Wire Whatchamacallits - Wire Wrapping

Trying to come up with some ideas that were mine, not from other people's ideas. Am I the first to think of these? Of course not! But most of these are my own designs, not from a tutorial. Or at least I put my own spin on them! This post is picture heavy, if you have a slow connection or data limits!

"Copper Kiss" with an AB Swarovski crystal.

The eye, below, is not hand painted, I purchased it, but I love the idea and will probably try making my own one day! What I thought was cool is how it follows you, no matter which way you tilt it..:D

Looking at "Eye Of The Tiger" from the left side.

"Eye Of The Tiger" viewed from the right!

And head on, after patina. Odd, right??

This set of photos is a little different. The Celtic design is NOT mine, I saw it on Pinterest. I love the intricacy of the design and decided to try it. After I showed it to my husband, he said that it was probably a Celtic cross...hadn't considered the idea! But I designed some earrings based on it, as well. I made two of them, one I patina'd, one I did not.

"Celtic Crossover"

This one is not patina'd but I made a fancy bail for it. The Viking Knit necklace is for another pendant I made, which I will picture below.

Here is the set, with earrings...but I added dangles to them after I took this photo.

After adding the dangle. I also made another with no patina and considering making it sit so it looks like a heart. With or without the dangle? Right side up or episdn uwop? ::D Let me know what you think!

This pendant is called "Autumn Winds", and is wrapped around one of my polymer clay Mokume Gane pendants that I made based on Marilyn's tutorial. It is reversible, and made of copper, with the Viking Knit chain from above.

Reverse side.

I'm still making resin items, too. This one contains real beach shells. These are the first bracelets I've made using the mold I bought at Michael's. Works great...you can even put the finished bracelet in the mold upside down with more resin to get rid of the ridge on the top if it's too deep. Or to fill in a bubble. :)

This one has a sort of luminescent glow. It's faux lace with a sort of neon yellow background.

Purple dried moss with gauzy ribbon flowers.

 Back to wire!

This is an adjustable quartz ring made with antiqued copper wire. These rings WERE done with a tutorial...more about it below.

Adjustable laboradorite ring with copper.

Adjustable Ruby Zoisite ring. Love this one!

The tutorial for these adjustable rings is on my Facebook group Wirewrap Tips and Tutorials. It's a little general in the instructions but I love how you can make it your own!

From a Youtube tutorial...just love her designs! (Link below)

This is another design by the same artist on Youtube. Her link is:Lan Anh Handmade. She has such unusual and original designs!

And last, but not least, here are my InSPIRALed Angel Wings. They are still a work in progress...haven't decided on how to connect them to the necklace. But I love that together, they resemble a heart...THIS design is mine....

After patina.

But ... the original idea I had was to use them to cover another design. I love that they look like a heart when closed...but what if I put something behind them? And then I remembered my "Celtic Crossover" pendant...

Peekaboo! Now it looks like a Celtic ANGEL...:)

Even more pronounced when you put the wings behind...:)

Let me know what you think! Thanks for visiting! Drop me a line on Facebook if you like what you see!

Laser Focus (Etching)

Well, since I posted last, I have done quite a few etching projects. I also broke down and bought a laser printer, since that seems to be the best way (that I can afford!) to get your images on metal. I got an el cheapo from New Egg for $35, called a Pantum! Also got a spare toner cartridge so the total for both was around $75, because I got a discount for buying them together. Not bad, as most printers alone are more than that! Apparently not all laser printers are good for etching, mainly because of the ink they use. Some have a higher melting point, for instance, and are harder to attach to the metal because of it. After digging around and finding a warming plate and my iron, I was a little annoyed with how much fiddling I had to do to get a good transfer.. It did work but it involved lots of waiting, burnishing, pushing the iron around, more waiting and lost time. Borrrring!

I decided to try using a laminator because I wanted one for doing some pictures in resin anyway and thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. Everywhere I read, they recommended spending quite a bit of money on one that gets hot enough to get the images to stick to the metal, but I didn't want to spend anywhere from $50 to $100 and up, so I was going to use a coupon at Joann's. While I was there, I remembered that I had seen a laminator at Target for around $20 and that worked out to be a little cheaper than the Joann's one so I went online and found out it was on sale for $15.99! Love it. Went right across the street and bought one! 

My initial results were spotty, at best. I was getting discouraged and then saw someone on my etching Facebook group mention something called yellow toner transfer paper. It was very reasonable on Amazon so I broke down and bought some...a hundred sheets for a little more than $10. 

And had spotty results with THAT too...AUGHHH!

