Fini Friday! It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like ....

We'll just call them Winter Holidays!!!
Hello Everyone!
I love the bustle of warmth and caring folks gathering to celebrate with friends and family during this time and so I wish a MERRY! to everyone, regardless of what your celebration is called or how it is celebrated! Thank you for joining me this Holiday Season!

I have Winter Holiday shinies to show you! I've been playing with hand-colouring and hand-painting resin on more bits and bobs and charms and it has been so much fun!!!!
Let me show you!!!

Title: Rockin' Good Time
Ingredients: Hand-coloured resin(Non-toxic) hand-painted on lead-free pewter(USA), Swarovski crystals, antiqued copper wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

See the red? Yup! That's the resin! Aren't those horses marvelous???!!!

Next up!
Title: Celebration in a Twinkling!
Ingredients: Hand-coloured resin(Non-toxic) hand-painted on lead-free pewter(USA), Swarovski crystals, colored copper wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).


And!!! For all children big and small... I offer another Squinkie creation!
Title: Seal of Approval
Ingredients: Squinkie seals, coloured copper wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).


All of these will be available at the The Women's Art Festival this weekend and also next week in my Etsy Shoppe!

And there is one more BlogTalk Radio Interview on Tuesday, Dec. 20th at 3pm CST(USA). This will be chalk-full of Messages From the Faeries and we will be concentrating on Message #2. What is Message #2, you ask? You'll just have to tune in and see!

Ice Resin Blog Hop-Eages, Superheros and Kissy-Fish!

So, here we are, at that last post of the Hop. This has been a lot of fun for me and I hope for you-all as well! I'll be continuing to play with the resin in the future. Really, how could I not?!

In wrapping up the week, I wanted to show you a few more of the old buttons created with the cabochon technique seen earlier in the week and a proof-of-concept I'm playing with!

I was digging through my collection of old buttons and spied these plain brass ones just crying out to be fancied up!! I spotted those red star-shaped sequins and voila! I had a blast embellishing these two buttons as they instantly called to mind images of Wonder Woman's earrings and costume!




The second button is stamped brass with a noble eagle holding an anchor in it's talons. This is pretty awesome in and of itself, so I merely accented the scene with some bold red glitter here and there. The glitter lends a bit of different texture to the tableau as well as a little pop of color.




I am excited to present this last pendant to you! The idea is to create a pendant with the resin that uses an intrinsic part of the piece as the structure by which to suspend it from a cord or chain. In this case, I chose a Vintaj starfish charm. I created the base from polymer clay, added the seed beads, textured it a bit and baked it. The star and kissy-fish were added and the resin poured. The visual concept was a mini-diorama of the ocean. The starfish nestled in the light-colored sand of the shore, washing in with the tide...the kissy-fish playing farther below the waves in our ocean and the dark ocean floor at the bottom of our vignette. I'm pleased with this first prototype and am looking forward to refining and expanding upon this!



That concludes my part in this Blog Hop! Thank you so much for stopping by! Feel free drop by, pull up a chair and read this Blog again in the near future! And now, be off with you and see what other lovely posts finish up this marvelous Hop!


Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

Keecia Frazee Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/" and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/"

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

And the fine folks at Objects and Elements (Design Team) and Ice Resin's creator: Susan Lenart Kazmer!

Jen Cshman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Ice Resin Blog Hop-Thursday!

Hello! We're nearing the end of the hop and I hope you-all have enjoyed this adventure as much as I have!
I'm using this blog space today to show a little more of the unfinished or experimental side of things. There is more of the texture playing I've done along with a few new Popcap Pendants that need the finishing touches and a glimpse into a pendant in progress.

This first pendant is a brass stamped heart with a vintage feel to the styling. I embellished it with a vintage sequin and old watch parts, including a synthetic garnet watch jewel that echoes the vibrant color of that fabulous sequin. As you can tell, the sequin is rather cup-shaped instead of flat like many others. I'm not certain if this is due to the age of it or some other factor. There is no wiggle from the sequin or the resin, so I'm pretty certain that one coat of resin would be good enough glue and protection for this sequin and design. But I like to over-engineer my creations, so I will likely add another layer of resin to ensure the durability.


