Could have been better...

This morning could have been better. I went to 2 garage sales, 2 community sales and a church sale and hardly found a thing. In fact, the few things I purchased aren't even photo worthy. However, I was feeling inspired today so I began work on three more collage pendants. This set is going to be cat themed. I was digging through my image collection and found these cute vintage-style kitties I kept overlooking. Only two can be finished tomorrow because I ran out of round pendant bases. I ordered more this afternoon so I should be able to finish them by the end of the week. I'm going to work on a dog series next.

Since I don't have any good finds or new creations to show tonight I thought I'd post these brass laundry pin pendants. I was shopping on Etsy about a month ago and saw a couple sellers that had made these. I purchased a small set of 5 brass laundry pins and gave it a try. I wont be selling them since I don't think that would be right so I've greedily kept them for myself.

I have high hopes for tomorrow. The Franklin mines are having a gem and mineral show and Colin has agreed to go. He hasn't agreed to take a mine tour yet but I haven't been on one since high school and I really want to go back in. At the very least I'm hoping to get some nice pieces to wire wrap or bead around. I'll check back in a day or so and post how it went!

Something New

Here are my two latest pendants! I'm so happy they came out as well as they did. I never know if I'm going to get a horrible bubble but these came out winners! The "Bunny" pendant is made from various scrapbook papers and old text. The mermaid is a combination of scrapbook paper and a loteria card.

While all this inspiration was happening, I attempted my first altered tag. This was a challenge for me since I'm use to working on a smaller scale. I'm really pleased with the results. It still needs some ribbon on the top but otherwise it's finished. It's made from scrapbook paper, vintage scraps, vintage pompom fringe, mica flakes, old text, distress ink and Swarovski crystals. I'm going to hang it in my craft space when it's finished.

On a different note, Colin and I tried fusing some glass in our kiln the other night and well, I wont be posting the results. It was bad. Real bad. We learned some valuable lessons and hopefully our next attempt will have better results. Since those pieces didnt come out, I took some of the cabochons I made at Beadfest and attached findings to them. I wore the pink ring to work and the girls really liked it!
I have to get up early tomorrow so that's all the sharing I have for now!

Short and Sweet

I'm going to keep things short and sweet tonight. I think I may have caught one of the stomach viruses going around. Forgive me for the poor quality photos, I just didnt have it in me to try real hard. In a few days I'll post some of collage pendants, tags and fused glass I've been working on. For now, I give you my antiquing and garage sale finds for this weekend.

The blue glass pitcher set I got at a garage sale on my way home from antiquing. It has no nicks or chips and my fiance actually liked it! Actually, he was the one that gave me money this morning and told me to go have fun. Who am I to say no to that? At the first antique store I also found several Wade figurines but I bought the two I liked the most; the weight lifter and the poodle. The glass salt and pepper shakers I plan on using to store German glass glitter and mica flakes in.

I also found a tiny heart charm and a glass roman-design intaglio bracelet that was in pretty good shape. It cost slightly more than I wanted to pay but it caught my eye. I also found some chandelier crystals that I will use in my collage.

My favorite find of the day was the pink depression glass. I'm not really sure what this particular piece is called so I'll go look it up in my collectors book. It was $3 and in great shape. The pink is extra gorgeous when the light hits it.

Well, stay tuned for all the lovelies I made this weekend. The kiln is going as we speak! Hey, this wasnt as short as I thought it was going to be...

Ramblings and Shrink Charm Tutorial

I'm addicted to yard sailing and antique stores. Ok, antique stores more than garage sales but they are equally fun. I bought a book about depression glass last night and now I want to collect more glass dishes. Originally, I started going to antique stores and garage sales to look for cool bits and pieces that might work in my mixed-media creations. Now I go hoping to also find a beautiful dish or a piece that I can work into my display. I want my display to be shabby chic because it fits so perfectly with my collage line. It's going to be a creative challenge to work in Colin's lampworking and our glass fusing once we start to have an inventory. The lampworking and fusing colors are much more brilliant than most of my collage.

