Goodnight Irene

Last week started with an earthquake and ended with hurricane, floods, and tornadoes.  I'd rather not have another week like that, thank you very much.

These are photos of Chester Creek, much higher than usual, much browner than usual.  We miraculously escaped any real damage at our home, but I wish I could say the same for others that needed to evacuate, or lost their homes, and in some cases, lost loved ones.  Glorious weather can bring us such joy, but weather can also be so cruel. 

The above is not actually Chester Creek at all, just some land nearby that only looks like a creek at the moment. 

I don't remember what this tree looked like before the storm, so this may not all be from the hurricane.  I'm calling it "yoga tree", because I would like to be so flexible that I could bend in this position.  If you click upon it, you should be able to see more details of the contortionist tree.

Violet in Chains

Violet matte pinched ovals, violet charms, violet chain.  Violet much?  I added almond colored pearls to the mix.  I think this has an updated Victorian look to it.  Pretty much all the components are from the Cousin Corp. , a brand sold in local craft stores.  They've recently come out with some new charms and pendants, which have piqued my curiosity.  I've found the widest selection of this brand at my local A. C. Moore store.

This necklace took a couple of tries.  I originally thought I would put the charms and pendant directly on the chain, but it didn't sit right.  Then I changed my tactics, and made the main necklace with the charms and pendant as the center focal, and strung the matte pinched ovals with pearls on either side.  I then attached two strands of their violet chain to the clasp area.  That seemed to work out much better.

Blue Glitter Resin Pendant

Here I've used a heart frame purchased from Auntie's Beads.  It is quite deep and lends itself to some dimensional work.  Along with Ice Resin, I used both microbead glitter and flakey glitter in a similar blue shade, and then stuck in a brassy golden key charm.  The surface texture is bumpy, you can feel the glitter and charm in 3d.

You can see the depth of the frame more clearly here.

I wanted the resin pendant to be the main attraction here, so I strung various complimentary seed beads for the strand.  If you look closely (or click for closeup), you will see I used Miyuki 5/0 triangles in a matte bronze from Red Panda Beads.  I like to have several different shapes, sizes, textures, and colors in my designs, and when I discovered her triangle beads, I was thrilled!  I'll definitely be heading back for more of those. 

Resin Peonies

I recently purchased a mold from Mold Muse on Etsy.  It is a large peony shape, and I have been experimenting in making some resin shapes from it.  Above I used a black color with iridescent glitter.

 This is the mold.  You can see how crisp the details are.  Once cured, the resin pops out instantly.

Here I made the peony in a sheer golden color. 

Then I accented the petal edges with gilders paste.

Here is a peony using microbead glitter first, then some colored resin, and some clear resin after that.

 This one has golden microbead glitter, some blackish resin, combined with sheer golden resin. 
I haven't used the peonies in anything yet, but I think they might be good for a necklace focal, or perhaps used in a hair fascinator.  I'm definitely interested in getting some more of these molds.  I have made some of my own molds in silicone putty, but they don't have this kind of clarity.  I believe these molds may be used with other media, including chocolates (yum!), so if you are feeling artsy too, you might want to check out their shop.

Turquoise Necklace with Square Focals

I made this necklace some time ago for my personal collection.  The focal beads are puffed squares of a turquoise composite, purchased at Aunties Beads.  I've used glass beads in complimentary colors of turquoise, tan, and silver to complete the necklace.  This is one of my favorite pieces and I wear it often.