Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm going to take the next week or so off from posting. Things are so crazy getting ready for Christmas that I need a little breather. When I come back in the new year I'll have plenty of photos to share of all the things I'm working on. I'm currently in the process of making a brooch/pendant in my metalsmithing classes. I'm also going to work on some Valentine gremlins in January and I may put one or two up for another giveaway. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all!

And the winner is...

Claire Jones! Congratulations Claire you have won a gremlin ornament and a gremlin brooch! I had a great time making these cuties and I'm so happy to send some out to a new home! Thank you to everyone who visited my blog. I hope you'll come back soon as I'll be posting more crafty goodness! Happy Holidays!

Diana

The Great Gremlin Giveaway!

Update: I am extending the entry for the gremlin giveway until midnight (EST) Friday! Apprently, I have an art show and a fireman's dinner to attend that evening so everyone gets some extra time to enter! Good luck!

It's that time of year! Time for a blog giveaway! I have had such a great response to my gremlins I'm going to give two away! Post a comment between now and Friday and I will pick a winner on Friday evening. The winner will receive a gremlin ornament and gremlin brooch (not the one's pictured). My only rule is that you live in the US or Canada. I dont think these guys will make it anywhere else in time for the holidays. Good luck!
In addition to making a gazillion gremlins I took another metalsmithing class. This time I spent 6 hours enamelling. Well actually, I spent the first hour discussing my ideas and watching Sue make an example. After watching her I decided to just experiment and I'm glad I did. They came out so well!

Both copper ovals were sawed by hand then prepped for the enamel. It took me forever to decide what colors to use because she has an entire box filled with them! After several hours with the torch, I had two finished pieces. I also have a new appreciation for enamelling.

I hope everyone is having a great time Christmas shopping. I'm almost finished with mine but if you are still looking, here are some more Etsy sellers I recommend:
Woodmouse

http://www.woodmouse.etsy.com/

Adorable wooden toys and ornaments. I bought this cute pink squirrel and a custom ordered pink mouse.

Tulips to Kiss

http://www.tulipstokiss.etsy.com/

Clever sterling silver jewelry.

Puzzimals

http://www.puzzimals.etsy.com/

Wooden puzzils and ornaments.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Shop til you drop!

I have officially made the decision not to open my Etsy shop at this time. I don't want to rush into something I wasn't fully prepared for. I would rather wait until I have the time to run it properly. Sorry to anyone who was anxiously awaiting its opening. Now on to the fun stuff...

The gremlins started as a joke and have now officially taken over Christmas! I spent 2+ weeks making the first group of gremlin ornaments, yes the FIRST group. I now have to begin work on the second group. I believe I need at least 6 more. I also embellished a stocking with a gremlin applique. I had ordered a stocking for myself online and was disappointed when it arrived so I took matters into my own hands. I'll have photos of the stocking this week.

Since I wont have my Etsy shop open for Christmas I thought it would nice if I share some of my favorite shops with you. These are just some of the places I've had a great shopping experience with:

Hidden Haven

http://www.hiddenhaven.etsy.com/

I love her unscented lotion. It's perfect for sensitive skin.

Jennifer Morris Beads

http://www.jennifermorrisbeads.etsy.com/

Amazingly detailed polymer clay jewelry.

The Funky Bag Lady

http://www.thefunkybaglady.etsy.com/

Wonderful bags and purses. My mom loved mine so much she made me to buy her one!

Humble Beads

http://www.humblebeads.etsy.com/

Polymer clay bead sets and finished jewelry. You have to check out her snowmen pendants!

Holly Jolly Holiday's

http://www.hollyjollyholidays.etsy.com/

A stocking I wasnt dissapointed with. Very well made and shipped super quick! Colin loves it!

Maggie J's

http://www.maggiejs.etsy.com/

Excellent quality metalsmithing. I gave my mom and Colin's mom necklaces from here for Mother's Day. They love them.

Join me next time for my latest adventures in metalsmithing. I had a 6 hour class today and I signed up for another on Saturday! Happy crafting and shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For those of you going out into the craziness tomorrow, good luck and don't get trampled! I'll be doing more of my online Etsy shopping tomorrow and perhaps a trip to Michael's for more craft supplies (you can never have too many).

A quick note about my Etsy shop, it will not be open tomorrow. I made a dumb dumb and didn't realize how a Paypal seller's account worked. I'll be making a trip to the bank on Saturday to open another account specifically for Etsy.

I'm off to grandpa's now. Stay tuned this weekend for photos of my Christmas gremlin ornaments and more! Have fun everyone!