Speaking of my collage pieces, this was my first piece where I mixed collage and jewelry. It's a 7 Gypsies box pendant with two tiny collages inside. I used trading card protector on the inside since it helps prevent fading from the sun. Each time I wear this piece, someone asks to take a closer look. They always respond the same..."How did you make something so tiny?!?"

I've also been experimenting with shrink plastic over the last few months. One day, I challenged myself to make a piece using shrink plastic that looked like a designer necklace. I used (and highly recommend) Lucky Squirrel (http://luckysquirrel.com/) brand shrink plastic. These charms were made from black shrink plastic which I embossed with a rubber stamp, Krylon metallic marker and Krylon spray. Then I measured out several pieces of sterling and gunmetal chains and added some tiny key charms. Eventually, the entire piece came together. Every time I show it to someone I make them guess what the charms are made of and they always think it's some kind of metal. I really love this piece.

Detailed steps for making metallic shrink plastic charms:
1. Cut out shrink plastic
2. Heat with embossing gun
3. Use a rubber stamp on the plastic while it is warm
4. Once the plastic has cooled, use metallic rub-ons or Krylon marker. Krylon marker is shinier than the rub-ons
5. Go outside an apply first layer of Krylon glossy or matte
6. Wait 15-20 minutes and apply a second layer. I usually apply three layers
7. Allow charms to dry and then add jump rings

Sunday, September 16th...No clever title

Yesterday was a blast. I took $25 up to an area filled with antique stores to see what I could get. But before I go into that I want to show a few things that will be available in my Etsy store when I'm up and running.


These three pendants made it past my scrutinizing and (unless someone snags them prior) they will be some of the first items available. The Mona Lisa looks a bit funny in the photo because she was covered in mica before being sealed. I will have to work on her photography. The pendant in the center is my favorite. I don't really want to let it go but I cant keep every single thing that I make!

Also, two of these pendants will be for sale in the shop as well. Miss 1906 and Miss 1912. The center was the first one I created. I wore her to Beadfest last year on a great beaded sterling silver chain and wire necklace and it somehow ended up in the washing machine. The necklace got tangled beyond repair and she formed wrinkles! LOL! Lesson learned. Don't throw your jewelry in the wash. Oops.

Finally, we have my finds from antiquing yesterday. A milk glass bowl, some vintage lace, a tussie mussie-style brooch, old wooden ruler, a vintage Japan glass necklace with some fantastic foil beads on it. That necklace was a steal and I cant wait to take it apart!

Alright, it's time for breakfast!

I Told You I Would Post It

Yup, it's Wednesday. Work crawled by today. Training isn't easy since I'm unfamiliar with all the insurance lingo. I know eventually I will catch on but right now it's tough. I felt better when the other new hires expressed the same feelings. Enough about that, let me get on with the good stuff...

I finally took a nice photo of the piece I made at my metalsmithing class from Beadfest. Be nice folks, it was my first time doing something like this. The collage was assembled quickly using a bad glue stick (shame on me for using a glue stick). The collage is sandwiched between copper, acrylic and aluminum. The copper and acrylic I cut with a jeweler's saw. I cheated on the aluminum and used a pair of tin snips. It's currently being held together by a rivet I made from scratch. I would like to point out that I was the only student to make my own rivet (go me!). The brass screw was in there just to hold everything together while I was sawing. I do plan on finishing the piece...sometime.

Here are some of my butterfly collage pendants. 3 out of 4 of these are rejects. You'll have to guess which ones they are. Each has a tiny something wrong with it that most people wouldn't notice but I cant stop staring at it. When things like this happen I either wear the piece myself or my friends and family like to take them. They don't seem to mind the tiny oops. Funny how as the artist you will fixate on that one thing and yet no one else seems to notice it...

