendy clasp that would work for fitting the charms on, next week I will work on using those. As well as this I started to work on silver bracelets and next week I will work on a necklace and start experimenting with new materials. Next week I will also try to make a charm bracelet and try to make more beach themed jewelry, I might even try to add shells to a necklace and pearl beads.

My favorite room in my home is the living room. One reason I love my living room is the T.V., I love watching shows and movies on the big screen. Another reason I love the living room is the couch. The grayish-mauve color and the soft fabric makes the perfect layout ten times more enjoyable, the couch has a long seat and a very long row on the ends, this makes it comfortable to lay on. I also have two big windows in the living room, this makes it very bright and nice. The last reason I love my living room is the tray, I love how I can get cozy and pull up our tray and eat whatever snacks I like while watching T.V.  My favorite show to watch while on the couch is probably Gilmore Girls, I especially love to watch it when I get takeout. 

Hello my name is Sydney, for my 20% project I’m doing jewelry making. I have just started and it’s really fun! First I started with measuring a wrist for a bracelet, then I tried cutting a chain. This was a struggle because the chain was very hard to cut, I asked for help and my friend successfully cut the chain. Another struggle I had this week was trying to assemble a bracelet, the clasp was very small and I couldn’t seem to get it on the rest of the chain. I then pulled out a magnifier that had clips that would hold the bracelet for you while you attach a charm or clasp. Once I started using the magnifier it was extremely easy and I got the hang of it fast. This week I was able to make a gold bracelet. Next week I will be working on attaching charms and making a necklace. I might even try to attach a seashell.