Or maybe inspiration by fluke.

A found object with its red, white and blue stripes, looked French to me an thus, a pendant was born on my workbench.

Hmmm what a cool idea for a medal inspired piece, the corset clasp just added to it, and by turning the stick bezel corner wise it just all came together.

Here is a close up of the dangle. It is made with a hobnail  tassel bezel.

Jen Crossley

A Mark in Time

p.s. Your challenge today is to look around your own studio for a found object that inspires you to shout out about your creativity!

Adore women with fearless, delightful style?

Fond of hats?

Have an ICE Resin filled bezel that is just waiting for the perfect place to be showcased?

You have come to the right Zine.

One of the most fun things about having a design team is giving each individual an assignment and seeing what they imagine, or in this case, re-imagine.

Remember Susan M. Walls’ “Snarky Princess and her Ladies in Waiting”, those oh so expressive faces captured in bottle caps, embellished with crowns and wings, from a January post?

Wellm we asked her to make a video where she incorporated them into a project. Susan delivered us something to to behold!

A darling Mini Top Hat.

Cue Drumroll!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whew! That was fast and fun!

Need more? Check out her website: Susan’s Art Circus

The box spilled out with so many creative blanks but the first one my minds eye saw were the dog shapes.

Seeing that my family owns probably the goofiest, oddest animal on the planet, I immediately decided he needed some of his own jewelry. The best part is the pieces resemble him! Plus we love him and giving bling shows love, right? Right!

Susan M Walls

Materials & Tools:

My Dog – Tyler the canine model!

Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Dogs One, MB6-005

Media Mixage rectangle shapes

Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Hearts Two Bezels – Bronze, MB2-006

Iced Enamels™ in Ivory and Turquoise and Ivory Relique Powders

Iced Enamels™ Gold and Silver Glitz

Laser printed photo

Vintage dictionary and word ephemera

ICE Resin®

Key chain finding

Rhinestones

Various jump rings

Craft cup and stir stick

Spellbiders Artisan X-plorer Machine, MMM-001

Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Rectangles One Dies, MD1-003

Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Hearts Two Dies, MD1-010

Iced Enamels™ Medium plus application brush

Art Mechanique Paper Sealant

StazOn inkpad in black

Heat gun

Ceramic tile or other heat resistant surface

Blank paper, a couple pieces

Letter stamps

Needle nose pliers

Dremel or other drilling tool

Instructions:

1. Gather all your Media Mixage pieces, Iced® Enamel colors , enamel medium, heat gun, heat resistant tile, and a piece of paper.
2. Use the Spellbiders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine to cut your photograph with the Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Hearts Two Die (makes the perfect size, no guessing).
3. Seal photo into the Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Hearts Two Bezel with paper sealant, underneath and on the top of the paper. Be sure to seal into the edges.
4. Use the Spellbiders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine with the Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Rectangles One Dies to cut a piece of metal flashing.
5. Stamp the words “my humans” on a piece of paper with StazOn Ink, cut them out, and seal/glue on the bezel in the same manner as the photo.
6. Paint the enameling medium on the tops of each blank to be enameled then sprinkle the enameling powder over your pieces and over a piece of paper (the paper saves any over sprinkling so you can pour it back into the container for another creative session!). I used Turquoise Relique for the dog, Ivory Relique with Gold and Silver Glitz for the dog shape with the cutout belly, and Ivory for the bone.
7. Place your pieces on the tile, then using your heat gun and angling from the side, begin to heat your pieces. As the metal heats up you can bring the heat gun to the top of the piece. Be careful! You’re metal will get hot! You will see the powder change from matte to shiny as it melts. Continue until you’ve done them all. (If you missed any spots or want to put another color next to or on top of what you’ve done repeat the process.)
8. Stamp the name of your pet onto the dog shape as shown.
9. Mix ICE Resin® per manufacturer instructions.
10. Paint ICE Resin® onto the top of your shapes. Use the resin as an adhesive and add rhinestone eyes to the blanks. Add the bone to the rectangle shape.
11. Use the craft stick to drip ICE Resin® into the bezel until desired dome forms. Also paint a thin coat of resin over your words.
12. Allow 6 to 12 hours to fully dry.
13. Drill holes and hang on keychain finding with jup rings.
14. Attach to your dog collar and take your stylin’ dog for a walk to show of his or her new bling!

Next I hammered copper wire , flattened the ends to mimic leaves and etched veins in them, followed by a patina.

Finished with a real leaf coated in ICE Resin® and protected with a clear coat.

JoMama Jones

BLOG

Vermeer’s painting inspired me to design my own “pearl earring”, and it’s how the lovely chandelier pair came to be. The new and ever so lovely Rue Romantique line provided just what I needed to bring the pair to life and required so little technique…just a little wire, pearls and love was all it took.

Supplies: 2 Rue Romantique Small Daisy-Diamond (brass), 38 small freshwater pearls, 20g wire, 8 headpins, 6 daisy flower spacers – and standard jewelry pliers.