The Holiday's are Coming! Ahhhh!

The holiday's are coming and I'm really trying to have the Etsy store open for Black Friday. I spent several hours photographing pendants yesterday and I think I have at least 7 pendants that are ready. I have so many more to photograph. I'm hoping when I get out of work early on Wednesday that I'll have some good lighting. If i don't make my deadline that's OK. I don't want to open and do everything wrong.

I've also been busy making Christmas versions of my gremlins. They are red and green with bells hanging from them. I have three done and at least six more to go! I'm also planning a special gremlin for my best friend and a Hanukkah (blue and white) gremlin for another. Colin's family is getting the first set of them on Thanksgiving since my parents are out in the southwest this year. Almost forgot, I'll be trading a large gremlin with a member on craftster.org for a plush she's making for me! I love trades!

I know this post is short but I have so much to do so I better get back to work. You probably have a lot to do so get back to it! Hehe!

A Busy Month

November has turned out to be a busy month. At work we're trying to get all the audits done in a short amount of time due to the holiday. I've been coming home exhausted but that hasn't stopped me from crafting. I think I've made more things this month than in the last few!

As you can see above, I finished my dog pendants. For some strange reason they all came out in orange tones. I did NOT plan it this way. Maybe the fall colors finally got to me? I'm considering turning one into a beaded necklace. I have lots sterling silver wire and some nice orange agate beads that would compliment the pendants nicely.

I've also been making several stuffies and have posted photos of them on craftster.org in the toy section . There is another bunny and several gremlins. I enjoyed the gremlins so much that I'm going to make miniature ones in green and red for Christmas ornaments. I'll post those here when I'm finished with them.

Hmmm what else have I been making? Well, there's the batch of lip balm I made which turned out smooth but a bit greasy and kind of an ugly color. I have a revised recipe I'm going to make tomorrow.

There's also all the copper wire I've been destroying...errrr...playing with. I love the look of kilt pins but the ones at the store are all silver-plated (yuck). So I practiced on copper and after a few mistakes (can you guess which is the mistake, lol) I came out with a decent kilt-pin! I still need to finish hammering and filing the point but otherwise it's done. I think I like them better in copper than in silver.

Time to get back to creating!

(Mis)Adventures In Glass Fusing and More!

(Disclaimer: This evening's post is filled with sarcasm. Read at your own risk.)

Before I show off my "fantastic" glass cabochons I thought we'd start off with my project from last night. I made "Stitches" completely by free-hand (like you couldn't tell, hehe). I drew out a pattern on some cardstock and went from there. I love stuffies and I had the urge to make one. I had no intention of finishing him right then and there but once I started I couldn't stop. "Stitches" took about two hours and was a ton of fun to make. If I have time tonight I'm going to work on another bunny but this time with a slightly different shape. If you want to make a "Stitches"-like bunny, all you need is felt, buttons, embroidery floss, a needle and some stuffing. Now on to the fusing!

Colin and I have been playing with our kiln for a few weeks trying to find out the magic formula that will allow us to have fantastic fused cabochons. The horror that originally came out of the kiln has now been replaced by pieces that cant be used but are very encouraging.

We have learned over the last couple weeks that firing at too high a temperature and for too long causes the glass to come out with sharp or uneven edges. This first batch you can clearly how some have strange edges (not to mention the horrible color combinations).

During another of our kiln runs Colin managed to make the dichroic glass inside shatter. It looks cool but the cabochon is useless. We keep all these rejects as examples so we can learn from them (it's a what-not-to-do show and tell).

After all these uglies, we finally started to see a major improvement. Now don't get me wrong, you wont see these "beauties" for sale in my Etsy site...ever. But after all the disappointment we were quite pleased to see round edges. Who would think a person could get so excited over round edges?!?

So tonight's lesson is that imperfect handcrafted bunny's are cute and if your projects aren't coming out how you expected, practice practice practice!

Adventures in Wire

I didn't mean to go over a week without a post but well, I did. Last weekend I went to a juried arts and crafts fair at the Morristown Armory and ordered my wedding band and bought Christmas presents. The wedding band is being created by Finestra (http://www.finestradesign.com/). She had this fantastic gold band that I loved but I wanted white gold so she said to give her 4 weeks and she'll have it ready. I'm going to try to not get too excited since the wedding isn't until July, lol!


So besides shopping I've also been creating lately. A few weekends ago I was playing with some tiny charm blanks and made these little ladies. Once my sterling wire order arrives I'll be turning them into earrings. I really enjoy making earrings, especially as gifts. It's funny, because even though my ears are pierced I hardly ever wear earrings. My friends never get tired of receiving them.

