

This is an account of my life as I try to adjust to being a Stay-at-home Mom of 2 boys in a "rural" town. I'm not you're conventional stay-at-mom, so this should get interesting as we try to live simply and reap happiness from life's smallest things!
Here are my two most recent necklaces. I am pretty please at how they turned out. I used the easy cast resin, and found some vintage 50's photos and used them. The first is of a glamorous woman in a strapless black gown (in the photo she was standing in front of a Jackson Pollack), and the other is a little girl (who was waiting in line for a polio vaccine...not that you can tell on the necklace). They turned out very cute, and the one with the little girl, has a charm underneath that says dream, which I thought was appropriate. I have one more vintage pendant, I'm just not sure how I will mount it to a necklace. I have some other things I want to try, but can't find my bead books that I had yesterday. I want to keep making them, to perfect the craft, which is getting better each time I cast a pendant...just don't want to make more than I can use/give away! No more clutter in the house!
So these are what I have been working on over the last couple of days. I still have my other "christmas pendants" that I need to put on a necklace, I just have to get some blue beads or cording. But I'll be sure to post those when they are completed!
These are kind of hard to see, but they turned out okay. I tried to add a photograph to the bead, and add a fabric background instead of painted background. The photos slipped around quite a bit, so I've learned that you need to do this type of cast in at least 3 layers. So, today, I am going to try some more. I want to do a 50's themed, B&W photo necklace. So I am heading to library to find some b&w retro photos, that will fit into my casts. I have already poured the first layer or resin, that will be the clear liner that sits on the top of the pendant. After that dries, I will coat the photo in resin, then lay it in exactly how I want it. This should keep the photo from slipping around in the cast. Once that is semi dry or at least tacky, I will add another layer on top, then put a resin coated fabric backing on it. I think I will use the same fabric I used on these pendants, becuase I think it will look good with b&w photos. Then I will sand the edges, drill out the holes for mounting it to a beaded necklace (with black beads), then coat with a high gloss sealer, just to give it some shine. Although, I will probably have to take pictures before I put the gloss on it, because I can't seem to get good pictures of anything with a high gloss. I like these, they are just very ameture looking. I'd like to perfect my craft a bit.
So hopefully, in another 24 -48 hours, the 50's retro necklace will be done and I can post some pictures of it!
I had a lot of fun making these plastic resin pendants this weekend. The only down fall on these is that they were time consuming. It took a full 24 hours for each layer of resin to dry, plus the ones that were handpainted in between layers, needed extra time for the paint to dry. But I had alot of fun making them and they turned out kind of fun!
In the photo you can see the finished ones with blue backgrounds. I did some with yellow backgrounds as well, but the resin I tinted yellow is taking longer to dry, so I was not able to get them out of the mold yet. Some of them I will put onto ribbon and give away as necklaces, the two that are "Christmas lights" will be made into a fun pair of earings. I had alot of fun with these, but now that I know how they turn out, and I've learned a few tricks, I plan to make some more "snazzier" ones!
When I was making them, I put items that I was inserting into them, into the colored background, and I've learned that I should have put them into the clear front part to give it more of a 3-D effect. I did this on the top right one and it worked out much better than some of the others. I also want to try to do some that are all clear, but have a fabric back, with a clear layer of resin over the fabric. I think those will turn out really neat and I might start those today, if I can find some neat things to insert into them.
I am also in the middle of trash to treasuring a step ladder to use as an end table in my living room. I have painted it to match my living room and plan on putting some "cushions" on the steps just to jazz it up a little. I should have it done in a few days, and I was sure to take before pictures for comparision!
I also accidentally stumbled upon another project. While I was decopaging fabric onto the jewlery box I was making, I decided after the top was dry, that I didn't like it. So I pryed the fabric off of it, to start over, and the stiffened fabric actually made an eye catching, sun catcher! So that is another project I am going to work on today. I am going to pick up some red and green fabric, and make some stiffened fabric wreaths to put into my windows. I'm really excited about them, becuase I have 4 big windows in the front of my house and I have never been able to find x-mas decor for the windows, and I think I have finally found my solution. So as I finish these projects, I will certainly be posting pictures of how cute they turned out...or how horrible they turn out. We'll have to wait and see!
Well, I am off to the fabric store to pick up some essentials, then start some new projects! Hubby is back to work after taking a week of, and my son is back in school. So I can finally get back to a normal schedule and start crafting peacefully again! : )
These photos are a charcoal drawing that I finished today. This one isn't actually for the Holidays, this one I'll be keeping for myself! The original black and white photo was taken of my hubby's and first son's hands, when my son was a baby 6 years ago!
These are a few of the handbags that I have made for the ladies in the family. I have several more, but just thought I would post a few that I already had photos loaded for!
This project was done in pastels and is for my hubby's Grandma. She is a collector of Rowe Pottery and even has a Rowe Pottery border in her kitchen, so I thought this would be a fun one to do, and I thought it would go great in her kitchen!
So, there are a few of the completed projects that I have. I have many more in the works, and have a bunch that I plan to include the kids in...so I will be posting more as I finish them prior to the holidays!