How To: I start by wire wrapping a loop to the Rue Romantique Daisy-Diamond, string on 4 pearls and a spacer and continue until I reach the 16th pearl & finish off the with a wire wrapped loop to the daisy-diamond. With three headpins and three pearls, create three dangles and attach to the bottom of the Daisy-Diamond. With the 4th headpin, create the ear wire dangles. Best to watch the video here on Tech Tuesdays by yours truly to pick up this technique for making ear wire dangles. Repeat the process & you’ll have a very glamorous pair of pearl chandeliers fit for a princess.

Lexi Grenzer

The Shabby Calavera

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy Tuesday!

You can learn more about Jen on her blog, A Mark in Time.

I just love mixing patinas with sweet girly images, sparkly crystals and of course rhinestones! It seemed a shame not to use a patina in this project, as I opted to texture the blanks with the lovely Gate Works texture plates. I find that when working with textures, it’s a must to add a patina, whether black, turquoise or rusty red, it help to bring out all the intricate design elements of an emboss or etched piece. And lets not forget that it’s just flat out pretty!

You can find out more about the Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Line HERE.

Supplies:

Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Frames One MB6-001

Gilders Paste: Patina

Ledger Paper & Transparencies

Chain & Earring Wires

Art Mechanique Mini Nuts & Bolts

Tools:

Spellbinders®  Artisan X-plorer™ Machine MM1-001

Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Texture Plates Grate Works MT1-003

Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Frames One Dies MD2-001

Sandblock or Sandpaper

Ball Peen Hammer & Bench Block

Instructions:

Click here to view the embedded video.

1) Grab two packs of Frames One blanks and remove all four of the little frames.

2) Take the two that look like mini frames and place on top of the Gate Works Two texture plate and appropriate shims/acrylic plates for the Artisan X-Plorer machine – go ahead and emboss these by running through the machine.

3) Following the instructions on the Gilders Paste, apply single or multiple colors to acheive desired patina & allow to dry. Once dry, sand off excess to preferred look

4) With the Artisan X-Plorer & Frames One Dies, die cut ledger and transparencies in the mini size. As you can see, I chose two different images that worked well together – it’s fun when things aren’t too matchy matchy.

5) Sandwich the ledger & transparencies between the embossed/patina’d frame and the back of the frame. With a sturdy metal hole punch, punch holes in all four corners.

6) With mini nuts & bolts or rivets, secure just the two bottom holes on each set – you are putting the nuts & bolts through the first metal frame, through transparency, through ledger and lastly out through the backside of the metal frame. This will secure all layers and give a nice clean look to you design.

7) Any excess bolt can be cut with sturdy wire cutters. And each bolt/rivet should be hammered down to a smooth finish.

8) With the two top holes, you will attach chain & earring wire.

~ Now you’re ready to wear your lovely patina’d earrings! Lexi Grenzer

p.s. You can also discover Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders®  Media Mixáge™ Line at JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores.

Materials:

ICE Resin®

Bezel Bracelet

Photos

Impress Art Metal stamps – Newsprint

Silver flower beads

Connie Crystals in 3 sizes

Silver foil tape

Silver head pins, jewelry pliers

Instructions:

1. Measure bracelet blank openings to determine photo size.

2. Print 6 photos and trim to fit.  Mount inside first six bracelet blanks.

3. Follow manufacturer instructions to use metal stamps to stamp initials and date of birth onto metal foil tape.  Insert into last bracelet blank.

4. Add flower bead to 3 of the photos.

5. Mix ICE Resin according to instructions an fill each blank.  Let cure.

6. Mount assorted crystals on silver head pins, use jewelry pliers to add to spaces between each photo, allowing to dangle loosely.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there!

Cindi Bisson

Behind These Eyes

The inspiration for this piece came from this beautiful piece of wood. My husband fished this piece out of a stream in Colorado. I knew wanted to use it in a mixed media piece but did not want to cover the beautiful texture. The cast ICE Resin® bird and wire/paper nest was the perfect accent!

Supplies:
ICE Resin®

Art Mechanique 2 part molding compound

Gilders Paste

Art Mechanique Bronze Wire and Resined Paper

Bird Figure

Instructions:
Create bird using 2 part molding putty and casting it in resin. Using gilders paste, create a surface patina.
I used 14 G wire to create a semi circle. I wove 18 G wire around it to create a nest, I left 1/4 inch of the 14 G wire on either side to attach it to the board.

Spring has arrived!

Sandy Martin

Sweet Pea Jewelry blog

This is a mixed media memory flower sculpture made with an old tin funnel, some old galvanized wire, an antique butter pat, an old family photo of a woman in a garden, some ephemera cut from an old hymnal, and some rhinestone trim.

First you will need to cut your photo down to size to fill the center ring of a ceramic butter pat. Then glue it in using Art Mechanique paper sealer, also at this time glue in the ephemera caption. Use E-6000 to glue in the rhinestones and let dry. Next mix and pour the ICE Resin® and let dry. While it dries you can work on twisting the wire for the stem and leaves, the more you wrap the more sturdy the piece will be. Once the ICE Resin® is dry you can bend the wire around the edges of the butter pat and wire it to the stem you created.

Thespoena McLauglin

Vintiquities Workshop