There's no place like the spa!

I flew out to the west coast on Tuesday, to spend 10 days visiting with my daughter. It was her birthday yesterday, so I had booked us an afternoon at the spa. Wow, it was amazing! We both had a lavender  wrap treatments, and massages, that were heavenly!  I  also had a pedi, and got the prettiest red sparkly nail polish on my toenails.  I feel like Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz, with her sparkly red shoes!   Yes, there is certainly no place like the spa!

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Getting Inked!

During the last couple of weeks, I have been experimenting with alcohol inks, playing with the colors and designs they create on metal.

Alcohol inks are fast drying permanent transparent inks, that can be used on metal, paper, porcelain and many other types of material, to create interesting patterns and designs. They come in a variety of colors and finishes, but I started with three colors in this set, Wild Plum, Butterscotch and Stream.

 Adding the Alcohol Blending Solution, thins out the inks, making them more runny and transparent,  creating another effect.

 Here is what I did on the back of some pendent bezels. I love the marbling effect!

 Its almost somewhat of a Patina...but in  bright colors!

I added color to the other side of the bezel as well, and then created this  resin pendant.

 Here is another pendant, created with the inks, a vintage key, and resin.

In this pendant, I used some vintage filigree findings, and inked those up as well!

 

 

Since the inks are used on pendants, and were subject to handling, I also sealed the ink designs with a brush on sealer, for more durability.

 Oh, remember to wear gloves, if you are going to use these permanent inks.... the first time I used them, I did not..... and ended up with purple fingers for a few days!

These were lots of fun, and I am sure with more colors the results are endless!

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Eye Candy- Fall 2012

 Lately, I have had several productive days in my studio, creating my Fall jewelry line, and as promised I am posting brand new pieces, some of  which have been embellished with the Stampendous products that I was lucky enough to have won.

 The necklace in the top photo, features one of my hand made pendants, that I embellished with rhinestones, and a gold swirl sticker from Stampendous.

  
This necklace above, was designed with a beautiful Swarovski heart suspended from one of my mixed media pendants, created with some vintage lace that I bought at a yard sale this summer. 

 I created this cool key pendant, by using  another piece of vintage lace, an antique skeleton key, and some of the metallic fragments by Stampendous.

 I used some of the Stampendous glitter, embedded in resin to create a frame around this cute old image.

 More vintage lace, and another old key, along with some pretty vintage beads and volcano agate are included in this necklace.

 I call this pendant, "Baby, You're A Star!"

Once again, the Stampendous metallic fragments, embedded in the resin, made for a nice framed edge on this metallic pendant. Great Autumn colors too!

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I hit the jackpot!

Just before I went away on vacation, I entered an online giveaway contest on ResinCrafts blog...and I won!! When I arrived home, this Fed Ex parcel was waiting for me, full of all these fab goodies inside!

Resincrafts author, Carmi Cimicata, is a full time artist who is known for her handmade greeting cards, altered books, resin embellishments and wearable art pieces.  She hand makes over 2000 cards a year in order to meet her customers demands at the Toronto One of A Kind shows.  She is also a craft products presenter on The Shopping Channel.

Her blog is full of wonderful techniques and tutorials, on how to use resin and Envirotex products  in jewellery design, and in mixed media. 

Aren't these designs gorgeous?

 Wow...what beautiful art work and inspiration!

I  have been having fun playing with some of these new materials in a few of my recent pieces. Stay tuned for photos of what I have created, which I hope to post later this week. Pin It