I’ve enjoyed the Martha Stewart Crafts line for a while now- the tools, paints, and papercrafting items are all on my “faves” lists. But now there is something completely new- a line of jewelry crafting items created by Plaid Enterprises and available at Michael’s Stores. The first of our series of reviews will be on the Jewelry Enamel. From the website: Jewelry enamel mixes like paint and can be added as translucent or opaque shades. When dry, the paint has […]
Preview: Martha Stewart Jewelry Crafts by Plaid (Haul Video)
Earlier this month I received a box of goodies from the folks at Plaid, the makers of the NEW Martha Stewart Crafts Jewelry line. It’s got tools, components, enameling supplies, glazes- WOW. So much good stuff! I just had to make you a video & show you! Stay tuned- there will be multiple product reviews coming from this as well as a special tutorial next week. Which of these jewelry-making goodies are you interested in? (Or would like to see […]
Craft Product Review: EnviroTex Jewelry Resin
Resin has always been on my list of intimidating crafts. I’m also incredibly lazy. Mix two bottles together? I ain’t got time for that! So I’ve avoided the stuff, even though I love the way resin jewelry looks. But I had a great first experience with Envirotex Jewelry Resin, and I’m no longer afraid (Cue triumphant music!). I tested Envirotex two ways; as a varnish and by filling bezels. From the Environmental Technology Inc’s website: Professional results are easy to […]
Jewelry Book Review: Necklaceology by Candy Cooper
I love making jewelry. And a good book really helps inspire the creative process! Such is the case with Necklaceology: How to Make Chokers, Lariats, Ropes & More by Candie Cooper. The first think I need to disclose is that I know Candie personally and think she’s a great gal. But my personal relationship with her doesn’t change the face that she wrote a pretty stellar book. Let’s take a closer look, shall we? From the publisher: From collars and chokers […]
Craft and Jewelry Product Review: Artistic Wire Mesh from Beadalon
I spend a lot of time papercrafting, but you may not know that for a while (about 6 years ago) I really only made jewelry and worked with polymer clay. So I was excited to try Artistic Wire Mesh by Beadalon and get back to my jewelry-making roots! If you’ve never seen Artistic Wire Mesh before, it’s like a finely knitted tube of metal. Here’s how they describe it on the website: Artistic Wire Mesh is permanently colored copper wire woven […]
Book Review: Jill Wiseman’s Beautiful Beaded Ropes
Jill Wiseman’s Beautiful Beaded Ropes – 24 Wearable Jewelry Projects in Multiple Stitches is to beaders what the newest, hottest Halo game is to gamers. It’s for serious beading geeks. Like me. Well, I’m only a little bit of a beading geek. But I’m working on it! I’m madly in love with stitching beads together to create amazing jewelry. Much like a knitter uses lengths of yarn to create a beautiful, wearable work of art beaders use thread […]
Craft Book Reports: Ring Jewelry Books from Lark Jewelry and Beading
As I mentioned the other day when I did my “book reports” on Beaded Jewelry, I have certainly had an influx of amazing eye-candy in the form of books lately. Today I want to share two more books on the theme of “rings” : Ring a Day: 700 Photos from a 365 Day Jewelry Challenge and Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry (500 Series) Let’s dig in! Both of these books are on the topic of rings as an art […]
Craft Book Reports: Beaded Jewelry Books from Lark Jewelry and Beading
Lately, I’ve had a LOT of eye candy hit CTD WHQ- including an influx of beautiful books on beaded jewelry. A few of them are just inspirational, coffee-table style books, and one is SO FAR out of my league I couldn’t do it justice. So since we are in back-to-school mode here, I thought it would be fun to talk about Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry: Photographs of Beautiful Contemporary Beadwork (500 Series), Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance: 20 Beaded Jewelry Designs […]
Craft Tool Review: ImpressArt Metal Stamps
I’ve wanted to try out a set of metal stamps from the first moment I saw what they could do. Luckily, the fine folks at ImpressArt shared my enthusiasm, and when I ran into them at CHA, they generously provided a full set of letters and numbers for me to review. In case you’re not familiar with how they work, metal stamps are tools that are used to stamp letters or designs into metals, and they are most often used […]
Book Review: Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects
Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects from Lark Jewelry and Beading A few things you might want to know about this book: Hard cover – lays flat for easy reference 126 pages Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects includes 24 projects There is a project gallery at the end of the book for further inspiration The MSRP is $27.95 (USD) and can be purchased for $17.69 at amazon.com. This book contains 24 projects that Diane has taught over the years. […]
Craft Product Review: Fluxe Enameling Resin by JudiKins
I’m a sucker for embossing resins. I love using them as topcoats, resists for watercolors, to fill bottlecap jewelry, and more. Glossy finishes make my heart go pitter-pat, what can I say? At CHA last winter I happened by the JudiKins booth, and there was a large pink bottle of Fluxe Enameling Resin. It called my name, and now it’s high time to try it out and share my results with you. First, let’s take a look at how it’s […]
Craft Product Review: Garden Art Kit from Artterro
Since April is my “Go Green” month, I thought it was high time to revisit the marvelous art kits by ArtTerro. Previously I’d reviewed Painting with Wool, the Bubble Wand, and the Wire and Bead Sculpture Kits, so this time ’round we’re going to talk about the Garden Art Kit– apropos, right? The Garden Art Kit is described thusly on their website: Combine thick high quality copper and thinner colored wire, glass, shell and wooden beads and marbles to make […]
Craft Product Review: Bottle Cap, Inc.
