Craft Test Dummies

I’m gearing up for my favorite green holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. Since my birthday is only 3 days later, it’s been something of an extended holiday for me. (BTW, Earth Day comes in second as my favorite green holiday. Sorry.)

Anyhoo, I always celebrate with cards for the family, dressing up the kids, sometimes even hitting the parade if the weather isn’t too crappy. I decided to try that new metal-leafing technique and make a batch o’ goodies.

I ended up making enough of the shamrock pieces for an army. (I get carried away, you know!) Some are pins, some are just flats to be glued onto cards, made into magnets, whatever. And look at those luscious cabs!!! Yum, yum, yum!

If you’d like to purchase one, just leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you. And maybe they’ll even make it to Etsy. We’ll see!

OH! And a PS… this is my first batch using Fimo Deco Gel instead of TLS…. product review forthcoming!

Only 3 ingredients, but OH! What an outcome! My arty friend Jenna came with her daughter yesterday for a play date, and we couldn’t help ourselves in a little clay demo, too. The kids were rapidly decompensating, so we only had time to make a sheet of clay:

I took this photo without flash so you could see the shiny metal leaf glimmering through. After Jenna & Ally left, I made some cabs and pendant pieces. I’m always designing my next class! So here are some photos of my days’ play….

So I took 2 cabs that I formed over the lightbulb, sanded them, then baked them together using TLS and my embossing gun. The result? My first hollow bead!

I’m disappointed that I can still see the seam. Maybe a little alcohol ink over it to cover it a bit? Hmmm. More to experiment with….

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I’ve been playing with a new technique and developing a class for Grand River Beads. My new beady-friend Maryann and I were scheming to come up with a new 2-part class. I’ll teach PC faces, cabs, and buttons in the AM, and she’ll teach us how to whip them into fabulous bead-embroidered pins in the afternoon.

The faces and buttons are pretty easy, but I wanted something new to do with the cabs…. so out comes all of my stuff onto the dining room table. Foils, inks, and…. lightbulbs! I’m thrilled with the results. Very dimensional and rich!

In the picture above, the two on the right have been glazed with TLS to seal the surface treatment in, and to make that glossy shine. Love it! The three on the left are like the “before” photo. These I just formed by hand.

Here’s a pic of the raw clay, and some lightbulb cabs I baked up last night: