The Colours of Nature

Do you ever get in one of those moods where you just don't want to stop playing? You know the kind, when you get on a roll and just don't want to stop. Well, having been deprived of creative time over the last couple of weeks, tonight I really felt like making up for lost time.

With the tedium of the end of financial year now behind me, I was happy to pull out my resin supplies to do some casting. Not only did I cast and finish a couple of bangles, but I also had time to experiment with surface finishes. And here's the results:

The first one is inpired by the lush greenery of the tropical rainforest.

The depth of colour in this bangle is amazing. The shades of light and dark greens and blues play well off each other.

The second bangle is inspired by the brilliant blue ocean, with white capped waves crashing over the coral reef. It's called Pacific Blue.

The addition of brown to the blues adds a nice contrast.

I was on a roll by this time and I had colour combinations swimming around in my head but alas the resin won't cure fast enough so look out for those ideas in my next post. I can't wait until tomorrow night!

Treasures from the Bead and Gem Show

As I mentioned in my last post, there hasn't been a lot of time for creativity over these last couple of weeks. But I did manage to squeeze in a day at the Brisbane Bead and Gem show over the weekend. My wonderful daughter was able to come and share the fun with me and we had a lovely day, scouring the stands for treasures.Most of this lovely lot of loot came from Crystal Park. How pretty it all looks bundled together!

Did you notice all the beautiful rose gold findings amongst the silver and gold? I love rose gold..... it suits my skin tone much better than yellow gold but it's not easy to find so I stock up whenever I see it. Crystal Park carries a great range of rose gold charms and findings. So if you're like me and you prefer rose gold, you should try and make it into their shop at Browns Plains. I highly recommend them.

This assortment of goodies came from a variety of retailers: All About Beads, Bohemia Beads, My Little Bead Shop and Crystal Park.

Of course, this wasn't the only bit of loveliness that we brought home with us. I spotted a beautiful lampwork bead that had my name written all over it along with some coordinating handmade glass beads. And I couldn't leave the show without some Swarovski's - just love that bling!

I also added an anvil and hammer to my tool collection - I've long wanted both of these items so I was really pleased to find a special offer on them. I would have loved a jewellers saw too but that will have to wait until another time. In the meantime I will continue using my flush cutters to separate jump rings.

I really love going to shows like these - apart from the wonderful eye candy that the rows and rows of bead strands provide, I find it very tantalising to scoop your hands into bowls of beads and select a few treasures!

Masquerade!

This week has seen the end of the financial year come around and there has been no time in my schedule for play - I've been getting rather fidgety without my regular fix of creativity! And even though today is Saturday, I had a full schedule of classes, so there was still no time for play.

But....... tonight I'm off to a Masquerade ball and I don't yet have a mask to wear.

Now normally, this would have been enough to send me into a panic, but tonight, I am cool, calm and collected because when I arrived home after my classes today, my wonderful husband had a very basic silver mask waiting for me - perfect for the dress I am planning to wear.

But with just 10 creative minutes in hand, there was just enough time tizzy up the mask before we had to leave for the ball.

First step........ raid my stash for some basic items that I think will work with the dress I have chosen to wear: a smoky blue jersey sheath. I chose some white paper flowers, some fabric flower sprays and a sheet of adhesive rhinestones.

Step 2 - arrange the flowers along the top of one side. Layer smaller flowers for texture and add rhinestones in each centre.

Step 3 - Tape the fabric flower sprays in place along the inside edge of the mask so they drape nicely and then cut away the excess wire.

Not bad! It all came together in just a few minutes and it worked really well with my dress.

My wonderful husband also bought me a lovely grey, pleated wrap to drape around my shoulders as the wind has been very breezy in Brisbane the last few days and the nights have become very chilly.

OK, I'm set...... we're off to the Masquerade!

What to do with all those demo samples?

Hmmm............. make more jewellery of course!

So here's today's eye candy - a bracelet, a necklace and a cuff.

Making simple, strung bracelets is one of my favourite ways to make up twisted beads. It only takes the addition of a few glass and metal beads to turn the Friendly Plastic beads into something special. This one is called Spicy Tango.
Daisy Chain was a little more difficult to create. The colours I'd marbled together were so different to my usual colour palette that it was challenging to find suitable findings to work with it. In the end I chose a daisy shaped filigree stamping which complemented the flower shape perfectly. The Swarovski crystal in the centre is a headpin which is threaded firstly through a bead cap, then the daisy filigree and finally, the Friendly Plastic flower. It's sandwiched between the front and back layers and then it becomes the bail. I'm very pleased with the way it came together.

And the last piece for today is pretty gold, pink and burgundy. These colours are so ME!

Burgundy Daisy Cuff

I marbled these colours together with a plastic afro comb - you know the kind... with thick, plastic tines. I coated it with cooking oil first because as you might have guessed, plastic sticks to plastic. The afro comb produced very deep channels but that worked really well with this colour combination as it exposed the pink base of the orange/gold stick.

I used an eye pin to connect all the layers together and wired it through the holes in the cuff, tucking it neatly back and forth to secure. A couple of little beads attached to the eye pin of the glass pearl add movement and finish it off nicely.

I still have plenty more sample pieces to play with so who knows what might turn up on my blog next. There are still marbled alphabet letters and textured pieces that I haven't even touched and these could yield interesting results, so stayed tuned for a later instalment.

Calling all crafty Fashion Divas

Love the look of fabulous resin jewellery? Want to learn all the ins and outs of how to cast your own resin bangles? Want to make your own unique, one of a kind pieces of resin jewellery? Then this 3 hour hands-on workshop might be just the thing for you.

It's not too late to book into the next resin workshop held at Mill Lane Studio in Brisbane this Saturday morning. There are still a couple of places available if you'd like to learn the basics of resin casting and bangle making. Packed full of information, this beginners workshop guides you through all the basics of mixing, pouring and finishing your bangles so that they are ready to be worn home at the end of the workshop and all materials and moulds are yours to keep so that you can continue casting at home.Check out my website: Mill Lane Studio for further information and to make a booking.

Marbled Eye Candy

Now the Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo is done and dusted I've begun to turn some of those demo samples into finished pieces so it's eye candy time! All the pieces below are made using the marbling technique and are cut out with cookie cutters. All pieces (except for the first piece) have been covered in resin for durability.

The first is a simple marbled piece which I cut into a triangle shape using a cookie cutter. I've folded a long brass filigree flourish around the front and back and secured it firmly in place. The folded section of the filigree acts as a bail and the addition of a couple of sparkly Swarovski crystals adds a nice touch of glamour.

Triangle Scroll Pendant

Here's a silver version using a filigree bail attached to the front of the triangle. The necklace is made up of twisted silver tubes threaded on tiger tail and finished and with a crystal teardrop.

Triangle Teardrop

This heart shaped piece is assembled using a Swarovski crystal headpin to secure the layers together. I've turned it into a bail and wrapped the tail of the headpin around itself to make it really secure and then covered it with a silver bead cover. You can see this technique in a tutorial on my website, Mill Lane Studio. The heart and tiny word charms are from the Plaid Fresh jewellery line. I've dangled a few crystals from the bail to add a little more colour.

Heart of Mine

This triptych piece is also made using the Plaid Fresh line. The silver metal enhancer makes a nice frame for the three rectangles which are joined together with tiger tail running through the middle and Swarovski crystals in between. The brushed silver bird and tiny word charms add some nice interest to the rectangles with a few Swarovski crystals for bling.

Believe Pendant

And the final piece is my favourite - I really love the contrast of the colours. This is a simple piece with just a marbled rectangle for the base, a bird charm from the Fresh range and some crystals for bling.

Bird on a Wire

Well I hope you've enjoyed today's eye candy. I have many more marbled pieces to make up but they will have to wait for another day!

Scrapbook Expo Demos

Day 2 of the Scrapbook Expo has already been and gone and I've been kept very busy teaching Friendly Plastic workshops and demoing on the Stamp Antics stand. Even though Friendly Plastic has been around since the '80s, lots of paper crafters are seeing it for the first time and are really excited by this "new" medium. It has been a huge hit with the crafters who have stopped by the stand and Stamp Antics have almost sold out of all the stock they had. But rest assured, there is more on the way.

I thought I'd share with you samples of the simple techniques I've been demoing to whet your appetite.

Firstly, impress your friends with this gorgeous texture - stamped with rubber stamps or impressed with Krafty Lady Texture Mats and using a frypan as the heat source - gorgeous! These pieces will probably be turned into "Tile Jewellery" so watch out for what I do with them in later posts.

Next, marbling with the marbling comb. This is such a fun technique and it has that real WOW factor when you see it happen before your eyes. It's like the first time you watched someone emboss with gold embossing powder - it really gets you hooked!

From those marble sheets, I cut all sorts of shapes including these fun alphabet letters which would look great on a scrapbook layout or a card front. Or turn them into a fun name tag for your next craft retreat or convention.
And I couldn't go past demonstrating how to make my "Beads with a Twist". This is a heatgun technique using a skewer to wrap a base strip around with some thin strips of Friendly Plastic laid across the surface and then twisted - surprisingly easy when you know how!
These pieces are destined for a bracelet I think.

I also demonstrated Liz Welch's flower technique and shared my technique for making hearts like the ones featured in my jewellery entry "Sweethearts for my Sweetheart", in the recent AMACO challenge......

and also the butterflies which made up my "Butterflies in Flight" entry.Tomorrow, I'll also be demoing how to mould with Friendly Plastic using Krafty Lady art moulds as well as all the techniques above, so stop by the Stamp Antics stand and pick up some tips on how to work with Friendly Plastic.