fear and resin

mary jane dodd

'play is the beginning of knowledge.'

~ unknown

just like you, i would often cringe at the thought of trying something new... the past two years have brought a change in that thinking though... in the scope of life's experiences, trying something new here pales in comparison to some of the things that we might have to adapt to...

and so as serious as i am about my work, i try to view my new ventures as play... experimentation... in fact, in the times of greatest chaos in my life, i will often leap towards a new technique or medium to try... it is grounding, makes me feel alive and is confidence building if for only having done something unknown...

resin is fun! do i groan because i like to be able to use most of the 1/2 ounce? yes... so i try to have lots of things to do with it when i sit down... if i am making paper drops or paddles, i want to have a lot of them - i despise throwing out unused product (that is how i hold myself up)...

if i do a big batch i also have pieces ready to work with in the future - which is nice...

this is the perfect medium if you love paper, words, old books...

a 'dr. seuss' challenge inspired this piece:

a calder challenge pushed me to try tinting it because i wanted to be able to evoke the colors and movement found in his 'blue feather' stabile...

you can fill pre made bezels or make them yourself... what i absolutely love about this product is how much you can do with it... make it shiny and colorful, use it with patterned papers, try it in molds...

here are some examples i found on etsy...

lil smile pendant by jade scott

drops of color earrings by ajc design

in my reading around in the blogosphere, i notice that resin is often mentioned as something that people have purchased but not tried... if this applies to you, i encourage you to give it a go... visit www.iceresin.com to learn about it... go to youtube and look for instructional videos by susan lenart kazmer and her team... it runs about $24 for the kit...

so go ahead and play!

and don't forget to enter april's call to create - inspired by your favorite song...

A perfect accessory for my little niece from Ruffles and Stuff

Hi everyone!

I've been checking out the net for an accessory that I can use for a wedding, something easy to make and super less expensive. I have a 5-year old niece, my cousin’s daughter and she’s very dear to me. She’s a flower girl at a wedding this coming April and her mom came to me, asking help if I can make an accessory for her little girl. The mom knows that I know how to make jewelry and she wanted something real cheap because they’ve already spent money for the gown. My niece is a favorite at weddings and since three she’s been attending weddings every year. She’s a cute little girl when she’s in her gown. Mom was requesting something her girl can wear every wedding so that she won’t have to buy every year.

So, I went over to Ruffles and Stuff because I know Disney has a lot of these stuffs “,)

Here’s what I’m going to make. I plan to make it in different colors so that my little niece has the colors for every wedding motif. What do you think? This will look good on little girls, too!

I think this rose cuff bracelet will look really, really cute on her. I even wanted one for myself.

...and these earrings, too! Just a few adjustments on the size and I know, both the earrings and rose cuff will perfectly look good on my little niece.

If you're looking for a wedding accessory, or maybe, not just for weddings but something you feel like wearing, you can always try out and visit these two pretty easy tutorials from Disney, her Rose Cuff Bracelet and Petal Earring Tutorial.

If you like bead weaving with pearls, check out TrinketsnTomes' Pearls Three Ways Bracelet Tutorial.

If TrinketnTomes' tutorial is a bit difficult for you, here's something super easy from Karla Schafer of Auntie's Beads, the Karla Kam Pearl Knotting video tutorial, great for beginners and easy project!

Have fun!!!

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