And since I'm getting ready for my wire order to arrive I've been practicing making earwires out of copper wire. I love copper because I can mess up over and over and it doesn't cost much to replace. I also attempted to make the pin base from Sharilyn Miller's wire book. I dont think it was bad for a first try. I didn't put any beads on because I didn't want to take the time to remove them if I messed up horribly.

Well, that's all for now. Join me next time when I post about my misadventures in glass fusing!

Just because it's not Christmas...

Doesn't mean you cant send your friends gifts! I finally finished the box! Stacey has been patiently waiting for a package to come from me and I had to keep telling her I wasn't finished with it yet. I have a bunch of goodies to put inside of it and a few that don't even fit in. I'm almost done with a pair of earrings for her too. I used some of Humble Beads (http://www.humblebeads.etsy.com/) wonderful polymer creations in the pair. When they're done I'll post em! Can you tell Stacey and I love the color blue?

So the nitty gritty about the box is that it was a papier mache base decorated with acrylic paints, krylon spray, ribbon, crepe paper, vintage french text, buttons and a glittery letter "S". The glitter is from the Martha Stewart collection. I normally wont buy her products but the glitter was just so sparkly (and I had a coupon).

I also attempted something other than collage and jewelry over the last few days. I made my first batch of lip balm. It's unscented with a beeswax base. It didn't come out as smooth as I'd hoped so I picked up some cocoa butter at the health food store on the way home today. I'll try my second batch tomorrow or this weekend. It does look pretty though.

And last, but certainly not least, I want to give a shout out to Hidden Haven for sending me an amazing package today! I ordered the unscented goat milk soap and lotion and she sent me a ton of stuff. Also, the bars of soap are huge! I tried the lotion before typing my blog and my hands feel so soft! So if you are looking to pamper yourself, go check out Hidden Haven.(http://www.hiddenhaven.etsy.com/)

That was fun!

I just got back from Atlantic City...literally. What a great weekend! I didn't win anything but it doesn't matter. I had fun playing some slots and doing some shopping. The Tropicana has this great shop called Farmer's Almanac. I got a sign that says, "There will be a $5 charge for whining", some tea and a stuffed turkey decoration since we currently have no holiday knick-knacks. I also bought tons of Jelly Belly jelly beans (they are soooooo good) at Sugar and some bath and body stuff at Borgata.

Since I wasn't around this weekend I didn't have time to craft but before I left I started on a surprise for my best friend. Once that's finished I'll post photos. As for the picture above, that's a piece I made before I started doing collage. It came at a time when I was starting to move away from stringing and in to wire-wrapping. It's a favorite of mine. I love the color, the beads and the texture of the entire piece. Sometimes it's just nice to take a look back.

Excuse the mess...

Why is it that every time you clean a room it suddenly ends up messy again? Oh, maybe it's because I keep collecting things! For instance, last weekend I picked up some nice minerals and fossils at the Franklin show. Aren't they cool? There were vendors inside and outside the school. I had no idea that this show has been held for 51 years. We originally went to the mine because we thought that's where it was being held. When we got there, they informed us it was down the road but since we were already at the mine we could take a tour or go digging out in the dump site. We went digging. Well, it's more like picking up and dropping. It shares the old dump site with the mine up the street. These mines are "famous" for mineral fluorescence (you can learn more at http://www.franklinmineralmuseum.com/) We managed to find some rocks that glow orange and pink. We didn't find a good green one so I bought one at the show. The odd looking white rock in the back turns green under a black light.

In addition to digging in the dirt, I've been working hard at getting ready for the holiday season. I just completed my cat pendants (the photo needs work). I absolutely love these! I was inspired by the neighbors cat who always follows me around. This week I'm going to start a dog series.

With all these pendants I needed someplace to store them. Well, I just received my new pendant display in the mail. I cant wait to do my first show and actually get to use it! It holds a ton of pendants and it rotates. It's got a great vintage look which is perfect for this line of jewelry. Time for me to get back to work.

Stopping In

It's been almost a week since my last post and I dont have too much time tonight to share as much as I'd like to. Last weekend I went to the rock show and I bought some fantastic little pieces. Apparently this show has been going on for 51 years! I dont have my camera with me right now so I'll be taking some photos over the weekend of the rocks, minerals and fossils I purchased. I'm also going to finish up the kitten series pendants this weekend so there will be photos of them as well. Tomorrow morning I'm heading off to an antique show at the Morristown Armory. I'm doubtful there will be anything in my price range but I think it will be fun just to go and look. Until then...

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...