Embossed Metal

Distressed Silver & Blue Tree Earrings & Necklace

I stumbled upon a new technique this week & I'm excited about the possibilities! I'd seen a similar look on etsy some months back and was wondering how it was done. Then, while shopping for crafts to occupy my kids, I saw new Vintaj Sizzix Embosslits & put 2 & 2 together.

I already had tons of stamping blanks & used those with the embosslits in my Big Shot to make earrings and pendants. Then, I painted with acrylics, distressed and sealed them with an acrylic spray.

Distressed Silver & Blue Owls

Patina Tree & Wind Tag Pendant

Patina Wind Earrings

Embossed Metal

Downton Abbey Scrabble Tile Pendants

I've been pretty busy (4 kids, chairing a gala, kitchen remodel, yada, yada) so haven't done too much new lately but like many of you, I caught the Downton Abbey bug and so created these new designs featuring the Dowager Countess at her best and other Downton Abbey-inspired sayings. Usually, I buy my graphic designs but this time, I had to create these myself because I couldn't find anything like them (well, maybe I borrowed a few of the sayings :) ).

Downton Abbey Scrabble Tile Pendants

Polymer Clay Jewelry

I know I haven't posted much this year but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy making new things! I've just been too busy I guess. Add in baby #4 and well, the blog takes a backseat.

This summer I decided I wanted to try stamping with polymer clay. I've never worked with polymer clay before so I spent a month just reading & figuring out what supplies to buy. Somehow I stumbled upon an ArtBliss jewelry/crafter meetup group and learned there's an ArtBliss jewelry workshop near Dulles twice a year. It was my good luck that the one in September offered a class in stamped polymer clay jewelry! AND I took a class on how to photograph my jewelry (better). You can let me know if you see any improvement :-)

I'm really excited about the possibilities this new medium offers. Here are some of the pieces I've made thus far: 

I used some spiral earrings to stamp into this pendant.

I made a mold from a really pretty button to make this pendant.

Used a good old acrylic stamp here.

Polymer Clay Jewelry

Breaux Vineyards Key West Festival!

One of the fun perks of having a craft business is the opportunity to discover new family events. Often I learn about fairs/shows from other vendors and this weekend I'll be at one that came highly recommended, the Breaux Vineyards Key West Festival, for the first time. They had me at "wine". :-)

Whether my husband might be willing to bring the kids to an event (& if the kids would like it!) is a major factor in deciding to do a show because I like it when they can get something out of it too. Yeah, I had my husband at "wine" too!

Located in Purcellville, this Festival has a laid-back Key West theme; come & enjoy wine tasting, kids' activities, craft & food vendors & live music in a beautiful venue!

Sat., July 16, 11am-6pm; tickets can be purchased from the vineyard's website: http://www.breauxvineyards.com/

Breaux Vineyards Key West Festival!

Retro Othello Pendant & Mini-Scrabble Earrings Set

Love this retro print!

How cute are these little mini-scrabble pieces??? They are about 1/2" square. I happened upon a travel game of Scrabble in a thrift store, came home & immediately bought three more sets off ebay (they don't make the wooden pieces in the travel games anymore). I'm also using them as simple initial charms too.

Made this charm bracelet for a customer at a craft fair this past Saturday.

Retro Othello Pendant & Mini-Scrabble Earrings Set

Patera Necklaces with Transfers

I've discovered a new product (for me) at Nunn Designs (where I get my premium supplies)--transfer sheets! These are really fun and easy to use--just punch or cut out, soak in water to separate the image from the backing paper and slip the image onto the surface of your pendant. For the antique copper pendant on the left, I first colored it with a pearlescent green chalk ink and heat set it. The transfers are translucent so the color shows through. Finally, I sealed them with my favorite resin. I won't be posting these in my store as I have a very limited supply but you can find them at one of my upcoming shows. :-)

Patera Necklaces with Transfers

Vintage Paperweight Bracelets

Latest designs--images from vintage paperweights made into bracelets! You can easily add your favorite charms to these chains too. I'd be happy to stamp an initial onto a small charm to personalize these.

Vintage Paperweight Bracelets