Antique Show and Tell: Part 2

My bad. This weekend I chopped off 7 inches of hair, got highlights for the first time and went to 2 flea markets. I guess you could say I was being spontaneous. The first flea market I found on the way home from getting my hair cut. It was being held in the parking lot of a small church. I found a wooden humpty dumpy ($1) that needed love, some weird mini cards I can use for collage, an antique sterling salt cellar spoon, an old key, a brass tag and a hideous belt that had a bunch of coin charms hanging off of it.

On Sunday, there was a flea market down the street from my apartment. Some of the vendors from the day before were there along with cheap imports, a guy selling soy candles, some garage sale junk and one lady selling wire-wrapped jewelry. Originally, my neighbor downstairs wanted to sell her knitted scarves and share a table with me. I'm glad we didn't do this show. People were looking for cheap and they were rude about it to. I wont repeat some of the nasty comments I heard while browsing. Anyway, at this show I purchased a brand new pin-up girl cosmetics bag ($2), a vintage glass marble pendant ($1) and a vintage cobalt blue glass bunny trinket dish-thing ($3).

Back to those nasty comments by people though. It's one thing to look for a bargain, but there's no need to be rude about it. I suppose their mother never taught them that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. And that's all I will say about the matter.

P.S. Isnt Humpty cute?

Antique Show and Tell

Tonight is show and tell. Last post was about all the wonderful things I purchased at the antique co-op in Rochester, so here they are! Also, my fused glass cabochons from one of my Beadfest classes arrived in the mail. Not bad for a first try!

Here we have the hand display I got for a great deal....$12! I originally didn't purchase it and regretted it. Colin's aunt drove me back to the shop right before closing so I could grab it up. I don't know why I passed it up the first time but I'm definitely glad I went back. I think it's going to look really cool on my table display.

Next, we have some antique lace, a stack of cabinet cards and a bag full of cigar bands. The cigar bands are great for collage. I've used them for backgrounds and also as a belt when I was decorating a statue cut-out.

The little blue bottle was too good to pass up. It says "Root Bitter" on it. I have no idea what that is but I'll Google it. The blue slag glass bowl I originally passed on but when I went back for the hand I decided I must have it. Some beads might look nice in there...

If you've read my blog before you know I love glass hand dishes. Well I found some porcelain hand dishes and I bought them all! Arent they adorable?

Here are my fused glass cabochons from Beadfest! This class was a nice introduction to fused glass. Colin and I took it to see if this was something else we wanted to pursue. We had such a great time that we'll be placing a large glass order this weekend.

Well that's all for show and tell. I need to get back to work on my etsy store. I've set some goals and a timeline and I plan on sticking to them!

Party's Over

Yes, that's a link to my etsy store over there. Nope, there's nothing set up yet. I had originally planned to have everything up and running by the end of August. August has since come and gone. It's not that I didn't work on it, it's just that life got in the way....again and again. I was doing pretty well working on pieces until July when I got a full time job. Since then, I find the only time I have the energy to create is on the weekends and those have been booked for the last few weeks. But summer is over and there are no more trips to go on so let the creating begin!

Speaking of trips. I went to Rochester for the long weekend and I had a wonderful time. On Saturday, Colin's aunt took me to a great antique co-op. I bought several porcelain hand-shaped dishes, some antique lace (blue and pink), a stack of cabinet cards, a blue slag glass bowl and this really cool vintage display hand/arm. I have big plans for that display hand, it's going to look great once I finally get a show table set up. I managed to spend less than $40 on everything! You cant get that kind of a deal here in Jersey unless you go far out of the suburbs. With that being said, I'm taking a few hours on Saturday and going to another antique co-op about 25 minutes from me. If I can find more cool glass dishes and bowls it will be worth it. They also have this antique fireman's hat I want to get for Colin since he is a volunteer figherfighter.

Well that's all I have for now. Besides, I need to get back to work on all the things I was supposed to have done by now!