Guessing Game and some newbies

It all started when I purchased 4mm faceted czech rounds in the color Amaranth from ArtBeads.com. I honestly thought the color was different than it was (read: less pink). Well,
it wasn't so the next challenge was to create something with these little boogers and a color that is normally a BIG challenge for me.

The first thing I managed to crank out was (of course) a Tidepool ring. The second was a bracelet that I'm calling Ruby Quatrefoil. It's a repeating pattern that closes with a beaded toggle clasp.

It has a layered quatrefoil look and each little component reminds me of a starburst or fireworks (since it was just previously the 4th of July).


Instead of trying to keep the pinkish hue of the faceted czech glass, I used a lot of deep maroons and burgundys and a color called red wine to "force" the beads to go red. (I picked up that term from my mom the artist who taught me that colors change when surrounded by other colors.)
The finished product, I like, and so...Ruby Quatrefoil made the cut to my shop.

I'm also putting this little ring called Field of Poplars in my shop. I made it by cutting teeny tiny pieces of paper into small shapes to make a landscape. It's 1" by 1" and I'm still amazed that I don't go blind after playing with little pieces of paper that tiny!

Okay, finally, the Guessing Game. Here's the latest. This one is hard, so I'll give you a hint: think old Hollywood. Good luck, and leave me a comment with your guess, I'll post a link to the treasury tomorrow.
(By the way, you've got to read the titles on this listings before you make your guess, sometimes they give you a clue!)

ABS and I still hate orange...

I didn't enter the ABS Challenge last month so... come what may, I was determined to get my entry in this month, and for the first time, I made my own art bead, um, pendant. Here's the necklace. It features my pendant made with resin and then I created some wireworked flowers for the chain.

Here's an up-close of the flowers. They are a modified version of the ones that Maggie Ruggiero created for Bead Star. I used her basic idea, but had to do some modifications because the wire in front of the stones completely hid their good-lookin'ness.

Okay, now for my arch-nemesis. I got to thinkin' about the color orange, and I thought...ya' know, I really do hate it, but I'm going to do my best to find something to inspire me in this color. So, I took a camera and a la Project Runway, took pictures of everything orange in my house. Shall we begin??
First up, laundry...um...nope, not inspiring.

Books. These are the only bright orange books in my house. Funny they're in Spanish. Still not inspired. At least, not by the books, I'm sure a trip to Mexico would get the creativity flowing...any takers?

Scissors. Useful...but not inspiring.

Honey Nut Cheerios box, extremely delicious but not inspiring.

Sweet Potato Fries, even more delicious than Cheerios, but still uninspiring.

There, I rest my case, I am totally and completely uninspired by the color orange. Now, you might ask..."Marcie, why didn't you go looking for jewelry with orange?" Simple, because they don't let them look at other designer's work on Project Runway. Now, someone prove me wrong about orange......or, just tell me what color you love to hate.

She get it from her mama....part 2

Last year, I showed you a picture of my super-talented mother's take at a tile mosaic table. I thought I'd share some more mama's work wit' ya'. On today's agenda...flower arrangements. She likes to do these...no, she likes to do a lot of these. Hasn't been as common lately, but I still have fond childhood memories of a dining room table buried in dried flowers and hot glue gun strings that stretched the length of the dining room. This is the flower arrangment on the mantle.

I like this set up and as I look at it, I realize how cheaply we put it together. The plates were cheapies bought from Homegoods, the candlesticks too, and we got the flowers and the planter at Old Time Pottery.

Here's the up-close with some better lighting. It's very earthy and I actually like the orange. (I normally HATE orange)
In other news, I tried a new resin project last night that I was so excited about and woke up this morning to find that the resin had leaked out of the edges that I had carefully covered with tape following manufacturer's suggestions. Argh. So, I'm gonna pick myself up and find a way to salvage this. Argh. Start over from step one and try not to get too angry. Argh. Clean up my mess and squash my desire to throw the whole thing in the trash. Argh. Oh, did I mention, argh?

The Resinator

My sister came up with the term yesterday while we were cuttin' and pastin' and gluin' and beadin' and huntin' up things to put in these brand new bezels which arrived two days ago. (A special thanks to the United States Postal Service!) Okay, here's the goods in no particular order....
First up, a cut out of scrapbook paper with a clear bezeled top. (They accidently shipped us one that fit perfectly in the pendant so we decided to use it. )
Secondly, a little round pendant with a tiny turquoise round which I did up with seed beads to match the pattern of the scrapbook paper. This was Emily's design, I just did the brick stitch for her.

Then a little seashell planted on top of some complimentary origami paper from an origami kit we received years ago. (Emily's design)

Next up, more scrapbook paper with a tiny little "flower" made from seed beads and more glittery scrapbook paper. (This one was my design).

Then, a tiny seed bead leaf embellishing more glittery scrapbook paper! (I learned a valuable lesson here. The dark thread becomes doubly obvious under resin. Note to self: Use white thread or fireline.)

And then, finally, I did two rings. The first has no embellishment whatsoever. It's just a perfect cut-out of scrapbook paper. I originally thought that it was going to be boring, but now that it's dry. I really like it.

This last one is a tiny little bird flying over a Monet-esque naturescape.

I must say that I think the experiment was pretty successful and I can't wait to get home today and cut and paste some more. Here are some tips that I found while using the resin.
First of all, I used ICE resin and the instructions suggest pouring a full ounce which ends up being a lot, so get together a good pile of stuff that you want to resinate (I know, I made that up too) before you start so you won't waste the resin.
Secondly, glue down everything that you want so that you have a lot less problems with bubbles, and the resin doesn't get under the paper. I think the resin seeped under some of the scrapbook papers and dulled the colors a little.

Last, I didn't add anything to the resin, but I liked the look of glitter which I acheived using glittered scrapbook paper. It also has the cool effect of making the glitter look like it was placed in certain spots.

Hope y'all have a good day and that you enjoyed my resin experiment!

It's my birthday and I'll have a sale if I want to!

Yep, it's my birthday and you guys get to benefit because I'm having a....

SALE!!!

I've already taken 25% off everything in my Etsy store!

So, you're gonna gets some great jewelry for some great prices, go check it out!

In other news, the birthday gifts were ordered on Monday and they are....

This set of pendants and rings.
Notice how they are conspicuously empty of color or decoration....hhhmmm....but yet have a lot of space where one could possibly deposit bits of paper, beads, or even....

Oh, maybe this stuff!
That's right, I did, I went and bought the ICE Resin, I had to, after scanning through the Objects and Elements blog hop, I had to try this stuff out. So, I ordered enough of the above bezels for me and my sisses to spend the afternoon playing around. (Hopefully it will all arrive today!) I also bought the coolest pack of scrapbook paper from Michael's. They were having a great sale and I got a big stack of card stock at a great price! Alright, well, I'm off. I gotta get some housework done before the fun begins, but believe me, the fun will definitely begin! (I'll post pictures ASAP) Have a great day y'all!