Sunday, August 26, 2007

Cupcakes!

Tomorrow night is our monthly Crafty Cotillion meeting (formerly the Columbus Craft Collective) and I decided to make cupcakes. I think that cupcakes are good visual representations of crafty folks. They're colorful, creative, and...aw, who am I kidding? They're tasty!! Feast your eyes (and if you come to the meeting tomorrow night, your tummies and taste buds!). I think these came out pretty well. My favorite part was definitely shaking all of the glorious toppings on top of that gooey chocolate frosting. Mmmmmmmm!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

New Creations

I've been busy this week, trying to cram in some jewelry-making before I have to start teaching again. Here are some of my creations using vintage stamps and found images with a pour-on resin as a protective coating:
Petite Pendant Necklaces

Vintage Stamp Chokers

Floral Earrings

Also, I am very happy to announce that some of my jewelry will be available at Tigertree in the Short North (Columbus, OH)! So head on over to 17 E. Brickel St. for locket-shaped resin pendants, oval Lucite dangle earrings, and little teacup rings.

Package Design

Oh how I love putting adorable objects in cellophane bags!

Here is my 25-item contribution for The Sampler (September). I am excited & curious to see if contributing brings me any sales or press.


The Lynn & Pearl Alley Markets (where I have been selling my creations all summer) are contributing a basket of items for the American Cancer Society's auction. Here is my item to represent Sweet Stella Designs!
*Don't worry, my shop name and url are on the back!*

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Featured on the Front Page of Etsy!

Today, my Lime Slice Pendant is featured on the front page of Etsy.com! I was looking at my listings and wondered why in the world the "views" on that pendant seemed to have skyrocketed today. Well, I checked the front page and there it was! (And there it is below, on the right-hand side.)

I am so excited because of the exposure this has brought my Sweet Stella Designs shop on Etsy. 14 people have added my shop as a "favorite" today and I am so close to having 200 people "heart" me! Several have added the pendant as one of their favorite items as well, and all of the views on the items in my shop have gone up! Woohoo!

I hope this leads to a sale or two. That would be super.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Riveting!

I have been working on a fabulous retro-inspired pendant in my jewelry class for the last two weeks. This week, it all came together as I learned how to rivet. It was surprisingly easy! I always thought it required some complicated additional tool (like setting grommets or something!), but essentially, it's just hammering a piece of wire in a hole.

So here it is, my riveted "Metro/Retro" pendant:



Sunday, August 05, 2007

Adventures In Resin

I think I may have finally figured out the trick to Envirotex Lite pour-on resin! Last time I tried, it didn't fully cure and I was so sad that my pretty pendants and coasters were all sticky. And since it's a chemical reaction and not a dry-time issue, the surfaces were still sticky after a week.

So, I tried again! This time, I was armed with good advice I received from the Etsy.com forums:
1) If your mixture proportions of resin and hardener isn't perfect, it will not set up and cure to a rock-hard finish. However, if you have a bit too much hardener in the mix, it's not the end of the world. Too much resin, however, means stickiness.
2) If it's humid, put your items (if they're small) in a barely warm oven. The resin cures fastest at 90 degrees, 50% humidity.

I have a gas range, so my oven is always warm because of my pilot. And the oven was perfect to use today because my apartment feels like a sweltering jungle rainforest.

So here's my resin pendant gallery:

Cells
My own artwork: Pitt artist pen and colored pencil on paper
collaged on to wooden discs


Dudes
Found images on silver-plated charms


Retro Flower
Found image on a mini domino


Stardust
Patterned paper and tons of glitter in a tiny frame charm

I still have to wait until Tuesday for the resin to fully cure. But I can tell that it will set up just fine. Yay!