Then I remembered what turned out to be the KEY to the system! The secret is: Rub a little rubbing alcohol on both the transfer and the metal and VOILA! Perfect transfer! UPDATE: I have now changed to only rub alcohol on the METAL and not the toner side of the printout, because I was rubbing off toner and got some pinholes! So now, just the metal side, then place your printout on the saturated metal, then rubbing alcohol on the BACK of the printout. That way, if any toner dissolves, it will just go onto the metal anyways. :) After reading some others attempts at this, I feel this is the easiest way! The only waiting is for your laminator to heat up! No more burnishing with a spoon! NOT NECESSARY! :) 

 Here's how I did it:

These are the supplies I use. This all assumes your metal is scrupulously clean! So, you'll need a paper towel, 91% rubbing alcohol, your metal and your printout, on yellow laser toner transfer paper. It is very slick and reminds me of the paper backing on labels. I simply folded my paper around the metal since it was the perfect size to fit my brass sheet...

I have a delicate pattern printed to show how well this method works!

Use your paper towel (I tear a smallish square and fold it, and get it very saturated) to gently rub some alcohol on the metal, then put your print on the metal, burnish it with your finger to get good contact and get any bubbles out, and use your paper towel or cotton ball/swab to totally saturate the back of the paper.  You want it very wet, but not dripping. You ARE using it with electricity! :) 

Saturated. Even if you have it very wet, it will be quite dry by the time you get it to your preheated laminator!

Here's mine running through the laminator. You can see that it's pretty dry at this point, already. Someone on my etching group said they used metal up to 18 gauge with this particular laminator.  I run it through at least six times, although it seems stuck at 3! it isn't stuck as well as it could be at that point, though, so do at least six times, if not more! 

Here's a close up, after I took it out of the water. I put it in cold water to try to hasten the release and I probably should have waited longer.  I had some residue on the paper, and theoretically, at least, it should come up completely clean. But click on the picture to see the detail...! You can see how tiny this pattern is on another picture, below...Now, those of you with eagle eyes may see that there are some pinholes I should have covered up...

This is my latest etching set up! :D

The only problem with it is that the Shiatsu massager shuts off after a few minutes, so I have to keep turning it back on...:D. 

This is my completed etch, in brass. I hope you can see the fine detail that this pattern has that was picked up by this method! For instance, the tiny dots on the lace, near the lower left by the penny...Yes, I got some dots that don't belong, but it's my own fault, for taking the paper off too soon, and for not using a paint pen to fix the pinholes! :)

So, you can see why I think this method is much easier than doing the ironing! And the burnishing! There ARE other methods, like using a t-shirt press (another thing I've been wanting to buy!) but this is much less costly! (If you WANT to go the t-shirt press route, I was told on our FB group that they have them for about $100 on Amazon, btw!)

And now I'm going to put some pictures up of my latest etches. Hope you like!

This one was done with rubber stamps and Stazon, not laser. 

This is our Yorkie Bowie, when he was a puppy. I've always loved this picture and wanted to put it on Zazzle...but settled for putting him in copper. :)

Here's the original. :)

Here's the mermaid I love, with her printout remnant. you can see very little is left on the yellow transfer paper.

And finally, my Tiny Trees. First thing I've ever domed with my trailer hitch! :D

Edited to add a photo of my finished bails, using the sheet I laminated and etched! :)

Thanks for looking and come back soon!

OOOOoooo...Shiny! - Resin

As usual, this post is VERY picture heavy! Be aware if you have a slow connection or limits! I have crafting ADD, apparently. I have several projects going on right now that have nothing (or at least little) to do with each other. It's funny how they all seem to be tying together though.

Up until recently, all I used to give a domed finish to my polymer clay pieces was the UV Magic Glos resin by Lisa Pavelka. I didn't like two part resin because I always seemed to get dust on them during the long curing process...whereas the UV stuff cures so quickly there isn't really time for dust to stick...at least if you cure them immediately! But I had made so many cabs using Marilyn's technique I went through a big bottle of it in no time flat! So I decided to give the two part another try.

I used a coupon @ Michael's to get a package of the two part Mold Putty Amazing Clear Cast resin. They have a 10 minute resin there but it seems to be white, not clear. This one takes several hours to solidify, so I cover everything up with paper plates and take out container lids. :D

I did do some regular doming (you'll see those in another post!) but I had also found some molds in my stash for this type of resin, so I dug them out and made some bracelets and shaped cabs. At first I was doing basic stuff, but I found an area at Hobby Lobby where they have tiny items made to go in resin...and then I found that Dollar Tree also has tiny items that are supposed to go on fingernails but work perfectly for this. They also have tiny beads and flecks of glitter for nails that work well, if you are looking!

I saw some examples that used real lace...but I had this mold for polymer clay already so I took some pearl mica powder and put it in some liquid clay and baked it to make this. I didn't add anything to it but I will on the next one!

 I soon got addicted to adding things to it, besides the tiny brass dragonflies and butterflies. I am on a few resin groups on FB (this is where I get all the inspiration for the many things I try, you know! I saw someone who was happy to learn an important tip on one of our groups and she said, "to think, I actually resisted joining Facebook!" Lol!) Some of them are making extraordinary resin items...one extremely talented lady is adding wood and actually putting her creations on a lathe! Some add bugs, or other dead things, but I have some delicate fern in my yard that I decided to dry and use. I like the way it came out with this tiny brass butterfly!

