It’s springtime…a time of new beginnings. All around me I’ve been hearing faint chirping sounds coming from the baby birds nestled high up in the treetops. One determined mama even managed to build her nest in the rafters of the indoor building where I play tennis! When I go to serve, I can hear her babies cheering me on to victory or at least reminding me that the long damp winter is over and the promise of a warm summer is just around the corner.

I encased the letters N-E-S-T in resin and wired them onto blue satin ribbon.

I created a “nest” using wire “twigs”, blue pearl “eggs” and a cage bezel and used a hook clasp to hang it from the ribbon.

I finished the piece with another hook clasp and a pearl “egg” dangle. Supplies can be found online at www.ICEResin.com  – ICE Resin®, White Bronze Cage Tassel Bezel, Set of Four Tiny Square White Bronze Hobnail Bezels, One Pair of White Bronze Hook Closures, Blue Satin Ribbon, Copper Wire,

More ideas can be found on my blog. I’d love to have you stop in for a visit!

Click here to view the embedded video.

While an open back bezel might seem like a bit of a challenge or even a mystery I am happy to share that there really is an easy way to create a faux backing. With a little packing tape, a bone folder and of course ICE® Resin a masterpiece can be created in a wee amount of time. Take a peek and then go CREATE.

Quick Tip: For an added bit of flare and history I created a mass of bubbles within my resin and let it sit for about 10 minutes I then whipped it again and poured this will allow a bit of the bubbles to remain suspended within the resin – the result a luscious layer of resin that resembles Victorian glass panes. To learn more about this technique pick up my book Tales of Adornment.

As a child my mom encouraged my creativity and let me make a big mess.

As an adult, when I felt blue my mom would nudge me in the direction of action: “Get up and put your lipstick on. Go outside.” Or “Better put your lipstick on—you’re going to be facing the world.”

Thanks Mom!

The ICE Queen's friend the Crafty Chica made these pendants! (c) 2012

Fun workshops, exciting workshops, workshops were people met new friends, workshops where people embraced dear friends, but most especially, workshop where people had enormous fun falling in love with crafting Mexican Shrines—we bet the stops in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta were pretty exciting too!

ICE Resin® was proud to be one of the sponsors of this 6^th annual event!

(c) 2012 The Crafty Chica

Kathy writes:  “We get a lot of mother/daughters, grandmothers/mothers/granddaughters, husbands/wives; brothers/ sisters, best friends from different parts of the country. We get people who are venturing out on a solo adventure. I’ve had people come in honor of a loved one who passed away. I’ve had people come BY ACCIDENT who thought it was a scrapbooking cruise! They left the ship with a love of Mexican shrines!”

The rest of the pictures are just a click away.

Kathy is an absolute delight!

Copyright 2012 Maggie Zee

It was made by Maggie Zee out of a35 million year old ammonite,  an antler tip that was shed by a deer, an ancient Saharan quartz bead (7,000 years old), vintage rhinestones, citrine and carnelian beads, and Ice Resin® filled bronze bezels.

Maggie’s intention when she makes jewelry is protection and empowerment.

She writes: “I’ve been following Susan’s work for quite a while and was playing around with Ice Resin® in some cheap shallow bezels I had bought to use in the amulet charm bracelets I make. When I got comfortable enough with the material, I ordered the big open backed round bezel and the smaller square and triangular ones. The round bezel has six different layers: there’s a skeletonized leaf, a lunaria seed pod, a piece of a Godiva chocolate gold foil wrapper, a vintage button and sequins, a watch gear, and a piece of artemesia vulgaris root. Artemesia is used in dream pillows. I used materials that for me have associations with the ancestors and animal spirit guides. Wearing this necklace makes me feel enormously grounded.”

You can find out more about Maggie on her blog.

I’ve created this quick video to show you how ICE Resin® can enhance the color and protect the finish on rusty metal pieces. Once you’ve coated the pieces with resin and they have cured, they’ll be ready to use in your next jewelry or mixed media project.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Process for Coating the Metal with Resin:
1. Line your work surface with a plastic garbage bag.
2. Mix the resin according to package instructions.
2. Wearing latex gloves, use a small piece of cellulose sponge to apply the resin in a dabbing motion to the backside of the metal.
3. Flip the metal over and repeat to coat the topside.
4. Let the resin cure. Once the piece is cured it will be easy to remove without sticking to the plastic.

