Ice Resin and Steampunk jewelry

Here are some photos of my newest work. I am still finding new and interesting things to do with ICE Resin, but filling a bezel with some dictionary paper and bits of vintage costume jewelry is so simple and so satisfying that I still do a lot of pieces like that.

I adjusted some settings on my camera in an attempt to get better photos.Obviously, it didn't help much.  I have plans to take some lessons from Donna Hopkins, a kindred spirit, and amazing photographer. Check out her blog to see her gorgeous photography.

Here is another resin piece. Thanks to Barbara Hawley for sharing this dear little deer with me.

And another foray into my steampunk phase. I have just started doming my gears, and using micro bolts to attach them together. I wish I had the time and space to experiment all day! Don't we all?

Completed Jewelry

I'm on a roll now. Here are some more pieces that I finished this week. The two on the left are resin. The one in the middle is a boro bead that I got at the bead show last week. I just love it! It almost looks like an owl face. ( I'll post a link to the artist as soon as I go through my paperwork for June and find her business card.) The one on the right is a sterling spoon bowl. It has the word "Paris" engraved on it.

This is a piece that has a vintage tablespoon for the base of the pendant. The little elf inside was a china figure. Disclaimer: No elves were harmed in the making of this necklace. His head was already broken off. Really. It was. This picture turned out a little over-exposed.

Luckily, Bordeaux was right there to help me out. She cast a nice big shadow over my pieces while I was trying to photograph them. Never a dull moment with the puppy girls!

Never Enough Time

I just read through a bunch of blogs, and I'm feeling a tiny bit less guilty that it's been so long since I posted. Apparently there is an epidemic of spring/summer busy-ness going around!  I'm on a two-week break from working at the estate sale company and I have about two years' worth of projects in mind that I'd like to work on.

As you can tell by these necklaces, I'm in a beachy/1930s/carnival kind of mood. I found the elephant at a bead show and it inspired a whole bunch of pieces. Isn't the pail cute? This is my "Water for Elephants"necklace. The other two are ice resin pieces.

I've been playing a lot with ice resin and am just thrilled with the results.

Thanks to my dad, Dale Brown, for taking photos for me. I thought my camera was dead, but the nice lady at the camera store revived it for me this morning. I was so relieved. I love that camera, and didn't want to have to learn a new one!

Reality Check

We've had a lot of ice here resulting in lots of snow days. Which gave plenty of time to work on cleaning and organizing my studio. I was shocked at how much time it took to get it back on track. I spent more than forty hours to get the studio to the place I wanted it to be.  Ultimately, I'm glad it took that long, because it gave me a lot of time to think.

I spent the first few days feeling frustrated that my space was too small for all of the projects that I wanted to do. Now, I feel grateful for the space that I do have.

I was overwhelmed becaue I had so many projects that I wanted to get to. Now, I am feeling more focused.

The picture above shows how many bins of stuff I was able to donate, share with art friends, or rehome in my studio. That's a lot of stuff. Nobody needs that much stuff! I am concentrating on feeling grateful for the time, and space and ability that I have. And I can't thank the Amazing Alice enough.  She is the best organizer and most encouraging cheerleader ever! I'll post pictures of my "new" space next week.

One of the first projects that I worked on was new jewelry for the emporium at LibertyTown. This bracelet reminds me of the saying "as the crow flies". Okay, they're swallows, but you know what I mean.

These copper earrings are now at LibertyTown, too. I've been in a very birdy mood lately.

I also got a chance to do another pouring of Susan Lenart Kazmer's Ice Resin between bouts of tossing and sorting. The more I use this product, the more I like it. I have big plans. And now, I'll even have some elbow room when I'm putting pieces together. It doesn't get any better than that.

Ice, Ice, Baby

 I finally got a chance to play with Susan Lenart Kazmer's new product, Ice Resin. I hadn't used resin in about fifteen years. This new formulation has come a long way. It mixes easily and dries clear and rock hard.

 This is the necklace that I made. I accidentally scuffed the edge of the pendant with one of my tools, so it isn't perfect enough to sell. But it is perfectly wearable. I guess I'll have to keep this one!

This is a ring that I made.  I didn't babysit it long enough and got a single bubble right in the center of the gear. I have to say that I kind of like the way it turned out. 'Guess I'll have to keep this one, too! I have all kinds of ideas in my head. I'm going to try to do another pouring on Friday if the weather is nice and dry. I'll let you know how it turns out.