BP in Absentia

To quote Billy Crystal: "I'm on VACAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYSSHUUUUNNN!!"

So, I'm not really here. But I knew that everyone would want to kick off their long weekends with a nice dose of beady eye candy so I'm writing this ahead of time and scheduling it to post while I'm off doing vacation-y things (hopefully this will include a lot of bead and jewelry stuff assuming the kid cooperates and my Ice resin order shows up!)

(Also - thanks for all the bloggy love on the "Stringing" news. I'm really excited and pretty much giddy over it. I still am having a hard time believing it's really true!)

And now, on with the porn!

Okay, I know, these are not beads, but they are so cool I had to post them anyway. These are actual dried flowers that I'm planning to use in an upcoming resin experiment. Unlike most dried flowers, they are not pressed flat, but are actually three-dimensional and velvety soft to the touch. These flowers are a smaller "cousin" of the pansy known as violas or Johnny Jump-Ups.

These are vintage Japanese glass beads and cabs set in brass. I thought they might add a cool retro look to some designs I have planned and, in fact, I've already used some of the white beaded chain and charms in my Nautical Menagerie necklace. The vendor is a company called BrassGoldBeads on Etsy.

More fabulousness from the wonderful Shannon Levart at MissFickleMedia! I think the chestnut disks, in particular, are going to be amazing in a design! Love that aqua patina on the melon beads, too!

Apple green dyed howlite squares.

These crystals are an unusual flat coin shape - I don't have anything sparkley in that shape so I decided to try them out.

And they come in pink, too!

Dyed lavender jade rounds. This was all about the color - I bought these around Easter time and they just look so much like jelly beans!

And at the risk of repeating myself...they come in pink, too! All of these stones and crystals came from Uncommon Beads.

These two sets of amazing porcelain "washers" are from Joan Miller.

This just had to be mine when I saw it in Humblebeads shop. LOOK at the amazing detail on the starfish. She does this art by hand. I can't stand it - it's just too yummy.

So, of course, I needed more than one. Because one is a pendant and one is a toggle. TOTALLY different things. Both gorgeous, though.

All this hand-dyed silk lusciousness is from Jody Waldemar's Etsy shop: JodyPoesy. That last picture is a colorway called "Raven" and I'm using it in a design in process right now and OMG...it is SO gorgeous. Uh, the ribbon...not my design. Although I am aspiring to gorgeousness...

Cranberry and aqua hollows with black stringer work from Alisha White. She has just about the most precise stringer work on her beads that I think I've ever seen. It's really fantastic!

This is the last of my bonus check "splurges" from Loupiac. I love the sparkling ivory mixed with the deep teal and dusty plum/lavender in this set.

That's it. I won't be back until Wednesday so y'all have a fantabulouse and bead-filled holiday weekend!!

KJ

Oh Happy Day!

I have been waiting a REALLY long time to announce this - mostly because I kept expecting it to somehow not work out at the last second - but now there's real actual proof so I can proudly say that I am PUBLISHED in the new issue of "Stringing" magazine!!

Check it out:

If you look REALLY closely, you can see a partial section of one of my necklaces - right below the "g" in Stringing - the sort of aqua-ish rondelles with the strand of tiny purple crystals crossing it and the brown/white shell rounds. Also, if you check the Table of Contents page, you'll see my name THREE times along with some small snippet pics of my designs. I've got three necklaces, a bracelet and a pair of earrings in this issue.

Uh...can you tell I'm a little excited about this?

Not only did I get this great news this morning, but I woke up to see a BUNCH of sales in my Be Resinable shop. Apparently, incessant blogging plus a lot of whining, crying, bitching and moaning is an effective marketing technique. I do think it's funny that none of what I consider the "pretty, artier" beads sold. Nope. Bottlecaps and resined glitter.

I'm not the only person hopelessly stuck in her trashtastic 12-year-old memories. Awesome.

Even the Fusion Beads resin order debacle has worked out - and it only took THREE phone calls on my part. I am not BFF's with their customer service department LOL! Originally, they told me that they were out of stock on the resin so it would be a week or more before the could replace the order. Because of the delay (and my new obsession which demands that I resin everything I can get my hands on and people, that requires a LOT of resin), I requested a refund which I was then going to use to buy the resin at a different vendor.

So, that was Friday. By Monday, no refund. Checked again yesterday...still no refund. Called Fusion again. The refund was never processed but, funniest thing, they now have resin back in stock and would I like my order replaced.

Ummm...lemmeee think....YES!

And yes, I did get a shipping confirmation so I know it's actually on its way to me.

I'm sure you all are THRILLED that I am getting more resin. I can actually HEAR all the eye rolling going on out there. Yes, I'm talking about you. You there in the corner. I saw that.

But, while we wait for the magical deliciousness that is the resin to arrive, how about some new jewelry?

