New Pattern: Hot Beverage

The winner of my give a way (and the answer to what I was making; yes it is an actual project!) will be announced on Friday. For today, please whip yourself up a nice hot beverage to enjoy while you are waiting!

Thanks!

Monday Givaway

Today I have things in progress that are not yet ready to show, so I decided to do a give a way. Please comment on this post with your guess as to what I have in progress in the picture below. You have between now and midnight central time Tuesday 8/7 to post an answer.



The first correct commentor will win these peyote beaded bead earrings with sterling silver leverback ear wires. Should there be no correct guesses I will do a random drawing from the comments instead, so be sure to leave a comment even if you are only guessing!

New Pattern: Olympic Rings

You didn't really expect me to resist something this obvious did you? While I am not following the actual Olympic events, I have been reading the stories of several of the athletes. I find myself fascinated by stories of pregnant sharp shooters, teenagers who live thousands of miles from home to follow their dreams, and men who compete with no country.

For you today, I have two ring offerings. The first features the classic Olympic Rings, the second shows of the Olympic Torch. Feel free to change out the background colors and show off your individual Olympic Spirit!

What I Made Monday

This week I got to participate in an Art Show at work. However, since it was at work and during work and I had to work... I couldn't be with my display during the show. This means I didn't get to see people's reactions or talk to them about my jewelry. Judging by the number of business cards that were gone though, I think at least some people liked it. And I have had a couple of people walk up to me in the walkways saying they liked my jewelry, so that is nice. Did I mention I forgot to take a single picture of my display? Yeah, I suck.

So, you might remember a while back when I was creating little scenes in watches. I had done one that had a scene of the Earth, but I wasn't happy due to an air bubble. So, I worked to recreate it. This one has no air bubble and the black background is much sparklier. I do miss the original band though...





I am pretty happy with how these resin flower pendants are turning out. The mold was made from a flower stamp.



Finally, be sure to check out all the great blogs in Reveal #1 of the 6th BSBP. Some wonderful creations this time through! I will be in Reveal #3 on Aug. 25th. This time I am trading internationally and am very nervous as I have not received my soup yet.

Excessive Heat Warning

Ok, after more than a week of this, we are now officially into excessive heat REALITY! Cool front is coming for Thursday, it will only get up to 98. Woo. Oh, and in case you can't tell... that is supposed to be a pepper. A jalapeño pepper. Hot.

Quote: Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper sprinkle cool patience.

---- William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act III, sc. 4

The Triumphant Return!

So, while I haven't been able to blog lately, I have been busy making lots of fun things - much of it with resin. It is some of the resin items I will be showcasing today.

First, we have my favorite piece I have done in resin so far. This pendant was originally created using polymer clay. I rolled the clay out, stamped it, and then cut it to shape. Once the clay was baked and sanded, I used 2 part mold putty to make a mold of it. I actually made two molds - the first one wrapped around the edge of the piece and made the resin reproduction come out needing a LOT of finishing. So, I did it again making sure that the mold putty stopped level with the back of the piece and no wrapping. This helped my resin pieces come out much better!

Once I had a mold, I did two pours of resin to get the multi colored look. I have made several of these in different shades (you can see them on my etsy shop) but the combination I like best so far is this white and black version. I liked it so much I didn't even do a final coat of resin to make it glossy, as the matte look was awesome!



Next I did a similar process to make this butterfly pendant. Not completely happy with my color combos yet, but I will keep working on it.



Now, I have found that when you mix resin to make a pendant or two, you almost always end up with several drops left over. I could just throw these away. Instead, I am making small items with them, like these leaf beads and small earrings.





Ok, I am gonna cut this post here for now, but I have lots more to share, so be sure to come back later in the week!

I'm not dead yet...

Sorry for the long silence. I am having some access issues and will be rescheduling my blogging times. I should have an actual post with content and stuff out this weekend. Thanks for sticking with me.