8/27/12

Rock Out With Your Bench Block Out

OK you sexy bitches, strap in for some more hardcore, balls-to-the-wall.... um... jewelry. Impossible to sound bad-ass when you're talking about jewelry.
The Human Night. Cosmic Rustic Dark Assemblage Bracelet with Sterling Crucifix, Iridescents and Raku Art Beads.
The Human Night.
This crucifix I've had since the Uruguay trip before this last one. Ermagha, you can't even tell but I've curved it.
The Human Night. Cosmic Rustic Dark Assemblage Bracelet with Sterling Crucifix, Iridescents and Raku Art Beads.
And you know what else? Pendants!Maid of Vast Distances. Cosmic Rustic Ephemera and Resin Pendant with Brass Protractor.
I've been resining up a storm, making myself nuts with it, finally realized most of what I made could just end there and be pendants. No need to further develop. Did happy dance.
Maid of Vast Distances. Cosmic Rustic Ephemera and Resin Pendant with Brass Protractor.
Maid of Vast Distances. Cosmic Rustic Ephemera and Resin Pendant with Brass Protractor.Back here? And the next one?

Cherub II. Cosmic Rustic Ephemera and Resin Pendant with Vintage Tobacco Advertisement.
These are from postcards I got on etsy advertising cigars. Dey sooooo prrrrdiiii.Cherub II. Cosmic Rustic Ephemera and Resin Pendant with Vintage Tobacco Advertisement.Cherub. Rustic Ephemera and Resin Translucent Pendant with Vintage Tobacco Advertisement.
Can you tell this one is translucent? Cuz I sanded/rubbed/chewed all the back paper off?
Cherub. Rustic Ephemera and Resin Translucent Pendant with Vintage Tobacco Advertisement.See?
RANDOM INTERMISSION!     
From comments:
"here's a fun fact for you: did you know that a wombats poop is square? Not sure about 'roo poo."
--alteredarcheology
Of course this meant I had to look it up. This led me to an article called The wombat's cubic poop is one of nature's weirdest superpowers on a very interesting on line journal of geekery called io9. ("Giant prehistoric krakens may have sculpted self-portraits using ichthyosaur bones" 'Dafuq?)Now I'm even more enamored of wombats, if only for their "enormous storage capacity" for poop. However, still looks like regular poop to me.
Other finds from io9. What happens when you play cypress hill through a squid fin:


And what it would sound like if DMX combined forces with Reading Rainbow. WARNING: this is really offensive and sez the n-word and my hubs thinks I should take it down.
My comment fave being:
 STOP. LOOK. SHUT 'EM DOWN OPEN UP A BOOK. - The Ruff Readerz Anthem
OK, I'll stop now. Back to pendants.
No More Than. Cosmic Gold Leaf Necklace with Indigo Druzy Slice and Teal Planets. Galaxy Nebula.
No More Than.
Finally fixed this one.  I know you were waiting with baited breath.
No More Than. Cosmic Gold Leaf Necklace with Indigo Druzy Slice and Teal Planets. Galaxy Nebula.
See da gold edge?Specimen. Amethyst Citrine and Jade Assemblage Pendant. Vintage Recycled Found Object Gemstone and Resin.
Specimen.
I feel like this is really a supply... er, a supply pendant. I mean, there's TWO loops. You can hang it with a dangle, you can put it on your wrist, it's totes up to you. You can scrub your toilet with it.
Specimen. Amethyst Citrine and Jade Assemblage Pendant. Vintage Recycled Found Object Gemstone and Resin.
But yeah, more resin! Had me a buncha set stones in no time. Well, in some time, but without bezel burnishing. Cuz ugh.
Maria. Antique Carved Medal and Brass Pendant. Religious Token.
Maria.
What would you call this style Mary is depicted in here? 50s cartooney?
Maria. Antique Carved Medal and Brass Pendant. Religious Token.I had this one bracelet up a while back that really wasn't working.
What's more, it wasn't selling- let's be honest here. So I done did this:
Always Forever. Rustic Pink Assemblage Bracelet Velvet Strawberry Ceramic Art Beads Resin Pendant..
Always Forever. Named because of a scrap of text on the back. I dunno.Always Forever. Rustic Pink Assemblage Bracelet Velvet Strawberry Ceramic Art Beads Resin Pendant..
From Uruhaul artbook. Had to do this one in several layers because I wanted thick resin and it kept just dripping right off. On the other hand, drippy resin can be cut off- it doesn't mean the piece is ruined. But I dunno.... I dunno about anything that requires this level of exactitude. I've been trying to cover little surface imperfections and get rid of shine in all sorts of ways. Buffing with steel wool leaves scratches, anything finer has practically no effect. On some I've put a coat of glaze adhesive so i could rub it and mess it up.
Also I find by the time you perfect the back, as so:
Or such:
You've screwed up the front, as thus:
And suchly:

