Need a Little Color In Your Life?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Shannon LeVart, a.k.a. Missficklemedia, she is an amazingly talented artist and metal coloring specialist who sells her colorful handmade jewelry components in her etsy shop.

I have long admired her gorgeous wares, and was so excited to hear that she has put together a fantastic downloadable tutorial called "Color Drenched Metal" that shares, in detail, her own techniques for coloring all kinds of metal.  In addition, she is now selling bottles of her unique patinas - so cool!

So if you are looking for ways to add color and character to your jewelry designs, you've just gotta check out these new products - I bought four of them myself and can't wait to start experimenting!

Happy shopping!

Custom Jewelry Pieces Made With ICE Resin

This is just a quick post to share a couple of custom jewelry pieces I delivered yesterday to a longtime customer of mine.  She wanted to create something special for her sister who is graduating from law school that incorporated family photos, the law school's logo and the "DEM" symbol to represent her sister's political ambitions.

Here are the finished pieces:

I made handmade bezels out of etched copper sheet and copper tubing and decoupaged and sealed the pictures into the bezels.  When they dried, I poured the ICE Resin into the bezels and set them aside to cure. 

I fused and forged the copper hoops and the clasps, and added some beautiful Czech glass links to the necklace.

After putting all of the pieces and parts together, the jewelry turned out beautifully - this resin is amazing and I can't recommend it enough!  You can find it at Objects & Elements in their store.

...I'm thinking that I just might have to make one of these sets for myself!

Crystals and Copper

A couple of weeks ago, I got the coolest e-mail from Artbeads asking me if I would be willing to blog about their products from time to time for their blogging team.  They would send me product samples to play with and I would work them into my designs and then blog about them.  Well, the obvious answer was an emphatic YES!!!  Of course I would participate!

September is Swarovski Crystal month at Artbeads, and I was excited to see what goodies would be sent my way.  So last week I opened up the mailbox and there was a box from Artbeads with these wonderful lovelies in it:

Cotton Crystal Yarn in Olive, Caribbean Blue Opal and Copper

23.5 x 30mm Galactic Pendant in Crystal Copper

Along with these beautiful components, I added recycled sari ribbon and yarn and a handmade copper bail and clasp, and here is what I came up with:

I love this piece!  The colors of the crystals compliment the silk and copper beautifully.

A BIG thank you goes out to Artbeads for their invitation and generosity.  You absolutely must check out their unbelievable selection of Swarovski components and beads.  While you are there, take time to browse the rest of the store as well, as they carry unique beads and findings that I've never seen anywhere else.  Then go and check out their blog, Blog for Beaders, for more information and inspiration!

Necessary Legal Stuff:  I have received the following products free of charge from Artbeads and I am honestly reviewing them.  I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received:  Cotton Crystal Yarn in Olive, Caribbean Blue Opal and Copper; 23.5 x 30mm Galactic Pendant in Crystal Copper.

 

Great Photoshop Elements Tutorial Site...

I have finally found a site that is helping me with understanding Photoshop Elements - hence my new blog header!

When you get a chance hop on over to see Rita at Coffeeshop Photography for some awesome giveaways, free tutorials and PSE actions for your photos. I have been having a blast playing around with my pictures doing layers, textures, overlays, text, masks and a whole lot more. I finally feel like I am getting a grasp on this program and feel comfortable using it.

If you do take advantage of Rita's generous information and are able to use what she is offering, there is a place where you can make a donation through Paypal.

Here's another example of one of my pictures I've layered and textured:



Have fun!

Sharing Info...

Good Morning!

I wanted to share with you a few cool products & vendors I found recently:

• For those of you looking for a new resin for your small jewelry collages, I found this one at Crafter's Cafe that doesn't smell, doesn't need to be mixed, and cures crystal clear in the UV rays outside in 5 minutes (if you don't get a lot of sun, you can buy a UV light from this store as well):

Lisa Pavelka's Magic-Glos

• I don't know about you, but I really dislike having to print all of my images that I use in my jewelry on a laser printer or at a copy machine. I bought this JudiKins product from AnnieHowe's etsy shop, and it has worked really well for me as protection for my ink jet printer images, as long as I am careful and don't work it too much:

JudiKins Microglaze

• I have used this Texture Crackle paint from DecoArt on the last couple of collages I've worked on, and it has given my pieces a really great textural base to work from. It comes in different colors (I use the Light Mocha), and takes antiquing pretty well. I got my jar at my local Joann's, but you can also order it online directly from DecoArt:

DecoArt Texture Crackle

• I really like this vendor, Kit Kraft, Inc. They have lots of crafting supplies to choose from, and their prices are very competitive. Also, they ship out almost immediately, and I always get my order within a couple of days. My favorite things to buy from them are my copper blanks, chains, and dark annealed steel wire in the higher gauges (26g - 30g).

• Finally, many of you might already know about this site, but for those of you who don't, Craft Cult is a super easy way to check on the "hearts" from your etsy stores.

So there you go - just wanted to share!

:-)

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