I'm pleased with how these next two Popcap Pendants came out. They don't yet have a way to "hang out" and I'm pondering the hand-drilling and jumpring method of the previous Popcap Pendants or perhaps attaching a glue-on bail on the back of these two.. something a little different....
Here they are: The first is titled: Mechanics of Nature



And the second is: A Little Bit of Home


Finishing up the post for today is a glimpse into the more 'rough draft' part of this process.
Below is a photo of a pendant I cast from a recycled oriental carved wood landscape. It turned out well enough, but it looks like the pendant became unseated in the mold between the first and second pouring and so second coat of resin pooled at the bottom of the mold, resulting in an additional half-layer of resin at the front of the piece. With this third application, I carefully poured resin on the face of it so as to fill in the remaining space and so that all is flush and as level as possible. It worked reasonably well. The top of the piece is a bit more cloudy than the newly-poured resin and there is a difference in texture when I run my finger from one portion to the other. I'll try another layer of resin over the face to smooth everything out. I'm interested to see how that will visually effect this pendant, too!


So, there is a more detailed look at Ice Resin and how it is applied!
Stop on by my fellow Ice Resin Artists' Blogs and see where they are in their Ice Adventures!

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

Keecia Frazee Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/" and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/"

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

And the fine folks at Objects and Elements (Design Team) and Ice Resin's creator: Susan Lenart Kazmer!

Jen Cshman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Ice Resin Blog Hop-Wednesday!

We've reached mid-week on this hop! I hope you've been enjoying this and all the other innovative and interesting blogs so far!

All the shinies I have to show you today use the Ice Resin as both glue and as a cabachon agent. I played with textures and just wanted to see what the Ice Resin would bring to the mix. So here we go!

This is an old button that had deep recesses in the pattern. I wanted to see if the resin would produce a cabochon effect and I wanted to give it a little more life, so I liberally sprinkled green glitter into the dark hollows and then poured in the resin. I'm not certain if the photo shows it, but the resin beautifully filled in those voids.



This next pendant is made from fishing lures!! I had a few laying around from a manufacturing plant here in town that makes these and ships them all over the world! I know most of the folks that created these, so that is a special goodness to me!
Ok, so I layered the two different size and tones of fishing lures on top of each other and then carefully placed the old watch parts into the hammered divets in the metal. Some of the old watch parts are still magnetized, so this was especially tricky at times!! As a last bit of fun, there was a synthetic garnet watch jewel that I found solo, so I placed that at the bottom of the decorations. It was a bit of a trick placing the resin so it would not disturb the watch bits, but I succeeded!! You can see that the resin flowed around the back and ended up completely encasing the entire pendant, adding another visual layer. I might try to keep this effect, if I can!



And the final shiny I have to show you today is a simple and utterly charms me! I think a bit of the romance from Valentine's Day is still with me!!! I thought of this idea in connection with a bigger creation I'm hoping to create and show you late this week. I used the resin again to both secure the two fish beads on a glass pendant and as a cabbing agent over the entire creation. I hope you love them just as much as I do!
So, here they are....... The Kissy Fish!!



Now, go visit everyone else and see what they've been inventing!

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

Keecia Frazee Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/" and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/"

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

And the fine folks at Objects and Elements (Design Team) and Ice Resin's creator: Susan Lenart Kazmer!

Jen Cshman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Ice Resin Blog Hop-Tuesday!

Hello Again! Thanks for stopping by!
Today I have a few more Popcap Pendants to show you as well as a few Ice Resin cabachons I cast from molds.

These two Popcap Pendants are a perfect contrast of simple and dramatic versus lush and complex.
I used star-shaped sequins on the bare metal inside of the popcap. I like the simple and spare look of the clear resin, and grey background. It pops the shiny red and gold colors of the stars that much more.


I created this second one with the picture of an ocean shoreline in mind. I scattered the sand-colored seed beads along the bottom, with the blue glitter for the ocean at the top, and nestled a chip of mother-of-pearl and a Czech glass shell on either side of a flip-flop sandal.


The two cabachons were made by pouring the clear resin into the molds, inserting and arranging the old watch parts as needed. I wanted to create focals or centerpieces that mimic the shape of jewels used in Victorian or traditional jewelry. I cast these with an eye towards using them in Steampunk creations and I love the unexpected details that the resin gave to the pieces! In particular, I'm drawn to the bubbles and how and where they formed. There is a half-moon bubble that formed along the spring-coil of the old watch gear in the left-hand cabachon as well as a few small bubbles here and there that have become part of the design.



And now I'm off to pour more Ice Resin creations! Stop back by tomorrow to see what grew to life!
Don't forget to keep hopping and click to see what these other fabulous artists are up to!!


Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

Keecia Frazee Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/" and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/"

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

And the fine folks at Objects and Elements (Design Team) and Ice Resin's creator: Susan Lenart Kazmer!

Jen Cshman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Ice Resin Blog Hop-Meet the Sprite!