I remember many years ago when bottle caps were all the rave in scrapbooking. Â And then they went “out of style” for quite some time. Â But guess what? Â Sort of like skinny jeans and stirrup pants, THEY’RE BAA-AACK! Â (Though I’m much more excited about the return of bottle caps than I am of stirrup pants, I must say!) I happen to love bottle caps, and I loved the booth set up by Bottle Cap, Inc. at Winter CHA – those […]
Craft Product Review: SuperClear Resin by Resin Obsession
I enjoy using resin in some of my jewelry and mixed-media projects, but I know it’s intimidating to some. There’s mixing involved, and often the materials are considered “toxic.” Then there is the question of what resin is best for what applications. Today I’m reviewing SuperClear Resin: a non-toxic, 2-part casting resin for jewelry making from ResinObsession. This is unlike other 2-part resins I’ve used, both because it’s non-toxic and because it’s really just for casting objects in molds. But […]
Craft Product Review: Spin N Bead by Beadalon
This is a review I wrote for Craft Critique two years ago- but as the holiday season starts up, this might be one of those craft tools that you might want to have on your radar for holiday gift giving! The Beadalon Spin-N-Bead Junior is one of those little, low-tech gadgets that you see in the stores, think is kinda cool, and then can’t quite think what you’d do with it. I got to take one of these little goodies […]
Kid’s Craft Review: ArtTerro Wire and Bead Art Kit
ArtTerro is a brand-new company to me, and I’m so pleased that they reached out and offered to send some kits for my family to “craft test.” Their tag line is “Art of the Earth”- and with a slogan like that, who wouldn’t be interested? Here’s some of what they say about their mission: We love art and wanted to share that experience with our kids. We searched high and low for eco-friendly, open-ended art projects with beautiful materials but […]
Mold-N-Pour Review up on CraftCritique.com!
So today I’ve got a review up, but it’s not here- it’s over at www.CraftCritique.com, and I’m talking about Mold-N-Pour by Ranger Industries. I was at CHA Summer last year, and I sat down and got to see some demos by the fabulous Suze Weinberg and she asked if I’d ever used Perfect Pearls…when I said “no,” she gave me a set to try. Then she asked if I’d used Mold-N-Pour, and the same thing happened! So of course it […]
Ice Resin “how-to†video by ArtBeads.com
Since this is blog-hop week for Ice Resin, I though I’d put up a video made by ArtBeads.com on how to use Ice Resin. There are a few things in the video that conflict with that I’ve been told by ObjectsandElements.com, but the basic measuring-mixing-pouring stuff is accurate. Take a look: Couple of facts about Ice Resin: never yellows jewelry grade 1-hour pot time, according to O&E (when it starts to heat up, it’s going bad) “drys” to touch after […]
Ice Ice (Resin), Baby!
Ok, only a few of you will actually get the Vanilla Ice reference in the title- but I couldn’t resist! Today I’m talking about Ice Resin, a 2-part epoxy resin that is jewelry grade. The beautiful people at Objects and Elements told me it will never yellow, and the best part is that it’s labeled non-toxic! I received a sample at CHA Winter 2010, and I really couldn’t wait to get it back home to try out. It’s one […]
Article on Ice Resin for Craft Critique!
As some of you know, I write for Craft Critique, and have been doing some CHA coverage for them. I got a chance to write a post about Ice Resin, a product I’m really excited to try out. It’s a non-toxic 2-part resin (most 2-part epoxy resins are HIGHLY toxic) and is touted as being non-yellowing. Fabulous artist and fellow Ohioan Susan Lenart Kazmer uses this resin in her work, and frankly, she knows her stuff! I have a sample […]