I added a little brass butterfly to my fern in this one.

 My second attempt at this bracelet has more fern. Hard to know how much to add at first!

Then, I remembered the Arnold Grummer Iridescent flakes that I've had stashed forever to use with making my "Fauxpals" with polymer clay and thought I'd try it with this. It is so hard to take a good picture of them, let me tell you, but they look like diamonds, in person!

I added a brass dragonfly to this one. I have a mold with several different shapes and sizes on it that I used with these. I only used them a few times and suddenly they began getting scratches. Not sure why, I am delicate with them except for removing them from the mold. And since one of the members on my FB group mentioned putting them in the freezer to get them out, it isn't so difficult to remove them...well, except for the bracelet!

I got a bracelet mold to use with the resin and love the results. This is one of my very favorites to wear! And on one of my FB groups, I was told that you can fill the other side of the mold to make a paper weight or drink coaster. Love that idea! Once again, mine has tiny scratches in it....I guess I could dome it after it is made, though...

One of my fellow Facebook group members, Dustin Morris, has been messing around with abstract paintings he has shared with the group using resin with paint and alcohol inks. They are just GORGEOUS. They are on a larger scale that my work, of course, but I decided to play around with some ink and some gold leaf flakes that I've had forever. The odd part is, that I put a lot of Wild Plum, a pink alcohol ink by Adirondak, in both of these and somehow it disappears as it cures.  Greens and blues don't seem to have a problem, though.

This one had a few more colors, but once again, no pinks or reds made it to the final cure. I also added some clear sparkly embossing powder to most of the rest of the resin on this page! :)

You can more clearly see the alcohol inks with the gold flakes in this one. I love this one! I think I need to let the resin thicken a bit before swirling in the AI...Notice the Plum made it through on this one!

I got some Plum in this one too...although it might be purple. 

And now, for something a little different! My aunt got me a whole bunch of samples of Formica, because she saw me playing around with Alcohol inks and resin a while back. She actually paid to have it sent to me, so I decided I'd better use some of that resin on them. :0) I have done both sides of these with Pebeo Prisme and Moon and two part resin, and sometimes some inclusions!

 (I have tried to post fronts and backs together.     You can tell hopefully which is which by which way the quarter is facing. :)

This mermaid is a little different from the others. I used some of that flat aluminum bezel wire and shaped it as I wanted, then put strong clear tape on the back and drizzled in Pebeo paints. After it dried for a couple of weeks, I resined it. I still have to do the back, as it is sticky where I pulled off the tape. You can also do this without Pebeo.

These are the copper pipe bezels that I etched in the previous posts. I put tape on the back and then poured resin inside with the Grummer's flakes and some alcohol inks. I just need to solder on some loops to hang them with now.

These were done in a normal mold. I first put in the resin, placed some gold leaf flakes in it, then added the iridescent flakes, so the gold would show up clearer. Then I put some indigo alcohol inks on the left one.

The one on the left has alcohol inks with the iridescent glitter. The one on the right is gold flakes and holographic glitter embossing powders, wire wrapped to a filigree pendant I had.

These were some of the first ones I added alcohol inks to. I then mixed some pearl mica powder to the resin and covered the back with it after they cured to make it white...I thought the AI would show up better, and they did...Pictures of these don't really do them justice! :)

One of my first with AI, I placed that star on the back and for some reason the color moved away from it, leaving this.  I kind of like it. :)

I drilled some of them and used pinch on bails instead of wire wrapping. I love this one with the gold leaf and AI.

Love this one, Clear with holographic embossing sparkles and gold leaf flakes.

Then I got some of these deep bezels on sale at Hobby Lobby and decided to make some seascapes with them. :) I put Pebeo paints on the back and added metal charms. The white "coral" is made from a clay like plastic.

The anemones in this one are made of baked polymer clay.

This is a steampunk dragon! :) Pebeo paint on the back is kind of hard to see....

Pebeo with metal turtle and seahorse, clay plastic "coral".

Last one! Love the way these came out. :)

This is a wire wrapped resin Fauxpal heart. So hard to take a good picture of these!

Recently I went to Michael's and was pleased to find they had a large new selection of silicone molds I hadn't seen before. They must know I was needing them to mold resin in! :D

These are in the area where the cake decorating supplies are.

Closer look...those robots are adorable!

These are for making small cakes and were in a nearby area.

Love the cars...they would make great large resin pieces. It is so hard to find things for boys!

These are for making ice cubes and were in a completely different area.

Also for ice cubes..these were near where they have glass globs for putting in your plants, of all places!.

Well, this post is extremely picture heavy now and I think we're all caught up, so thanks for checking it out and I hope you found something useful in it!