Hello! I'm glad you're here! I wanted to take a moment on this first day of the Ice Resin Blog Hop to introduce myself and my creations to you-all. I've been beading for over 20 years. It started with disassembling and reassembling store-bought jewelry to suit my wardrobe and taste and grew from there! I learn mostly by doing as I create most often from an idea and bringing into the material world. The materials bring their own influences into play as the creation grows.
I love working all manner of materials and particularly those that can be recycled, repurposed or are beyond the realm of what most would expect to find in jewelry or art.

Here is the first photo of what I wanted to share with you today:


I was already intrigued with Ice Resin when I picked these Doorways up at a bead show last year. The doorways sparked my imagination, reminding me of entrances in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Ring series. Doorways that materialize under full moon-light, doorways into places of mystery and adventure!
Though the materials I used are simple,(Ice Resin and glitter)I wanted the effect to be as three-dimensional as possible. I mixed and poured two separate batches of resin as well as applying two layers of glitter.

The second photo is a prototype of of a Steampunk bangle bracelet.

This is my first attempt with this type of mold and I learned a lot about both the resin and the mold.
Those are old watch parts scattered throughout the mold. I think this will be fun to play with in the future with other effects such as pigments. perhaps sanding the resin to create contrasting matte and clear surfaces and so forth.

And the last few photos I wanted to share are part of my Popcap Pendant series.
This is an ongoing series that merges my interest in recycling, upcycling and using unusual materials with whimsical and quality jewelry art. The popcaps come from beverages that myself and my friends drink, so this is another peek into my studio life!


I cleaned the popcap, filled it with green glitter and two tiny pinecones that I brought home from my journey this summer in Montana and Ice Resin. I was amazed by the tiny details of these diminutive pinecones! They reminded me that there is great beauty in even the smallest parts of nature.


The second Popcap Pendant is filled with gold glitter surrounding a hand-carved bone Moon face. This face has been with me for quite some time, waiting for the perfect setting and I'm pleased with how this turned out! You may notice the piece of glitter in the center of the forehead. This was a happy accident when the resin was first poured, and reminded me of some of the Bali masks and costumes I'd seen pictures of. However, the glitter moved away as the resin followed the curve of the face! So, I hovered over this as the resin settled and periodically moved a piece of glitter back to that spot as well as arranging the glitter surrounding the face. I also applied a second coat of resin after the first had settled to make certain that the face was entirely encased.

All of the Popcap Pendants were then drilled by my hand after the resin cured and the jumprings added.
Both of these Popcap Pendants will be in my Artfire studio shortly.

I hope this was a intriguing and interesting visit and I hope to see you again tomorrow!
Don't forget to keep check out the other fabulous artists on the Hop!!
Their links are below for easy clicking!

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Ro Bhrun http://robruhn.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html


Keecia Frazee Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/" and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/"

Jenny Barnett Rohrs http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/


And the fine folks at Objects and Elements (Design Team) and Ice Resin's creator: Susan Lenart Kazmer!

Jen Cshman http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentines Day! And an update about next week...

I met a lot of new folks at the Ladies Winter Getaway in Minneapolis and have come home with a commission! Thanks to all who stopped by!
There is so much to update you-all with before the start of the new week!that this post is a bit photo-heavy!

On the Road: Supercon:
I attended Supercon (a relaxacon in Hastings, MN) with my beloved last weekend. As is my tradition, I entered jewelry in the charitable Art Auction. The only requirement is that the art be made at the Con. This year, however, I used beads that were gifted with the stipulation that they go to a good home for the Auction. It seems proper to donate gifted materials to charity.. keep the giving going, as it were!
So, here are some of the goodies that I came home with from Supercon:

Earrings: 5 Pairs in all. Titles from top left to bottom right:
Wishes and Bottles, Pink and Fierce, Galactic Seashells, Mining Planets and Infinite Spirals (MANY THANKS to for the title help on Wishes and Bottles and Mining Planets!)

A Pendant of Moonstone and Tiger Eye Wolf or Coyote. Title is: Singing the Moon


The Clasps: Have arrived!!! Here is some of the Shiny Goodness I get to play with!

Next Week:
I'm excited to say that I'm to be part of the Ice Resin Blog Hop (courtesy of Objects and Ornaments.com) starting Monday and continuing through to Friday! I'll be posting photos and tidbits about the new creations I'm using Ice Resin with, as well as links to the other lovely artists who are playing with this medium as well! Stop on by and see what we're up to!

And with that, I'll leave with wishes for a Valentines Day filled with Love and Beauty!