 Also, I've permanently resined some items on to my glass table. That was an improvement from the floor where dog hair would always find it's way in despite any coverings.
< And then this kind of fun. Oh but it's addictive, no matter how much I mess up. 
Maria. Antique Carved Medal and Brass Pendant. Religious Token.Also, even though this medal was very thick, it had a concavity in back, so I resined it to a blank by setting the medal level in another theeng, and then setting the blank on top:
Dunno if that makes sense. Oh, and I made the ugliest pair of earrings I've ever seen:
Oh the awkward fugliness. But I thought I'd share so... you know.... you'd see how.... awesome it is to make fuglies. Or if you are one of those people who compare yourselves to me in a way unflattering to you.... then you'd see that yeah. I got some new goodies in the mail though so I'm still determined to make them awesome. It's my hot body! I do what I want!
Oh, I completely failed to realize while making the soldery guy that the cuff base was a scant 12.5" in length, so it needed a closure for the staying of the on.Cosmic Foam. Victorian Tribal Assemblage Choker with Citrine and Amethyst.
But it's really just another excuse to add more iridescence. What else? Oh, another attachment with resin:
But not even I can fool myself into thinking that's a completed pendant. And sales have been meh. Is it the economy? Is it that I've drunk the coolaid all you etsybitches have been serving and in actuality I've set the prices too high? Or do I have to just back the fuck up? And let things sell at their own rate? And stop blogging? Like right now?

8/22/12

 These above I have to re-work the round charms.
 I've been having earring diarrhea.
 These feature bracelet links given to me by anvil... wait I already told you about that.
My doc-diggety is lowering my brainpill dosage so I'm groggy right now. But it's the pill that always makes me blurry-headed, so the hoped-for outcome is less of this. Anywuh ... if I sound like I'm drooling down my chin, it's cuz I am.   
These are mis-matched-er than my usual mis-matched pairs.
As you can see, I'm still workin' the cosmic shimmer.
 Here's whatever happened to that soldery pendant.
And there's this one.


OMG! Finally remembered to tell y'all. This thing?How to End an Era. Long Gypsy Tribal Container Necklace.
How to End an Era.
Was a container given to me by Beads on Pie who also gave me some gorgeous horse hair. Thank you girl!
And these are all listed.
Querent. Chunky cosmic rustic victorian tribal assemblage choker.Querent.We are the Miracle. Cosmic Rustic Victorian Necklace with Galaxy Nebula.We are the Miracle. Queen of Heaven. Cosmic Gold Leaf Rustic  Soldered Stone Raw Citrine Queen Coin Pendant. Queen of Heaven. Victoria. Cosmic Golden Tribal Rustic  Soldered Stone Agate Slice Art Nouveau Pendant.Victoria.   Black Ruthenia. Leather Cuff with Antique Embelishments. Black Ruthenia.Behind the Veil. Assemblage Pendant with Vial and Verdigris. Behind the Veil.
I'm thinking of mailing some of my higher-end non-selling-forever necklaces to be published, because basically this post by Anvil Artifacts made me feel like I was being left out of the party. Go check out how my ladies are taking over the world.
Hand of Protection. Metaphysical Tribal Assemblage Necklace.In Flames. Tribal Gypsy Assemblage Necklace with Gemstones.
And no, stregata, I know you guys aren't all decked out in suits and pumps. But you're all weirdos like me. And thank you for ruining Uruhaul for me. And what is Uruk-Hai?So quisnam, embossing powder with nailpolish? More invo please. Just sprinkling it in? Heat gun/no heat gun? And what does any of that have to do with metal stitching? And do you recommend the book?
Gallery 13, starry iridescent lady is very starry and iridescent? Reminds me of:
And yes, I was also surprised that there was handmade nail polish- but then there's all kinds of novel things that you suddenly stumble upon on the internet only to find there's whole factions, sub-factions, movements and countermovements in the world of said novel thing.(This?)
Sparrow, show me a cheater's tool and I'll show you me using it. That was poetic, hu?
betweenreader ain't you just Rhymy Mcrhymersons today! Thanks for the vaseline on the bottle threads tip- that sounds awesome.