I felt like it was time for a bracelet because I haven't done very many lately. Then I saw this gorgeous bracelet bar piece at Summer's Studio on Etsy and it was the perfect focal to start with.

I added a cute polymer clay bird charm from Floridity, some carved angelskin coral flower beads, seafoam faceted quartz rondelles, Swarovski pearls and some brass chain.

I also added this cute little brass bird link and a tiny pearl dangle - just for a special touch and to keep the "bird" theme going.

This...was an afterthought. The clasp area was looking a little barren and this was kind of sitting on my work surface mocking me so I caved. And now that I'm having the after after after thoughts, I'm thinking it needs to go. What are you thinking?

This design is all about the incredible indigo patinated chain from Miss Fickle Media.

I deliberately kept the rest of the design super-simple so this chain could be the star - because it definitely deserves to be!

This copper metal filigree heart was the perfect focal for this piece.

This is probably the most beautiful set of lampwork beads I've gotten to play with so far. The colors are incredible and I particularly appreciated how the beads were definitely part of a "set" but they don't match exactly. Each one is an individual. That made it really easy for me to get out of my matchy-matchy comfort zone.

The hardest part was coming up with a design that was "worthy" of them without overpowering them and losing their beauty. Some simple patinated brass rings from Patina Queen and matching brass chain seemed like a good start. (Actually, I had planned to go with gold for this design but it was just too bright - the brass is warmer and richer).

Some cobalt/gold Chinese crystal spacers, deep purple jade rondelles, teal enamel beads from Barbara Lewis at Painting with Fire added great accents.

I kept the clasp simple so the focus stays on all the incredible beads. Plus, I wanted the length on this to be adjustable and the hook/chain combo allows for that.

It was hard to get a decent picture of the entire necklace on this one - I definitely need a new bust or mannequin (thanks to Keirsten for giving me a line on a possibility!)

All in all...a good day so far!

I'm hoping the same for all of you!

KJ

The Resinator

I feel like I have finally triumphed over MOST of the issues with resin: bubbles, grease spots, etc. The last pour I did (using the VERY LAST FEW precious drops of resin I own thank you very much Fusion Beads for messing up my order and oh yeah I STILL don't have my refund, do I?) was the best one so far. I didn't lose any of the wood beads to grease spots and I only had one tiny bubble form on one piece.

Of course, all the metal bezels are sitting and waiting for their secound pour which takes them up to the nice rounded dome top finish. Don't know when that will happen because did I mention I'm OUT OF RESIN? Also, I'm holding my breath about doing the second coat - they all turned out so well after the first pour that I'm almost afraid to mess with them again.

But in the meantime, here are the latest pieces all ready for listing on Etsy:

In a previous pour, I made this really cute set of beads using strawberry/flowered scrapbook paper. At least it started out as cute set, but only these top two beads survived. Everything else had grease spots. And what was I gonna do with two beads?

Solve the grease spot problem and make more to finish off the set, obviously. So now I have a nice full set of 8 of these cuties to offer.

I love these small tiger ebony wood beads. They just come out so cute. This is a set of pastel flower stickers.

Pastels are nice, but I'll always be a bright girl at heart. Love these groovy bright flower stickers and the resin just magnifies them and brings them to life!

You can't get more cheerful than a big, bold orange and yellow sunflower. I think this is one of my favorites from this pour.

Butterflies and French ephemera - what a fantastic combo! I bought an entire sheet of this artwork and kinda went nuts with it.

I just love the way this artwork looks on the wood - such a great combo.

Uh...did I mention I really liked this artwork and kind went nuts with it? 'Cuz, yeah. I did.

Okay, last of the butterflies (for now).

Most of my other rose beads have been in the pink/red tones, but check out the colors in this one! Ivory, yellow, aqua, and teal. So fresh and pretty!

A big, glittery seashell image - perfect for summer beach designs. I made one of these in my first round of pouring on wood, but I overpoured it and it didn't survive. Luckily, this one worked.

This image is just gorgeous. And okay, it has ONE teeny tiny bubble in it, but based on the poll I took last week, most of you wouldn't be put off by that so I think I'm still going to put this one up for sale, but I may knock a little off the price. It really is outstanding.

I didn't think I was going to like these big wood squares, but they are turning out to be my favorite items from this pour.

Yeah, I'm not selling this one. It's just too good. I've got a necklace planned for my mom with this as the center pendant - she's always been very strong in her faith but she's also been through so much in the past couple of years with losing my dad that I think she could use sort of a personal reminder piece.

Mom's not the only one who needs a personal talisman - I'm keeping this one for myself. But don't worry - if you like these and want one, just let me know. I can make more of them and I have a whole bunch of other words in this same design that I can do as well. I'm even thinking I can cut around the circle and turn this into a circular design if the square doesn't float your boat.

I'll start listing these items on Be Resinable tonight for anyone that's interested.

That's it for today - I'm off to call customer service at Fusion Beads.

Again.

KJ