More info at:
iceresin.com
katalinajewelry.blogspot.com

My April birthday weekend was spent at the Oregon coast with great friends. The weather started out quite ugly and stormy, but once the clouds parted and the sun came out, the beach combing was phenomenal. I love to just walk in the sand and keep my eyes open for unique bits of nature washed ashore. Like many beachcombers, as my mind just wanders, I try to find the perfect heart-shaped stones, small pieces of drift wood, and the occasional treasure of sea glass.

On this jaunt, I found a flat, gray stone with striations of rust and cream; its tiny divots of porosity filled with bits of sand. Wet with ocean, the colors are so beautiful. Layer upon layer, I can only imagine the force it took to create all the wonderfully artistic stripes. To accentuate that detail, I’ve used just a bit of ICE Resin to add a heart-shaped area of “water” with the word “beauty” embedded in it.

With a length of wire wrapped over and around my rock, I’ve created a cage to forever capture beauty and the beach.  Layering ICE Resin upon stones adds a whole new meaning to re-purposing…. Stones. Bricks. Wood.  Just be inspired and experiment. You never know what you will come up with.

Stop by my blog and say hello.

Have an awesome week!

Susan

"Dark Heart of Steampunk" (c) Robin Delargy

I couldn’t help but focus on Robin Delargy’s “Dark Heart of Steampunk” and I like the way she turned her accident around!

She wrote on her flickr page:

“This started out as a raw brass heart from B’Sue, which I agreed to share when finished. The top heart was brass ox – both were darkened with Swellegant, then the top attached to the bottom via a riveted-on open back turtle setting and polished until it shined like the dickens – it looked rather like gunmetal, very cool. Except that the large blank front was bugging me, and there was a spot that didn’t patina well smack dab in the middle. I decided to put this old keyhole escutcheon I’d had laying around into the front, so I got out my dremel and carved out the hole. I don’t have the right bits and it’s a weakazz dremel knockoff, so it was a pain to do. Hubby thought I had ruined it for sure, oh he4 of little faith. Got that finished, re-patina’d, looked awesome – front finished, yay!”

“Turned it over, laid out the back (everything but the dragonfly, added at the end) and poured the resin… and totally forgot about the rivet holes, so the resin dribbled through and collected around the keyhole. I didn’t discover this until it had cured and I flipped it over. CRAP!!!!!”

“So… I resined the front too. The funny thing is that I actually like it this way! A series of goofs and it turned out pretty cool, I think. This one is for me, I’m calling it ‘The Dark Heart of Steampunk’. Now on to the necklace portion, which should be a bit easier as no resin is involved… I think.”

You can see what the finished necklace looks like on her blog, LooLoo’s Box. (Tha beetle gives me the shivers in a good way!)

I love nature’s melodious song of birds in the springtime.  Our family feeds the birds, collects bird houses, and discarded birds nests.   They are gathered on our screen porch to bring a bit of nature inside.  A combination of ICE Resin® treasures including Resin, Mica Sheets, a round Hobnail Bezel, and Flip Book: Belles Dames Francaise bring this mixed-media piece to life.

A pre-cut chipboard bird from Harmonie was embellished by removing the inner cut out piece, then covering with a sheet of paper from the Belles Dames Francaise flip book.  An craft knife was used to cut the paper from the open space to allow the light to shine through.  The bird was mounted to a Mica Sheet and as the paper chosen had a butterfly image I placed near the tail of the bird, a second butterfly was cut.  The bird was coated with ICE Resin®, allowing the resin to fill in the open space, and the second butterfly was coated with resin and mounted with it’s wings folded upward to add dimension directly over the butterfly on the bird.

Makin’s Clay® with a touch of Jacquard Pearl Ex, was used to create 3 small eggs which were coated with a thin layer of ICE Resin®.A round Hobnail Bezel was lined with paper from the Belle Dames Francaise flip book, then a thin layer of ICE Resin® was poured.  While wet, twigs were used to form the nest around the edges of the bezel.   The 3 eggs were placed into the center of the nest while the resin was still wet.  Once the nest was cured, the back of the bezel was also covered with the same paper and a thin layer of resin.  Jacquard Lumiere 3D Dimensional Metallic Paint & Adhesive was painted onto the mica sheet to cover the chipboard back of the bird. Leaf ribbon was used to tie the components together. Whether used as an accent on a favorite decorative birdhouse, or hung from a window to let the light shine through the mica and the center of the bird, it’s a unique mixed-media ode to the song birds of spring.  Tweetly preserved with ICE Resin® for lasting beauty.

Be sure to visit Cindi at her blog!