Steampunk in IEEE Spectrum
Posted by Leah on Oct 5, 2008
There’s an article on steampunk in the October 08 issue of IEEE Spectrum (a magazine for engineers) and it has a great slideshow. Most of the images are not jewelry/fashion related, but they are still worth looking at - my favorite is the “mobile mansion” - a three story Victorian on wheels.
Broken Necklace
Posted by Leah on Oct 5, 2008
Sigh…I broke the chandelier crystal necklace…was trying to get a better photo, and it fell, and the crystal broke. Guess that’s a risk I take when I use three inch long pieces of glass in a jewelry design….
Sunburst Treasury
Posted by Leah on Oct 3, 2008
Thanks so much to Adroit Jewelers for including me in this beautiful, summery treasury! Just what I needed brighten up a very cloudy day! (See my bracelet in the bottom row).
Sunburst Treasury
Make a Resin Bottle Cap Charm
Posted by Leah on Oct 2, 2008
Using bottle caps as bezels for resin is a great way to make jewelry without spending a lot of money on materials. If you are just starting to work with resin, I recommend using bottle caps for your practice pieces - they are free, and you probably have some lying around your house. Plus it’s recycling!
Here’s what you will need:
- two-part epoxy resin
- clean, dry bottle caps
- newspaper or plastic bags to cover your workspace
- scissors
- glue (I use mod podge)
- paper
- small found objects, bits of hardware, beads, glitter, or whatever else you hav that is small enough to fit inside the bottlecap
- drill & small drill bit (1/16 inch or smaller) (optional)
- water or other lube for drill (if using a drill)
- wire (16, 18, or 20g is what I would use)
- round nose pliers
- flat nose pliers
- wire cutters
- safety gear, including good ventilation & a respirator so you don’t breathe in the resin fumes
Now here’s what you do:
- Prepare your workspace: protect it with newspaper, or plastic such as plastic grocery bags.
- If using an image for a background, cut the image out to fit in the bottle cap & glue it down. Let glue dry completely before moving on.
Bottle Cap Charms After Gluing
- Arrange your objects, glitter, etc in the bottlecap
- Mix the resin according to the manufacturer’s instructions and use a small stirring stick such as a popsicle stick or wooden coffee stirrer to drip just enough resin into the bottle cap to completely cover your objects and/or collaged image. Be careful not to overfill the bottle cap because cleaning up spilled resin is really not fun - trust me.
- Let the resin cure - this could take up to 72 hours - you may want to put something like an upside down pie pan over your pieces while they cure, so that they don’t get dust stuck to the surface
Bottle Cap Charms with One Resin Layer
- If you are happy with the look of the piece, you are ready to drill or wrap it. If it looks like it needs more resin, you can pour a little more and let it cure again. I like to do two layers of resin so that I can place objects on top of the first layer, giving the piece a little more depth.
Once your final resin layer has cured, you are ready to make these into something. A few ideas:
- Drill a hole near the top & insert a jump ring or bail to make a pendant or charm (tutorial coming soon!)
- Wire wrap it to use as a pendant or charm (tutorial coming soon!)
- Glue it to a ring finding, brooch finding, or magnet
Learn to Make Earrings
Posted by Leah on Oct 1, 2008
I will be teaching a mini earring intensive in May 2009 at Art, Paperie and Pleasantries - and you can take the class, materials included, for just $15 (or free, if you register for the ZNE Convenzione).
Check out the class flyer here! The earrings in photo are one example - I will be demonstrating how to make several styles, and you can choose your favorite to make.
Abstract Landscapes
Posted by Leah on Sep 30, 2008
I just had to share these beautiful abstract landscape paintings by Bobbi Chukran. Bobbi is an artist, writer, and crafter living in Texas. I’ve known her in the virtual world for a while, and was excited when she recently decided to start listing her landscapes on etsy. I love them, the colors are so soothing, and despite being very abstract, they are clearly landscape images.
Blue Landscape by Bobbi Chukran
If you want to buy me one as an early Christmas gift, here’s a link to Bobbi’s etsy shop. (I guess you could get one for yourself; since I know her I could probably convince her to paint me a new one if they sell out…)
Purple Landscape by Bobbi Chukran
Monday’s Muse
Posted by Leah on Sep 29, 2008
Monday’s Muse is a blog meme to inspire creativity, started by Maternal Spark.
This week, I’d like to share a photo from my mom’s garden. She grows beautiful flowers and some of the best fruit and vegetables around - her garden is very inspiring to me, as it represents so much time and care. Plus I love the free organic produce all summer long! I snapped this photo a couple years ago, but I still love it. I got really lucky that I was able to hold the camera steady enough to get this:
Yellow Rose
Etsy Steam Team
Posted by Leah on Sep 27, 2008
There is an etsy team for people doing steampunk - I guess I should have known there would be! Check it out if you are interested in seeing more steampunk style designs, or you if you are a steampunk designer looking for a group to join.
The Altered Object
Posted by Leah on Sep 26, 2008
The Altered Object: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration
Altering objects to create art is definitely in style these days - you can make very unique, interesting, sculptural pieces, and because found objects play such a prominent role, it’s a great way to recycle things that otherwise might be thrown out. I enjoy using small found objects in jewelry designs, so it was fun to read a book about creating larger scale found object art.
I love artist profiles, so that was my favorite part of the book. Each profile included pictures of some of the artist’s work, which I think is just as important as the text - you really get a feel for the artist’s style along with a bit of their personal story.
The technique section was also done well - and, fun for me, considering my new obsession with mica because a lot of these artists use mica in their work. If you want very specific project instructions, be warned - that isn’t exactly what this book has. Instead, what it has are good instructions on the techniques used in each sample project, so that you can find your own objects, images, and text and make something that is unique to you. I really prefer this type of instruction anyway, because it’s rare that I happen to have everything required for a specific project - but I often take a technique and adapt it to what I do have, making it my own and integrating it into my personal style.
I would say that this book isn’t for a complete beginner, since there isn’t a “basics” section, but if you have a little bit of experience working with some of the materials, you can probably learn some new techniques or see new ways of using techniques you already know. I enjoyed reading it, and got some ideas to try to use in jewelry projects.
New Page - Book Reviews
Posted by Leah on Sep 25, 2008
I’ve written quite a few book reviews on this blog, so I added a page (see the new link up at the top?) with links to each one. Enjoy!
