First Forays

 

One of the blogs I follow is Carmi Cimicata at Resin Crafts blog. I love seeing all the things she can make with products from Enviortex. Mostly, she creates with their resin but they've recently come out with a new product called Jewelry Clay. You mix the two part clay together and you can use it for just about anything, like, oh, say, attaching two (or more) pieces together. Which is what I did here.

I saw a suggestion (article? don't remember, now! with my luck it was probably one of Carmi's posts!) about using the BIG, glamorous, flamboyant buttons from the sewing section to make cocktail rings. My last visit to Hobby Lobby yielded quite the button haul and I decided to take a small step into the Envirotex world (I'm still not brave enough to open the resin... chicken!) I was a little concerned at first because I didn't mix a large enough amount but I had no problems adding to it until I had the right amount. The button has a deep curve so I wanted to be sure the clay held it in place! I filled the ring bezel and had a good sized mound of the clay to press the button into. Per Carmi's suggestion, I then took some silver embossing powder I happened to have on hand and brushed it onto the bits of clay you can see underneath (pink arrows!) to help the clay blend with the ring and button. The clay sets after two hours so the ring is wearable after that, but I left it to cure overnight. Here's what I now have to wear on those occasions I'm feeling a bit more show-off-y:

Isn't that the coolest!  LERRRRRVE IIIIIT!!   So, folks, get a little brave, try something new, and let me know how it turns out. (I plan to try more of this! Must get more ring blanks!)  New skills are great to add to your collection of know-how. And check Carmi's blog for further knowledge.

MERRY KISS-A-MOOSE! (er, I mean, Merry Christmas! ~heee~)

MERRY KISS-A-MOOSE!

(ain't he a cutie!? I'd kiss his li'l nose!)

~IT'S ALL ADDICTIVE~

~UPDATE~
Okay, who broke my winning streak? Huh? Huh!?
Oh, well, I guess this means I shouldn't play the lottery any time soon. Congrats to Amy from Copper Diem!
~END UPDATE~


Yes, folks, it IS all addictive.  Whether it's writing, sewing, knitting, or beading/jewelry making it's as addicting as... well... gambling.

Okay, I'm reaching a bit, (okay, maybe a lot) but I now understand the gambler's urge (to a VERY small degree).  My last post, I showed you the great sets of earrings I won and, now, I'm entering blog contests all over the place!  For one thing, I'd really like a chance to win Barbara Lewis's Grand Prize over at Painting With Fire so I'm entering by making comments on as many of her Book Tour hosting sites as I can (sites like Pretty Things by Lori... she's got an especially interesting article with tips on getting into the beading magazines which actually scares me, but we all need to get out of our comfort zones, eh?) (oh, and, no particular preference on prizes from Painting With Fire, unless you ask, in which case I'd say the torch-fire kit... but, hey, I'm flexible! ~hee~) However, through all that blog-hopping, I'm coming upon other blogs with give aways going on and, yes, I'm entering them, too.  You never know, I might actually be on a roll, here! (okay, one win, but still a roll! right? hello? *crickets*)

Anyhoo... one of those sites promises to enter me in their contest if I mention (and link them) on my blog, but I have to get it done by... oh, look, today! So, I am mentioning Yolanda's Clay Bead Talk blog as of right now.  And, yes, there's a link attached to that name.  See the color change? Click it! Please, click it.  You don't want to be the cause of my winning streak breaking, do you?  And, these are the beads she's giving away; cute, eh?    Now all I need to do is "like" her on FB and add her to my "follow" blog list for two more chances.

Cross your fingers.  Go, winning streak, go!

New Attempts

I've started playing with a new medium, Sculpy Clay.  I've never used clay before but it seems I may have a bit of talent in this direction. Below are pics of some of my 1st attempts, still in the rough.  They need to be sanded a bit, then I'm planning to paint them and lightly coat them in resin to keep them sealed and give them a little more protection.




Idea from Kari on the Spina Bifida web-site... "Believe"
The idea being, Pigs CAN Fly, so Kids with disabilities can do ANYthing!

 

2nd attempt, a little smaller and the "flying pig" was
made by hand instead of carved like the 1st one was.

  

Dragonfly and findings baked into the clay and set
into a necklace bezel. Sadly, a couple of the "reeds"
broke off, but I think I can fix them.

1st heart attempt.  The larger bit is a
garnet chip. The next attempt will have
yellow beads baked in for Spina Bifida!

So, as I said, these are my first attempts.  I'm going to paint them (and fix the reeds on the dragonfly pendant) and then seal them with a thin layer of resin.  Once they're done, I'll repost the end product.  Once I have several bits of product, I'll begin offering them for sale.