Flotsam, I don't know that it really does end neurons, it only feels that way. And surely not all are as noxious as these. In fact, if you look up low-odor nailpolish you'll proly find entire worlds with factions, sub-factions, countermovements and yeah.

"We represent the faction of head-splodingly cute mismatch shmanimals."
*Tilt*

8/17/12

Bloobidy Blop Blop

I've been having lighting issues. Well Chicago and the entire Midwest has been having lighting issues, I should say. 
 But I managed a couple pendants. I really tried to tone down that sharp yellow tone of indoor lighting, but oh well.
Another cosmic lady.

With lots of starry iridescent bits all about her.
So guess what? Yesterday I turned 38. I woke up this 'morning' at 3 o'clock with a hangover.
A sugar hangover. I'm not turning 21, sheesh.  I just got a lot of chocolate from mom and hubs.
 Yeah, I added verdigris to this and I don't think it was even worth the effort.
This one needed it more since the color of the gold leaf was just sitting there all lonely.
Here's a cuff I reworked from forever ago. I went in like a chump and erased all the background in this picture up here because it was all shadows. Oh the wasted hours of my life! (Sez the gal who woke up at 3. I wrote 'gal' instead of 'girl' because of how I just turned 38. But now I sound fucking western or something. And a 'woman' doesn't wake up at 3. She wears business suits with pencil skirts and sensible pumps.)
What else? Well, this, but I had trouble with the light agains.

Here's something but I'm having balance issues and need to re-work:
I thought I was making use of these amazing hands from my Uruhaul (thanks anvilartifacts for that one) only to realize they look insubstantial and chintzy with the over-sized beads.I'll figure something out.
I have more but see, I'm working on a top-secret project for a book I've been invited to be in... No, no. That sentence was just to boring to be allowed to continue. You'd much rather hear how I got the microglitters on the edge of this agate slice and that black tourmaline chunk below.
Well, it's a long and arduous process that first involves discovering a whole category of fun bits on etsy called "nail polish jewelry." 
Nail Polish Ring - Max Factor Fantasy Fire Nail Polish RingNail Polish Ring
Like this.                                                       This.                                                                           Or this.  
One thing I liked about the above is the listing mentioned the exact nail polish used. From which I learned about 'holographic' colors. Did an etsy search, ordered by price which led me to these awesome minis:
Midnights Rainbow Black Holographic Nail Polish - mini bottleShampayne Holographic Nail Polish - mini bottle From Enkelini
Now comes the really hard part. You have to unscrew the bottles (though not both at the same time!), take out the applicator top and shmear it all over da theeng. Try to keep up with me here. I'm saying you gotta do all this while making sure not to pass out from the smell you'd forgotten was neuron-endingly toxic. I mean, worse than uncapping two brand-new sharpies and sticking each high up into your nostrils then taping your mouth shut. Just saying.
Anyways, know when you're babbling and think you can salvage it into something funny but as you see the end looming you realize it's gonna fall flat? This is absolutely nothing like that.