I love doing mini collage bezel pendants with Ice Resin.  I learned this technique from Jen Cushman – who was the teacher for the classes at The Queen’s Ink in my last blog post.  Here are some I made in Jen’s class at Bead & Button in Milwaukee as well as a few I made in my studio.

“Green Parrot” – Art Mechanique hobnail bezel, Iced Enamels (chartreuse & torched copper), vintage images and book paper, metal flower (old post earring).

“L’amour Francais” – Art Mechanique large heart hobnail bezel, Iced Enamels (Carnelian & Ivory), Iced Enamels Inclusions German Glass Glitter (sky blue), vintage images  & book paper, vintage watch gears, old jewelry pieces. Links made of black onyx, stone, crystal and paper mache beads made on ParaWire Vintaj Arte Metal black wire.

“Royal-Vauxhall” – Rue Romatique oval bezel, Iced Enamels (turquoise & ivory), postage stamp image and words, scrapbook transparency image,  vintage watch gears. Attached to knotted leather cord necklace with bronze metal fibers (class taught by Susan Lenart Kazmer).

“Steam Song” – Bird on Branch bezel from The Enchanted Gallery, handmade Indian papers, script scrapbook paper, tiny black onyx bead, vintage watch gears. Necklace made from chunky chain and links of cherry quartz and glass beads.

Check out the Ice Resin blog for inspiration, tips, techniques and tutorials.  I’ve found lots of videos on YouTube as well.

Elizabeth

Druzy stones are all the rage, but they can be pricey and don’t come in the shapes or colors you may want. How to create the druzy look you want? Combine Ice Resin with glass glitter and you get a stunning focal piece that looks like a druzy. This heart focal was originally created for a contest in which I had to create several pieces using different Ice Resin techniques. Once the contest was over, I wanted to do something different with this piece. And I have a dear friend who loves druzy stones. Why not an original piece just for her?

The pendant was made by mixing an aqua green glass glitter into Ice Resin, then filling a small Art Mechanique hobnail heart bezel with the mixture. The glass glitter is chunky, so when the resin is set, it sticks out of the bezel in all directions, like the crystals in a real druzy.  I added a butterfly cut from an orphan post earring.

The colors were just right to combine with some rectangular African “turquouise” (a type of jasper) I had in my stash as well as some silver mesh covered beads and chunky gunmetal chain. I can’t wait to visit her soon and see her wearing it.

I have decided to try my hand at entering online challenges. What are they? Usually, a designer, manufacturer or retailer posts a contest on their blog challenging their readers to create a project. The challenge may either be to use a certain product or tool; or to create within a specified theme. Tim Holtz has challenged readers of his blog to make something using his Tattered Florals die from Sizzix.

Now, I am an out-of-the-closet Sizzix addict. I have a large number of these wonderful die cutting tools and was trying to curb my addiction when Tim Holtz began designing for the company. His tattered florals dies is the second one I purchased (the first was the Fanciful Flight butterfly). So, thankfully, I didn’t have to go out and purchase a new die. Now, what to make and with what?

Let’s make this harder – try to tie in this challenge with the contest being sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabrics to Create with 8. Choose only 8 craft supplies (from a list of 20) and make a project using those 8 and only those 8. I looked over the list – chose and deleted from my 8; and finally came up with these supplies to use

• unpainted wooden letter
• acrylic paints
• cork tiles or rolls
• felt
• wooden beads
• buttons
• scrapbook embellishments
• net or tulle

Here is my completed project

The large wooden letter “B” was painted with acrylic paint and then sanded along the edges to distress it somewhat.  I used the tattered florals die to cut the cork and printed felt.  The die cuts four different sizes and shapes of flowers. Since I wanted extra small flowers available, I cut small pieces of the felt just big enough to cover that part of the die. I didn’t end up using the small pieces, but they can go on another project.

Cork and felt flower pieces are laid out to see which way they look best.

One of the cork flowers broke when I picked it up so I tore off the petals, painted them with lime green acrylic paint, and attached them to the back of a button which was highlighted with banana yellow and bright pink paint.  I added the largest of the flowers in both felt and cork and used yellow thread to sew all the layers together.

I attached some light pink and light blue nylon tulle to the bottom left of the letter, then attached the flower.  Underneath, I wired on some charms made from colored wooden beads and scrapbook embellishments.

At the top of the letter, I made a hanger from simple loop links of wooden beads, attached to the back of the letter.  I had a wood bird bead that I wanted to add – another charm was made with it and a few colored beads.  I wanted to hang this on the front of the letter, so I wired it on, but didn’t like the look of the wire on the front.  I grabbed my Atlas saw (a gift years ago from an aunt who worked at Atlas – a maker of toy trains) and cut one of the wood beads in half.

I attached this with Ranger’s Glossy Accents and set it aside to try.  I’m not very patient and normally would have probably messed with it, but it was time for dinner, so it was allowed to dry overnight. The bird hangs quite nicely now and the wire is camouflaged.

Now, pink is not normally my color but I am pleased with how this turned out. And the project was completed in time (Tim’s deadline is tomorrow, and Jo-Ann’s is the end of the month). Now – what will be my next challenge?