A long, long time ago I taught my first manta jewelry class. I wanted to find new, innovative ways for the women to use the manta since that is the resource they have most readily available. The class was a hit, but some of the techniques needed refinement. A few years later came the next iteration of the class. It was a more mature version of the original technique, however, there were still finishing details that were just not quite right.
The original manta earrings, circa 2013
Today I taught, what I hope, will be the final version of these earrings- and I think we have all those small detail down! The new techniques is cleaner, simpler, and faster, meaning the women will be able to produce more and the pricing for the earrings will be more accessible. My other favorite feature of this technique? It lends itself to embroidered earrings, giving the women an additional design element to work with.
The new version of the manta earrings
The women are becoming more self-sufficient in reviewing their jewelry for quality control. There was a lot of back and forth today about what needed to be changed about x,y, and z to finish off the items more professionally. They even argued about what constituted as “bad work”. This demonstrates a deeper knowledge of jewelry making itself and the women’s commitment to bettering their work. After our talk about quality control last week, it is exciting to see them apply quality control to their products without me reminding them. The path to independence and self-sufficiency starts here!